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THE FERN PARADISE. 
Bracken are chiefly thick, varying from the thick- 
ness of an ordinary lead pencil to that of the little 
Anger of the hand ; and the rootlets or fibrous 
roots of this fern are few in number. We may 
appropriately adopt, from botanical phraseology, a 
name for the thick creeping root of the Bracken, 
especially as we shall have occasion to use it when 
speaking of other ferns with similar roots. There 
is the less objection to the use of this name, because 
it is simple and euphonious. We shall, then, style 
the creeping root of the Bracken the rhizome . 
From the subterranean, succulent, blackish-coloured 
rhizome start the incipient fronds, which, when 
they break the earth, have the appearance of 
little hoary, hairy buds, that unfold and develop 
into the perfect frond. 
The fronds of the Bracken — stem and leaf 
together — rise to all heights ; from sometimes 
only a few inches, when the plant is growing on 
hard, uncongenial soil, and remains exposed to the 
power of sun and wind, to a height of ten feet, 
when growing in the moist, shady recesses of 
woods and forests. The nature of the soil and 
