44 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
IL— ORGANOGRAPHY. 
F OR the purpose of rendering the technical descrip- 
tions occurring in the following pages intelligible 
to those not well acquainted with botany, I have thought 
it necessary to devote a preliminary chapter to organo- 
graphy, being the explanation of the various terms 
in common use among pteridologists. I adopt this 
course in preference to giving an ordinary glossary, 
because I think a better idea of the structure of the 
plants, and the relation of one organ to another, and 
of the relation of the terms to the organs themselves, 
may be conveyed by it ; but for convenience of refer- 
ence I append an alphabetical list of the terms, paged 
so that they can be easily found in the explanatory 
chapter. In the generic characters I have endeavoured 
to avoid needless technicalities, though I have not 
attempted to frame them in what is commonly called 
a “ popular ” style, and I hope that with the aid of 
the following explanations, persons of ordinary 
abilities who have not made botany their study, will 
be able to understand them. In many cases, espe- 
cially in describing the form and shape of the fronds, 
the same terms are employed as in flowering plants ; 
but as now and then they have special significations, 
I have briefly explained all that occur in this work. 
Ferns ( Filiccs ) are flowerless plants, and form the highest order 
of the division of the vegetable kingdom termed Cryptogaviia. 
Their most evident organs consist of the stem and the leaves, the 
