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DISTRIBUTION OF FERNS. 91 
The banks and flowery turf, too , have their myriad of 
ferny denizens, varying in form from unbroken outline 
of the Hart’s-tongue to the feathery frond of the Hare’s- 
foot; some are so minute as to seem like some small 
weed upon the earth, or bark ; and some rise nobly to 
the height of many feet, not outdone in grace or stature 
by the Pampas or Tussac grass. Such are the ferns of 
the tropics, exquisite in beauty and grandeur, and almost 
countless in numbers. 
Ferns reach their minimum in the cold of the polar 
regions; very few species flourish there, and those are 
dwarfed, tiny plants ; but to ferns there is no minimum 
of beauty, for the silvery Cheilanthes of Siberia, though 
but three or four inches high, with its dark stem and 
rachis, and evergreen glossy leaflets, all lined with snowy 
whiteness, is a very gem of beauty. In temperate regions 
great numbers of ferns are found, of great beauty and 
considerable size, but they are not so grand in stature 
as the tree-ferns of the tropics. Thus while we look to 
Mexico, Brazil, the West Indian Islands, the hotter 
parts of India, Australia, and New Zealand, to furnish 
us ferns for our hothouses, we look to the milder zone 
in these countries, and to the South of Europe, and the 
islands in temperate regions for those of our conser- 
vatories, and to North America and Germany for the 
hardy species to supplement our native group in the 
open fernery. 
As ferns flourish in all climates, so they affect all sorts 
of habitats. Some delight especially in caves; some 
make a sine qua non of the vicinity of waterfalls ; some 
again require the deep shade of rocks or trees; on the 
other hand, sea air and a salt-laden atmosphere a^e 
necessary to some, others cannot live except on heights 
