36 
then, like the brute beasts themselves, the leaflets have two 
ears, but the inner one is not so large as the outer one. Moore 
mentions forty three varieties. As a general rule, the plant 
is softer and more delicate, as well as more shaggy. The 
frond is never broad, but broader than the other Prickly 
Pern (Polystichum aculeatum.) In early spring, the young 
frond makes its appearance with its extremity bent back- 
wards in a most peculiar manner, and then raises upwards 
again its curled-in shoots. The ends of the young branches 
are at the same time rolled in, and are by no means unlike 
a small white silken ball. In young seedling plants the 
branches are not divided into distinct leaflets, but are merely 
serrate or pinnatifid. Juvenile botanists must not consider 
these to be new plants. Other seedling Ferns may also 
deceive. No plant is mature or perfect until it bears fructi- 
fication. We may easily distinguish this from the Male 
Fern, as they often grow near one another, by its difierent 
habit and character. This droops and leans towards the 
earth. That stands nearly erect, and groups around a cen- 
tral axis, in the form of a shuttlecock. The leaflets difier too. 
In this they are more or less sharp-pointed at one extremity, 
with bristles at their serratures : in the others, they are 
blunt, rounded, and oblong. There is a striking peculiarity 
in some varieties which is not found in many other British 
Ferns. Have we ever noticed little bulbs arising under the 
heads of flowers in the Garlics or Onions ? These when pla- 
ced in the ground, would produce a new plant ; nay, in a wet 
season, they germinate of themselves, and we behold a plant 
growing, as it were, in the air. So also in the Tree Ferns 
of foreign lands, there are bulbs or buds in the branches, 
which send their roots downwards, while a new tree rises 
upwards in majestic grandeur. It is a strange sight to see 
the roots hanging down from the branches and at last fixing 
themselves in the ground. In some varieties of the Angu- 
lar Prickly Fern, we have a miniature representation of this. 
In the stalk near the earth, or at the junction of the pinnae 
and main rachis, there are amongst the chaffy scales, little 
bulbs or buds, from whence a new plant arises. If we take 
off these bulbs and put them in a loose soil, we should most 
successfully cultivate this variety. Our friends at Hawk- 
church might try this experiment, as they have what Moore 
