39 
its roots, the Lady Fern far surpasses it iu elegance, and 
indeed, seems to claim precedence in beauty over every 
other Fern. Its lovely colour, symmetrical form, and the 
elegant division of its frond, makes it an object of general 
attraction. As its name seems to imply, it is very delicate, 
and requires to be treated tenderly. The Fern collector 
finds that a warm hand, and a heated room, make it fade, 
droop, and die. Herein it slightly resembles the Sensitive 
Fern* of North America. This is said to wither imme- 
diately on being touched by man, but to endure the touch 
of other bodies without injury. Sprengel, a German botan- 
ist, asserts, that he repeated the experiment several times 
with the same effect. The Lady Fern makes its appear- 
ance in May. At first it is curled together, but when the 
head (apex) of it is free, it hangs down, and assumes the 
appearance of a shepherd’s crook. There is one cluster of 
spores on each lobe of the leaflets. The pair of leaflets on 
each branch nearest the main stem, stands close and paral- 
lel to it, pointing upwards and downwards. The breadth of 
the leaflets varies considerably, sometimes linear, sometimes 
lance-shaped, and at other times elliptical. They are either 
notched or cut, pinnatifld, or pinnate. Often there are two 
or three teeth (not spikes or bristles) at the extremity of 
each lobe of the leaflets. The leafy part is of a thin texture, 
so that the veins are easily seei\, The veins run alternate, 
whether on the mid-vein, or on the side-veins. The branch- 
es never reach the margin. The higher branch bears fruit. 
If the cover resembles the circumference of a semi-circle, and 
has a slit in it, like the Shield Fern (Lastrea), it is not fixed 
at the slit only, but longitudinally. The stalks are some- 
times semi-transparent. They are also very frequently of a 
reddish cast, never half so long as the frond, with a broad 
flat base on one side, and semi-circular on the other. The 
scales are of a dark, blackish colour, and are interspersed 
over the lower part of the plant. The root is sometimes mis- 
taken for that of the Male Fern. “It has a short perpendicular 
root-stalk, black externally, with black root fibres ; and the 
tufts or bases of the leaf-stalks, which compose the greater 
part of it, form a very acute angle with its axis, while those 
of the Male Fern extend outward at a more open angle.” 
* Onoclea sensibilis, which Babington says is naturalized near Warrington. 
