A PARADISE OP PERNS. 
piled upon it a rich mass of pure vegetable mould, 
in which the Ferns delight to grow. 
In this same spot, and growing side by side 
with the Hartstongue and Male Fern, are to be 
found specimens of two other of the large-growing 
species of the British Ferns — the Broad Buckler 
Fern ( Lastrea dilatata), and the Soft Prickly 
Shield Fern ( Polystichum angulare). Both, when 
finely grown, are most splendid objects. The 
former is one of the most handsome of our native 
Ferns, its broad arching fronds sweeping upwards 
and outwards with exquisite grace, and sometimes 
attaining like the Male Fern, to which it is closely 
allied, a height of four or five feet. The chief 
characteristic of the Soft Prickly Shield Fern is 
the minute and beautiful manner in which its 
fronds are divided into small, angular- shaped, saw- 
edged leaflets. It is often densely clothed with 
rich brown scales, which contrast finely with the 
dark, deep green of its fronds. 
Turning now away from the dark shelter of 
overhanging trees, the pathway, wending upwards 
still, passes between high hedges, whose dark and 
tangled vegetation almost meets overhead. Here, 
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