THE FERN PARADISE. 
the exquisite grace and beauty of the plant. Its 
midrib, from the point where leaving the stipes 
the frond commences, is called the rachis. Should 
the rachis have ribs branching either horizontally 
or obliquely away from it, these ribs are still 
called the rachis, its parts being distinguished the 
one from the other by the terms, the primary or 
the secondary rachis. Upon the rachis it is that 
grow the leaves, leaflets, pinnules, and lobes, either 
in a simple or a compound form ; and it is their 
infinite variety of form — simple, scalloped, saw- 
edged — and the exceedingly graceful manner in 
which they are arranged on the rachis, that con- 
stitute the peculiar elegance of a Fern. The 
manner in which the fronds of Ferns spring from 
the crown of the plants is another peculiarity in 
their growth, and one that distinguishes them 
from ordinary plants. On starting from the 
crown, the fronds have the appearance of so many 
little balls, which as they dev elope unroll upwards. 
It is then seen that the whole frond has been 
rolled together in circinate manner — that is to 
say, from the top of the frond spirally downwards. 
In the simple fronds there is one simple unrolling 
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