90 
BRITISH FERNS . 
Mr. Newman expresses it, “Each at first resembling 
three little balls on wires;’ These balls gradually 
unfold, and display the triple character of the frond. 
They soon arrive at maturity, and are often loaded 
with fruit as early as June: they disappear in the 
autumn. The stem is very slender, purple, and 
shining, and is frequently twice as long as the frond. 
There are a few scattered scales towards the base. 
The fronds are slender and delicate, broadly tri¬ 
angular or rhomboidal, with three branches; the 
dursions pinnate ; the pinnae cut into segments nearly 
to the mid-rib ; the uppermost entire. The colour is 
a brighter green than almost any other British fern, 
which, however, it is apt to lose if too much exposed 
to the sun. The sori are borne on the margins of the 
segments. 
This pretty and delicate fern occurs chiefly in wild 
mountainous districts, wet woods, and the vicinity of 
waterfalls, in our northern English, Welsh, and 
Scotch counties. In Ireland it is a fern of great 
rarity. Throughout Europe it is very generally 
distributed. 
This is peculiarly a shade-loving fern. Besides the 
delicate texture and graceful habit, the vivid green 
hue of its foliage is its great attraction, and cannot be 
preserved in exposed situations. Although a free 
supply of moisture is recommended, care must be 
taken that it does not remain stagnant, as it will 
speedily destroy the plant by the decay of the 
