INTRODUCTORY. 
17 
—how exquisitely cool and refreshing is the very 
name ! suggestive of stately and luxuriant tropical 
growths, of great straggling lianas hanging from 
» 
tree to tree, with here and there a wreath or a 
mass of gorgeously bright or brilliantly white 
flowers, and in the dense, shady underwood, tall, 
verdant plumes, springing from a massive brown 
stem, like the capital from a graceful column; 
and, beneath them, great glossy leaves and fronds 
of every variety of growth and form, luxuriating 
in the fertilizing influences of moisture, heat, and 
shade. Or, again, the Fern paradise may suggest, 
as it does to Mr. Heath, the more modest and 
easily-attained glories of the Devonshire moorland 
and delicious c green lanes , 5 where grow in rich 
profusion so many English varieties of the lovely 
flowerless plants, inviting the wanderer not 
merely to admire, but to study and cultivate 
these, the easiest of all Nature’s children to 
transform into happy denizens of our houses 
and gardens. For, given proper soil and treat¬ 
ment, the Fern, in most cases independent of 
breeze and sunshine, will not droop like an exile 
when removed from its favourite haunts, and 
