92 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
For some little distance tlie stream runs by the 
side of the road we are following, until, when 
O 7 7 
the latter takes a sudden turn to the right, it 
disappears under a stone bridge, re-appearing 
for a brief space and then being finally lost as it 
flows away across some meadows. Peer over the 
side of the bridge and you will find little tufts 
of that beautiful Fern, the Common Maidenhair 
Spleenwort; also the tiny Wall Rue, and small 
specimens of the Hartstongue. You will rarely 
find a Devonshire bridge, unless it be quite a new 
structure, without its complement of Ferns—the 
rock, or stone-and-mortar-loving species. Whether 
it be a river bridge, or a tiny arch that crosses a 
brook, its sides are almost certain to possess at 
least one kind, often many, of the moisture-loving 
plants. It is the moist atmosphere produced by 
the flowing water underneath which gives en¬ 
couragement to the Ferns. Sometimes a river 
arch is densely covered with many varieties of 
these plants. You will often find the Common 
Polypody, the Hartstongue, the Wall Rue, the 
Scaly Spleenwort, the Common Maidenhair 
Spleenwort, and the Black Maidenhair Spleen. 
