CHAPTER IV. 
SINGLE BRITISH FERNS. 
Plate 1 . 
1 . 
THE BRACKEN. 
Pteris aquilina. 
Plate 1 , Fig. 1 . 
F all our native Ferns, the Bracken, 
or Brake, is the most plentiful, 
and the most widely distributed. 
It abounds almost everywhere; and 
hence, perhaps, the reason why it has been con¬ 
sidered by some persons to be a common or vulgar¬ 
looking plant. But it is emphatically a vulgar 
taste which can thus judge of this beautiful Fern. 
To our mind it is extremely graceful; and its abun- 
