THE BRACKEN. 
261 
by a thin leaf-skin, and arranged in rounded lines; 
at first, in colour of a whitish green, but becoming, 
as autumn arrives, a rich golden brown. Then 
the skin cases which cover these infinitesimal 
germs of Fern life bursting, the tiny atoms are 
scattered far and wide, and falling on congenial 
soil, and being subjected to the conditions which 
favour their existence, become developed into 
the mysterious and beautiful forms which we 
admire. 
One curious and interesting peculiarity of the 
wild Bracken must be noticed. If a vigorous 
» 
stem of a Bracken frond be cut transversely close 
to the ground, and examined, a figure having a 
striking resemblance to an oak-tree will be dis¬ 
covered in the centre of the cut section of the 
stem. 
In lovely Devonshire we have seen the beautiful 
Bracken, in the damp recesses of woods, soaring 
to its greatest height of ten feet, and spreading 
abroad its feathery arms with exquisite and droop¬ 
ing grace. It is always beautiful, especially when 
densely covering the ground ; but we do not recol¬ 
lect to have ever seen it wear so charming an 
