e 
INTRODUCTION. 81 
“roots,” “rootlets,” “radicles” and “fibres.” This 
fact of the roots of a Fern springing from its fronds 
is extremely interesting, and has escaped the notice 
of all botanists. If we examine a Tree Fern, how- | 
ae lofty, we shall find that it has no real roots, 
or none that at all resemble the roots of a tree, 
which grow at the bottom of its trunk: the roots 
originate either singly or in pairs from the back of 
the stalk of each new frond, and extend gradually 
down the sides of the trunk towards the ground, 
which, in the majority of cases, they are destined 
_ never to reach. It is curious to see these fibrous 
Toots apparently receiving nutriment from the de- 
ecaying exterior of the trunk, and thus affording 
im appearance the paradoxical spectacle of a plant 
feeding on itself. If we accept this theory of the 
" development of a Tree Fern, it follows, as a matter 
of course, that the trunk may be chopped off at the 
: bottom, and the entire plant carried to a distant 
country, or even a voyage round the world, and 
then set up again in any suitable climate, without 
_ Suffering any injury whatever, provided the upper 
_ or living extremity were so situated that its normal, 
