erns abound, says that the bracken
is the fern of ferns in the British Islands. The shelter of it is a
pleasure and a safeguard too, not only to the tall deer and their fawns,
but to thousands of quadrupeds and birds, whose home is amid the copses,
shady lanes, or moorlands. In sandy wastes, this fern only grows a foot
high; along the paths in woods it will attain to six or seven feet, or
grow taller still in a lofty hedge, or in a clump of supporting trees.
Even in the winter months the ferns have their uses; it is delightful,
after walking over some moist lowland, to come upon a hilly ridge of
ground, where, amongst the birches and the fragrant firs, the brown
ferns grow freely.

Grand in its growth, but only to be found in a few places, is the Osmund
or Royal Fern, which throws up a tall spike bearing the spores or seeds
of the plant. Sometimes, in moist places, the crown of the root is a
clump of more than a foot high, from which the stem rises. Of late
years, this kingly fern has become still more rare, and happy is the
fern-hunter who comes upon a specimen.

Who can help admiring the beautiful Lady Fern, which seems to be most at
home when growing near a streamlet or pond? It is stately and graceful,
with large fronds of clear green, and the tips of its sprays bend like
plumes. What is called the Male Fern grows in hedges or banks, and
indeed almost anywhere; a handsome cheery-looking plant, though of
moderate size. It will even manage to live in a London back-garden, or
area, and many cottagers have it amongst the flowers of their small
garden plots. Occasionally, by the side of a copse, we may come upon a
great bed of the male fern, which frequently keeps green all the winter.
Often, about the same spots where the male fern flourishes, the Shield
Fern displays its fronds, larger and broader, but fewer in number, and
prettily toothed along their edges. Fond of damp hollows or the sides of
ditches is the handsome Hart's-tongue Fern, which will also, now and
then, choose to grow on a cracked wall, or perhaps down a well.

We must not forget the Polypody, which delights to creep amongst the
trees and bushes of a lane, and looks very fresh in June, keeping its
fronds till some sharp frost brings them off. It took the name of
Polypody from its jagged leaves, upon which the seeds or spores appear
in bright orange spots. The humble Wall Rue and the Wall Spleenwort grow
on walls chiefly, sometimes on rocky banks. The t