Part 7

DAVENPORT, GEO. E. Catalog of Davenport Herbarium, Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 1879. Numerous Monographs and Notes on New England ferns in Torrey Bulletin, Fern Bulletin, and Rhodora. The following monographs are in single booklets by Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Aspidium cristatum × marginale, Aspidium simulatum, Aspidium spinulosum and its Varieties, Botrychium ternatum and its Varieties, Notes on Botrychium simplex.

DODGE, RAYNAL. The Ferns and Fern Allies of New England--very small volume, now out of print. W.N. Clute & Co. 1904.

DRUERY, CHARLES T. British Ferns and Their Varieties. Routledge & Son. London.

EASTMAN, HELEN. New England Ferns and Their Common Allies. Houghton Mifflin & Co. Boston, 1904. Out of print.

EATON, DANIEL C. The Ferns of North America. 2 vols. 1879-80. S.E. Cassino, Salem. Drawings by J.H. Emerton and C.E. Faxon.

EATON, A.A. Specialist in Fern Allies. Prepared Equisetum and Isoetes for Gray's Manual, 7th ed. 1908.

GILBERT, BENJ. D. List of North American Pteridophytes. 1901. Utica, N.Y.

HERVEY, ALPHAEUS B. Wayside Flowers and Ferns. Page & Co. Boston, 1899.

HEMSLEY, ALFRED. Book of Fern Culture. John Lane. London, 1908.

HIBBARD, SHIRLEY. The Fern Garden. Groombridge & Sons. 5 Paternoster Row, London. 1869.

HOOKER, SIR W.J. Genera Filicum. Large 8vo. London, 1842. Contains fine plates which include all American genera. Costs about $25.

Species Filicum. 5 vols. 8vo. London, 1846-64. Vol. II contains seventeen and Vol. Ill contains two plates of American ferns with descriptions of more species. Cost about $50.

HOOKER, SIR W.J., & BAKER. Synopsis Filicum 2d ed. 1874. 8vo. Describes all ferns then known, including the American species. Has also figures illustrating each genus. Costs about $10.

LOWE, EDWARD J. Ferns British and Exotic. 9 vols. 8vo. Bell & Daldy. London, 1868. 550 plates, some very poor. Some American ferns are represented. "The descriptions," says John Robinson, "are worthless, and the synonymy is often incorrect."

MAXON, WILLIAM R. A List of Ferns and Fern Allies of North America, north of Mexico, etc. National Museum, 23:619-651. 1901.

Numerous Monographs and Notes on American Ferns in current magazines.

Studies of Tropical American Ferns. United States National Herbarium, 17:541+.

Pteridophyta (excepting Equisitaceæ and Isoetaceæ) of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. In Britton and Brown, Illustrated Flora, etc., ed. 2, pp. 1-54. 1913. New York.

MEEHAN, THOMAS. Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States. Boston, 1878-9.

MOORE, THOMAS. Nature-printed British Ferns. 2 vols. London, 1859.

PARSONS, FRANCES T. How to Know the Ferns. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York, 1899.

PRATT, ANNE. The Ferns of Great Britain and Their Allies. F. Warne & Co. London. No date.

REDFIELD, JOHN. Geographical Distribution of the Ferns of North America. Torrey Bulletin, VI, 1-7. (1875).

RHODORA. Journal of the New England Botanical Club. January, 1899, to date.

ROBINSON, JOHN. Ferns in Their Homes and Ours. S.E. Cassino. Salem, 1878. Out of print.

SACHS, JULIUS. Text Book of Botany. (Translated.) Macmillan & Co. London. 8vo.

SLOSSON, MARGARET. How Ferns Grow. Henry Holt & Co. New York. 1906. Out of print.

SMALL, JOHN K. Ferns of Tropical Florida. New York, 1918.

SMITH, JOHN. Historia Filicum. London, 1875. Amply illustrated, reliable.

STEP, EDWARD. Wayside and Woodland Ferns. F. Warne & Co. London, 1908.

TIDESTROM, IVAR. Elysium Marianum. Washington, D.C.

UNDERWOOD, LUCIEN M. Our Native Ferns and Their Allies. Henry Holt & Co. Edition 6. 1900. Valuable. Out of print.

WATERS, CAMPBELL E. Ferns. Henry Holt & Co. 1903. Out of print. Scarce.

WEATHERBY, C.A. Changes in the Nomenclature of the Gray's Manual of Ferns. Important article in the Rhodora of October, 1919.

WILLIAMSON, JOHN. Ferns of Kentucky. J.P. Morton & Co. Louisville, Ky. 1878.

Fern Etchings. J.P. Morton & Co. 1879. Both out of print.

WOOLSON, GRACE A. Ferns and How to Grow Them. Doubleday, Page & Co. New York, 1909.

WRIGHT, MABEL O. Flowers and Ferns in Their Haunts. Macmillan & Co. New York, 1901.

TIMES OF THE FRUITING OF FERNS

"Ah! well I mind the calendar Faithful through a thousand years Of the painted race of flowers."--EMERSON.

Compiled from Dodge's "Ferns and Fern Allies of New England"

May 25. Little Grape Fern. Interrupted Fern. May 30. Cinnamon Fern. June 5. Ostrich Fern. June 10. Frondosa variety of Cinnamon Fern. June 15. Matricary Grape Fern. June 20. Royal Fern. Interrupted Fern. June 25. Rattlesnake Fern. June 30. Oak Fern. Spinulose Wood Fern and Varieties. July 5. Fragile Bladder Fern. Christmas Fern. July 10. Long Beech Fern. Crested Shield Fern. Boott's Shield Fern. July 15. Moonwort. Virginia Chain Fern. Adder's Tongue. Crested Marginal Shield Fern. July 20. Slender Cliff Brake. Blunt-Lobed Woodsia. July 25. Purple Cliff Brake. Bulblet Bladder Fern. Mountain Spleen wort. July 30. Goldie's Shield Fern. Marginal Shield Fern. Clinton's Wood Fern. August 5. Wall Rue. Walking Fern. Lady Fern. August 10. Alpine Woodsia. Smooth Woodsia. Common Polypody. Maidenhair Fern. Fragrant Shield Fern. Scott's Spleenwort. Braun's Holly Fern. August 15. Rusty Woodsia. Silvery Spleen wort. Lance-leaved Grape Fern. August 20. Ebony and Maidenhair Spleenworts. Hayscented Fern. New York Fern. August 25. Broad Beech Fern. August 30. Marsh Fern. September 5. Bracken or Brake. September 10. Climbing Fern. Narrow-leaved Spleenwort. September 15. Massachusetts Fern. Green Spleenwort. Sensitive Fern. Ternate Grape Fern. September 30. Narrow-leaved Chain Fern.

GLOSSARY

ACÙMINATE. Gradually tapering to a point. ACÙLEATE. Prickly. Beset with prickles. ACUTE. Sharp pointed, but not tapering. ADVENTÍTIOUS. Irregular, incidental. Growing out of the usual or normal position. ANÁSTOMOSING. Connected by cross veins and forming a network as in the Sensitive ferns. ÁNNULUS. A jointed, elastic ring surrounding the spore cases in most ferns. ANTHERÍDIA. The male organs on a prothallium. APEX The top or pointed end of leaf or frond. (plu. APICES). ARCHEGÒNIA. The female organs on a prothallium. ARÈOLA. A space formed by intersecting veins; a mesh. AURICLE. An ear-shaped lobe at the base. ARTÍCULATE. Jointed; having a joint or node. AXIL. The angle formed by a leaf or branch with the stem. BI (Latin, Two, twice, doubly. _bis_, twice). BLADE. The expanded, leafy portion of a frond. BULBLET. A small bulb, borne on a leaf or in its axil. CAUDATE. With a slender, tail-like appendage. CAUDEX. A trunk or stock of a plant; especially of a tree fern. CHAFF. Thin, dry scales of a yellowish-brown color. CHLÒROPHYLL. The green coloring matter of plants. CÍLIATE. Fringed with fine hairs. CÍRCINATE. Coiled downward from the apex, as in the young fronds of a fern. CLAVATE. Club-shaped. COMPOUND. Divided into two or more parts. CONFLUENT. Blended together. CORDATE. Heart-shaped. CRENATE. Scalloped with rounded teeth; said of margins. CRÒSIER. An uncoiling frond. CÙNEATE. Wedge-shaped. CÚSPIDATE. Hard pointed, tipped with a cusp. DECIDUOUS. Falling away when done growing--not evergreen. DECOMPOUND. More than once compounded or divided. DECURRENT. Running down the stem below the point of insertion, as the bases of some pinnæ. DECUMBENT. Not erect; trailing, bending along the ground, but with the apex ascending. DEFLEXED. Bent or turned abruptly downward. DENTATE. Toothed. Having the teeth of a margin directed outward. DICHÓTOMOUS. Forking regularly in pairs. DIMÓRPHOUS. Of two forms; said of ferns whose fertile fronds are unlike the sterile. EMÁRGINATE. Notched at the apex. ENTIRE. Without divisions, lobes, or teeth. FALCATE. Scythe-shaped, slightly curved upward. FERTILE. Bearing spores. FÍLIFORM. Thread-like; long, slender, and terete. FILMY. Having a thin membrane; gauzy; said of the filmy fern fronds. FLABELLATE. Fan-shaped; broad and rounded at the summit and narrow at the base. FROND. A fern leaf or blade; may include both stipe and blade, or only the latter--called also lamina. GLABROUS. Smooth; not rough or hairy. GLAND. A small secreting organ, globular or pear-shaped; it is often stalked. GLAUCOUS. Covered with a fine bloom, bluish-white and powdery, in appearance like a plum. HASTATE. Like an arrowhead with the lobes spreading. IMBRICATE. Overlapping, like shingles on a roof. INCÌSED. Cut irregularly into sharp lobes. INDÙSIUM. The thin membrane covering the sori in some ferns. INVOLUCRE. In ferns, an indusium; in filmy ferns, cup-shaped growths encircling the sporangia. LÁMINA. A blade; the leafy portion of a fern. LACÍNIATE. Slashed; cut into narrow, irregular lobes. LANCEOLATE. Lance-shaped; broadest above the base and tapering to the apex. LOBE. A small rounded segment of a frond. MIDRIB. The main rib or vein of a segment, pinnule, pinna, or frond; a midvein. MÙCRONATE. Ending abruptly in a short, sharp point. OBLONG. From two to four times longer than broad and with sides nearly parallel. OBTUSE. Blunt or rounded at the end. OÌDES. A Greek ending, meaning _like_, or _like to_, as polypodioides--like to a polypody. ÒÖSPHERE. The egg-cell in fern reproduction--becoming the oöspore when fertilized. OVATE. Egg-shaped with the broader end downward. PALMATE. Having lobes radiating like the fingers of a hand. PANICLE. A loose compound cluster of flowers or sporangia with irregular stems. PEDICEL. A tiny stalk, especially the stalk of the sporangia. PELLUCID. Clear, transparent. PERSISTENT. Remaining on the plant for a long time, as leaves through the winter. PÉTIOLE. The same as stalk or stipe. PINNA. One of the primary divisions of a frond. PINNATE. Feather-like; with the divisions of the frond extending fully to the rachis. PINNÁTIFID. Having the divisions of the frond extend halfway or more to the rachis or mid vein. PINNULE. A secondary pinna. In a bipinnate frond one of the smaller divisions extending to the secondary midvein. PROCUMBENT. Lying on the ground. PROTHÁLLIUM. (Or prothállus.) A delicate, cellular, leaf-like structure produced from a fern spore, and bearing the sexual organs. PTERIDÓPHYTA. A group of flowerless plants embracing ferns, horsetails, club mosses, etc. PUBESCENT. Covered with fine, soft hairs; downy. RÀCHIS. The continuation of the stipe through the blade or leafy portion of the fern. REFLEXED. Bent abruptly downward or backward. RENIFORM. Kidney-shaped. REVOLUTE. Rolled backward from the margin or apex. ROOTSTOCK. (Or rhizome.) An underground stem, from which the fronds are produced. SCAPE. A naked stem rising from the ground. SEGMENT. One of the smaller divisions of a pinnatifid frond. SERRATE. Having the margin sharply cut into teeth pointing forward. SÉRRULATE. The same only with smaller teeth. SESSILE. Without a stalk. SINUS. A cleft or rounded curve between two lobes. SÍNUATE. With strongly wavy margins. SORUS A cluster of sporangia; a fruit dot. (plu. SORI). SPÁTULATE. Shaped like a druggist's spatula or a flattened spoon. SPIKE. An elongated cluster of sessile sporangia. SPÍNULOSE. Spiny; set with small, sharp spines. SPORANGE (plu. A spore case. A tiny globe in which SPORANGIA). the spores are produced. STIPE. The stem of a fern from the ground up to the leafy portion; the leaf stalk. STOLON. An underground branch or runner. SÚBULATE. Awl-shaped. TÉRNATE. With three nearly equal divisions. TRUNCATE. Ending abruptly as if cut off. TUFT. Things flexible, closely grouped into a bunch or cluster. VENATION. The veining of a frond or leaf. VERNATION. The arrangement of leaves in the bud. WHORL. A circle of leaves around a stem. WINGED. Margined by a thin expansion of the rachis.

NOTE

The student should have some idea of the terms _genus_, _species_ and _variety_, although they are not capable of exact definition.

A _species_, or kind, is in botany the unit of classification. It embraces all such individuals as may have originated in a common stock. Such individuals bear an essential resemblance to each other, as well as to their common parent in all their parts. E.g., the Cinnamon fern is a kind or species of fern with the fronds evidently of one kind, and of a common origin, and all producing individuals of their own kind by their spores or rootstocks. When such individuals differ perceptibly from the type in the shape of the pinnæ, or the cutting of the fronds, we have _varieties_ as _frondòsum_, _incìsum_, etc. Or if the difference is less striking the word _form_ is used instead of variety, but in any given case opinions may differ in respect to the more fitting term.

A _genus_ is an assemblage of species closely related to each other, and having more points of resemblance than of difference; e.g., the royal fern, the cinnamon fern, and the interrupted fern are alike in having similar spore cases borne in a somewhat similar manner on the fronds, and forming the genus _Osmunda_. In like manner certain members of the clover group--red, white, yellow, etc., make up the genus _Trifolium_.

Thus individuals are grouped into species and species are associated into genera, and the two groups are united to give each fern or plant its true name, the generic name being qualified by that of the species; as in the cinnamon fern _Osmúnda_ (genus), _cinnamòmea_ (species).

CHECK LIST OF THE FERNS OF NORTHEASTERN AMERICA

In the following list the first name is usually the one adopted in the text, and those that follow are synonyms.

Names printed in small capitals are those of the newer nomenclature, now adopted at the Gray Herbarium but not in the Manual.

ADIANTUM L. 1. Adiantum Capillus-Veneris L. 2. Adiantum pedatum L. Var. ALEUTICUM RUPR.

ASPIDIUM SW. 3. Aspidium Boottii. Tuckerm. Dryopteris Boottii. (Tuckerm.) Underw. THELYPTERIS BOOTTII. (Tuckerm.) Nieuwl. 4. Aspidium cristatum. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris cristata. (L.) A. Gray. THELYPTERIS CRISTATA. (L.) Nieuwl. 5. Aspidium cristatum var. Clintonianum. D.C. Eaton. Dryopteris cristata var. Clintoniana. (D.C. Eaton.) Underw. THELYPTERIS CRISTATA var. CLINTONIANA. (D.C. Eaton.) Weatherby. 6. Aspidium cristatum × marginale. Davenp. 7. Aspidium Filix-mas. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris Filix-mas. (L.) Sw. THELYPTERIS FILIX-MAS. (L.) Nieuwl. 8. Aspidium fragrans. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris fragrans. (L.) Schott. THELYPTERIS FRAGRANS. (L.) Nieuwl. 9. Aspidium Goldianum. Hook. Dryopteris Goldiana. (Hook.) A. Gray. THELYPTERIS GOLDIANA. (Hook.) Nieuwl. 10. Aspidium marginale. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris marginalis. (L.) A. Gray. THELYPTERIS MARGINALIS. (L.) Nieuwl. 11. Aspidium noveboracense. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris noveboracensis. (L.) A. Gray. THELYPTERIS NOVEBORACENSIS. (L.) Nieuwl. 12. Aspidium simulatum. Davenp. Dryopteris simulata. Davenp. THELYPTERIS SIMULATA. (Davenp.) Nieuwl. 13. Aspidium spinulosum. (O.F. Muell.) Sw. Dryopteris spinulosa. (O.F. Muell.) Kuntze. THELYPTERIS SPINULOSA. (O.F. Muell.) Nieuwl. 14. Aspidium spinulosum var. intermedium. (Muhl.) D.C. Eaton. Dryopteris spinulosa var. intermedia. (Muhl.) Underw. THELYPTERIS SPINULOSA var. INTERMEDIA. (Muhl.) Nieuwl. 15. Aspidium spinulosum var. concordianum. (Davenp.) Eastman. THELYPTERIS SPINULOSA var. CONCORDIANA. (Davenp.) Weatherby. 16. Aspidium spinulosum var. dilatatum. (Hoff.) Gray. Dryopteris spinulosa var. dilatata. (Hoff.) Underw. THELYPTERIS SPINULOSA var. AMERICANA. (Fisch.) Weatherby. 17. Aspidium thelypteris. (L.) Sw. Dryopteris thelypteris. (L.) A. Gray. THELYPTERIS PALUSTRIS. Schott.

ASPLENIUM L.

18. Asplenium Bradleyi. D.C. Eaton. 19. Asplenium platyneuron. (L.) Oakes. Asplenium ebeneum. Ait. 20. Asplenium ebenoides. R.R. Scott. 21. Asplenium montanum. Willd. 22. Asplenium parvulum. Mart, and Gal. Asplenium resiliens. Kze. 23. Asplenium pinnatifidum. Nutt. 24. Asplenium Ruta-muraria. L. 25. Asplenium Trichomanes. L. 26. Asplenium viride. Huds.

ATHYRIUM. ROTH

27. ATHYRIUM ACROSTICHOIDES. (Sw.) Diels. Asplenium acrostichoides. Sw. Asplenium thelypteroides. Michx. 28. ATHYRIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM. (Michx.) Milde. Asplenium angustifolium. Michx. Asplenium pycnocarpon. Spreng. 29. ATHYRIUM ANGUSTUM. (Willd.) Presl. Athyrium filix-femina. American Authors not Roth. Asplenium filix-femina. American Authors not Bernh. 30. ATHYRIUM ASPLENIOIDES. (Michx.) Desv.

BOTRYCHIUM. SW.

31. Botrychium lanceolatum. (Gmel.) Angstroem. BOTRYCHIUM ANGUSTISEGMENTUM. (Pease and Moore.) Fernald. 32. BOTRYCHIUM DISSECTUM. Spreng. Botrychium obliquum var. dissectum. (Spreng.) Clute. 33. Botrychium obliquum. Muhl. BOTRYCHIUM DISSECTUM var. OBLIQUUM. (Muhl.) Clute. 34. Botrychium lunaria. (L.) Sw. 35. Botrychium ramosum. (Roth.) Aschers. Botrychium matricariæfolium. A. Br. Botrychium neglectum. Wood. 36. Botrychium simplex. E. Hitchcock. 37. Botrychium ternatum. (Thunb.) Sw. Var. intermedium. D.C. Eaton. Botrychium obliquum var. intermedium. (D.C. Eaton.) Underw. 38. Botrychium virginianum. (L.) Sw.

CAMPTOSORUS. LINK

39. Camptosorus rhizophyllus. (L.) Link.

CHEILANTHES. SW.

40. Cheilanthes alabamensis. (Buckley.) Kunze. 41. Cheilanthes Féei. Moore. Cheilanthes lanuginosa. Nutt. 42. Cheilanthes lanosa. (Michx.) Watt. Cheilanthes vestita. Sw. 43. Cheilanthes tomentosa. Link.

CRYPTOGRAMMA.R. BR. 44. Cryptogramma densa. (Brack.) Diels. Pellæa densa. (Brack.) Hook. 45. Cryptogramma Stelleri. (Gmel.) Prantl. Pellæa gracilis. (Michx.) Hook. 46. Cryptogramma acrostichoides. R. Br.

CYSTOPTERIS. BERNH. 47. Cystopteris bulbifera. (L.) Bernh. Filix bulbifera. (L.) Underw. 48. Cystopteris fragilis. (L.) Bernh. Filix fragilis. (L.) Underw.

DENNSTÆDTIA L'HER. 49. DENNSTÆDTIA PUNCTILOBULA. (Michx.) Moore. Dicksonia pilosiuscula. Willd.

LYGODIUM SW. 50. Lygodium palmatum. (Bernh.) Sw.

NOTHOLÆNA.R. BR. 51. Notholæna dealbata. (Pursh.) Kunze. Notholæna nivea var. dealbata. (Pursh.) Davenp.

ONOCLEA L. 52. Onoclea sensibilis. L. 53. Onoclea Struthiopteris. (L.) Hoff. Struthiopteris Germanica. Willd. Matteuccia Struthiopteris. (L.) Todaro. PTERETIS NODULOSA. (Michx.) Nieuwl.

OPHIOGLOSSUM. (TOURN.) L.

54. Ophioglossum vulgatum. L. Ophioglossum vulgatum var. minus. Moore. 55. Ophioglossum Engelmanni. Prantl.

OSMUNDA.L. 56. Osmunda cinnamomea. L. 57. Osmunda Claytoniana. L. 58. Osmunda regalis. L. OSMUNDA REGALIS var. SPECTABILIS. (Willd.) Gray.

PELLÆA. LINK 59. Pellæa atropurpurea. (L.) Link. 60. Pellæa glabella. Mett.

PHEGOPTERIS FÉE 61. Phegopteris Dryopteris. (L.) Fée. THELYPTERIS DRYOPTERIS. (L.) Slosson. 62. Phegopteris hexagonoptera. (Michx.) Fée. THELYPTERIS HEXAGONOPTERA. (Michx.) Weatherby. 63. Phegopteris polypodioides Fée. THELYPTERIS PHEGOPTERIS. (L.) Slosson. Phegopteris Phegopteris. (L.) Underw. 64. Phegopteris Robertiana. (Hoff.) A. Br. Phegopteris calcarea. Fée. THELYPTERIS ROBERTIANA. (Hoff.) Slosson.

POLYPODIUM.L. 65. Polypodium vulgare. L. 66. Polypodium polypodioides. (L.) Watt. Polypodium incanum. Sw.

POLYSTICHUM. ROTH

67. Polystichum acrostichoides. (Michx.) Schott. Aspidium acrostichoides. Sw. Dryopteris acrostichoides. (Michx.) Kuntze. 68. Polystichum Braunii. (Spenner.) Fée. Dryopteris Braunii. (Spenner.) Underw. Aspidium aculeatum var. Braunii. Doel. 69. Polystichum Lonchitis. (L.) Roth. Aspidium Lonchitis. Sw. Dryopteris Lonchitis. Kuntze.

PTERIS.L.

70. Pteris aquilina. L. Pteridium aquilinum. (L.) Kuhn. PTERIDIUM LATIUSCULUM. (Desv.) Maxon. PTERIDIUM LATIUSCULUM var. PSEUDOCAUDATUM. (Clute.) Maxon.

SCHIZÆA.J.E. SMITH

71. Schizæa pusilla. Pursh. 72. Scolopendrium vulgare. J.E. Smith. PHYLLITIS SCOLOPENDRIUM. (L.) Newman.

TRICHOMANES.L.

73. Trichomanes radicans. Sw. Trichomanes Boschianum. Sturm.

WOODSIA.R. BY.

74. Woodsia glabella. R. Br. 75. Woodsia alpina. (Bolton.) S.F. Gray. Woodsia hyperborea. R. Br. 76. Woodsia ilvensis. (L.) R. Br. 77. Woodsia Cathcartiana. B.L. Robinson. 78. Woodsia obtusa. (Spreng.) Torr. 79. Woodsia oregana. D.C. Eaton. 80. Woodsia scopulina. D.C. Eaton.

WOODWARDIA.J.E. SMITH 81. Woodwardia virginica. Sm. 82. Woodwardia areolata. (L.) Moore. Woodwardia angustifolia. Sm.

THE PETRIFIED FERN

In a valley, centuries ago, Grew a little fern-leaf green and slender, Veining delicate and fibers tender, Waving when the wind crept down so low; Rushes tall and moss and grass grew round it, Playful sunbeams darted in and found it, Drops of dew stole down by night and crowned it. But no foot of man e'er came that way-- Earth was young and keeping holiday.

Monster fishes swam the silent main, Stately forests waved their giant branches, Mountains hurled their snowy avalanches, Mammoth creatures stalked across the plain, Nature reveled in grand mysteries; But the little fern was not of these, Did not slumber with the hills and trees, Only grew and waved its wild, sweet way; No one came to note it day by day.

Earth, one time, put on a frolic mood, Heaved the rocks and changed the mighty motion Of the deep, strong currents of the ocean; Moved the plain and shook the haughty wood, Crushed the little fern in soft, moist clay, Covered it and hid it safe away. Oh, the long, long centuries since that day! Oh, the changes! Oh, life's bitter cost! Since the useless little fern was lost.

Useless? Lost? There came a thoughtful man Searching Nature's secrets far and deep; From a fissure in a rocky steep He withdrew a stone o'er which there ran Fairy pencilings, a quaint design, Leafage, veining, fibers clear and fine, And the fern's life lay in every line! So, I think, God hides some souls away, Sweetly to surprise us the last day!--M.B. BRANCH.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Fern Lover's Companion, by George Henry Tilton