Where to find ferns : with a special chapter on The ferns round London / by Francis George Heath.
- Francis George Heath
- Date:
- 1885
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Where to find ferns : with a special chapter on The ferns round London / by Francis George Heath. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![be the district—that may not result in the finding of some ferns which may be none the less valued because they are common. The rarity of a find does, however, un- tjuestionably give pleasure to the majority of fern-hunters. And such brief outings as have been referred to are sure to have great zest given to them by the possibility of finding a prize as the result of a minute and careful search in such places as those indicated in the im- mediately succeeding pages. If, now, we can pictorially as well as verbally indicate the places in which the fern-lover may expect to find the object of his quest, we shall, we trust, impart a new ]5leasure to a delightful pursuit. First, then, let us take the ever-abundant and delightful Bracken {Pteris aquiUnd) (page 22), which with feathery grace and beauty drapes wide areas of common, moor, and forest, fringing paths for miles in open glade and shady woodland path, as hardy and luxuriant as it is beautiful. It loves the sun as no fern does, and even in sunlit forest glades will sometimes rise so high on either side as to hide the tallest passer-by. It is by far the most abundant of all its kind, and is the most familiar to those who know least how to distinguish a fern from another plant. On page 24 is a little peep of the Doone Glen, ren- dered immortal by Mr. Blackmore's fascinating story of Lorna Doone.'' Upon just such upland slopes as those which rise from the stream that winds through this moor- land, the Bracken would be found, and down by the water's margin, in little stony but rich and moist nooks, one might look with confidence for the delightfully-scented golden green Mountain Buckler Fern {Lasirea montnna). In similar nooks along the stream-bank, often growing in clumps with the Mountain Buckler Fern, would be also found the Hard Fern {Bkchnuin spicant). Under shelter of the trees, shown in the foreground of the lecture, yet coying down as near as possible to the moor- land stream the Hartstonguc {Scolopcndriiiin vii/gare)](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21498842_0033.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
