C
iii
S. They are plants for the most part very easily culti-
vated, and of all others perhaps the best adapted to parlour
or window culture; and hence, besides the interest they may
excite in the collection and preservation of them in the
herbarium, and in the study of them in the dried state, there
is to be added the pleasure to he derived from their cultivation,
and the opportunities thus afforded of studying and
admiring them in the living state.
Those who desire a thorough knowledge of the species
of Ferns, should certainly, if possible, adopt the method of
study hist indicated, as it reveals many curious and interesting
featoes which are not to he learned from the
investigations-thongh patiently and assiduously prosec
u t e d -w h ic h are aided only by dried portions of the
plants. All the essential points necessary for the recognition
of the species, may, nevertheless, be availably present
in well-selected herbarium specimens, so that those who
have not convenience for cultivating them, may yet store
up in their cabinets ample materials for their amusement
and instruction in detached and leisure hours.
There is something peculiarly fascinating in the graceful
outline and disposition of parts, which is so cornmon
the Ferns as to have become associated in idea with this
portion of the vegetable creation. Gaudy colouring is
indeed absent, and they wear while in life and health
nothing beyond a livery of sober green, which can scarcely
be said to gain ornament from the brownish scales, with
which in some of our native species it is associated on the
living plant. In some exotic forms indeed, as for example
in the species of Gymnogramma, the lower surface is covered
more or less with a silvery or golden powder, which adds
considerably to their beauty; and in the wide range of
the “ Ferns of all nations ” there is considerable variety,
even of the tints of green, to be observed. The more sober-
tinted natives of our northern latitude can, however, boast
but of comparatively little such variety of hue. It is not,
therefore, in the colouring that their attractions rest; nor
is it in their endura,nce, for a large proportion of the native
species lose all their beauty as soon as the frost reaches
them, and for nearly one-half of the year are dormant unless
artificially sheltered. We therefore conclude, that it
is the elegant forms and graceful habits of the majority of
the Ferns, native and exotic, which render them so gene-
rally pleasing, even to those who are slow to perceive beauty
apart from rich and gaudy colouring.
The number of the native species of Ferns may be taken