leaves; but since they produce, from some part of their
surface, what in their case stands in the place of flowers,
there is no more reason why they should be called leaves,
than the leaf-like stems of Cactuses, or those of some
curious hot-house plants called Xylophyllas, each of which
is an example of a plant bearing its flower on what appear
to be leaves, but which are in reality stems. The frond or
leafy part of a Pern is, however, not to be classed among
stems; and hence, since it is of intermediate character
between a leaf and a stem, a distinctive name seems to he
properly applied to it. The name in common use among
botanists is frond, which we shall therefore adopt, and recommend
our young friends to employ.
As there are no flowers produced by the Perns (we use
the term flower in its popular sense, without entering into
points of speculative botany), it is in the fronds that we must
seek for that ornamental aspect which renders them such
general favourites. The fronds alone, however, afford
almost endless variety:— some are very large, others very
small; some quite simple and not at all divided, others
divided beyond computation into little portions or segments,
and it is these much-divided fronds which, generally
speaking, are the most elegant.
Even in the fev/ species which are natives of Britain, this
variety of size and form is very obvious, some kinds not
being more than two or three inches, others five to six feet
or more in height,—some quite simple, and others cut
into innumerable small segments. There is much variety
of texture too : some being thin and delicate, almost transparent,
others thick and leathery, and some perfectly rigid;
some are pale green, some are deep green, some are blue-
green, some dark brownish, scarcely green at a ll; some are
smooth and shining, others opake, and some few are
covered with hair-like scales.
The duration of the fronds of many species is comparatively
short: they come up in spring, and in some cases
the earliest of them do not last till autumn, in others they
continue until touched by frost, from which the more
robust of them shrink, even as the tender sorts do from
drought as well as frost. Others are much more durable,
and the plants, if in a moderately sheltered situation,
become evergreen. These latter should be most extensively
adopted for culture where ornamental effect is an
object. We shall point out these peculiarities as we describe
the different species.
The fronds of Eerns consist of two parts—the leafy portion;