. Our ferns in their haunts; a guide to all the native species. Ferns. THE UNCOILING HE first call of Spring awakens the ferns. Before the last snow-banks have vanished from the shady hol- lows and while meadows are still bare and the woods deserted, the impa- tient young crosiers begin to stir the dead leaves in sheltered nooks. By the middle of April, in this latitude, millions are putting forth. Some, like tiny green serpents, uncoil in the shelter of rock or fallen log ; others hang from the shelves of mossy prec- ipices; while still others boldly appear along woodland streams, in
. Our ferns in their haunts; a guide to all the native species. Ferns. THE UNCOILING HE first call of Spring awakens the ferns. Before the last snow-banks have vanished from the shady hol- lows and while meadows are still bare and the woods deserted, the impa- tient young crosiers begin to stir the dead leaves in sheltered nooks. By the middle of April, in this latitude, millions are putting forth. Some, like tiny green serpents, uncoil in the shelter of rock or fallen log ; others hang from the shelves of mossy prec- ipices; while still others boldly appear along woodland streams, in fence corners and in open thickets, and soon the whole under-wood is filled with their waving pennons. When Thoreau wrote that " Nature made ferns for pure leaves, to show what she could do in that line " he voiced a thought which must often come to those who contemplate this beautiful race of plants. Whether it be a denizen of our own fields and woodlands or the lordly tree-ferns of the Tropics, we are obliged to confess that in these we have, indeed, " the proudest of all plants in the structure of their ; All the grace and beauty that may exist in mere leaves is here perfected and the title of "Nature's lacework" is well merited. Nature, however, is too clever to make all ferns beau-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Clute, Willard Nelson, b. 1869. New York, F. A. Stokes Co
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1901
