. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. FERNS—HARDY AND EXOTIC. 345 Improved Joint raised by Mr, Pa sons. formal form of species. Plumose sports. any such thin cover as is usually present in other species. All Ferns with similar naked round heaps are Polypodies, and so on. We seem, however, to he forgetting the flowers, hut in point of fact we are coming to thorn. The little grains contained in all the capsules are called spores, to distinguish them from seeds produced by flowers. The spore when it falls upon a moist spot does not, as wou
. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. FERNS—HARDY AND EXOTIC. 345 Improved Joint raised by Mr, Pa sons. formal form of species. Plumose sports. any such thin cover as is usually present in other species. All Ferns with similar naked round heaps are Polypodies, and so on. We seem, however, to he forgetting the flowers, hut in point of fact we are coming to thorn. The little grains contained in all the capsules are called spores, to distinguish them from seeds produced by flowers. The spore when it falls upon a moist spot does not, as would a seed, throw out a root and one or two leaves, and start at once as a plant like its parent, hut it pushes out a little row of green cells which multiply and spread into a small heart-shaped scale about the size of a herring scale. This forms root hairs to attach it to the soil and nourish it, and this being done, if we detach it, turn it over, and look underneath, using a good magnifying glass, we shall find the flowers at last, and shall no longer wonder at the blindness of our forefathers, for, apart from the fact that this little scale had not been recognised as connected with Ferns at all, the flowers when found turn out to be simple, apparent pimples of two kinds, one round, numerous, and scattered all about among the root hairs, the other t e a t -1 i k e, a n d crowded together near the indentation of the heart. These two, however, between them fulfil all the functions of flowers, and eventually a fertilised seed finds itself at the base of the longer pimples, and from this up springs a Fern proper as proof that the flowers have done their work'. In the ordinary course the youngster in due time becomes a little "chip of the old block," and cannot be discriminated in any way from the thousands of its kindred around it, but this is not always the case. Dame Nature every now and again—how we know not— infuses the power into the Fern to build itself up i
Size: 1429px × 1749px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgardening, bookyear19
