. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. 344 THE CENTURY BOOK OF P. P. SUPERBUM. flower in some subtle fashion, and eventually produced so utter a separation between Fern and flower proper that in these days only a few dim traces of surviving links appear in the Cycads and the Maidenhair tree (Salisburia adiantifolia), ; and these only to the keen-eyed scientific botanist. Into this realm of abstr L1S6 l'6S6cirC h it is not our province to stray, but we may point out that it was only in 1840 that the mystery of Fern reproductio
. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. 344 THE CENTURY BOOK OF P. P. SUPERBUM. flower in some subtle fashion, and eventually produced so utter a separation between Fern and flower proper that in these days only a few dim traces of surviving links appear in the Cycads and the Maidenhair tree (Salisburia adiantifolia), ; and these only to the keen-eyed scientific botanist. Into this realm of abstr L1S6 l'6S6cirC h it is not our province to stray, but we may point out that it was only in 1840 that the mystery of Fern reproduction was solved by the discovery that practically they do produce flowers, though i no man had ever seen them until then, so microscopically small were they and situated in such an unexpected place. Ferns as we know them are on the average fairly large plants, since though some are very tiny and insignificant, others soar upwards to attain the majesty of trees and rival stately Palms in size and appearance. Hence on the one hand we have the beautiful little Tunbridge filmy Fern, forming a carpet of delicate Moss, and on the other the gigantic Dicksonias, Cyatheas, etc., which form the Fern forests of the antipodes. Small or large, however, the hunter for their flowers on these plants will be disappointed, no matter how keen his eyesight or powerful his lens. The so-called flowering Ferns—the Royal Fern, and exotic Osmundas, Anemias, and others—bear mere imitations of inflorescence, and on examination the apparent flower scapes resolve themselves into masses of little capsules containing an infinity of microscopic grains like seeds. If we pursue our search, we shall find every species of Fern to bear similar capsules and similar grains, though arranged in different fashions, usually on the under-sides of the fronds. In some they are arranged in lines, in others in dots, whilst in some forms they are spread out all over the surface, or in little cups on the edges, and so on in m
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