S Leonard Bastin

How to Know the Ferns S Leonard Bastin

Apart from a few exceptions the Vascular Cryptogams are mostly perennial in habit. In many cases other means of reproduction are available than the agency of spores. It is believed that the Bracken Fern is rarely reproduced by its spores. The increase of this plant seems to be very effectively carried out by means of the strong growing underground stems which shoot about in all directions. The Horsetails commonly propagate themselves in the same way, and it is this which makes them so difficult to eradicate in the garden. In the case of many Ferns a common mode of increase is that of budding off new plants on the leaf. The well-known New Zealand species, Asplenium bulbiferum, produces little buds on its fronds; these grow into small plants, so that each leaf may be responsible for dozens of new individuals. An even more singular case is the so-called Walking Fern from North America (Scolopendrium rhizophyllum), which bears long, tapering leaves something like our Hartstongue. These bend over in such a way that their tips touch the ground; on the point of the frond a bud is developed.