The illustrations have been carefully selected; many of them from original
negatives bequeathed to the author by his friend, Henry Lincoln Clapp,
pioneer and chief promoter of school gardens in America. Some have been
photographed from the author's herbarium, and from living ferns. A few
are from the choice herbarium of Mr. George E. Davenport, and also a few
reprints have been made from fern books, for which due credit is given. The
Scott's spleenwort, on the dedication page, is reprinted from Clute's "Our
Ferns in Their Haunts."




INTRODUCTION


Thoreau tells us, "Nature made a fern for pure leaves." Fern leaves are in
the highest order of cryptogams. Like those of flowering plants they are
reinforced by woody fibres running through their stems, keeping them erect
while permitting graceful curves. Their exquisite symmetry of form, their
frequent finely cut borders, and their rich shades of green combine to make
them objects of rare beauty; while their unique vernation and method of
fruiting along with their wonderful mystery of reproduction invest them
with marked scientific interest affording stimulus and culture to the
thoughtful mind. By peculiar enchantments these charming plants allure the
ardent Nature-lover to observe their haunts and habits.

"Oh, then most gracefully they wave
In the forest, like a sea,
And dear as they are beautiful
Are these fern leaves to me."