FERNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 6 (Supplement)

FERNS.

HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.

j Terns differ from the ordinary plants of the gaj-den and wood in the way they are produced. As you know, to have seeds a plant must first have flowers; but the fern i 3 flowerless. How, then, do the young plants arise* On the under surface of the fronds you may see lines of tiny brown dots or scales. With a magnifying glass you can see that each scale has a little stalk by which it is attached to the leaf, and underneath are very minute cases containing grains so fine that they resemble dust. These grains are called spores, and when they i are ripe the cases burst and scatter the spores in the air. When the spore falls on a moist surface it begins to grow, and presently it develops into a little [ plant not at all like a fem, but flat and ' thin, with no roots or stem. This is ! known as the prothallus, from the Greek words "pro" (before) and "thallus" (a young shoot), meaning that it comes before the young fern. The prothallus has different-' organs from the parent fern, and by and by it becomes the parent of another fern, so that the first fern is npt really the parent; but the grandparent of the next one. Owing to this peculiarity of ferns, it was thought in olden times that they produced seed, but that it was invisible. Fern seed was supposed to possess magic powers, and it was said that whoever carried it with him would not only be rendered invisible to others, while able to see and hear everything, but that he could work many other wonders, such as recovering lost treasure, command the wind and waves and defy the devil. The seed could, however, be only gathered at 12 o'clock on Midsummer Night. _