September set in ere I again succeeded in visiting my
favourite wood. But Esther had agreed that I should do so if I would
first go with her as far as an old stone bridge spanning our dear brook
near to its juncture with the Swale, and from thence wend our way along
the banks of the brook, now on one side and now on the other, without
attempting to find any beaten path. I readily agreed to this, and we
reached the bridge in question. Esther insisted on our going under it,
and I was well rewarded for doing so. The archway formed the frame of a
wild picture of waterfall and drooping trees, with such a wealth of
golden flitting lights and deep still shadows, as might have been a rare
prize to any artist, and from the sides and top of the arch hung tufts
of the Black - stalked Spleenwort, and a very light feathery fern of a
different character. Eagerly gathering and examining some of these
fronds, I found the seed-masses covered by a delicate white envelope. It
just answered the description of the Bladder Fern. In the more advanced
specimens the cover was thrown off. The sharply cut leaflets, crisp dark
stalk, and light foliage, made me feel satisfied that my new friend was
the Brittle Bladder-Fern. (Cystopteris Fragilis, fig. 2.)
We had some difficulty in getting along the
brook-side. Again and again we had to cross the stream, springing from
one boulder to another. Where some rocks stood before an earthen bank,
overshadowed by bushes, I espied some more of the Brittle Bladder-Fern,
at least such I imagined it to be. But from its paler foliage, more
slightly cut leaflets, and more pliant stalk, I decided it to be the
Toothed Bladder- Fern, (Cystopteris Dentata, fig. 3.) Whether
this be a different fern, or only a variety of the Brittle one, I cannot
decide. I am inclined to think that its shaded position was the cause of
it differing from the one I had gathered off the bridge.
"I have a fern something like that in my fernery,"
Esther said; "but it is broader and shorter, and the foliage is more
dense. They told me it was something Dickieana, and I remembered it as a
kind of feminine Dicky. I will give you a frond of it, if you like."
"Thank you; I shall like it extremely. If it be
Dickie's Bladder-Fern, (Cystopteris Dickieana, fig. 4,) as, from
your description, I believe it is, it will be valuable, as another
member of the family which comes next to the Spleen-worts in order. I
see there are two other species, the Alpine Bladder - Fern and the
Mountain Bladder-Fern but there is no likelihood of our finding either
the one or the other."
We made our way to the foot-bridge, and I would fain
have followed the well-known path, but this, Esther said, would be a
breach of treaty, and I must continue on the margin of the stream. We
came to a very wet bank, where a spring sent a small quantity of water
to swell the brook; for many yards the low ground near the brook-side
was most unpleasantly swampy. I tried in vain to step only upon stones,
I was obliged to trust to a cushion of moss, and my foot sank ankle-deep
in water. But I could give no attention to the state of my boots, for
immediately before me. rose
a group of tall ferns, of so light and feathery a
form, and of so delicate a hue, that I felt a conviction at once strike
me that this must be the Lady-Fern. Shining drops of morning dew hung
heavily on its slender pimue, and weighed them down. The plant
was nearly two feet high, a blush of crimson relieved the pale green of
its stalk, and the grace of the group of fronds was exquisite. My glass
shewed clearly the tiny shield-shaped mass-covers fastened by the side,
instead of at the cut, as the Shield-Fern's covers were, to which family
the elegant Lady-Fern bears so strong a resemblance. The fronds were
lance-shaped. How it reminded me of Sir Walter Scott's description—
"Where the copse-wood is the greenest, "Where the
fountain glistens sheenest, "Where the morning dew lies longest, There
the Lady-Fern grows strongest." Esther told me that she knew that the
Lady-Fern was common in that neighbourhood, (Athy-rkan Filix Fcemina,
fig. 1 and a,) but it was rarer further north. She said it
was as abundant in Ireland as the Common Brake in England, and used like
it for packing fruit and fish.
Another path offering itself shortly after we had
passed the little bay, and leading up the hill on the side of the stream
near my cousin's house, Esther graciously permitted me to take it. The
wood here was very thick, and the ground very steep. In the deep shade
the three common Prickly-Ferns were growing luxuriantly, and the glossy
fronds of the well-known Hart's-tongue contrasted charmingly with the
lighter ferns around it. I gathered some specimens, as I was now ready
for it in the order of my collection, and dutifully explained the
peculiar characteristics to my lively pupil Esther.
"You see the seed-masses here are long and narrow,
and the covering splits up the middle."
"Oh yes, I see all that; but there is no use in
racking one's brains about the peculiarities of Hart's-tongue; every
child that has once had it pointed out will be sure to know it again,
whether there be any seed-masses, and covers, &c, or not. I have a plant
of the curled Hart's-tongue in my fernery—the frond is quite frilled on
each side, and I have seen one with the ends forked."
"Both these varieties are mentioned in our book, but
they are not permanent, so I don't care about them. The common
Hart's-tongue used to be valued as a medicine in England, and is still
so in France and Scotland." (Scolopendrium Officinale, fig. 5 and
c.) As we thus conversed, we reached the top of the wood, and climbing
over a wall, found ourselves in a good footpath. Following this, and
passing through gaps in the walls,—called stiles in that country, and
certainly invented before crinoline,— we entered a little copse
bordering on my cousin's grounds. Here, under the birch trees, grew
ferns of an entirely different description to any I had yet seen. Three
or four erect fronds, of about one foot in height, rose from the centre
of the plant, the pinnae narrow, and bearing a line of fruit on
either side of the mid-vein. Numerous fronds, with broader pinnce,
lay flat around the plant, and many more were half recumbent. None
of these drooping fronds had any seed upon them. I sat down on the dry
moss which covered the ground, and taking out my book, began a careful
investigation, Esther watching me curiously. "It is the Hard-Fern," I
said, after a while, meeting her inquiring look. "There are fruitful and
barren fronds,—the one erect, the other drooping. The seed is in lines,
and the covering splits towards the mid-vein. It is sometimes called
Fox-Fern, and I do think it has a foxy smell." {Bleck-num Boreale,
fig. 6 and d.)
"You have been lucky to-day," said Esther. "Six new
species are added to your collection. Pray do they come in the right
order?"
"Yes, exactly right; they all belong to the great
family Aspidiaceoe. But this is not a mere chance. I shut my eyes to the
ferns I do not yet want; and if I begin to examine one that does not
suit the gap I wish it to fill, I turn away from it as soon as I am
convinced of its unsuitability. This is my way of keeping my head
clear."
"Your plan is good for this neighbourhood," she
replied, "which is so rich in ferns, that you can have what you please
just when you want it. But you must not linger in filling up your
collection, at least if you adhere to your determination of leaving next
week."
I sighed at the heavy thought of parting, but I knew
it must be. It would be time enough, however, to grieve over that when
the day came; for I felt that the same plan which kept my head clear in
study, that of confining my attention to the point presented at the
moment, would keep my mind clear and my heart cheerful also, according
to the infallible counsel of the Omniscient Teacher —"Sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof."