Flowerless plants; ferns, mushrooms, mosses, lichens, and seaweeds

THE SENSITIVE FERN
green fronds are. These leaflets look like little green
berries strung along the stems. They are so closely
rolled that one author in speaking of them says that
most ferns hold their spore cases in the open hand,
but the sensitive fern grasps them tightly in the
clenched fist. When the little pods are ripe they burst
open and the spores escape. But the fronds remain
erect until the next summer.
If we had walked along the banks of this stream in
the spring we should have seen our ferns in a very
different dress. A mass of tawny pink crosiers would
have nodded to us as much as to say, "How do you
like our looks ? " If you had then picked some and
examined them, you would have wanted to reply, "I
like your looks very much," for you would have found
much beauty in the uncoiling pink blades.
The sensitive fern loves the sunshine. While it
will grow in the woods it very rarely bears spores
there. The plants that we have found in the shade
have had small fronds. They looked quite different
from the large, coarse plants growing in the sun.
Some very old books speak of this fern as dragon's
bridges. Isn't that a queer name? No one
seems to know why it was so called.
The sensitive fern is found in nearly all parts of the
United States east of the Mississippi River, and in a
few places west of it. It also grows in Japan.
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