One of my favorite fern authors is Francis George Heath (1843-1913). A prolific writer, he was keen on popularizing ferns with a well-honed eye and wit. He wrote at least one book about ferns for children and in all his books, he encourages fern tourism. His favorite destination was his home shire of Devon, located in the west of England with long, wild coasts on both the English and Bristol Channels.
In “The Fern World” (1877), he explains his reasoning behind this push for seeking ferns in situ. “It is too frequently the custom of our botanical writers to describe with painstaking minuteness only the structure and peculiarities of the organs of plants—but tell us nothing of the life of the plants.” He was fond of pointing out contrasts, whether it be to distinguish between the rugged scenery of Devon and the “pretty, and quiet, and pastoral” look of Somerset directly to the east, or between a “Lady Fern” (Athyrium filix-faemina) and the “Male Fern” (Dryopteris filix-mas) included in the same plate. Of the former he comments, “Poets may fairly claim the right to describe the Lady Fern; for this beautiful plant is unquestionably the fairest and most delicately graceful of ferny forms, whether large or small.” He describes the “Male Fern” as so designated “on account of its remarkably erect and robust habit of growth.”
Excerpted from the Spring 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin