The Bladder Ferns. Cystópteris
“Mark ye the ferns that clothe these dripping rocks,
Their hair-like stalks, though trembling ’neath the shock
Of falling spraydrops, rooted firmly there.”
The bladder ferns are a dainty, rock-loving family partial to a limestone soil. (The Greek name cystópteris means bladder fern, so called in allusion to the hood-shaped indusium.)
(1) THE BULBLET BLADDER FERN