This picture is made up of pieces from at least 18 fern species, 7 mosses, one leafy liverwort and one lichen. The fern fronds make up the ‘floral’ part of the picture - the white-backed fronds are ponga, the dark circular fronds are kidney fern and the large basal clump, the bottom of the ‘bowl’, is a moss (Dicranoloma menziesii). The fern specimens are tastefully mounted on card in the manner of a conventional still-life arrangement and provide a further extension of the delicacy and complexity that ferns could be used. Like featherwork, an earlier pre-Victorian craze, ferns are used instead of paint to make a picture. With this craft it was preferable to create splendid, exotic birds rather than sparrow or thrushes.