358 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. Ill, No. 3. 



ADAPTABILITY IN FERNS. 



\V. E. Whi.i.s. 



A few years ago while making a collection of Licking Counl\-, 

 Ohio, ferns, the idea of starting a fernery suggested itself. A 

 few of the common species had already been planted on the north 

 side of the house. To these more were added until a large num- 

 ber of the ferns of the country and some from distant localities 

 were making themselves at home in the door-yard. 



The house mentioned is at Granville, being built on the hill-side 

 and standing upon a terrace. The north side of the house faces 

 the bank which was made in cutting down to the terrace. There 

 is a space from six to eight feet wide between the liou.se and bank. 

 The rain-wash is carried off by a ditch at the base of the bank. 

 Only a few inches of the foundation of the house show above the 

 ground. The kitchen lieing narrower than the main part of the 

 house, an angle is formed. In this angle and all along the entire 

 length of the building the ferns are planted. The excavated 

 bank, the north exposure and the angle in the house, combine to 

 furnish the conditions favorable for ordinary fern growth. Shady 

 conditions do not, however, prevail throughout the entire da>-. 

 For during most of the year the morning and afternoon sun 

 shines along the north .side of the house, from one to four hours 

 a day ; the remainder of the time it is quite shady, and yet there 

 is no noticeable moisture. 



The method used in planting was to put the large, tall species 

 next to the house, and the smaller ones further forward. The 

 .soil was enriched occasionally and a little sand was also added. 

 In the driest summer months the ferns were watered occasionall>", 

 but beyond this they have received but little attention. At pres- 

 ent they are all in flouri.shing condition. Only one has 1)een lost, 

 Polypodium vulgare. It did well at first but died about six 

 months after it was transplanted. 



Propagation has been very active in man>- of the species. In 

 fact some have spread so rapidly as to endanger their less thrifty 

 neighbors. In such cases a weeding-out process became necessar\-. 



A few of the members of this unique colony deserve special 

 mention. Asplenium ruta-muraria was transplanted from the top 

 of an isolated limestone rock in Clifton Gorge, Greene Counl\-, 

 and is growing well in the totally different .soil and surroundings. 

 Osnuuida regalis was taken from a pond situated in a dense wood. 

 The roots and stems formed a large hunnnock in the center of the 

 pond. About a cubic foot of the root mass was taken with the 

 fronds for transplanting. In its new environment it has had 

 com])aratively little moisture, yet it grows (piite vigorously. 

 Ptllaea was taken from a crevice in the rocks, where there seemed 



