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and more through, the beautiful cutting of which must be 

 seen to be appreciated. In the corner to the left is the 

 ** King of the Male Ferns" (L. p. m. cvistata)^ with aa 

 eighteen-inch trunk, due to constant suppression of lateral 

 off-sets, which we have had over thirty years, and in the 

 opposite corner a larger but trunkless specimen oi L. p. m. 

 polydactyla Wills. Behind this, on a shelf, stands a half- 

 round cork receptacle with a roofing-slate back, in which, 

 for at least twenty-five years, a Lady Fern of the well- 

 crested Craigii persuasion has thriven without any change 

 of soil save now and then a handful or two by way of mulch 

 to make up for shrinkage. From holes left in the cork a 

 number of self-sown seedlings of several species protrude 

 and thrive without detriment to the Lady Fern aforesaid, 

 a curious example of persistent growth without special 

 attention, division, or shifting, for an extended period. At 

 this end of the conservatory, as companions to those named, 

 there are arranged on a series of step shelves or supported 

 on drain pipes as space demands, a fine specimen of the 

 original A . /./. Victoria; ^ the original A . f.f. pevcvistatum 

 Cousens, an immense plant about five feet across of P. ang. 

 plumosum Gviinmondii on the lines of the Jones and Fox 

 plumosums, a division of the original P. ang. acrocladon 

 received from Mr. Mapplebeck the finder, a few of 

 the choicest Drnevyii pevcristatiim Lady Ferns, an 

 immense specimen of P. aculeattim pulchevnimim , and last, 

 but by no means least, an original division of A. f.f. 

 Clavissima Jones, upon which apospory was first dis- 

 covered by the writer. In and among these are 

 smaller examples, including L. p. ;/;. finbriafa cvistata, 

 P. ang. pevcristatiim Moly, a charming fern with evenly- 

 crested pinnules, and Moly's P. ang. grandiceps^ a particu- 

 larly fine seedling form, while on shelves there are several 

 pans full of the new and promising brood of P. aculeatum 

 gvacillimum Drnery, which so unexpectedly sprang from 

 P. aculeatum pnlcherrimum a few years back, as described in 

 the first number of our " Gazette." 



