2()4 



tity, such as give this variety its peculiar charm. I am 

 now trying this out of doors, where, after the heat and 

 drought and stress of the past season it is now (October) 

 sending up its seductive fronds. We now come naturally 

 to the plnmoso-divisolohums — they seem to follow as a matter 

 of course, but they do not always respond to our benevolent 

 attentions. In the early summer they affect a promise 

 which they do not always fulfil. Perhaps that is because 

 we do not understand them. Anyhow they are beloved of 

 all the cult ; and if they have shortcomings we look at them 

 only to overlook them. At their best they know no rival 

 in our native species — in delicacy of cutting, dense imbri- 

 cation, and piled-up moss-like development. One could 

 not conceive their beauty — they must be known and grown 

 to receive their fullest appreciation. It is only necessary 

 to mention Gvimmondii and Esplan, or dissectum and foliosiim, 

 for they are all synonymous with vegetative beauty in the 

 highest degree. 



Gvimmondii, however, is one of those splendid forms 

 which under glass rarely complete their tips, and there- 

 fore give the cultivator some little cause for thought. Densum 

 Esplan, on the other hand, is probably too dense to always 

 bring about this very desirable achievement. Still it is 

 sometimes wayward in this respect, for recently I saw a 

 very good instance at Acton, in the fernery of Mr. J. H. 

 Wright. The plant also possessed a good colour and was 

 very well proportioned. Mr. Wright thinks it is all a 

 question of moisture, for pot and saucer were intimately 

 associated. The habit of this plant, too, is quite distinct, 

 and Mr. Druery's description of " star-fish-like " fits it well. 

 Possibly the highest phase of development has been reached 

 in the superb varieties of Jones and Fox. Here we have 

 Baldwinii, densum, imhricatnm, laxum and vohusinin, but the 

 greatest of these is Baldwinii. Moreover these are occasion- 

 ally sparsely fertile, and Mr. Druery is the fortunate 

 possessor of one which resulted from a batch of seedlings 

 raised from the original Baldwinii, irom the collection of the 



