THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



25 



constituted is to suspend it. When 

 grown in a basket in a warm green- 

 house it soon forms a flue specimen, 

 the tawny rhizome creeps about 

 wildly, and soon covers the basket 

 with a beautiful complexity of cord- 

 like windings, and from every part of 

 it, except the young pushing shoots of 

 the season, barren and fertile fronds 

 are produced in plenty. To increase 

 it is easy enough ; cut off a portion 

 of rhizome with fronds and roots at- 

 tached ; pot it in the same sort of 

 mixture as is recommended for spe- 

 cimen plants, and give it proper en- 

 couragement, and it will soon make a 

 plant. 



It has a host of synonymes, The 

 principal of them are Phlebodium 

 stigmatica (Presl.), Polypodium stig- 

 maticum (PresL), and Polypodium 

 Jlcekeanum (Sprengel). 



Polypodium pJiyllitidis (Linnams, 

 Kunze). — Mr. Lowe very aptly de- 

 signates this the " Hart's tongue fern 

 of the tropics," on account of its hart's- 

 tongue-like appearance. It is, how- 

 ever, in no way related to scolopen- 

 drium, but is a true polypody. In 

 habit and growth this is a very dis- 

 tinct, and in every way a fine fern. 

 The fronds are erect, simple, undu- 

 lated, lanceolate-acuminate, and of 

 stout texture ; the sori plentifully 

 produced, and follow the transverse 

 direction of the veins, producing a 

 very rich display of orange colouring. 

 The rhizome is scaly and creeping, 

 but it does not travel far, making 

 several short spurs " close home," 

 from which, after a time, fronds pro- 

 ceed. The fronds average two to two 

 and a-half feet in length. 



Mr. Lowe describes it as " an ever- 

 green stove species," but it is much 

 more at home in the greenhouse, and 

 it answers admirably in a case, with 

 the aid of a little artificial heat in 

 winter, and moderate ventilation at 

 all seasons. To grow this fern well it 

 should have a rich, gritty soil, such 

 as mellow loam, turfy peat, silver 

 sand, and pounded potsherds. With 

 plenty of water all the growing season, 

 and good drainage at all times, it at- 

 tains its full stature and beauty in 

 ordinary greenhouse temperature, and 

 will bear to be fully exposed to the 



light, needing only moderate shade in 

 the height of summer. It has the 

 good quality, however, of doing well 

 under almost any circumstances, ex- 

 cept exposure to damp and cold, and 

 the nature of the soil is of little con- 

 sequence, provided the plant is nei- 



EOLTPODlril PHSLLITIDIS. 



ther frozen nor water-logged. But 

 when subjected to treatment other 

 than generous, it makes less growth, 

 and the fronds do not rise more than 

 a foot or so ; they are still, however, 

 even then beautiful. I find it prosper 

 in a Wardian case, and in winter it 



