44 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



to Adiantum Farleyense, and it is not at all surprising that every- 

 one who has had a share in introducing it to the notice of English 

 cultivators should be jealous of any diminution of the credit due to 

 them. The name reminds us of Farley Hill, in the island of Barbadoes 

 the residence of T. Gr. Briggs, Esq., where it was first found. It is a 

 question of some interest, what is Adiantum Farleyense ? The pro- 

 babilities are all in favour of its being a form of A. tenerum, and it 

 is generally accepted as such — and a very remarkable form it is truly. 

 There is another question — Does it ever produce spores ? Mr. 

 Robert Veitch raised a batch of seedlings from supposed spores, and 

 the result was not true Earleyense plants, but the quite new and 

 beautiful fern, named Adiantum scutum (Hibberd), syn. A. Gliies- 

 Ireghtii. It is alleged by cultivators who possess large specimens of 

 Farleyense, that it never produces a fertile pinnule, yet, if it does 

 not, whence came A. scutum, which is as much like a form of 

 tenerum as Farleyense itself? Our own opinion is that it does pro- 

 duce true spores occasionally, and that as it is itself in all proba- 

 bility a hybrid, so its offspring will deviate from itself, and, while 

 retaining a certain trace of the tenerum type, will probably give us 

 new editions and variations of the three forms by which the type is 

 represented, namely, tenerum, Farleyense, and scutum. 



To grow this grand fern stove heat is essential. It will live in a 

 warm greenhouse, and is a good fern for a case, kept in a warm 

 room. But to bring out its magnificent properties a damp, shady 

 part of the stove is required. Like others of its family, it is never 

 benefited by being wetted overhead, and it loves a still air and a 

 steady temperature. 



52. Adiantum concinnum excisum multifidum. — This is a true sport 

 from concinnum, and one of the most elegant of all the Adiantums. 

 Its principal characteristic is its duplicated pinnules, which are 

 freely notched on the margin, and so abundantly produced, that 

 they overlap, and present a rich tasselled appearance. We met with 

 it at Mr. B. S. "Williams's Nursery, Holloway, where it originated 

 as a " chance seedling." Charming for warm greenhouse or stove, 

 but no use for the cool fernery. 



53. Lastrea patens. — This lovely fern has endured five winters 

 without aid of artificial heat, in Mrs. Hibberd's cool fernery, and we 

 now consider it one of the most select of the select varieties. It is 

 classed under JNephrodium in Hooker's " Synopsis Filicum," in 

 which work the generic name, " Lastrea," is entirely suppressed. The 

 alliances are N. pilosulum and N. albicaule, and Asplenium Brack- 

 enridgii comes very near it. The cultivator will rejoice over this fern 

 because of its ample spreading herbaceous soft-textured emerald-green 

 fronds, of a rich leafy character, and its comparative hardiness, as it 

 will bear a few degrees of frost with impunity. Nephrodium molle 

 is frequently grown under this name. It is trutht Lilly figured in 

 " Lowe's Ferns," (vol. vii., plate 3,) as Aspidium patens, but as is 

 common enough, the truthful picture falls far short of the beauty of 

 the plant. 



54. Polysticlmm setosum, syn. Nephrodium setosum. — There are 

 more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philo- 



