110 THE FLORIST. 



REMARKS ON BRITISH FERNS. 



NO. II. 



[Continued from p. G9.] 



1. Lastr^ea Filix mas. — In this we have a Fern of extremely easy 

 culture, in short we find it growing in almost every soil and situa- 

 tion ; nevcrtlieless it prefers shaded hedge-banks and woods where the 

 soil is of a rich sandy loam, and where it luxuriates beautifully, pro- 

 ducing fronds in many instances two to three feet high ; it therefore 

 requires no peat, and will do and look exceedingly well if planted 

 by the sides of shady walks, in shrubberies, &c. Of this grace- 

 ful though common Fern I possess a very old specimen, under the 

 name of Aspidium cristatum ; but whether it was considered by the 

 cryptogamists of those far by- gone days identical with the following, 

 the present L. cristata, or not, I am not at present prepared to assert, 

 as I suspect I was then paying but very little attention to such mat- 

 ters ; however, if they did so consider them, to be truly charitable, 

 we must forgive the little error, for really, in some stages of their 

 growth, they approach so closely to each other, as almost to baffle 

 detection. Lastrcca filix mas of itself is a very distinct Fern, and 

 need not be confounded with any other species, more especially as the 

 different varieties of it, if such they may be called, hitherto detected, 

 have not, so far as my knowledge goes, proved constant, but, after 

 a few years of cultivation, have run into the original form. 



2. L. CRISTATA. — This is altogether as difficult as the preceding 

 is easy of cultivation, which in some measure may arise from its 

 habitat, being truly an inhabitant of bogs ; in fine, it all but resists 

 cultivation, as I have subjected it to several methods, with nearly 

 an equal degree of bad success. To bring it, however, as near as 

 possible to its native habitat, I tried bog and sand, which proved a 

 complete failure, as the roots did not in any instance adhere to the 

 fresh soil, but gradually retired from the field of cultivation altoge- 

 ther. Consequently I would recommend it to be planted in light 

 sandy soil, where the roots will not so readily damp-off before adher- 

 ing to it ; but even here it will never acquire that state of growth 

 which it does in its native bogs. This, however, is not the only in- 

 stance I shall have to record in the course of my remarks, as I con- 

 sider that many of the species of British Ferns affecting to grow in 

 moist or boggy soils are more or less difficult in cultivation. The 

 diflEiculty alone in the cultivation of L. cristata, compared with that of 

 L. filix mas, would almost induce me to consider them distinct, as 

 cultivation is not, in my opinion, a bad criterion to go by in cases 

 of apparently too near affinity. I had almost forgotten to say that 

 I had no better success with my potted roots, which were in peat 

 and silver-sand. 



3. L. RiGiDA. — This is really a beautiful Fern, and will succeed 

 well in one-third peat and two-thirds light sandy loam. I here re- 

 commend loam to predominate in the composition wherein it is in- 

 tended to grow British Ferns, as it gets firm much sooner than peat. 



