FEBRUARY. 51 



found the Asplenium lanceolatum, which hangs its fronds just above 

 high water-mark on the serpentine cliffs. We will this month also 

 search for the true Maidenhair Spleenwort {Asplen. trichomanes) , 

 which grows in a quarry near to Penryn, as also in a cave called 

 Carach Gladden, between Hayle and St. Ives ; and on our way 

 back we will turn out of the road before we reach Lostwithiel, and 

 see a curious form of the Male Yexn {Lastrea filix mas) in the garden 

 of the Rev. T. Grylls, at Luxulyon Vicarage ; it is hi and even tri- 

 pinnate, and is, I believe, the only plant of the species yet found 

 breaking into this monstrous form :* it is well worth a visit, as, 

 indeed, is the garden itself, an oasis amidst the wild rocky valley in 

 which it is situated, shewing that the Fern is in the hands of those 

 whose love of plants gives it a fair value and appreciation as a botani- 

 cal curiosity. 



Tregonning. Jesse Barragweneth. 



HERBACEOUS PEONIES. 



Peonies ! what old-fashioned spring-flowers ! reminding one of the 

 cottage- gardens in our rural districts, where they seem to grow like 

 wild flowers ; surely nothing can be written about them but what is 

 known, — no mysteries of culture, for they grow without it; what, then, 

 can be said about them to make an article for the Florist ? Let us 

 see, or rather think. It is just probable that some of your readers 

 may not know that, in common with all our flowers, very many new 

 varieties of Peonies have been raised from seed, prolonging the bloom- 

 ing season till June ; these I propose to describe, not forgetting our 

 old spring friends, too often neglected to be planted, — all they require ; 

 for in all soils and in all seasons they will, with a constancy rare 

 among garden-flowers, gladden our eyes in April with their rich and 

 gaudy blossoms. 



The very earliest species is the Pseonia tenuifolia, with its beauti- 

 ful hair-like leaves, each stem crowned with a crimson globe ; for 

 such is the appearance of its flowers before expansion, nestling as it 

 were among its leaves. P. tenuifolia latifolia and P. tenuifolia ful- 

 gida bloom in succession ; the latter is remarkable for the extreme 

 brilliancy of its flowers. So hardy are these species, particularly 

 the first, and so durable in tenacious soils, that a root will endure for 

 fifty years, and bloom constantly every season without cultivation. 

 I say this on the authority of my father and grandfather. The vari- 

 ety of this Rose with double flowers, P. tenuifolia flore pleno, is as 

 yet rare ; its flowers are too double to be beautiful, as they are crowded 

 with petals, so as to be irregular in shape. 



The single Peonies, with purple flowers of diflerent shades, suc- 



* A peculiar monstrosity o^ Lastrea filiv mas is growing in Kew, with all the 

 pinnai multifid at the apex throughout the whole frond: it was received from 

 Cornwall. 



