272 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN" GUIDE. 



than the species ; Dickieana, occasionally forked, but inconstant ; 

 sempervirens, which is evergreen when protected. Cystopteris regia 

 produces no varieties, but it would be an injustice to pass it by 

 without mention, for it is an exquisitely graceful subject, and when 

 quite established in an elevated part of the hardy fei'nery will take 

 care of itself, and endure all weathers with impunity. 



Lastrea cristata may stand upon its own merits for grace and 

 vigorous habit, but there are three varieties of it named — -spinulosa, 

 spinulosa nana, and uliginosa, the last a truly fine fern. L. dilata, 

 which in a large state nearly equals the Lady Fern in beauty, has 

 several curious forms ; the best are com pacta, with very broad 

 pinnae at the base of each frond, overlapping pinnules, and the 

 pinnules run together in a leafy or almost leathery mass the greater 

 part of their length ; grandidens, distinctly toothed ; lepidota, with 

 triangular fronds very elegantly divided. But we come now to 

 Lastrea filix-mas, the most useful of all the British ferns, because it 

 will grow in any soil, and with no attention at all, is always grace- 

 ful, almost evergreen in mild seasons, and constantly increases by 

 spreading crowns, that it may be divided and divided ad infinitum 

 Here we have the lovely cristata, the finest hardy fern sport known ; 

 paleacea, with ti'ee-feru like habit, and remarkably rich in appear- 

 ance, owing to the abundance of its brown scales ; polydactyla, a 

 fine crested form ; and Schofieldii, a diminutive form well adapted 

 for Wardian cases. Lastrea thelypteris must not be forgotten by 

 the cultivator of hardy ferns ; it should be secured among the first 

 select few in forming the collection, and the best place for it is in a 

 moist shady sheltered nook in a rockery out of doors ; wind and 

 spring frosts are its principal enemies. 



The British species of Polypody are all fine subjects ; even the 

 common Polypodium vulgare, growing in a large mass among the 

 forks of a pollard alder, or covering a tree butt or rustic archway, is 

 as handsome as any fern we have, especially when smothered with 

 its orange-tinted fruit. We grow this commonest of ferns in large 

 shallow pans filled with cocoa-nut waste, and it spreads rapidly and 

 luxuriantly, and almost rivals Davallia canariensis when the pans are 

 clutched all round with its tawn}' claws. P. Dryopteris, phegopteris, 

 and alpestre are all equally at home in the hardy fernery, or on 

 rock work under glass, and grow luxuriously in silky loam or leaf- 

 mould. Of P. alpestre there are two well-known varieties, one of 

 which, called flexile, is a very elegant object, the fronds prostrate, 

 tapering, and lance-shaped, and of a delicate light green. P. vulgare 

 is remarkably strong in varieties, many of them invaluable for deco- 

 rative purposes, and for exhibition. We begin with cambricum, the 

 well-known AVelsh Polypody, with its broad fronds much divided, 

 overlapping lobes, exquisite pale green colour. Crenatum, with its 

 broad wavy fronds, is also a fine thing for pot culture, or for filling 

 a conspicuous gap in a tree stump or bank. Cristatum is worthy of 

 its name, a grand crested Polypody, often resembling the Lastrea 

 f. ra. of the same name, and as distinct as it is handsome. Deltoi- 

 deum has noble fronds six inches wide, nearly triangular, the lobes 

 very curiously toothed and cut, and of noble stature. Omnilacerum 



