172 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



are properly treated. I shall pftceed to classify all tlie species I 

 am acquainted with as to the lowest temperature they will bear 

 without injury, adding a few notes that may be of use or interest, 

 as the naaies suggest the necessity of remarks. 



HABDT ADIANTUMS. 



A. capillus veneris, the true maidenhair, is exquisitely beautiful, 

 and it is always the ambition of the fern-grower to do justice to it. 

 Nothing can be easier than the cultivation of this fern, provided it 

 is in the enjoyment of shade, moisture, warmth, and a suitable soil. 

 Those who" possess the " Garden Oracle " for 1866, will find there 

 the best code I can propose for its cultivation. It will grow freely 

 amongst the bricks inside a warm well, and on the brick wall of a 

 stove it will spread in a sheet of the loveliest verdure. In a cool 

 greenhouse or a frame it may be kept in perfect health, if secured 

 against sunshine and in a humid atmosphere. Many fail through 

 soddening the roots with water ; in truth, the roots must be com- 

 paratively dry, but the atmosphere must be moist, and care must be 

 taken not to wet the fronds in cold weather. The best soil for it 

 when grown in pots is one consisting of equal parts peat, sand, and 

 broken freestone. 



A. capillus veneris cuneatum. — This is a delicate variety, a plant 

 of which I received last year from Mr. Sim. The pinnules have not 

 the bold orbicular form of the original, but are narrow wedge- 

 shaped, and of a pale green. It is very pretty, and more tender 

 than the species. I have several varieties with large pinnules, col- 

 lected on the Continent — notably a fine one from the Colosseum, 

 in Eome — but they do not difi"er sufficiently to be named as varieties. 



A. pedatuni. — This is tlie best of all the adiantums for a beginner, 

 as it will bear many degrees of frost without sufi"ering, and has all 

 the true grace of the family to which it belongs. If planted out in 

 the open-air fernery, let it be in a position sheltered from wind and 

 sun, and where stagnant water will not lodge. 



GEEEKHOrSE ADIANTUMS. 



A. assimile. — Many growers make mistakes in the identification 

 of this fern. As A. cuneatum is well known, the form of the 

 frond will give a key to the identification of this species, but the pin- 

 nules are rounder than those of cuneatum, and it has fast creeping 

 stems, so that it never forms a close round tuft. It is very beauti- 

 ful, and requires a rather warm house to do well. A. assimile and 

 A. ^Ethiopicum are one and the same. 



A. affine. — This also rises from creeping stems, and it most 

 nearly resembles A.formosum — indeed, bears a very close resemblance 

 to that species. Makes a fine specimen, and requires a warm green- 

 house. This and assimile have been several times planted in the cool 

 fern-house that was figured and described in the Flokal Wokld for 

 January, 1806, but they have never got through the winter well, and 

 have generally been renewed in spring. 



A. cuneatum. — This most delicate, yet most sumptuous fern may 



