52 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



tliem on blocks of wood to which 

 they were attached, without removing 

 them or adding fresh soil, into the 

 most luxurious forms identical with 

 specimens found on wet shady banks, 

 simply by placing the blocks in the 

 shadiest part of a damp greenhouse, 

 where they were as nearly as possible 

 in the same condition as when found 

 growing wild in deep shady woods. 

 Yet, though so widely distributed, 

 this fern is rather fastidious as to soil 

 and climate. It never thrives unless 

 its roots can obtain a sufficiency of 

 real vegetable mould : but, where 

 there is a layer of three or four 

 inches in depth of decayed vegetable 

 fibre, the common polypody will live, 

 even if exposed to all the winds of 

 heaven, and to the full sunshine all 

 the year round. Hence, we find it 

 on dead and living trees, where ac- 

 cumulations of withered leaves pro- 

 vide it with the necessary pabulum ; 

 on old thatch, on walls, moist rocks, 

 and hollows in woods, wherever in 

 in fact vegetable mould can accumu- 

 late, but it is only when moist and 

 shaded that it attains perfection, 

 whether the soil be good or bad. 



To grow this fern, it is only ne- 

 cessary to bear in mind that, next to 

 a layer of vegetable soil, three or 

 four inches deep, on a damp bottom, 

 a moist atmosphere, and constant 

 shade are essential to its wellbeing. 

 Nothing suits it better than a tree 

 stump in vshich the process of decay 

 has already commenced ; and when 

 seen growing in the forks of old trees 

 and on trunks, roots, and the tops of 

 old pollards, it is one of the most 

 beautiful objects among all the race 

 of ferns, where beauty is by no means 

 rare. When grown in pots, plenty 

 of drainage is requisite, and the pots 

 may be partly tilled up with any 

 common soil, provided the roots have 

 at least three inches of good vegetable 

 mould, such as silky yellow loam, full 

 of fibre, tough fibry peat, or half- 

 decayed cocoa-nut fibre refuse. When 

 planted in pots, the soil should first 

 be firmly pressed and the rhizomes 

 should then be securely pegged down 

 and filled in between with soil so as 

 to be slightly covered. The operation 

 of watering, and the natural tendency 



of the rhizomes to run on the surface, 

 will cause them to appear on the 

 surface after a short time, and they 

 should not again be covered. Plenty 

 of water should be given all the sum- 

 mer, nor must it be withheld alto- 

 gether during winter, when the plants 

 are in pots ; but those in the open air 

 fernery will take care of themselves 

 when dormant. 



Though the commonest of all ferns, 

 we have found this, with Lastrea 

 filix-mas for a centre -piece, the most 

 effective of all hardy ferns for large 

 vases; and we have at the present time 

 in the entrance hall one of llan- 

 some's most elegant vases filled with 

 these two ferns only, and it could 

 scarcely be surpassed in appearance, 



even if furnished with exotic species. 

 The common polypody is alw ays ever- 

 green when protected, and vtill en- 

 dure several degrees of frost without 

 changing colour. 



There are numerous varieties of 

 this fern, of which I shall notice only 

 those that are really interesting or 

 beautiful. 



There are eighteen varieties of 

 this fern enumerated in the Fern 

 Catalogue (JNo. 6), published by 

 Messrs. Stansfield and Sons, of Tod- 

 morden. In the catalogue {No. 1) 

 of Mr. J. lllman, of btrood, there 

 are tv» elve. In ihe_ " .Descriptive 

 Catalogue of British Ferns" (ISo. 7), 

 by Mr. Sims, of Foot's Cray, there 



