54 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



I have seen it grow to remarkable 

 luxuriance in a mixture of old de- 

 cayed thatch and rotten wood ; in 

 fact, any sweet vegetable earth will 

 suit it. Near London, it should be 

 grown under glass exclusively. It is 

 too delicate for the open air ; but it 

 will make amends for its delicacy 

 by its luxuriance and beauty when 

 grown in a glass case. 



I have been favoured by E. K. Clay, 

 Esq., of the Vicarage, Waterbeach, 

 with some sportive fronds of P. cam- 

 bricus, which are here figured, a, b, c. 

 Respecting them he says : " They 



Orvk 





were all growing from the same root 

 — those marked a and b, almost from 

 the same stalk. A stdl more curiously 

 shaped frond I gave to a friend in 

 Dublin." A plant so sportive should 

 be carefully preserved, and left un- 

 disturbed ; in the course of time it 

 may throw up crowns producing 

 fronds of a distinct form, and so 

 originate a new variety. Such a 

 form as i or b would be a desirable 

 addition to the lists, and perhaps 

 might even now be secured by the 

 process just described for the multi- 

 plication of polypodies by cuttings ol 

 the rhizome. 



Compositum combines some of the 

 peculiarities of semilacerum, sinuatum, 

 and bifidum, and is a very interesting 

 fern. 



Crenatum has large, broad, nearly 

 erect, six to nine inch wide, pointed 

 ovate fronds, their divisions long, 

 tapering, wavy, and more or less 

 roundly toothed. There are several 

 inferior forms of this in cultivation; 

 when true, it is quite distinct, and one 

 of the finest of the series. 



Cristatum. — Fronds narrow, each 

 division ending in a forked crispy 

 tufc, and the frond terminating in a 

 larger tult. Very handsome, distinct, 

 and desirable. 



Deltoideum. — Fronds almost tri- 

 angular, lhe divisions broad and 

 tapering, the lowest pair very broad, 

 and deeply toothed on the upper edge, 

 on the lower edge deeply cut into D 

 shaped lobules ; very handsome and 

 i distinct. 



