THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



223 



united to the rachis by their whole 

 width ; lobes oblong, sori circular, 

 almost marginal, spore cases pale 

 brown. 



This pretty fern is of very delicate 

 appearance and constitution, and needs 

 shelter, not only because of the sus- 

 ceptibility of its fronds to the ex- 

 haustive effects of sunshine and wind, 

 but the fronds being elevated on long 

 stalks (stipes), it is easily broken, and 

 its beauty is soon entirely destroyed 

 by rough usage. It is, however, very 

 hardy, as might be predicated, from 

 the fact that it is found in Iceland 

 and Kamtschatka, as well as in all 

 parts of the British Isles, and in Alge- 

 ria, the Altai, and North-western 

 America. It is usually met with in 

 very damp, mountainous districts, 

 near waterfalls, springs, and runnels, 

 where it is more or less constantly 

 bathed with dewy moisture. Good 

 turfy peat answers admirably for it 

 under all circumstances of cultivation, 

 and in planting or potting, the surface 

 soil should be a mixture of one part 

 peat and two parts broken flower-pots, 

 or freestone about the size of hazel 

 nuts. In any case the plant must be 

 well drained, because, as frequent 

 sprinklings are necessary, there must 

 be means of escape for surplus water, 

 or the plant will soon perish. When 

 grown in a pot, the best place for it is 

 a cool, shady part of the fern-house, 

 or a cold frame placed to face due 

 north. Mr. Moore ("Handbook of Bri- 

 tish Ferns"*) recommends placing the 

 plant so that it can enjoy the spray 

 of an imitation waterfall, which may 

 be accomplished " by suspending a 

 Bmall vessel of water, furnished with a 

 coarse worsted thread siphon ;" from 

 which falls a succession of water drops, 

 which dripping on a stone near the 

 plant, keeps it constantly sprinkled. 

 I have been enabled to dispense with 

 the imitation of a waterfall, and yet 

 grow it well in the rockery by a care- 

 ful arrangement of conditions. A 

 shady nook openiug into the mass of 

 earth which is filled in between the 

 walls, was hollowed out with the trowel 

 so as to make a space about a foot 



* Published by Groombridge and Sons. This 

 is the best pocket volume on the British ferns 

 among hundreds. In fact, compared with it, all 

 other small books on the subject are worthless. 



square and a foot deep. Four inches 

 of small broken bricks were first 

 thrown in, then fibry peat to nearly 

 fill the receptacle. A portion of rhi- 

 zome with rising fronds was then re- 

 moved by means of the knife from a 

 good specimen in a pot. This was 

 carefully placed on the bed, and kept 

 in its proper position by means of a 

 few wooden pegs, and then filled in so 

 as to nearly cover the rhizome with a 

 mixture of broken tile and sandy peat. 

 A little loose moss was then put over 

 the fronds and rhizome, and the plant 

 was sprinkled by means of the syringe 

 twice a day, and it had in addition a 

 considerable share of moisture both 

 from the soil within the walls, and by 

 the trickling down them at the gene- 

 ral watering with the engine. The 

 success has been complete. Those 

 who treat it in this way will not be 

 disappointed; if denied its proper share 

 of moisture, however, it is sure to 

 perish. 



Polypodium dryopteris. — The oak 

 fern, or smooth three-branched poly- 

 body. Rhizome creeping, slender, 

 dark-coloured, and producing black 

 fibrous roots. Venation circiunate, 

 the three branches of each frond rolled 

 up separately. Stipes longer than 

 the fronds when mature in established 

 plants, but the first season after 

 dividing and planting usually shorter, 

 so that the plant has a tufted appear- 

 ance, very brittle and wiry in texture, 

 a few scales at the base. Fronds vivid 

 ! bluish green in colour, smooth, del- 

 I toid, pentangular in outline, three- 

 | branched, the branches triangular, 

 stalked, the lateral ones set at an ob- 

 tuse angle. Branches pinnate at the 

 base, pinnatifid above. Pinnse usually 

 opposite. Pinnules oblong, obtuse, 

 sori spread over the whole frond, cir- 

 cular and ranged in a series on each 

 side the mid-vein, spore cases small, 

 dark brown. 



This is one of the loveliest of all 

 known ferns, and one of the most de- 

 licate of the species indigenous to 

 this country. It may be identified 

 by its peculiar colour, even when 

 mixed up with all kinds of mossy and 

 other tufty herbage ; when met with 

 in mountainous districts, and when 

 planted out on a rockery, its fresh, 



