168 



THE FLOKAL WORLD AND GARDEN" GUIDE. 



the stove, and be found of the greatest value for exhibition. The only 

 trade catalogue in which we have yet met with it is that of Mr. It. 

 Sim, of Foot's Cray, Kent. 



Poly-podium lonc/ipes (syn. Drynaria hngipes, Clirysopteris longipes, 

 Polypodium alternifolium, etc.) This is one of the most distinct and 

 beautiful of the exotic species of simply pinnated polypodies. It is 

 a native of the hottest parts of the East Indies, and though requiring 

 the stove in winter, during the summer may be placed in the conserva- 

 tory, as its leathery fronds, when once formed and matured, have great 

 powers of endurance, and rarely suffer except from damp, so long as it 

 is under glass. But as it loves heat, it may be kept in the stove the 

 whole year round, and will be much finer in consequence. The fronds 

 are simply pinnate, the segments broad, strap-shaped, and acuminate, 

 and from six to ten inches in length, of a dark green colour. The sori 

 are large, somewhat irregularly scattered, though generally forming 

 two rows on each side the midrib or rachis ; the latter, with the stipes, 

 being pale green. 



It has a creeping rhizome, and may be increased by dividing that, and 

 also by spores, which are most likely to germinate on the surface of a mass 

 of powdered stone and tile kept constantly moist. In growing this fern, 

 which Mr. Lowe truly describes as, when well grown, " representing a 

 miniature forest," great care must betaken to prevent injury by damp. 

 The pot must be extra well drained, and the drainage covered with lumps 

 of turfy peat. Fill up quite to the rim with a mixture of equal parts 

 turfy peat, silky yellow loam, silver sand, and potsherds broken to the 

 size of peas, with all the dust. By filling up to the rim the rhizoma is 

 protected from the destructive influence of damp, and at the first 

 potting it will be necessary to peg the rhizoma out firmly to keep the 

 fronds in a perpendicular position, and prevent any strain while the 

 plant forms new roots. If the soil at any time gets too dry, through 

 the plant being so high in the pot, immerse it, and let it soak for half 

 an hour. If kept too wet or too cold, this fern soon suffers from 

 mildew, and the extremities of the fronds decay. 



FLOWEE SHOWS IN JUNE. 



Alexandra Pare, June 22. — 

 Alexandra Park has a very different 

 appearance now to what it had this 

 time last year, when the habitues of 

 flower shows were literally startled by 

 the grandeur of the exhibition which 

 had been extemporized, as it were, 

 out of nothing, for the show was held 

 within one or two days of the com- 

 pany obtaining full legal possession of 

 the property. On the present occa- 

 sion the tents were so designed that 

 once under canvas the whole show 

 could be inspected by covered ways 

 throughout; and the outline of each 



tent was picturesquely adapted to 

 afford accommodation for plants on 

 both sides of the canvas, the convex 

 outlines one way becoming concave 

 the other, so that there was an ab- 

 sence of sameness, and the whole 

 affair was fresh and new. 



Stove and Greenhouse Plants were 

 contributed in immense numbers. 

 Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, 

 poured in the treasures of his two 

 establishments so profusely as to give 

 one an idea that he had obtained a 

 monopoly of the products of the tro- 

 pical forests. Amongst Mr. Williams's 



