1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



371 



pears, blood clingstone peaches and Bleeding- 

 heart cherries. 



Even the dark, bloody cinquefoil of Nepal, Po- 

 tentilla astrosanguinea, and Rubus sanguinolen- 

 tus, of the Isle of France, well-named, the bloody 

 bramble; an old acquaintance. However ter- 

 ribly poi'tentous such technical appellations may 

 seem, by no means are they intended to convey 

 the idea that they are the names of herbaceous 

 vampires or ligneous leeches. Believe me, there 

 are no raw-head and bloodj'-bone posies in the 

 greenhouse, or frightful ghouls in the flower- 

 garden. 



After confessing to such a gory experience, 

 startle not, ye timorous ones, when the kindly 

 editor of this magazine offers to supply his pa- 

 trons with blood-beech, blood-birch, and blood- 

 peach trees to plant ; or should he recommend 

 blood-beets, or onions, or any of the sanguinary 

 vegetables, be not alarmed ; they are meant for 

 your good. 



My apology for writing such a biography, 

 which seems at first sight like reading a gory 

 chapter or page of blood, is simply a preface to 

 what follows, an introduction to the bloody 

 ferns of New Zealand. 



HymenophyUum sanguinolentum is a beautiful 

 filmy fern, known as the Bloody Fern. It seems 

 a dreadful name for a pretty fern, but it is more 

 in the name than in the nature of the thing, 

 which is anything but repulsive. H. nitens, 

 with its more euphonious name, is a shining 

 gem, which with its sanguinary companion, liter- 

 ally covered the rocky ravine, through which I 

 picked my way. 



No doubt among the numerous readers of the 

 Monthly there are many whose hearts are as 

 fondly attached to the lovely Filices as was the 

 fair and gentle creature who so feelingly and 

 emphatically declared, " Ferns are my devotion !" 

 Such an appreciative soul, having a tender re- 

 gard for whatever is good or beautiful, will ever 

 manifest its purity of purpose in every state or 

 condition of life. 



Probably no species of fern find more admir- 

 ers or devoted friends than the filmy ones, under 

 notice. Whoever has been so fortunate as to 

 see, or own H. Tunbridgense will admit that it 

 is a most lovable kind. Unfortunately the chary 

 little beauty is constituted with so retiring and 

 delicate a nature as to modestly hide from view. 

 Their habitats are generally in some sequestered 

 nook in the forest, or sylvan shades in some ro- 

 mantic glen. They cannot exist in the sunshine 



as sunny flowers do ; ana whoever attempts to 

 cultivate them must never allow a sun-ray to 

 reach them, or they "will shrink like parch- 

 ment in consuming fire." A well-drained War- 

 dian case, or bell-glass, is necessary to secure 

 the proper close, moist atmosphere they delight 

 in. Two other lovely kinds, H. dilatatum and 

 H. flexuosum, were profusely disti-ibuted in fav- 

 orable spots. Of recent introductions from New 

 Zealand are Todea superba and T. pellucida, two 

 most superb filmy ferns. 



Dendrobium Cunninghamii, a pretty white-flow- 

 ering species, and the rare Earina suaveolens, the 

 peculiarly formed white flowers of which are 

 exquisitely fragrant, were the only two orchids 

 I met with. 



Edwardsia grandifora is certainly one of the 

 grand flowers of the country. It is a splendid 

 yellow-flowering leguminous plant, and is often 

 seen in balloon-like masses some ten feet high, 

 and sixty feet in circumference. They are un- 

 commonly ornamental when bedded out in the 

 summer months in this country. Mr. M. Hag- 

 erty, of Cleveland, produced some admirable 

 examples of what they are capable of Three 

 other smaller, yet very interesting kinds, E. 

 minima, E. chrysophylla and E. microphylla, 

 are well worthy of a place in the greenhouse. 



A little in advance stood a group of palms, 

 Entelia(?Ed.) arborescens,some 40 feet high. This 

 handsome palm is an excellent lofty conserva- 

 tory plant, and would prove to be hardy in the 

 Southern States. 



Fringing a cluster of Myoporum viscosum 

 some three feet high, and backed with Aralia 

 trifoliata and Metrosideros robusta, was a ferny 

 border, which Asplenium bulbiferum, and Platy- 

 loma rotundifolia, rounded nicely. 



Tetragonia ea-pansa, with which most gardeners 

 are familiar as New Zealand spinach, as- 

 sumed arboreal proportions, from ten to twenty 

 feet high. The remarkable broad-leaved conifer, 

 Dammara Australia, is a lofty and bus'iy tree, but 

 is rarely seen except on the Northern Island. 



Of climbing plants, the most conspicuous is 

 the Supple Jack, or Ripogonum parvifolium and 

 Freycinetia Banksii. The natives are said to be 

 fond of the sweet bractese of the blossoms, which 

 they eat with savage gusto. Cordylines and 

 Draca?nas are as common as the tree ferns. 



Oyathea mcdullaris and C. dealbata are not only 

 stately but are magnificent and beautiful. I 

 well remember the time and circumstances 

 which first brought us together, and whenever 



