604 



HORTICULTURE 



December 9, 1905 



angular outline and arching. A. c. latum has the froud 

 more narrow and erect. A. tenerum is a native of 

 Florida, West Indies and Central America. It is a big- 

 growing species, in appearance like a giant cuneatum 

 and makes a fine exhibition plan. A. ten. Farleyense, 

 better known under the name A. Farleyense, comes from 

 Barbados. It is well known and is certainly the nicest 

 of all the adiantums. It is generally regarded as a diffi- 

 cult plant to grow; if given enough heat and moisture 

 and planted in a good porous soil it will succeed. 



A. Capillus- Veneris is the true maidenhair fern from 

 whence the genus takes its popular name. It was the 

 first adiantnm known and described by the Greeks and 

 Romans for its medical qualities. It is found gi-owing 

 wild nearly all over the world. In America it is found 

 from the Soutliern States to the Amazon. Fronds are 



LiNDSATA CUIAXKNSIS AND TRArKZIFdUMIS 



from one to one and one-lialf feet long, narrow, ovate 

 in outline, with long stem. This is a good fern to plant 

 among moist rocks or on brick walls in the greenhouse 

 where it will creep and cling with very little soil and 

 grow plenty of fronds. If grown in pots or boxes the 

 plants must be set shallow so the rootstock can creep 

 on top of the soil. There are a few varieties dwarfer or 

 more vigorous with small or large leaflets, some crisped, 

 some feathered; the best of them is A. C.-V. imbri- 

 catum, known as "hardy Farleyense," which it resembles, 

 being only smaller and not requiring so much heat. 



A. decorum (Wagneri) from Peru looks like 

 cuneatum. The fronds when young are of a pinkish 

 color, more narrow and of heavy texture. A. Williamsii 

 from Peru has very graceful arching fronds, the leaf- 

 lets nearly round, not big, are set well apart, and the 

 fronds are not crowded. The whole plant has an airy 

 appearance. The young fronds when beginning to gi-ow 

 are covered with lemon yellow dust which soon disap- 

 pears. A. fulvum, from the South Sea Islands, is a 



vigorous, compact grower. The fronds are in form like 

 our A. pedatum, but smaller, more compact and hairy. 

 A. 3Bthiopicum, A. Colisii, A. excisum, A. scutum, A. 

 rhodophylhim and some others are all in the useful 

 class. 



In the other section, which contains plants which are 

 only grown for a conservatory or as exhibition plants 

 one of the most cultivated, A. trapeziforme from West 

 Indies and Central America, is a very handsome big- 

 growing fern, conspicuous for its large fronds and 

 broad leaflets. It varies much in its wild state, and 

 some good forms have been introduced and are in culti- 

 vation. A. tetraphylla, which grows in the same coun- 

 try as the preceding is of compact habit; the leaflets 

 are long, set near together and of a very elegant ap- 

 pearance. It is a very variable plant too, and a few 

 nice forms have been found. A. formosum is a native 

 of New Zealand and Australia. It grows to quite a 

 size and makes a good exhibition plant. The outlines of 

 the fronds are triangular and pointed. A. cardi- 

 ochlsena or polyphyllum, from Columbia, is in appear- 

 ance not unlike our A. pedatum, of heavier texture and 

 much bigger, but requires stove house culture. The 

 fronds of this species grow from a short creeping root- 

 stock, the leafy part in a horizontal position on top of 

 a long naked stem. A. macrophyllum, from West 

 Indies and Central America is of erect growing habit, 

 the frond simply pinnate and the leaflets very large, of a 

 nice red color when young. A. Fergusonii from Cey- 

 lon is also of erect habit, narrow and of crispy appear- 

 ance. A. Lathamii, which must be a hybrid, is a very 

 fine decorative plant of great dimensions. The fronds 

 of drooping habit are large and crowded with large 

 leafiets. A. villosum from West Indies and Central 

 America is a jjlant of robust growth and heavy texture, 

 the fronds long and narrow. There are many more of 

 this class in cultivation but the list would be too long 

 for such a short article. 



A. caudatum and A. lunulatum, the first from West 

 the other from East Indies, have long, narrow, drooping, 

 simply pinnate fronds, proliferous at the end. They are 

 good plants for hanging baskets where young plants 

 hang down from the end of each frond. A. Feci and A. 

 subvolubile, both from Central America, are of climbing 

 liabit and grow the way of gieichenias. A. reniforme 

 and assarifolium from Madeira and Mauritius Island, 

 are small ferns that have only one kidney shaped leaflet 

 on top of a wir}' stem. They are more interesting than 

 of decorative value. 



A genus near allied to Adiantum but seldom seen in 

 cultivation is Lindsaya. There are only botanical dif- 

 ferences. The lindsayas are very elegant plants from 

 Central America and South Sea Islands. They are a 

 little hard to grow. We succeed well with them planted 

 on the top of a pot filled with sandstone crocks in a 

 little fibrous loam and grown in damp atmosphere. L. 

 guianensis, L. stricta and L. trapeziforniis arc some 

 good species easy to get from West Indies. 



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Stamford, Conn. 



