468 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 11, 1873. 



tain ranges of the Organ and Andes— the tree Ferns, as re- 

 presented in our engraving, abound there. Two hundred 

 and fifty species have been recognised within a circle of fifty 

 miles diameter in Peru, o-lO species in the British West Indian 

 islands, and -150 in Java alone. Mr. Williams, in his " Select 

 Ferns," adds — 



" Borneo, Sumatra, Malacca, and the Philippine Islands abound 

 with them, as weU as the whole of the East Indies; and very 

 few, comparatively, from the latter country are in cultivation, 

 though many are pe- 

 culiarly beautiful and 

 interesting. In Mex- 

 ico greatnumbers ex- 

 ist, some three hun- 

 dred species having 

 been described which 

 are not in cultiva- 

 tion. In Western 

 Africa great nuauti- 

 ties of Ferns are 

 found, and many of 

 them species that are 

 peculiar to that coun- 

 try. At Fernando 

 Po, some considera- 

 ble distance up the 

 mountains, a splen- 

 did Cyathea is found, 

 forming groves, and 

 reaching upwards of 

 30 feet in height. It 

 is a fine species, aud 

 the crown, rachis.and 

 stipites are densely 

 covered with large, 

 black, chafiy scales. 

 Again, if we come 

 round to the Cape, in 

 South Africa, a quan- 

 tity of Ferns exist 

 there that have never 

 yet been introduced 

 to our gardens, and 

 no doubt many new 

 species on that con- 

 tinent still remain 

 unknown to science. 

 So also in many othe r 

 places where the at- 

 mosphere is suiHci- 

 ently humid they are 

 to be found, from the 

 humble species of 

 an inch in length to 

 the noble arborescent 

 kinds, rearing aloft 

 their splendid crowns 

 of fronds on stems 

 from 10 to 10 feet 

 high, beautifying the 

 landscape, aud form- 

 ing objects of indi- 

 vidual grace and ele- 

 gance which we are 

 only now just begin- 

 ning to realise for 

 ourselves." 



On some of the 

 East Indian islands 

 the tree Ferns are 

 BO numerous and so 

 social that then- 

 stems are literally 

 crowded, and Ferns 

 gradually diminish 



in numbers as the temperature of the latitude decreases. In 

 the torrid zone they number in the proportion of 1 to 20 of 

 other plants ; but in the islands of the tropics, where the atmo- 

 sphere is still more moist, their proiJortion is still larger — in 

 Otaheite being as 1 to 4, in St. Helena 1 to 2, and in Tristan 

 da Cunha as 2 to 3. Passing to colder regions the proportions 

 are much lower, being in England 1 to 35, and in Scotland 

 1 to 31. Where moisture and shade are absent they are still 

 more restricted in numbers, being in tho Grecian Archipelago 

 1 to 227, and in Egypt only 1 to 971. In the Arctic regions 

 no Ferns have been found, and only four species on the North 



Tree Ferus in Brazil. 



Cape of Norway ; and in Baffin's Bay only one, Lycopodium 

 Selago. 



Ferns maintain a high position if their utility ia considered. 

 Their fronds are among the most graceful ornaments of the 

 boudou', the dinner table, the bouquet, and the head-dress. 

 CapiUairo is prepared from the Black Maiden-hair, Asplenium 

 Adiantum-nigrum ; and Mr. Williams details that — 



"The pith of Cyathea meduUaris is eaten by the New Zea- 

 landers, and the stems of Pteris esculenta and Callipteris escu- 



lenta, as well as the 

 tuberous roots of Ne- 

 phrolepis tuberosa, 

 have been used for 

 food, but, generally, 

 when nothing better 

 was to be obtained. 

 Lastrea Filix-mas, 

 Ceterach officinarum 

 and Scolopendrium 

 vulgare, &c., have 

 been used medici- 

 nally; but with the 

 exception of the first 

 they are not in much 

 repute. The styptic 

 drugs brought from 

 Sumatra under the 

 barbarous names of 

 Penghawa Djambi, 

 and Pakoe Kidang, 

 are supposed to be 

 the produce of Ferns. 

 A species of Cibo- 

 tium, which is very 

 common in the Sand- 

 wich Islands, has 

 had its stipes strip- 

 ped of the long dense 

 hairs with which 

 they were clothed, 

 and carried away to 

 California and Aus- 

 tralia, for the tem- 

 porary purpose of 

 stuffing cushions and 

 beds." 



In the gardener's 

 special domain they 

 aid him in every one 

 of its ornamental 

 departments. In 



shaded borders and 

 rockery, Adiautums, 

 Cvrtomiums, Las- 

 traias, Lomarias, Os- 

 mundas, Woodsias, 

 and many others 

 may be grown and 

 fringed with Lyco- 

 podium dendroi- 

 deum and Selagi- 

 nellas, all hardy. To 

 enumerate those 

 which may occupy 

 the stove, green- 

 house, and conser- 

 vatory would be to 

 name the whole of 

 the Filices. There 

 are more than 150 

 species that will 

 thrive in glass cases 

 in the dweUing- 

 room, and fifty that ire fitted by their habit to adorn pendant 

 baskets. 



When we mentioned the tree Ferns, let it not be supposed 

 that they are to be seen only in their native countries. Even 

 in the conservatory of the Koyal Horticultural Society, at 

 South Kensington, Dicksonia antarctica may be seen with 

 noble crests of fronds, although their stems are only beginning 

 to rise. In the stoves of Kew Gardens are tree Ferus like 

 those we have here pourtrayed. 



Tree Ferns have usually been avoided by private growers of 



'^ From Figuie/e " Vegetable World," published by Messrs. Cassell. 



