Jano 24, 187S. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



495 



physical garden in St. .lames'a Fields for medicinal plants ; 

 also of overseer, director, and gardener of Hampton Court and 

 the privy gardens at St. James's. 



TREE FEKNS. 



This is a family of plants of undeniable beauty, and which 

 oontribute a distinct effect to any suitable structure in which 

 they are cultivated. The New Zealand species of these fine 

 Ferns cannot be too highly 

 prized, as they combine with 

 a decidedly tropical appear- 

 ance the power to flourish in 

 a cool temperature. This is 

 a great advantage, for while 

 it was thought necessary to 

 provide a high stove tem- 

 perature to enable tree Ferns 

 to flourish, it was practically 

 to debar many from attempt- 

 ing their culture ; but since 

 some of the species are found 

 to be comparatively hardy, 

 they supply a want in occupy- 

 ing space ornamentally in 

 many cool conservatories. 



It cannot be denied that in 

 many Etrnctures devoted to 

 the display of plants a special 

 want is often felt. Plants on 

 stages are arranged in flat 

 formality, and which at first 

 are imposing by their massive- 

 uesa, but a desire for a more 

 cool, quiet, and natural form 

 of ornamentation is eventu- 

 ally felt. Smooth banks of 

 flowers, globular Camellias, 

 and stately Azaleas are beau- 

 tiful, but are infinitely more 

 effective if, springing from 

 among them and towering 

 aloft, are stately Palms and 

 towering tree Ferns. [In lofty 

 conservatories there is a blank 

 of unoccupied space between 

 the climbing plants droop- 

 ing from the roof and the 

 flowering plants arranged on 

 the ground or on stages which 

 detracts from the furnishing 

 of the sti-ucture. To supply 

 this deficiency tree Ferns are 

 admirably adapted. To ap- 

 preciate the satisfying effect 

 which is created by these 

 noble plants, we have only to 

 witness the weU-arranged pub- 

 lic exhibitions in which tree 

 Ferns are used. These plants 

 judiciously interspersed tone 

 the overpowering sense of 

 brightness of long banks of 

 flowers, and relieve the mo- 

 notony inseparable from the 

 grouping of flowering plants 

 alone. 



The time will come when 

 the conservatory will not be composed of geometrical beds 

 and longitudinal stages wherein and whereon plants are ar- 

 ranged to form a dense close mass having the main object to 

 dazzle, but rather a free plantation of tropical aspect will be 

 sought for, and which will afford a roomy promenade beneath 

 cool canopies of foliage which only Palms and tree Ferns can 

 provide. These stately plants carefully disposed, and brighter 

 examples of decorative plants arranged in natural freedom at 

 their base, will be the occupants, and the mode of associating 

 them that will be recognised as the most suitable mode on 

 which to furnish a conservatory. 



The day of mere glare has passed its meridian, and the 

 ♦ aste of the times is every day becoming more refined. Tree 

 Ferns and kindred plants tower high above mere fashion, and 



their merits are being recognised, and they will be more 

 esteemed in the future than they have been in the past. 

 It is also satisfactory to notice, that as the taste is being 

 moulded to appreciate more fully the grace of plants, so in 

 the same proportion are these plants being provided. Trade 

 enterprise in a great commercial country like ours will always 

 expand with public demands, aud experience is teaching — 

 indeed has already taught, the best mode and time of im- 

 portation of those plants from distant lands. 



That tree Ferns are costly 

 in comparison with a Pelar- 

 gonium is a necessity, but 

 each year as consignments of 

 " trunks," as the dormant 

 plants are expressively de- 

 signated, are arriving in 

 greater numbers and in better 

 condition, so are they offered 

 on less costly terms than 

 heretofore. But the real ques- 

 tion is not what a plant costs, 

 but. Is it worth that cost ? 

 There is a cardinal difference 

 to be borne in mind in assess- 

 ing the value of a Pelar- 

 gonium and a tree Fern. The 

 former may be worth two 

 guineas one year, but what is 

 it worth the next? It neces- 

 sarily declines in public esti- 

 mation, becomes common and 

 devoid of interest. It is not 

 so with such plants as tree 

 Ferns. These increase in in- 

 terest, beauty, and worth with 

 time and cultivation. These 

 are plants which command 

 admiration and attention , and 

 their extended culture is 

 worthy of being recommended. 

 In the furnishing of conserva- 

 tories they should never be 

 lost sight of ; their noble, 

 elegant, and refreshing ap- 

 pearance contributing a fea- 

 ture for which there is no 

 substitute. How many struc- 

 tures do we enter in which we 

 involuntarily feel that to 

 make them thoroughly enjoy- 

 able towering Ferns and Palms 

 are the great desiderata? 



The merits of these plants 

 are not fully recognised, or, 

 at any rate, their cultivation 

 is injudiciously limited. Their 

 first cost is now by no means 

 ruinous, and there is nothing 

 intricate or diflicnlt in their 

 cultivation. They demand no 

 ^reat yearly outlay in coals to 

 preserve them in health ; but 

 good soil, pure water, aud a 

 pleasant genial temperature 

 embrace all their require- 

 ments — that is, those species 

 which are indigenous to tem- 

 perate climes ; those from 

 warmer latitudes, of course, requiring special structures, of 

 which they are emphatically worthy, and in which a collection 

 has a grand effect. They may be either grown in pots or tuba 

 or planted-out, and there are few conservatories wherein one 

 or more pairs of these plants would not add greatly to their 

 beauty. 



Some of the temperate-zoned species which are distinct and 

 moderate in price are Dicksonias antarctiea and squarrosa; 

 Alsophilas australis, exeelsa, and Leichardtiana ; Cyatheas 

 dealbata, Smithii, and princeps. 



Other distinct, rare, and beautiful species there are, both 

 for temperate and tropical temperatures, which it is not ne- 

 cessary to enumerate. The above are only named as typical 

 of these plants, and the figure we publish does not EO mwh 



Fig. 116.— Alsopfttla leichardtiina. 



