Angost 6, 1S74. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



113 



STAG'S-HOKN FEENS. 



sessile, 



K y'a^K -^-^ Ferns popularly kuown liy the above 



name belong to the genus Platyccmun (lite 

 rally Broad Horn) ; they form a very natural 

 gixnip of i^lants, and were originally united 

 with Aerostichum ; but to my mind they 

 have nothing in common with the .species 

 which represents that genus in our ferneries. 

 Platyeeriums are characterised by their 

 large sterile fronds, which are entirely dif- 

 ferent in shape from the fertile ones ; they 

 and grow erect and flat, overlapping each 

 other as they increase in numbers and in uize. The 

 fertile fronds are stalked. stancUng out erector horizontaUy 

 from the barren fronds (or shields, as they are not inaptly 

 called in a popidar way) ; they rise from the httle de- 

 pression at the base of the sterile fronds, and are many 

 times dichotomously forked, having more or less broad 

 and obtuse segments, which are thick and leathery in 

 texture, and clothed with a dense covering of peculiar 

 stellate scales, which give the young fronds the appear- 

 ance of ha^ang been dusted over with a white powder ; 

 the veins arc somewhat indistinct, but are coarsely anas- 

 tomosed ; whilst the receptacle is irregular, but usually 

 occupies the greater portion of the apices of the under 

 side of the segments. 



Platyeeriums grow naturally upon the trunks and 

 branches of forest trees, and are most successfully grown 

 under cultivation when treated as epiphytes, and placed 

 upon blocks of wood or in baskets. 1 have grown them 

 in pots ; but I do not recommend that system, because the 

 peculiar habit and beauty of the plants cannot be deve- 

 loped under such treatment, not even in cases where pots 

 are made specially for them. 



In providing blocks of wood for these plants the operator 

 must not go to work with a narrow mind ; for although 

 the plant may not now have shields or barren Ironds 

 more than a few inches in diameter, it will, if properly 

 treated, -soon produce others, which may probably attain 

 some 12 inches or more in breadth, and if a block suffi- 

 ciently large is not provided, the shields wiU clasp round 

 it instead of being kept spread open as they would be if 

 upon a broad block, and thus in the case of the small 

 block half the beauty of the plant is lost. This is a point 

 too often overlooked by Fern amateurs, and therefore I 

 would specially draw their attention to it. 



Having selected a block of wood of sufficient dimen- 

 sions, first fasten the plant upon the block with some 

 fine copper wire, .and then take some living sphagnum 

 moss and rough peat from which all the fine earthy par- 

 ticles have been beaten out, and pack down behind the 

 barren fronds so as to make the plant quite firm ; give it 

 a good soaking in a tub or pan of water, and nothing 

 more remains to be done but hang it up in the desired 

 position, and keep it abundantly supplied with water 

 from the syringe. Care must be taken to prevent a lodge- 

 ment of either thi-ips or scale, for if either be suffered to 

 gain a footing they will speedily turn the fronds from 

 No. 697.— Vot. XXVII., New Series. 



their lovely green colour to a nasty, dirty, rusty brown, 

 which will present quite the reverse of the effect desired ; 

 therefore examine them occasionally, and promptly re- 

 move any of these pests should they put in an appear.ance. 

 I do not recommend the sponging of the fronds if possible 

 to avoid it, as by this means the covering of stellate scales 

 is removed, and thus, to my mind, the plant becomes 

 disfigured. 



There are but few species of Platyeeriums known to 

 science, and nearly all of them have been introduced to 

 cultivation ; but doubtless wo have more species or varie- 

 ties yet to receive which will lend an additional charm 

 to our ferneries. This much can be said of those we have, 

 that, they are all so entirely distinct that a block or bracket 

 may be found for each in even a small Fern house, with- 

 out producing a sameness or monotonous appearance ; 

 whilst their habit is so peculiar and extraordinary that 

 no P'ern house should be without them. 



P. ALCicoRNE.— Some idea may be formed of this spe- 

 cies by the accompanying illustration (fig. 36, page 114.) 

 I before mentioned "baskets as being suitable for the 

 growth of Platyeeriums, but this is the only one to which 

 that style of culture is applicable. The shields or barren, 

 fronds are small, and as it throws up innumerable young 

 plants from its roots, in the course of a few years it formfi 

 a large globular mass, producing fertile fronds froin all 

 parts of its surface. It is not the most beautiful of the 

 genus, but is specially deserving the attention of those 

 having only a greenhouse fernery, as it succeeds admir- 

 ably under cool treatment ; moreover, in a young state, 

 and for several years, it may be grown with advantage by 

 those who have only a Fern case to indulge their tastes. 

 In such a position the half of a cocoa-nut shell forms a 

 capital basket,, and when suspended from the roof of the 

 fern case does not present an unsightly appearance. 

 This species is widely distributed through the islands of 

 the Indian Archipelago, and is also common in Australia. 



P. ALCICORNE MAJUS. — As its name implies, this is a 

 large form of the original type, and as such it is well 

 deserving the attention of tern-growers. Although it 

 may be grown in a basket, the large size of its barren 

 shields and the more forked character of its fertile fronds 

 induce me to give preference to a large block of wood. 

 It has been introduced from Australia. 



P. BiFoRME. — This species is a native of Burmah and 

 various localities in the Indian Archipelago, and must be^ 

 treated to stove temperature. The sterile fronds are- 

 somewhat broad, whUst the fertile ones are long an-:! 

 pendulous. The sori in this species are not produced near 

 the apex of the segments, but upon a scutiform lobe near 

 the first divisions of the Ironds. It is at present a rare, 

 but at the same time it is a most beautiful, species. 



P. Stemmaria, known also in collections by the name 

 of P. iethiopicum, is a very distinct plant, but is not such 

 a general favourite, because the barren shields die and 

 turn brown every season. This, however, should not 

 deter or discourage the amateur from finding a place for 

 it in the fernery, as each year's growth completely covers 

 the old ones. The shields are large, and densely clothoc; 



No. 1S49 —Vol. LIT., Old Seiiu»> 



