RELIABLE FERNS FOR DWELLING ROOMS 203 



the injured fronds and keep the plant in as 

 good a condition as possible until the follow- 

 ing spring when new growth will be made. 



SPIDER FERNS FOR FERN DISHES 



The best small ferns for the home are 

 found among the spider ferns (Pteris). The 

 fronds are once divided, the divisions being 

 long and narrow, and pointed. 



One of the best of the spider ferns is P. 

 Cretica. It grows nearly a foot high. The 

 stalks are straw coloured and the foliage 

 is dark green in the type but there are 

 several varieties some of which have white 

 markings. 



Another spider fern very commonly grown 

 is P. serrulata, which differs from Cretica 

 in not being such a strong grower, the stalks 

 are brown and the edges of the pinnae are 

 sharply serrulate or saw edged. Like 

 Cretica, this has many forms, mostly more or 

 less distorted, and to which such descriptive 

 Latin names as cristata, cristata variegata, 

 densa, etc, have been given. 



The best variegated fern for the window 

 garden is Pteris argyrcea. This is some- 

 what stronger growing than those already 



