<b ANNUAL REPORT 



Marattia douglassi, with leaves regularly serrated like the leaves of a rose-bush ; 

 the Achusticum with its many varieties ; the Davallia upeus and the Asplenium fra- 

 gile or walking fern. These are but a few of the large family of plants so interest- 

 ing to botanists, and so full of beauty even to the uninitiated. I saw also the stag- 

 fern of Australia growing from the smooth trunk of the ro^^al palm; it is secured 

 by fine wires around the tree and soon Ijecomes a parasite, when the wires are re- 

 moved and it excites great wonder in all who see it until what seems a freak of 

 nature is explained to them. The leaf is large, lanceolate and not very ornamental, 

 mainh' interesting from the readiness with which it accommodates itself to its new 

 home and surroundings. There is also an edible fern found there, the root and 

 stalk of which, I was told, are ver}' palatable and nutritious. A lady living in 

 Honolulu has given much lime and attention to the study of ferns, and has made 

 the collection and preparation of tneni somewhat profitable. She has sent the 

 varieties of Hawaiian ferns to naturalists in almost all the civilized countries on 

 the globe, and has received in return specimens of the different species to be found 

 in these countries, so that her collection is, perhaps, one of the finest to be seen 

 anywhere. All are perfectly classified and preserved in such a way that they can 

 be studied and enjoyed. One can spend many days looking them over and won- 

 dering at the infinite variety of beautiful, graceful forms. 



I am under life-long obligations to this dear friend for a fine collection of 

 Hawaiian ferns which she prepared and gave to me for a birthday present, while en- 

 joying my "dolcefar luente," in beautiful Honolulu. They are elegantly mounted, 

 finished up with the many hued mosses of the islands, properly classified and lo- 

 cality named. This group of delicate loveliness, is "a thing of beauty and a joy to 

 me forever." 



I do not know that ferns could be successfully imported from the Pacific I lands 

 and raised in this climate, but I do know that we have in Minnesota a great variety, 

 and that their cultivation would add much to the beauty of our lawns and our win- 

 dow gardens, and if this paper should stimulate some young and enthusiastic fiori- 

 culturist to turn her attention to it I shall be much gratified. Were this the morn - 

 ing, instead of the evening of my life it would be a real delight to me to make it a 

 gpecialty ; as it is, I am trying some new varieties from Colorado, and am doing 

 what I can to make them flourish. One of them is the smallest fern known to bo- 

 tanists ; it was procured in "Queen's Canyon Glen Eyrie," and is exquisite in its 

 diminutive beauty. I have also sent to Wisconsin for roots, for the spring, having 

 learned that in the woods near one of the mission stations there, ferns abound in 

 great variety ; and can there be a prettier ornament to fine, highly cultivated 

 grounds than a flourishing fernery V So possible and easy too, where watering fa- 

 cilities are abundant. Great taste may be displayed in arranging ferns, either with 

 rock-work orAvithout; some other" plants such as begonias, water-ivy, and many 

 varieties of mosses bring out the ferns and make a beautiful blending. True our 

 seasons are short, but we have many hot days, when the sight of pretty, C(jol look- 

 ing ferns on the shady side of the lawn is wonderfully pleasing and refreshing. 

 Far be it from me to discourage the aesthetic furor now so prevalent, for although 

 as in many other new things its votaries are going to great extremes, and frustrat- 

 ing in a great measure by their mistaken zeal the intentions of those who set the 

 ball rolhng, yet I am convinced that when it subsides, it will leave some good 



