Iberbaceous plants* 385 



often covered with a white or yellow farinaceous matter. 

 The favorite haunts of the majority of the more delicate 

 kinds are crevices of moist and shady rocks, where they 

 grow into tufts of lace-like foliage. Some of the stronger 

 and more robust kinds form quite a feature of woodland 

 scenery. They are most abundant in marshy ground or on 

 the shores of slow, shallow brooks. The delicate beauty of 

 the mostly tender green foliage well compensates for the 

 lack of flowers. In gardening, the favorite use of ferns is 

 for the embellishment of rockeries, and species of all kinds 

 are generally brought together there. While this is a very 

 sensible practice and satisfactory from all points of view, it 

 must still be remembered that there is a much wider scope 

 for their use in natural or artificial scenery. Woods and 

 shrubberies especially offer ideal places for growing a great 

 variety of our most beautiful ferns, but even in the open 

 lawns naturally formed groups of such species as the eagle 

 fern are perfectly in keeping with their nature and habit. 



All ferns deserve cultivation, and the following list is 

 only^an enumeration of some of the best : 



Common Polypody, Polypodium vulgare. A handsome 

 evergreen of mossy rocks, especially in shady positions, 

 but sometimes in the full glare of the sun. Frond simple 

 pinnatifid, six or eight inches long, with a short stalk, dark 

 green. Best for planting in crevices of rocks where there 

 will be a constant supply of moisture ; in such places it 

 will form large masses of leaves. Several varieties of this 

 fern are grown in European gardens, such as elegantissimum, 

 a form with bright green, finely divided and feathery leaves 

 twice as large as those of the type ; cristatum, apex of the 



