THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



Nephrolepis Exaltata Bostoniensis. 



suited them to their environment, and 

 which comes back exactly to that great 

 truth, &quot;the survival of the fittest.&quot; 



The variegated ferns exist in a num 

 ber of genera. Perhaps the most fa 

 miliar to us is Pteris argyrea, a fine 

 free growing fern. The variegated 

 form of Adiantum cuneatum is only in 

 teresting to the specialist. Variegation 

 is found among adiantums, aspidiums, 

 aspleniums, nephrodiums, polypodiums, 

 pteri?, scolopendriums and others. 



Crested Ferns. 



While variegation is found mostly 

 among ferns belonging to the tropics, 

 cristation, as this form is known, is 

 largely confined to the European or 

 cooler species. Cristation consists in 

 the subdivision of the extremities of the 

 frond, forming a tassel, sometimes gro 

 tesque and sometimes very ornamental. 

 And sometimes the tips or outline of 

 the whole frond are divided and multi 

 plied. It has been noticed that when 

 these forms or monstrosities occur they 

 reproduce themselves by spores with lit 

 tle variation. The most familiar forms 

 we know are the crested pteris, cretica 

 and serrulata; Adiantum cuneatum has 

 several forms, and the grand Nephrole 

 pis davallioides furcans. Among other 

 genera that give us crested forms are 

 aspidium, asplenium, davallia, gymno- 

 gramme, polypodium, woodwardia, etc. 



No. 6. . Gold and Silver Ferns. 



Although occurring in fewer genera, 

 the gold and silver ferns embrace some 

 of the most beautiful plants, and are 

 easy of culture. They are all of exotic 

 origin, but will thrive very well in a win 

 ter night temperature of 55 degrees. The 

 very attractive golden and silvery gym- 

 nogrammes owe their beauty to the un 

 der side of the frond, which is covered 

 with a thick coating of powder, giving 



the plant a marvelously rich appear 

 ance. 



In cheilanthes the silvery appearance 

 is produced by scales or hairs evenly 

 and thickly distributed over the under 

 surface of the fronds, and in tne noble 

 Cyathea dealbata the under side of the 

 fronds have the appearance of being 

 painted. Of all this class, the gymno- 

 grammes are the best known and most 



useful, and if I could grow only two of 

 them it would be G. chrysophylla, a 

 perfect cloth of gold, and G. chrysophylla 

 Peruviana, with grand silvery fronds. 

 Other handsome ferns of this class will 

 be found among the cheilanthes, glei- 

 jchenia and nothochlaena. 



No. 7. Climbing, Trailing and Drooping 

 Ferns. 



In this large class will be found many 

 of our most useful decorative ferns. 

 We use them for cutting, in veranda 

 boxes, as window plants, and for the 

 hanging baskets. Many of these have 

 been mentioned in other classes, because 

 their use is varied. Some years ago at 

 Kew Garden we remember seeing 

 baskets of adiantum and davallia three 

 feet in diameter. They were covered 

 on all sides, a perfect ball, and we have 

 all seen magnificent baskets of Nephrol 

 epis exaltata and N. exaltata Boston 

 iensis. There are at present several 

 hanging baskets of the latter as well as 

 of old N. tuberosum at our botanic gar 

 den that are at least eight feet in di 

 ameter; they are grand objects for 

 large conservatories. 



The truly climbing species, which 

 climbs as perfectly as smilax, is Lygo- 

 dium scandens (Japonicum). This was 

 largely grown about twenty years ago 

 as a decorative plant, and was used as 

 we now use Asparagus plumosus. It is 

 now little heard of; possibly the latter 

 beautiful and useful plant has displaced 

 it in public favor. There are several 



Nephrolepis Piersoni Elegantissima. 



