THE BUCKLER FERNS. 237 



this arrangement gives a singularly graceful and 

 beautiful appearance to the fronds. The whole 

 plant, too, has a broad, arching, drooping habit, 

 and when it has reached its highest state of 

 development, there is something singularly and 

 strikingly elegant in its appearance. 



The Broad Buckler Fern is not, perhaps, quite 

 so plentiful as the more erect and robust-looking 

 Male Fern ; but it is very abundant, and is pretty 

 widely distributed throughout Great Britain. It 

 grows in woods, shady lanes, and sheltered hedge- 

 banks ; and also on the banks of streams and rivers, 

 sometimes to a height of so much as five feet. 

 Being as hardy as it is elegant, it is admirably 

 adapted for the open rockery, if kept in a cool 

 and shady corner. It should have plenty of room 

 to display the graceful, arching, spreading habit 

 of its fronds, For soil, sandy peat and leaf-mould. 

 But although it is especially adapted for the 

 garden rockery, it will grow readily indoors, either 

 in the green-house or in pots. Abundant moisture 

 and shade, however, are essential to its successful 

 growth, wherever it may be grown. 



