THE SPLEENWORTS. 281 



The finest specimens of the beautiful Scale 

 Fern which we have ever encountered, we found 

 on the top of a very high wall which skirted 

 another wood in the neighbourhood of Totnes. 

 The large stones at the top of the wall had 

 become loose with time, and the perpetual drop- 

 pings of leaves during many years from the 

 trees which overhung it, had accumulated a rich 

 deposit of leaf-mould between the loosened stones. 

 Immediately underneath the crowning stones 

 we found the largest specimens of Ceterach, with 

 fronds over seven inches long, and enormous roots 

 extending to nearly the whole width of the wall, 

 and forming a compact mass nearly a foot square. 

 This wall, like the one at Berry Pomeroy, was 

 immersed in the deepest shade flung by the over- 

 hanging trees. 



Planted in the highest and shadiest clefts of the 

 out-of-door rockery, with leaf-mould, sand, and old 

 bits of mortar for soil ; kept sufficiently moist, but 

 not drenched with water, the elegant Scale Fern 

 will succeed well. 



