CHAPTER XVI 

 FOLIAGE PLANTS 



FOLIAGE plants are grown largely for the effectiveness of 

 their leaf characters. As a rule, the flowers are incon- 

 spicuous and of little value. The plants are principally 

 natives of tropical countries, therefore, they require a 

 comparatively high temperature. They are, for the most 

 part, shade-demanding, but a few species require consider- 

 able light for their best development. 



The principal plants in this class are ferns, palms, pan- 

 danus, aspidistra, araucaria, cordyline, dracaena, caladi- 

 ums, crotons, smilax and asparagus (Fig. 42). 



FERNS 



559. Botanical classification. Order, Filicales ; gen- 

 era, about 120. The most important genera are : - 



Cyathea Pellaea 



Dicksonia Pteris 



Cibotium Lomaria 



Alsophila Thamnopteris 



Platy cerium Asplenium 



Niphobolus Polystichum 



Polypodium Cyrtomium 



Phlebodium Nephrolepis 



Adiantum Davallia 



The species are listed under the different genera. 



560. Botanical characters. Ferns vary much in size, 

 but have similar characteristics. With the exception of 



359 



