GYMXOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA. 66 



Indian species of much larger growth, and also an annual, is 

 very different in appearance to other memhers of this lovely 

 family. 



On account of the present Fern heing an annual, the 

 cultivator is compelled to raise it year by year from spores. 

 If planted in light loam, using plenty of fine washed sand, 

 and kept moist by means of a bell-glass, it may be grown 

 with success. ^Mien cultivated in a greenhouse, G. leptophylla 

 bears spores so freely that plants are almost certain to spring 

 up in some of the surrounding pots without further trouble. 

 It is, however, desirable to provide against disappointment by 

 sowing spores, and the following plan answers remarkably well: 

 — ^A seed saucer is filled within an inch of the top with 

 drainage, upon this is a layer of sphagnum moss, above which 

 is a mixture of loam, leaf-soil, sand, and broken sphagnum. 

 The sphagnum to mix with the soU. must be perfectly dry, 

 for it should be broken into small pieces by rubbing between 

 the hands. A^Tien the pan is prepared, let it be well watered, 

 and allowed to remain for several hours before the spores are 

 sown. After the spores have been scattered on the surface of 

 the soil, a hand-glass must be placed over the saucer, and the 

 air excluded by tightly packing with wet sphagnum all round 

 the outside of the base of the glass. If managed in this 

 manner the spores will not require watering for a length of 

 time, and this is a great advantage, for watering is not desirable 

 if it can by any possibility be avoided; however the soil must 

 not on any account be allowed to become dry, otherwise the 

 young Ferns will without doubt perish. If the spores have 

 been rubbed from a fresh mature frond, they will be almost 

 certain to grow. Some species are several months before 

 they germinate. If successfully grown under a bell-glass, after 

 the plant has died spores Avill presently spring up to take 

 possession of the same pot. 



As it has been before stated, G. "leptophylla takes its position 

 amongst British plants from the circumstance that it is a native 

 of one of the Channel Islands. Geographically speaking, the 

 flora of these islands is not that of England, being identical 

 with the flora of France. It is therefore politically, and not 

 geographically, a British plant. Indeed reference to a map 

 will at once shew that these Islands are not only much further 



