THE BLADDER FEKNS. 



irregular arrangement. The branches themselves 

 are distinctly lance-shaped ; and on each side, 

 above and below them, is a row of leaflets, egg- 

 shaped in general outline, and notched or saw- 

 edged. On the backs of the fronds the little 

 bladder-like clusters of seeds are very plentiful and 

 frequently become confluent. Although somewhat 

 rare in Ireland except in two or three localities in 

 that country this Fern is nevertheless widely dis- 

 tributed throughout the rest of the United King- 

 dom ; being, indeed, in some places very abundant. 

 The delicate Brittle Bladder Fern is easily 

 grown. Give it leaf-mould, loam, peat, and sand, 

 shade, and an abundance of water, and whether 

 with such soil and subject to such conditions you 

 place it in a cool stony nook of your rockery, or 

 in pots, indoors, it will equally thrive. If you 

 grow it in pots, plant it amongst some stones, not 

 forgetting, however, to give it the appropriate soil. 

 The more nearly you can approach, in your treat- 

 ment of it, its natural conditions of growth, the 

 more certain is your prospect of successfully culti- 

 vating it. 



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