THE GEKESEE FAR1LEE. 



12& 



The plants suitable for a small case are, on account of 

 ts size, oficourse, comparatively few. The best of these 

 u-e Lycopodlum dent iou latum (fig. 1), a green, moss-like, 



weeping plant, of 

 great beauty. L. Wil- 

 denovii is an upright 

 variety, growing from 

 six to ten inches high. 

 It has several shades 

 of color, varying from 

 light green to blue 

 Fig. 1. and brown. L. ccesi- 



an is a very beautiful trailing variety. 



Tradcscaidia Zebrina, variegated-leaved spider-web. — 

 L pretty, trailing, variegated-leaved plant. 



Linaria cimbalaria, Kenilworth ivy. — A little trailing 

 >lant; leaves smooth, cordate, fine 

 obed. 



Lysimachia numrmdaria ■ money- 

 rort.— This is a pretty, delicate, little, 

 ;reen, trailing plant, with opposite, 

 oundish, cordate leaves, bearing a 

 mall, yellow blossom. 



Cissus discol-or. — A most beautifully 

 •ariegated leaved, twining plant. 



From the varieties of native ferns, 

 re have selected the following, on ac- 

 ount of their small size and their beau- 

 y, as most suitable for a very small 

 ase: 



Polypolium vulgar e (fig. 2). — Frond 

 ir leaf deeply pinnatifid, smooth ; nearly a foot high and 

 livided into segments nearly to the midvein. 

 Pulypodiu.m Dryopteris (fig. 3). — A very beautiful slen- 

 der variety, nearly a foot high; 

 frond consisting of two light 

 green, compound, drooping leaf- 

 lets, of a very delicate texture; 

 root black and very slender; 

 grows in shady places and moun- 

 tainous woods — comparatively 

 rare. 

 Asplenium Trichoma nes.— Frond 

 )innate ; lance linear in outline, from three to six inches 

 ligh, with eight to twelve pairs of small, roundish- 

 >bovate leaflets ; stipe or stem black and polished. A 

 small aud delicate fern. 



Op/tioglossum vulgat'im, Adder's tongue, (fig. 4). — A 

 suri.ous little fern growing in low grounds; 

 fronds solitary, two to three inches long, 

 »nd two thirds as wide. The lit Ie, green, 

 narrow-pointed leaves, seated on a narrow 

 stalk or neck, and peeping up from among 

 the grass, may not be unaptly compared to 

 a snake's tongue. 



Asplenium Montanum. — Frond smooth, 

 bi-pinnate, narrowly oblong, lanceolate in 

 outline; grows in tufts four to eight inches 

 high on mountain rocks. 



Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair fern). — This is the most 

 beautiufid of all our native ferns, abounding in deep, 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 4. 



rocky woods. Stipe eight to fourteen inches high, slender, 

 of a deep, glossy purple, approaching a jet black. At 

 the top it divides equally into compound branches, each 

 of which gives off, at regular intervals, six to eight pin- 

 nate leafllets from the outer side, giving the whole frond 

 the form of the crescent. 



In a larger case, a much greater variety of plants may 

 be introduced— especially of ferns, the most beautiful of 

 all plants for this purpose, and to which particular atten- 

 tion should be directed. 



But little thought or care has yet been bestowed in this 

 country, to growing collections of ferns, and of course it 

 is at present impossible to obtain here many of the fine 

 exotic varieties of this graceful plant; but, as our own 

 forests furnish us with a great number of the most beau- 

 tiful and highly.prized sorts, no one need be debarred the 

 privilege of cultivating them, since it only requires the 

 trouble or pleasure of collecting them from sources easy 

 of access to nearly every oue of our readers. 



Besides the plants mentioned and described above, we 

 here specify a few others suitable for 

 a large case : 



Sarracenia purpurea, Side-saddle 

 flower, (fig. 5).— A native plant famil- 

 iar to many of us. Grows in wet 

 mealows and about mud lakes. 

 Leaves six to nine inches long, ever- 

 green, composed of a hollow, pitcher- 

 form petiole, swelling in the middle, Fig. 5. 

 with a wing-like appendage, extending the whole length 

 inside, from half an inch to an i ch wide, and extended 

 on the outside of the mouth into a lamina covered with 

 reversed hairs. Their ca- 

 pacity, when of ordinary 

 size, is about that of a wine 

 glass, and they are generally 

 full of water. It bears a 

 single, large, purple, nod- 

 ding flower, almost as curi- 

 ous in structure as the 

 leaves. 



Saxifraga Sarmentosa, 

 Beefsteak geranium, (fig. 6). 

 A plant of Chinese origin, 

 common in m ist green-houses. Leaves variegated, 

 roundish, toothed, very hairy. Throws out runners 

 which strike K)ot like the straw- 

 berry. 



Calla EtMopica, African lily, 

 (fig. 7). — This familiar plant is 

 well adapted for a large case. 

 Its dark li^een foliage, of pecu- 

 liar form, has a luxuriant tropi- 

 cal appearance, and the large, 

 show-white flowers would be or- 

 naments of great beauty. 



Vinca varietated major. — A 

 new variety of periwinkle, with 

 variegated leaves. Like the other periwinkles, it is a 

 trailing plant. Foliage very large, and beautifully mar- 

 gined, striped and blotched with silver. 



Fig. 7. 



