376 



MY GARDEN. 



one of my finer specimens has been severely injured, and the gardener 

 states that it was attacked by rats, who used the fronds to construct 

 a nest. I wish the animals would have contented themselves with a 

 fern of less beauty. The sporangia of T. spcciosum is 

 very interesting and distinct (fig. 865). 



Of the British Aspleniums, although I never 

 could grow the A. marinum out of doors, it flourishes 

 in the indoor fernery. Plants of the A. trichomanes, 



FIG. 865. Sporangia of . 



T. spedosum. from Devonshire, grow luxuriantly in the Fern Glen. 

 A. viride grows in the same situation, between two blocks of sandstone. 

 In the Trossachs I met a collector with a splendid handful of A. viride, 

 the fronds of which far surpassed those of my plants, and which showed 

 the fern to be an exquisitely beautiful species. The A. Ruta-mnraria 

 grows at Highgate, Hampton Court, and all over the country, either 

 in mortar, or where a calcareous spring deposits its chalky matter 

 over the ground ; I have gathered it in such a 

 situation near Whitby. Although common, it is 

 a difficult fern to grow, and I am constantly 

 A^LT rvll+ obliged to renew it. The A . germanicum (fig. 866) 

 ^X\ v^f //^ j s ver y rare m England. Plants which were 



brought for me from the Black Forest by Mrs. 

 Rennie have gro\vn admirably ; and I have also 

 the A. septentrionale, from plants which I have 

 brought from Edinburgh and from the St. Gothard Pass, on the 

 Italian side, but which I find rather difficult to grow. The A. Adian- 

 tiun-nigrum I have found on the Addington Hills, but not lately. 

 It is a beautiful fern, and requires a spot constantly damp, though 

 not wet. The A. lanccolatum has been brought to me, by Mr. Gray, 

 from the Channel Islands, but I believe that I have never yet grown 

 it successfully out of doors. The A. fontamim is a charming fern. 

 It is difficult, if not impossible, to grow without the protection of a 

 glass frame. 



The Hart's-tongue Fern (Scolopendriuni vulgarc, fig. 867) I grow in 

 its natural state in such perfection that the fronds often reach two feet 



FIG. 866.-Asplenium 

 germanicum. 



