384 



MY GARDEN. 



they would do perfectly well. The W. radicans is a truly noble fern, 

 which forms other little ferns at the end of its fronds. 



The Doodia aspera (fig. 908) thrives, and the leaves are handsomer 

 than when it is grown in the indoor fernery, but severe frost kills it. 

 One or two other small species of doodia flourish well. 



The Loinaria alpina, L. alpina major, and L. crinita grow in the 

 most satisfactory manner, and the L. cJiilensis (fig. 886) is one of the 

 glories of the garden ; its grand stiff leaves form a striking contrast 

 with the other ferns, and it is an important addition to our ferneries. In 

 the severest winters, as in that of 1870, its fronds were destroyed; but 

 ordinarily they remain the whole year. When the fronds are destroyed 

 in winter, fresh ones appear in spring. 



FIG. 886. Lomaria chilensis 



FIG. 887. Struthiopteris germanica. 



One of the grandest of all hardy ferns is the Struthiopteris. 

 Two species are described by botanical writers, the 6". germanica 

 (fig. 887) and the S. pennsylvanica. I cannot, however, distinguish one 

 from the other, and probably both supposed different species are really 

 the same plant. The Struthiopteris is one of the first ferns to come out 

 in spring, and one of the first to decay in autumn. Its general 

 form is that of a shuttlecock, from the centre of which the fertile 

 fronds appear. Notwithstanding this habit of growth, it has a 

 creeping rhizome, whereby a little forest is produced, of great beauty. 

 This fern grows three feet high, and must be regarded as one of the 



