28 FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 



tion to Ochropteris pollens, Antrophyum Boryanum, 

 Opliioglossom palmatum. Cyathea canaliculate,, and 

 0. excelsa, as well as Adiantum ascurifolium and 

 A. Mauritianum, all found in that island, are still 

 scarce in, if not altogether lost to our gardens. I have 

 already alluded to the paucity of species from Southern 

 Africa at present in our gardens, although in the 

 " Synopsis" of Pappe and Rawson, published in 1858, 

 no less than 165 are described, and the localities 

 where they are to be found given in detail. Not- 

 withstanding that few of these are remarkable or 

 striking in appearance, many would be prized on 

 account of their small size and neatness, and they 

 would be very suitable for Ward's cases. Even in 

 European countries there are several Ferns which we do 

 not yet possess in British gardens ; for instance, the 

 Lastrea fragrans of the Arctic and sub- Arctic regions, 

 said by Sir W. J. Hooker to be "one of the most 

 beautiful of all ferns/' is, as far as I am aware, known 

 only from dried specimens ; while Asplonium fisswm, 

 found in several parts of Southern Germany and Italy, 

 is rare even in herbaria, and altogether unknown in 

 the gardens of this country. On the south-eastern 

 confines of Europe, in the Caucasus, there is also the 

 Woodsia Caucasica, an interesting species, closely 

 allied to W. elongata, of Northern India. 



From the Western hemisphere, also, there are nu- 

 merous fine species yet to be introduced. Fee's " Cata- 

 logue of Mexican Ferns " shows that that country 

 contains upwards of 300 not known in our gardens, 

 though many of them would be very acceptable. Among 

 these are several Tree-ferns, such as the remarkable 

 Cyathea Mexicana, found in the neighbourhood of 



