3IO Notes atid Gleanings. 



of a rich leafy character, and its comparative hardiness, as it will bear a few 

 degrees of frost with impunity. Nephrodium molle is frequently grown under 

 this name. It is truthfully figured in Lowe's " Ferns " (vol. vii. plate 3) 2i%As- 

 pidiiim patens J but, as is common enough, the truthful picture falls far short of 

 the beauty of the plant. 



Polystichiun setosmn, syn. Nephrodlu7>i setosiiin. — There are more things 

 in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy : so I make no quarrel 

 with Mr. Baker for placing this under Nephrodium in Hooker's "Synopsis." 

 (By the way, every lover of ferns should buy Hooker's " Synopsis Filicum," 



published by Hardwicke, Piccadilly, price : I don't know, — not under a 



guinea certainly.) It is a very polystichum-like fern, with large dark-green, 

 glossy, elongated, deltoid fronds ; the stipes of each is much beset with brown 

 scales ; the two lower pinnae divergent from and larger than the rest ; and the 

 pinnules rather halberd-shaped than lanceolate, as they are described in Hooker's 

 " Synopsis." A «plendid fern, adapted for cool-ferneries, always fresh, glossy, 

 and gay, and taking no harm if subjected to a few degrees of frost. 



Litobrochia incisa. — A splendid greenhouse fern, with long-arching fronds ; 

 the stipes reddish-purple ; the pinnae, which are distinctly and distantly divided, 

 brilliant light green. This is very distinct and beautiful, but must have room 

 to display its beauties, as the fronds average three feet in length. In Mrs. Hib- 

 berd's cool-fernery, it has borne the brunt of five winters without aid of arti- 

 ficial heat. 



Pteris sinensis. — This is a choice and desirable fern for the amateur who 

 already possesses a collection, but is scarcely useful to the beginner or the 

 "limited liability" cultivator. It is the Pteris crenata of Hooker's " Synopsis 

 Filicum," and of Lowe's " Ferns " (vol. iii. plate 40). It is a good companion 

 to Pteris serrulata, and, like it, very much inclined to become a weed of the 

 warm fernery. Warm greenhouse temperature will keep i\. all winter. — S. H., 

 in Floral World. 



Alternathera amcena Propagation. — It is readily increased by cut- 

 tings, which may be put in now in sandy soil, with an inch of sand at the top of 

 the pots or pans. The cuttings should be inserted about an inch apart. Select 

 those with three joints and the growing point, and insert them two-thirds of 

 their length in the soil. A gentle heat is necessary, or a hot-bed of from 70° to 

 75°. You may take up some of the old plants, and winter them in a house hav- 

 ing a temperature of 45° ; and these will afford you plenty of cuttings in spring, 

 which will answer for bedding out the same season, if growth is encouraged, and 

 they are hardened off well before planting out. 



A BASKET of twelve magnificent pears is exhibited in Covent-Garden market 

 The price is eighteen guineas. — Wilts Mirror. 



