Gardening for Amateurs 



835 



charming little plant, only about a couple 

 of inches in height. Beside those above 

 mentioned some desirable kinds of moderate 

 vigour are decora, dissecta, glabella, griffith- 

 iana, lawsoniana and rufa. 



Dicksonia antarctica. This native of 

 New Zealand is the commonest of all Tree 

 Ferns, and in sheltered parts of the west 

 of England and in Ireland it stands the 

 winter out of doors. It will 

 reach a height of 20 feet or F 

 more, its stout, erect trunk 

 being crowned with a mag- 

 nificent head of fronds. 

 Specimens of this height 

 are, however, rarely met ^1 



with, but even with a 6-feet 

 stem it presents a stately 

 and striking appearance. 

 When raised from spores it 

 is, even without any trace 

 of stem, a decidedly orna- 

 mental fern. Smaller-grow- 

 ing tree-like sorts are fibrosa 

 and squarrosa. 



Doodia. A pretty race 

 of ornamental little ferns 

 rarely exceeding 1 foot in 

 height, and of simple cultural 

 requirements. The best are 

 aspera, blechnoides, caudata, 

 dives, lunulata or media as 

 it is. often called. 



Doryopteris. By some 

 the Doryopteris is classed 

 with the Pteris, but for 

 garden purposes it is quite 

 distinct. In the Doryopteris 

 the leaves are much less 

 finely divided than in most 

 kinds of Pteris. The best 

 are geraniifolia, palmata and 

 sagittaefolia. They are all well suited for 

 growing in comparatively small pots. 



Gleichenia. The members of this class 

 are totally distinct from any other ferns, 

 being of a remarkable trailing nature. The 

 prettily- cut fronds are divided into two or 

 more portions ; in the centre, from whence 

 these divisions spring, a bud is developed, 

 from which new fronds are produced, until 

 in some cases the plant assumes quite a 

 climbing habit, the wiry stems possessing 



several generations of fronds. Gleichenias 

 are not at all plentiful in cultivation, their 

 propagation being difficult, and they are 

 somewhat particular in their cultural re- 

 quirements. They are mainly natives of 

 Australia, and therefore need only green- 

 house temperature. They are better suited 

 when grown in pans than in pots. A mixture 

 of fibrous peat with some pieces of sand- 



The Bird's Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus). 



stone and silver sand is a good compost for 

 them. 



Goniophlebium subauriculatum. A 



very distinct fern, which should be grown in 

 a suspended basket, so that its fronds, 6 feet 

 or more in length, may hang down. The 

 fronds are once divided and over 1 foot 

 across at the widest part. This fern needs 

 a minimum winter temperature of 55 or 60. 

 Gymnogramme. Many of the Gymno- 

 grammes are remarkable from the fact that 



