FERNS 347 



form dense mats of delicate mossy growth a few inches high 

 at the utmost, and the delightful Bristle or Killarney Fern 

 (Trichomanes radicans\ which has a stouter rhizome and fronds 

 quite large enough to furnish any ordinary Wardian case. Of 

 this latter there are several beautiful varieties, especially T. r. 

 dilatatum, a grand leafy form, with fronds a foot high, and 

 T. r. Andreivsii densutn, dissectum, and cambricum, all varied 

 in cutting and make. It is beyond question that no Ferns 

 are so well adapted as the Filmies for case culture in rooms ; 

 all other species, however pretty they appear when first in- 

 stalled, are apt to get drawn and out of health before long 

 under such conditions, while a batch of Filmies, once fairly 

 started, thrives well, and if properly selected will never be 

 too large for the available space. For a large case, a central 

 plant of that exquisite yet hardy New Zealander, Todea superba^ 

 may well be selected, but as a well-grown plant of this may 

 cover a circle of four feet in diameter, it is clear that in time it 

 will overgrow its room. Undoubtedly the easiest way to grow 

 Filmies is to sink a pit in a shady garden nook (i.e. toplights 

 but no sun), line it with bricks, red for preference, make a bed 

 as above described, and instal the Ferns, Todeas, and others 

 therein, covering the whole with a well-fitting light. In such 

 a pit the writer has hadTodeas,Trichomanes,and Hymenophyl- 

 lums thriving marvellously, though shamefully neglected and 

 watered once a month at the oftenest, the sunken bed supply- 

 ing itself from the subsoil and the non-removal of the tight- 

 fitting light retaining the air in the necessary moist condition. 

 Many of the choicest exotic Filmies are hardy, or so nearly so 

 that they will thrive with only sufficient protection to keep out 

 the frost. Those above named British and New Zealand are 

 absolutely frost-proof, and make the bulk of their growth in the 

 coolest times of the year, a clear indication that high tempera- 

 ture is a mistake, and this indeed is often the cause of failure 

 where an exotic and maybe tropical origin misleads the culti- 

 vator, who ignores the important facts that high elevation 

 means coolness even in the torrid zone. 



