Apsil 20, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



257 



THE FERNERY. 



with the least variable genera existent, despite 

 the fact that, like nearly all our other native 

 species, some, but comparatively few, varieties 

 have rewarded the research of our Fern hunters. 

 Even taking the exotics as well as our own, 

 crested Asplenia are very rare, despite the im- 

 mense numbers which are raised and used for de- 



IRIS TUBEROSA. 



With reference to Mr. Fitzherbert's note on 

 " Iris tuberosa," on p. 227, I should like to re- 

 mark that I have often found this plant in the 

 neighbourhood of Naples, growing in sunny, dry 

 places on the hills. In a wild state it grows 

 among such indigenous plants as Cistus salvi- 

 folius, Myrtus communis, Pistacia Terebinthus, 



THE LADY FERN. 



(Athyrium filix-fcemina.) 



Amongst our native Ferns, the Lady Fern 

 undoubtedly occupies a foremost place as an 

 example of at once delicate structure and robust 

 constitution. When grown under congenial con- 

 ditions of moisture, aerial and terrestrial, and 



sheltered from wind and sun, it reaches a larger delicate beauty and diversity of their selected ~ re ^ft un disturbed r for some'years. 

 size than any other native species, Osmunda re- ™ »• «• . » . * i •• 



galis and Pteris aquilina excepted. As a species 



it has always been somewhat of a puzzle to who named it A. f. fcemina, literally the Lady 



Fern, long before they had an inkling of sex 



relations in the Fern world have been fully 



corative purposes since many decades, llie Lady _. . ' ,•' . ... ... ' . - - , Al _ , • 



-r. xi_ xi i -i • * *.i • Erica arborea, and Phillvrea, and I find that in 



Fern, on the other hand, rivals any other species den .,. ^ flourL , hes abundant l y , 



in the abundance of its natural sports and in the eyen in ha]f . shady places> espe cially if the roots 



progeny. The distinct forms run into hundreds, 

 and it has been well said that the old botanists 



botanists, the form of its spore heaps and their 



cover or indusium being so peculiar that it is 



difficult to allocate it to a definite genus. The justified eventually in so far that that Fern has 



results have been that many botanists rank proved her femininity by her peculiar faculty of 



it as an Asplenium, while its undoubted close conceiving new fashions and decking herself with 



relative or mountain form has been ranked as a tassels, fringes, frills, and furbelows on the most 



TINE TREES DESTROYED BY 



LIGHTENING. 



The Province of Caserta, in South-west Italy, 

 was visited by a severe thunderstorm last July, 

 and almost the whole of the fruit crop was 



destroyed. 



In the Royal Botanic Garden at Caserta the 

 damage wrought was almost incredible. For 



Polypodium (P. alpestre). Those, however, who ornate and charming lines. In this versatility, weeke aft , er ^ event nearly all the gardeners 

 actually grow these plants and also members of indeed, the Lady Fern holds first place, for no ™ er€ f 'P 10 /* m l °TT* u"? S" 3 ^ *IP * 



the two genera to which they have thus been 

 allotted cannot possibly accept either classifica- 

 tion. 



in small clusters, only partially protected by a 



ragged horse-shoe shaped indusium or cover 



other Fern in all the world has yet proved a rival 



as regards originality in many of her types. A 



The Lady Fern has its spore capsules glance at any illustrated work dealing properly 



with our native Ferns will suffice to show this, 

 apart from the voluminous catalogues which, in 



springing from the midst of the sorus. Its these days of revived interest in the subject, are 

 mountain form, better termed Pseudathyrium issued by trade Fern growers. The Lady Fern 



alpestre, only appears at and over some 2,000 



branches of trees which had been injured, and 

 extensive damage was done to the stove and 

 greenhouse plants by splinters of glass, all the 

 panes having been shattered by the hail. 



Although practically all the trees in the garden 

 were damaged more or less, the chief victims of 

 the storm were the Pines. The damage in this 

 direction was very serious, and, indeed, irrepar- 



untry; able, for within 14 days after the occurrence 



feet elevation, considerably above that of the everywhere, indeed, where conditions of soil and about 60 Pines, some of them nearly 250 years 

 range of the Lady Fern proper. It is, however, aerial moisture prevail under shady conditions old, were found to be dead. 



so closely similar that its main difference consists 

 in the dot-like character of the spore heaps and 

 the absence or rudimentary nature of the 

 indusium. It is owing to the last feature that 



and where the Fern vandal is precluded from 

 reaching it. In the coombes of Devon and 

 Dorset, and other western English counties, in 



the umbrage 



glens of Scotland, in the 



botanists have ranked it as a Polypodium, the ravines of Wales and among the hills and dales 

 characteristic of that genus being naked round or of Ireland we may find the Lady Fern in all its 

 oval sori. In this connection, however, there beauty as shoulder-high specimens of plumy 

 are so many counterbalancing considerations 

 that, to the actual cultivator, it seems nothing 

 more or less than absurd to ignore them all in 

 favour of what is really a minor one. In the 

 Lady Fern proper, A. f. fcemina, we have 

 varieties in which a dot-like apparently non- 



loveliness, and in less favoured districts they may 

 fringe the ditches by the roadside on smaller 

 lines, and crop up here, th«re, and everywhere 

 where boggy conditions favour them. With re- 

 gard to the varieties, their name is legion, but 

 our object in this article has been mainly to 

 treat of some anomalies in the nomenclature con- 



The cause of this sudden demise on the part 

 of the Pines was investigated, and the conclusion, 

 was drawn that they were killed by contact with 

 the electricity in the air. The trees were prob- 

 ably first wounded by the heavy hail, and the 

 exposed resin attracted the electricity to the* 

 trees, and thus caused them to perish. This 

 theory it further borne out by the fact that of 

 the trees which died all belonged to those species 

 which contain the most resin. Thus, all the 

 large specimens of Pinus maritima, P. Laricio, 

 P. Hamiltonii, Picea excelsa, and Larix europaa 

 were killed, whilst Pinus Pinea, P. halepensis, 

 P. Cembra, P. Strobus, Araucarias, and 

 Cupressuses, although considerably damaged by 



indusiate fructification occur, A. f. f. plumosum . 



Horsfall, for instance. The Polypodies proper, nected with what we ma y tor, J\» ™out dig- the hail, recovered, and are now growing well. 



too, have all creeping rhizomes, while both the respect, the raw material from which Nature has It would be interesting to know the opinions 



Ferns in question have definite crowns. Most 

 Polypodies are evergreen, the so-called P. 

 alpestre is thoroughly deciduous, and, in short, 



shaped them, and incidentally to induce our 

 readers to refer to books and catalogues with a 

 view to making a selection of the varieties in 



of your readers on this theory. Willy Midler, 

 Naples, Italy. 



S!.r„ la ^ 0nShip between the lowlar ) d an , d i the the comrnon ones provided by the hawker or pur- 

 chased by the bunch in the market as an encour- 



question, instead of contenting themselves with BROCCOLI IN A FRENCH GARDEN 



highland species is in every w r ay so close that to 

 place them in entirely distinct families cannot be 

 justified. The allocation of A. f . fcemina to the 

 Spleenworts is an even worse instance of mis- 

 applied knowledge. There we have even greater 

 differentiation altogether ignored in favour of a 

 very indefinite form of fructification which only 

 a strong imagination can consider as Asplenoid. 

 The Asplenia are peculiarly rock and wall Ferns, 

 are all evergreen, and as a general rule but 

 little liable to variation. Their sori are long 

 and linear, and even where the smallness of the 

 divisions reduces their length they are still dis- 

 tinguished by an unbroken indusium springing 

 definitely from one side on quite different lines 

 from the Lady Fern. Their fronds, too, are 

 much tougher, even leathery, while those of the 

 Lady Fern are in all its innumerable forms thin 

 and delicate. The Lady Fern, moreover, is not 

 normally a denizen of rocks or walls, but of the 

 soil proper where Asplenia would not thrive. No 

 two genera, indeed, could differ more or in more 

 characters than the Athyria and the Asplenia, 

 an " y e ^ on account of a merely fancied re- 

 semblance in the sori, the former is ranked as a 

 member of the latter genus by even our foremost 

 botanists. It is, however, on the abnormal side 

 that the two genera differentiate themselves still 

 more. The genus of Spleenworts proper, exclud- 

 ing their close allies the Scolopendriums, rank 



dais 



T. Druery. 



FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. 



PLANTS FOR SHADE. 



I read with great interest the note on p. 205 

 on " What to Plant Under Trees," by P. H. ; 

 but I miss from his list some of the most use- 

 ful plants. In the first place, he has omitted 

 Convallaria japonica ; this plant is not quite 

 hardy, but there are few parts of England where 

 it would not grow out-of-doors. Here, in the 

 south-west of Italy, it is largely grown under 

 trees, and when combined with Cyclamen 

 neapolitanum in autumn, or C. repandum in 

 spring, it is most effective. After two or three 

 years' growth, the Convallaria should be cut 

 down near the root, otherwise it will grow tall 



and straggling. < 



There are two useful species of Kuscus wnicn 

 should not be omitted— R. Hypoglossum and R. 

 Hypophyllum. These may be planted in dry 

 spots where rather taller plants are needed. The 

 young shoots form a very palatable table vege- 

 table. Another good lawn plant is Bambusa 

 nana, which requires a considerable amount of 

 water the first year it is planted, but afterwards 

 it does well even if kept rather dry. 



Since last November we have had a succession 

 of good Broccoli. We planted the variety 

 Autumn Protecting late in the season, and the 

 plants commenced to form heads at the end of 

 November and continued until Christmas, when 

 a succession was maintained by Xmas White. 



After these were finished Vanguard was ready 

 for use, and we were cutting this variety through. 

 February, by which time Eastertide was ready 

 for the table. This variety was available through 

 March, when we commenced to cut Hatif de St. 

 Laud, and now Late Queen is almost ready, and 

 to follow we have the fine variety Latest of All. 

 These will provide a supply until the earliest 

 Cauliflowers grown under chassis are ready. 



White sprouting Broccoli has also been good, 

 although this vegetable does not seem to be- 

 known in this district. W. L. Lavender, Laferte- 

 Bernard, Sarthe, France. 



French International Horticultural 

 Congress.-— We have received intimation from 

 the National Horticultural Society of France 

 that the French railways are issuing tickets from 

 all parts of that country to Paris, half-price, for 

 the benefit of members attending the May Con- 

 gress. Application for such cheap tickets must 

 be made to the office of the society, 84, Rue 

 Grenelle, Paris, and in the case of English or 

 other foreign visitors, the tickets are only avail- 

 able from the frontier town to Paris. 



