FERNS 645 
S. H&MATODES (bloody). Stems 1 to 2 feet long, bright crimson ; 
lower half unbranched, upper part branched and assuming triangular 
form. A large, handsome species. Tropical America. Stove. 
S. KRAUSSIANA (Krauss’). Stems trailing, } to 1 foot long, with 
numerous branches and half-erect branchlets. Spikes short. Green- 
house. The var. aurea is of a greenish yellow colour. 
S. MarrTensi (Martens’). Stems 6 to 12 inches long; lower half 
trailing, upper somewhat erect; branches wavy. Mexico. Greenhouse. 
Plate 303. There are numerous varieties of this well-known species. 
S. WILLDENOvII (Willdenow’s). Stems climbing, 12 to 20 feet long ; 
branches spreading, 1 to 2 feet long. Branchlets short and close together ; 
blue tinged. Tropical Asia. Stove. 
elaginellas should be treated exactly like Ferns. 
They succeed in any light soil, but do best in a mixture of 
fibrous peat, leaf-mould, and silver sand. Shade and moisture are the 
only other requirements additional to the appropriate temperature, as 
indicated for the different species. When grown in pots, those of very 
dwarf habit look well if the soil is heaped up in the middle above the 
top of the pot, and the Selaginella planted thereon. Some of the species 
are useful for growing in baskets or pans suspended from the roof. All 
the small species are most effective when grown in pans a foot in 
diameter. S. helvetica is a hardy species, and is useful in the rock- 
garden. Propagation is easily effected by cutting off portions of the 
creeping stems to which roots are attached, and keeping them close 
until established. 
Description of Selaginella Martensii, natural size. Fig. 1 is a spike 
Plate 303. enlarged, showing the yellow sporange between the lea 
and the ligule; 2 is a ligule and sporange, further enlarged; 3 is the 
sporange separated. 
Cultivation. 
FERNS 
Natural Order FILiIcEs 
Fruicrs (Latin, filix, a fern). This order contains not less than seventy- 
five genera, from which we can only select half a dozen genera as 
examples. In nearly all cases Ferns are perennial plants, sometimes 
shrubby or tree-like, or with creeping rootstocks. The leafy expansions 
are called fronds, and they vary from the simple strap-shape of 
Scolopendriwm, to the pinnately-cut Polypodium vulgare, and to forms 
that are once, twice, thrice, and even four times pinnate. These fronds 
IvV.— 38 
