152 



HENDEKSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



FEE 



Fern, Adder's. Polypodivmi vulgare. 

 Adder's Tongue. Ophioglossum vulgatum. 

 American G-rape. Botrichium IwnarUyldes. 

 Australian Tree. Dickaonia antartica. 

 Beech. Polypodiwn Phegopleria. 

 Blrd's-nest. Thamnopteris nidus (Aapleiniwm). 

 Brake, or Bracken. Pteris aquilina. 

 Bristle. The genus Trichomcmea. 

 Buckler. The genus Laatrea. 

 Chain. The genus Woodwardia. 

 Chignon. CiboUum regale. 

 Christmas Shield. Aspidium acrostichoides. 

 Cinnamon. Osmunda cAmnamomea. 

 Climbing Snake's-tongue. Lygodiwm scandens. 

 Deer. Lomaria spieant (Blechnum). 

 Elk's Horn. Platycerium alcicome. 

 FUmy. A name applied to those kinds which 



have pellucid or transpai-ent fronds, as Hy- 



memophyllvm, Todea and Trichomanes. 

 Haresfoot. The genus Davallia. 

 Hartford. Lygodium palmatvm. 

 Hart's-tongue. The genus Scolopendrium. 

 Japan Climbing. Lygodiwm scandens. 

 Japan Haresfoot. Davallia Mariesii. 

 Killamey. Trichomanes radicans. 

 Lady. Aihyrimn Filix-fcemina. 

 Maiden Hair. Many of the genus Adiantum. 

 Maiden Hair. American. Adiantum, pedatwm. 

 Moon. Botrychium Ijiinaria. 

 Oak. Polypodivmi Dryopteris. 

 Oregon Cliff-Brake. Pellma densa. 

 Oregon Hock-Brake. Allosorus achrostichoides. 

 Parsley. Allosorus or Cryptogramma crispvs. 

 Pod. Ceraiopteria thalictroides. 

 Sensitive. Onoclea sensibilis. 

 Shield. The genus Aspidium. 

 Stag's Horn. . Platycerium gramde and other 



species. 

 Sweet. Myrrhis odorata and Comptonia aaplen^ 



ifolia. 

 Tree. Various species of Dicksonia, Alsophila, 



Cyaihea, etc. 

 Virginian Kattlesnake. Botrychium Virginicmn. 

 Walking-leaf. Campiosorus rhizophyllus. 

 Water. Osmunda regalis. 

 Fernery. See Wardian Case. 

 Perns. From their extreme beauty and diver- 

 sity as well as from th,eir general adaptability 

 in arrangements with flowering and omar 

 mental-foliaged plants, Ferns, when well- 

 grown are indispensable and possess peculiar 

 attractions. As their ijianagement gets better 

 understood, their popularity increases, and 

 the now almost universal use of plants, and 

 especially of cut fronds, intermixed in floral 

 decorations, has led to the production of a 

 few of the most suitable species in immense 

 quantities. The earlier modern botanists 

 knew little about ferns, and Linnseus, who is 

 regarded as the father of modem botany, 

 seems to have supposed that in one sense 

 they had flowers as other plants had, the 

 little brown dots on the back of the fronds 

 being supposed to be seeds of the same char- 

 acter as ordinary flowering plants. During 

 thelast fifty or more years, many discoveries 

 have been made about Ferns, most notably 

 that these little dusty brown dots are not 

 really seeds but little bud ferns. When they 

 fall or are sown in damp plapes they open and 

 form little flat green membranes, and in this 

 membrane the real flowers appear, and all the 

 processes common to flowering plants are car- 

 ried out. 



FEB 



In scientific treatises on ferns, all these pro- 

 cesses of fern-growth and their functions, are 

 given different names from what they would 

 have in other plants ; thus the germinating 

 green blade is called a prothallium, and the 

 mass that would be the stamens in a flowering 

 plant is the anthevidia, while the pistil is the 

 archegonium. There is this difference, how- 

 ever, that while flowering plants after fertili- 

 zation retain the germ, in what we call a seed, 

 for some time before it grows, in the fern the 

 germ commences at once to grow and make 

 a little plant. This has some bearing on the 

 raising of hybrid ferns. New varieties are 

 obtained by sowing the spores of different 

 forms of the same species together, for as in 

 flowering plants it is only in case of very - 

 close relationship that intermixture is possi- 

 ble. Those who have experimented and ob- 

 served closely, tell us that the chances of in- 

 termixture is not great, still this is the only 

 way to get new varieties. By taking the 

 spores from the crested portion of "Crested 

 Ferns " the certainty of getting crested 

 seedlings is much increased. 



Raising Ferns from spores is a very inter- 

 esting operation requiring considerable care 

 and attention to accomplish successfully. 

 They are best sown in pots or shallow pans 

 that have been half filled with broken rubble, 

 the remainder being filled to within half an inch 

 of the top with a finely sifted compost of 

 loam, peat and sand. As the fern spores are 

 extremely minute the soil should be watered 

 and allowed to drain before sowing as" by 

 watering afterwards the spores might be 

 washed away. Scatter thinly over the sur- 

 face, pieces of glass boing placed over the 

 tops of the pots which should then be stood 

 in saucers of water thus obviating the 

 necessity of watering overhead. They should 

 be kept well shaded at all times, and when 

 the spores are suf&ciently grown to be visible 

 . as very minute plants, they should be taken 

 up in small patches, and pricked off carefully, 

 these in turn when they get established and 

 fit to handle should be divided and potted off 

 singly. The most popular species Adiantums, 

 Pteris, etc., are raised from spores In immense 

 quantities. Many others as Nephrolepis, 

 Davallia, etc., that form several crowns or 

 have creeping rhizomes are easily increased 

 by division. A few species produce small 

 bulbils along, or at the end of the frond, and 

 these, if removed and placed on the soil 

 eventually form plants. 



Trunks of Tree Ferns are imported in large 

 numbers, both from the West Indies and 

 Australia, and a large proportion generally 

 succeed. Young plants may be raised from 

 spores, and such quick-growing species as 

 Dicksonia, Alsophila, etc., soon make elegant 

 plants for decorative purposes. Hardy Ferns 

 succeed best when planted on rock-work or in 

 a shady situation sheltered from high winds ; 

 as there is so much diversity both in their 

 size and habit, particular attention should be 

 directed to their arrangement, placing the 

 evergreen and deciduous species at irregular 

 intervals, so that the whcJle may be more or 

 less furnished at all seasons. 



Fero'nia. The Wood-apple or Elephant-apple 

 of India, closely allied to the Orange. F. ete- 

 phantum, the only species of this genus of 



