FERNS. 



269' 



A. viride, the Green, and A. THchomaves, the Black 

 Spleenwort, thrive well in any well-drained "pocket" 

 of the rockery, with leaf -mould and sand mixed with 

 pieces of stone — pieces of old brick rubbish do 

 thoroughly weU ; indeed, wedged between the brick- 

 work of an old wall, and kept damp until the roots 

 have had time to fix themselves in their new 

 quarters, when the plants will need no further 

 attention, they will often grow more luxuriantly. 



A. Germanicmn succeed well either as pot plants, 

 using loam and leaf-mould mixed with small bits, 

 of limestone in weU-drained ^pots, or in the open 

 rookery, where care is taken to prevent access of 

 superfluous moisture. Perhaps the moat difficult to 

 manage of all the hardy Spleenworts is A. septen- 

 trionak, which in most places succeeds best in a cold 

 frame, using thoroughly well-drained pots and a 

 compost made up of sharp sand, a small quantity of 



'S'^h 



ASPLENIUM FOHTAKTJM. 



and look much more beautiful, than when grown in 

 pots. Crested forms exist of the last-named species, 

 and also others with pinnules deeply cut; the best 

 of both sections are incisum, cristatmn, depauperatmn, 

 muUifldum, and rmnosum. 



The "Wall-rue, A. Biita-muraria, and the Scale-fern, 

 A. Ceterach (often given in catalogues as Ceterach 

 offioinarmri) require very perfect drainage ; the 

 former does best wedged between pieces of lime- 

 stone or old brickwork; the latter also succeeds well, 

 and reproduces itself freely enough, under similar 

 conditions. The Sea Spleenwort, A. mwr'mmn, of 

 which hundreds of bunches of fronds are weekly 

 imported to Covent Garden Market from the South 

 of Europe for household decoration, likes a sheltered 

 spot amongst pieces of sandstone. A. fontanvm and 



leaf -mould and loam, and a large proportion of small 

 pieces of soft stone. 



The Onyohiums.— The genus Onyehium con- 

 tains but four species, and only two of these have 

 yet been introduced to cultivation. It belongs to a 

 large group or tribe, the Ptirridea, of which the 

 genera Pteris and Adiantum ai'e familiar examples. 

 Indeed, by some authorities Onychkim has been 

 united to Pteris, from which the species mentioned 

 below differ rather in the cutting of the fronds, and 

 the smallness and narrowness of the ultimate 

 segments, than essentially in fructification. There 

 are few more graceful and elegant ferns than 

 0. auratum and 0. Japonicum. Both succeed well in 

 a cool house ; indeed, in structures where no fire-heat 



