FERN ROCKERIES INDOORS lOI 



but in my experience it is intensely local. It 

 grows on rocks and around the bases of trees 

 in wet places; not in swamps, but often on a 

 rocky bank which catches the drip from 

 above. It is a rare thing to see this moss in 

 midsummer, but in early fall, if rains are 

 abundant, the most delicate lacework is 

 wrought by unseen hands on rocks which 

 a few weeks before were apparently desti- 

 tute of all plant life. Medallions may be 

 carefully peeled off, and are just the thing 

 for carpeting the soil about the fern roots on 

 the rocks, and if closely pinned rarely fail 

 to grow. Again, we find thick, undulating 

 sheets of this same moss which are just the 

 thing for carpeting trays. The species may 

 be called a plain moss, compact and neat 

 in manner of growth, an ideal background 

 for a single specimen of walking leaf or a 

 solitary stalk of wintergreen with its cluster 

 of crimson fruit. 



Although Nature is careful of the type, she 

 believes in variety and effects some happy 

 combinations by a mixture of mosses. The 



