64 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GAEDENINa 



to Peru and South Brazil. Several varieties of this 

 species are in cultivation, the most distinct being 

 anguatata and fraxinifolia. A, tomentoaa has strong 

 erect stipes, clothed with deciduous ferruginous 

 hairs, and ovate-deltoid hipinnate barren segments, 

 six to twelve inches in length by about half the 

 width ; in texture they are subcoriaceous, and, as 

 well as the rachises, are densely pilose. 



Cultivation. — The Anemiat are readily raised from 

 spores, and rapidly form handsome little plants. 

 They succeed best in an intermediate temperature, 

 and require but little 

 pot-room. Strong, 

 well - drained loam 

 suits them best, and 

 they must have a 

 plentiful supply of 

 water during the 

 growing season. 



The Todeas. — 



The genus Todea is 

 closely related to 

 Osmtmda, the two 

 genera forming the 

 distinct sub - order 

 Osmundaeem. It 

 differs from Oa- 

 munda principally 

 in the sori being on 

 the back of the leafy 

 portion of the frond, 

 and not forming a 

 distinct panicle 

 made up of dense 

 thyrsoid clusters. 

 Only four species 

 are known, and 

 these are almost 



exclusively confined to temperate regions in the 

 Southern Hemisphere. The genus readily divides 

 itself into two very distinct sections, the one con- 

 taining but a single species with leathery fronds, 

 and the other three species with fronds of a pel- 

 lucid membranous texture. The latter are de- 

 servedly amongst the most popular of all the filmy 

 ferns, 



T. larbara, from New Zealand, temperate Aus- 

 tralia, Van Diemen's Land, and South Africa, has a 

 caudex which often assumes somewhat of an arbor- 

 escent character. Under favourable conditions, the 

 a rial roots form a huge mass not unlike those seen 

 in very old specimens of our native Eoyal Fern. In 

 the Temperate House at Kew there is a remarkable 

 specimen, which, when imported many years ago, 

 weighed 14 cwt., and now, in all probability, is 'not 



ACTINIOPIERIS BADIATA, 



far from a ton in weight. The fronds, which 

 measure three or four feet in length by about a foot 

 in breadth, are borne on stout, erect, perfectly naked 

 stipes, a foot or more in length. This grows freely 

 enough in any cool conservatory, if planted in a 

 damp spot amongst stones, &o., and freely supplied 

 with water. It does not require shading from sun- 

 light, and will bear several degrees of frost without 

 the slightest injury. It is readily raised from spores, 

 and the young, plants are very useful for ordinary 

 "furnishing" purposes, being quickly raised and 



not easily injured. 

 T. Fraaeri, a rare 

 species from the 

 Blue Mountains in 

 Australia, has an 

 erect woody caudex, 

 and fine bipinnate 

 fronds, one to two 

 feet long by eight 

 to twelve inches in 

 breadth. T. Wilkea- 

 iana is a variety of 

 this species, with 

 larger- fronds, the 

 deflexed lower 

 pinnae being some- 

 what shorter than 

 the others, and the 

 rachises slightly 

 hairy ; it is a native 

 of Fiji and the New 

 Hebrides. T. hy- 

 nienophylloidea has 

 firm, erect, naked, 

 tufted stipes, six to 

 twelve inches long, 

 and tripinnatifid 

 fronds, one to two 

 feet long by eight to twelve inches broad: the 

 rachises are either naked or slightly tomentose ; this 

 species is confined to New Zealand. T. mperba is a 

 truly magnificent fern, similar in many respects to 

 the last, but readily distinguished by its greater size, 

 its lanceolate fronds with defiexed lower pinnss, 

 which become gradually smaller, and the ovate, 

 narrower, more numerous and denser pinnae, with 

 often crisped pinnules. This species, like the last, 

 is also confined to New Zealand, whence large 

 numbers of the woody crowns are annually imported 

 to this country. 



Cultivation. — No special instructions are necessary 

 in the case of T. barbara, which, by universal con- 

 sent, is looked upon as the true Todea. The three 

 last-named species, however, are frequently regarded 

 as belonging to a distinct genus, viz., L^tokpis, and 



