FEENS. 



67 



surfaces, from four to twelve inolies long ty three- 

 quarters to one and a half inches broad. The fertile 

 frond is narrower than the barren one, and on a 

 longer stem. In a wild state the widely distributed 

 tropical A. soriifolium has a thick woody rhizome, 

 often thirty to forty feet in length, and clasps the 

 trunks of the trees on which it grows, like a cable. 

 The simply pinnate, somewhat leathery fronds are 

 from twelve to eighteen inches long by six to twelve 

 inches in breadth. This makes a fine subject in the 

 tropical fernery for training 

 over tree-fern stems, or for 

 clothing any piece of damp 

 stone - work. A. tenulfolium^ 

 from the Masoarene Islands 

 and Natal, is weU distin- 

 guished from all the others 

 by its compound fertile pinnse ; 

 it has a widely rambling, 

 slightly scaly rhizome, and 

 simply pinnate barren fronds, 

 three to five feet long by 

 twelve to eighteen inches 

 broad. The bipinnate fertile 

 fronds have a longer stem than 

 the barren ones. 



CuUwation. — As nearly all 

 the Acrostichums hail from 

 tropical countries, few will 

 succeed except in the stove or 

 warm green-house. AU like 

 plenty of heat, atmospheric 

 moisture, and a certain amount 

 of shade. During dull sunless 

 weather, they like almost as 

 much light as it is possible to 

 obtain ; but during bright sun- 

 shine, the houses in which they 

 are grown should be shaded. 

 .^This serves a double purpose, 

 for in addition to the intense 

 light to which they object, the shading prevents rapid 

 evaporation, and keeps the air from becoming too dry. 

 The strong-growing kinds like loam, and those with 

 smooth fronds should be frequently syringed. The 

 species in which the fronds are densely clothed with 

 hairs or scales should not be syringed or watered 

 overhead, as they are apt to become discoloured 

 under such treatment. Those with slender rhizomes 

 can either be grown on raised hillocks of peat and 

 sand with a little leaf-mould, pegging down and 

 causing them to root wherever required, or allowed 

 to creep at will round trunks of tree-ferns or over 

 moist stone-work. Good drainage is an essential in 

 every case. A. aureum will grow in almost any 

 thoroughly-drained compost ; if required to develop 



ACBOSXICHUM FELTATUM. 



very luxuriantly, place the pot to the depth of two or 

 three inches in a tank of water, or stand it during 

 the summer months in a saucer of water, which 

 must be kept constantly replenished. 



The IiomariaB.— The genus Zomaria is a rather 

 extensive one, nearly fifty species being described in 

 the " Synopsis Filicum," although with narrower 

 views as to specific distinction some authors increase 

 that number to a very considerable extent. The 

 headquarters of the genus is in 

 the South Temperate zone; but 

 there are outlying species aU 

 over the world. The close 

 affinity between Zomaria and 

 Zileclmwm is indicated by the 

 fact that our native Hard-fern, < 

 Z. spicant, was, and even now 

 is stiU, regarded by some 

 botanists as a Blechmun. The 

 principal points of difference 

 between the two reside in the 

 different position of the son 

 and the different character of 

 the -involucre. All the Loma- 

 rias (with perhaps one excep- 

 tion) have dimorphous fronds 

 — that is to say, the fertile 

 ones are quite dissimilar in 

 form from the ordinary barren 

 ones. There is no great range 

 of variation in the cutting, but 

 the species vary not a little in 

 size, colour, and habit. A 

 number of excellent garden 

 plants are furnished by the 

 genus Zomaria, and, as a rule, 

 they are certainly not difficult 

 to grow. 



STOVE KINDS. 



Z. atUnuttta, a species widely 

 distributed throughout Tropical and South Temperate 

 regions, is a stately plant, with pinnate fronds of a 

 leather}- texture. The stipe measures from four to 

 six inches in length, and the dark green mature fronds 

 from one to three feet long by from six to nine inches 

 broad ; when young these are of a pleasing rosy tint. 

 Z. ciliata, a native of New Caledonia — from which 

 country it was introduced nearly a score of years ago 

 by Messrs. Veitch — is a general favourite on account 

 of its rapid growth and distinct and elegant habit. 

 The caudex attains a height of about a span, and the 

 drooping fronds little more than six or eight inches. 

 This species is allied to Z. gibha in the swollen decur- 

 rent bases of the pinnae, but differs in its less nu- 

 merous fronds, and in the much less crowded series 



