Ferns for Window Gardeners. 103 



Ceteracli officinarum, or scaly spleenwort, is a very- 

 pretty diminutive fern found in the crevices of old 

 •walls, growing in tufts. The fronds are from two 

 inches to six inches in length, and are of a deep green 

 on the surface, and covered with a profusion of brown 

 rust-coloured scales on the under side, contrasting 

 prettily with the deep green of the upper side, especially 

 when the under side of the young fronds are exposed 

 to view. The fronds are lanceolate in form and 

 divided into blunt roundish lobes. It is very difficult 

 to establish this fern when under cultivation. It should 

 be potted high, and kept rather dry and cool. 



Cystopteris fragilis, or the Brittle Bladder Tern, is a 

 very graceful Fern, of a tufted spreading habit of 

 growth, not evergreen, the frond appearing in spring 

 and dying down in autumn. It tends to form itself 

 into several small crowns from which the fronds rise, 

 varying from six inches to a foot in length, supported 

 by very brittle stipes or stems of a shining greenish 

 colour. They are lance-shaped and much divided ; 

 the divisions, placed separately in pairs along the 

 rachis or midrib, are of a lanceolate pointed form, 

 much divided, serrated, and lobed round the margins. 

 The entire plant is of a graceful habit and a pleasing 

 green colour. 



It is a common Fern in some districts, preferring 

 moist rocky situations, and is quite a gem for pot 

 culture or rockwork, and of very easy management. 



The variety DicUeana is a lovily little Fern of a 

 much dwarfer habit than the usual form of the species, 

 varying only from three to six inches in height, and 



