Hardy Ferns. 109 



CHAPTER XV. 



HAEDT FERNS 



|HE preceding chapter contains nearly all 

 the dwarfer-growing hardy ferns suitable for 

 your purpose. So now, dear readers, we will 

 briefly notice the larger-growing species. They are all 

 Tery handsome, and being the most common, they are 

 generally the easiest to get. The male fern, lady fern, 

 and mountain buckler fern especially, you will find in 

 great abundance all oyer the country. In moist woods 

 they attain great luxuriance, adding greatly to the 

 charms of the sylvan shades, with their graceful 

 feathery plumes. 



Lastrea Filix-mas. — The male fern, or common 

 buckler fern, is a very robust-tufted growing species. 

 The fronds, which are produced from a crown, rise 

 from one to two feet in height, supported on densely 

 scaled brownish stipes, and are broadly lanceolate in 

 shape, divided, the divisions in pairs along the rachis 

 or midrib, and very regularly deeply lobed or cut. It 

 is of easy cultivation. 



Cristata is a notable variety of the species, of a 

 curious, handsome habit, having the points of the 

 divisions and fronds fringed and tasselled. 



Lastrea oreopteris, or mountain buckler fern, is 



