376 MY GARDEN. 



one of my finer specimens was severely injured, and the gardener 

 states that it was attacked by rats, who used the fronds to construct 

 a nest. I wish the animals would have contented themselves with a 

 fern of less beauty. The sporangia of T. speciosnm is 

 very interesting and distinct (fig. 865). 



Of the British Aspleniums, although I never 

 could grow the A. marinum out of doors, it flourishes 

 in the indoor fernery. Plants of the A. trichomanes, 

 _ ■ T. spcciosum. from Devonshire, grow luxuriantly in the Fern Glen. 

 A. viride grows in the same situation, between two blocks of sandstone. 

 In the Trossachs I met a collector with a splendid handful of A. viride, 

 the fronds of which far surpassed those of my plants, and which showed 

 the fern to be an exquisitely beautiful species. The A. Ruta-muraria 

 grows at Highgate, Hampton Court, and all over the country, either- 

 in mortar, or where a calcareous spring deposits its chalky matter 

 over the ground ; I have gathered it in such a 

 situation near Whitby. Although common, it is 

 a difficult fern to grow, and I am constantly 

 obliged to renew it. The A. germanicum (fig. 866) 

 is very rare in England. Plants which were 

 brought for me from the Black Forest by Mrs. 

 Rennie have grown admirably ; and I have also 



Fig. 866.— Asplenium , « . , . 



germanicum. the A. septetitrtonale, from plants which I have 



brought from Edinburgh and from the St. Gothard Pass, on the 

 Italian side, but which I find rather difficult to grow. The A. Adian- 

 tum-nigrum I have found on the Addington Hills, but not lately. 

 It is a beautiful fern, and requires a spot constantly damp, though 

 not wet. The A. lanceolatum has been brought to me, by Mr. Gray, 

 from the Channel Islands, but I believe that I have never yet grown 

 it successfully out of doors. The A. fontanum is a charming fern. 

 It is difficult, if not impossible, to grow without the protection of a 

 glass frame. 



The Hart's-ton'gue Fern {Scolopendrium vulgare, fig. 867) I grow in 

 its natural state in such perfection that the fronds often reach two feet 



