5 28 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



and others, are endowed with most gorgeous hues, turning from. 

 a delicate pink to a bright magenta, and finally changing to a 

 glaucous green tint of exquisite softness, before assuming the 

 uniform and permanent green colour which they retain to the- 

 end of their existence. The same changes of colours also apply 



to Blechnum Occi- 

 dent ale, Doodia 

 media, and D. aspera 

 multifida (Fig. 333), 

 to the striking Didy- 

 mochlcena truncatula, 

 the ever - charming 

 dwarf-growing 

 Lomaria L'Hermi- 

 nieri, the handsome, 

 large growing 

 Davallia polyantha, 

 and many other 

 species of small or 

 large habit. To those- 

 who might object 

 that the variations 

 in colour above re- 

 ferred to only belong 

 to the early part of 

 the vegetation of the 

 plants, it may be 

 answered that, as. 

 Ferns of an ever- 

 green nature are 

 growing nearly all 

 the year round, the- 

 objection is not of great consequence, as there is always a 

 variety of colour to be seen and admired wherever a certain, 

 quantity of these plants are grown. 



Cultivation. — For their cultivation, Ferns may be divided into- 

 two sections, viz., the hardy kinds, which, in this country succeed 

 best when grown out of doors, and the exotic kinds, which 

 require glass protection. Their habits and modes of growth are 

 so varied, affecting as they do, in their natural state, so many 

 different positions, that their successful treatment depends in a 

 great measure upon the imitation of their natural conditions. 

 For instance, the species having an upright or slowly-creeping 

 stem, usually sending their roots further down than others, and 

 therefore requiring a greater depth of soil, are best adapted for 

 pot culture. The species which are provided with rhizomes, 

 and also with stolons, require to be grown either in pans or on 

 rockwork, or, again, on dead Tree-Fern stems, or in hanging baskets. 



Fig. 333. — Doodia aspera multifida. 



