1012 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS adiantum 



shelter from violent winds which break 

 their fronds. They like abundance of 

 light, however, and should not be planted 

 too closely together, otherwise they will 

 he unable to display to the best advantage 

 the graceful outlines of their fronds. 



While revelling in moisture both at 

 the root and in the atmosphere, stagnant 

 moisture in the soil is fatal to them 

 sooner or later. The soil should therefore 

 always be thoroughly well drained, 

 although kept moist. Some kinds, like 

 the Eoyal Fern, grow naturally in boggy 

 and marshy situations, and should have 

 similar situations in the garden. Others, 

 like some of the Spleenworts, floTU-ish in 

 drier positions, but still their roots are 

 usually found buried in moist crarmies. 

 When planted in the rock garden, par- 

 ticular attention should be given to the 

 plants in hot weather, and frequent soak- 

 ings of water at ' early mom or dewy eve ' 

 will keep them in a beautifully fresh 

 condition. 



Besides suitable positions in regard to 

 light, shade, and moisture, good soil is an 

 important consideration. Good rich loam 

 with plenty of sharp sand, and also well- 

 decayed leaf-soil and peat, forms a good 



all-round compost that may be readily 

 varied at will. The marshy kinds require 

 more peat and leaf-mould than other 

 sorts, and the soil in which they are 

 planted can be made up accordingly. 

 Some of the delicate kinds, including the 

 Filmy Ferns (Trichomanes and Hymeno- 

 phylhimi) are too tender and valuable to 

 trust out of doors with the hardier and 

 sturdier sorts. They are often grown in 

 specially prepared structures, called 

 Wardian frames — miniature cold green- 

 houses in reality — where they flourish in 

 shade and moisture, often in a window of 

 an ordinary dwelling house facing north, 

 or shaded from the sun. 



Although many species lose their 

 fronds in winter, and look somewhat 

 untidy, it is better not to cut the withered 

 fronds away until spring. They serve as 

 a natural protection to the crowns, and in 

 severe winters are very serviceable in 

 preventing the plants from being killed. 



In the following descriptions of Hardy 

 Ferns, where special soils, situations &c. 

 are necessary for particular species, those 

 facts will be mentioned. 



They may be classified into the follow- 

 ing sub-orders or tribes :— 



Tribe I. (PoLYPODiAOBiE). — Fronds more or less leathery, circinate in vernation. 

 "Induaium marginal, dorsal, or absent. Spore-cases small, usually stalked, not on a 

 raised receptacle, partially or wholly surrounded with a vertical elastic ring bursting 

 transversely. 



ADIANTUM (Maidenhair). — The 

 plants of this genus have tufted or 

 creeping rootstooks and slenderly stalked 

 compound fronds pinnately divided 2-4 

 times, veins forked or netted. Sori 

 {i.e. the clusters of spore-cases called 

 sporcmgia) rounded or oblong, parallel 

 with and on the margin. Indusium 

 formed of the refiexed edge of the 

 pinnules. 



About a hundred species of Maiden- 

 hair Ferns are known, but only those 

 mentioned below can be regarded as 

 sufficiently hardy for outdoor cultivation 

 in the British Islands. 



A. Capillus-Veneris. — This pretty and 

 graceful evergreen Maidenhair Fern is 

 found on damp rocks, walls &c. near the 

 sea in Dorset, Devonshire, and Cornwall, 

 and in mild parts of the West of Ireland. 

 It grows 6-12 in. high, ha\ing fronds 

 irregularly and pinnately divided 3-4 

 times into alternate wedge-shaped crenate 

 pinnules or leaflets. The slender stipes 



(stalk) and rachis (midrib) are almost 

 black, shining and brittle. 



Culture and Propagation. — ^Although 

 a native species, the common Maidenhair 

 is too tender for most parts of the 

 country. It grows best on damp walls 

 and rooks in moist and warm shady 

 situations, and may be increased by spores, 

 or careful division of the creeping scaly 

 rootstocks in spring. See also p. 1009. 



A. pedatum. — A beautiful North 

 American Maidenhair Fern 9-12 in. high, 

 recognised by its forked fronds, the main 

 divisions of which have whip-like branches 

 and wedge-shaped pianules i-J in. long, 

 broadest near the stem, the upper and 

 outer edges being lobed. 



Culture avd Propagation. — This 

 species in warm, moist, and sheltered 

 situations forms large tufts of fronds, and 

 is valuable for such positions in the lower 

 parts of the rook garden or even in moist 

 peaty borders. It flourishes in damp 

 turfy peat and sandy loam and requires 



