1020 



PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS polypodium 



upright or spreading habit, having oblong 

 lanoe-shaped fronds 1-2 ft. high, issuing 

 from the crown of a comparatively thick 

 rootstock in spring, and shrivelling upon 

 the approach of vifinter. The rhomboid 

 pumse are divided into acutely toothed 

 pinnules which are somewhat glandular 

 beneath, and emit a, faint and more or 

 less agreeable odour when passed through 

 the hand. 



Culture dc. as above. A free grower 

 in the rookery in shady places. See also 

 p. 1009. 



N. spinulosum. — This species is prob- 

 ably better known through its variety di- 

 latatum, which has already been referred 

 to separately. It has a tufted rootstock 

 from which oblong lance-shaped fronds 

 1-2 ft. long are produced having pinnse 

 2-4 in. long and pinnatifid pinnules with 

 oblong more or less spiny-toothed lobes. 

 N. remotum is a distinct variety found in 

 the Lake District, having lance-shaped 

 pinnse. 



Culture dc. as above. This species 

 and its forms flourish in damp shaded 

 places and are useful under trees, or nooks 

 in the rock garden. See also p. 1009. 



N. Thelypteris {Lastrea and Aspidium 

 TheVypteris). — Marsh Buckler Fern.- — A 

 graceful native Fern with an extensively 

 creeping rootstock from which the lanoe- 

 shaped pinnate fronds spring about May 

 on slender straw-coloured stalks. They 

 are about 2 ft. long, of a delicate pale 

 green, with opposite deeply cut pinnae, the 

 lobes of which are curved in on the margins. 



Culture dc. as above. This species 

 likes boggy soil and shaded places, and, 

 owing to the creeping character of its 

 rootstocks, requires plenty of space to 

 develop. See also p. 1009. 



Besides the hardy British sorts of 

 Buckler Fern, there are a few exotic ones 

 that may also be grown like them out of 

 doors, such as eryfhrosorwm from China 

 and Japan ; floridoMum from the United 

 States ; fragrans from the Caucasus and 

 Arctic America ; and goldiecmum margi- 

 nale and novahoracenae from N. America. 



POLYPODIUM (Polypody). — The 

 plants belonging to this genus are readily 

 recognised by their roimd naked sori, quite 

 destitute of an indusium or involucre. 

 They usually have creeping or tufted 

 rootstocks and simple lobed, pinnatifid, or 

 pinnate fronds. About 400 species belong 



to this genus, but only a few are hardy in 

 the United Kingdom. 



P. alpestre {Aspiddumi and Athyrmm 

 aVpestre). — At first sight this pretty native 

 Fern might be mistaken for the Common 

 Lady Fern {Asplenium FiUx-fcemina), so 

 closely do the fronds resemble each other 

 in appearance. It has stout scaly root- 

 stocks from which the twice pinnate 

 oblong lance-shaped fronds about 2 ft. 

 long appear in May and last till cut 

 down by the frost. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species is found at high elevations in 

 Scotland under the shade of rocks near 

 streams &c. It requires a damp peaty 

 soil in cool shady parts of the rockery. 

 Increased by spores or division. See 

 also p. 1009. 



P. Dryopteris {Oak Fern). — 1his 

 native species is readily distinguished 

 from other Polypodies by having its fronds 

 smooth and divided into three branches, 

 each bearing 6-8 or more pairs of pinnules 

 which are deeply pinnatifid into bluntish 

 orenate lobes. The whole plant is slender 

 and delicate in habit, and not often exceeds 

 6 in. high. It flourishes in a cool shady 

 situation in the rock garden in well- 

 drained sandy loam and peat, and loses 

 its fronds in winter. The 'Limestone 

 Polypody,' P. robertianum (or P. cal- 

 careum), is a variety of the Oak Fern, 

 having a stouter rootstock, and more 

 feathery glandular downy fronds. 



Culture dc. as above. It may be 

 grown among pieces of limestone rubble 

 in shaded parts of the rockery, and does 

 not need so much moisture in summer 

 as most hardy Ferns. See also p. 1009. 



P. Phegopteris (Beech Fern). — A 

 somewhat fragile species found in damp 

 shaded places in various parts of the 

 British Islands. It has creeping root- 

 stocks and throws up delicate hafry pale 

 green fronds about May. They are 6-12 

 in. long when fully grown, having 9 or 

 more pairs of more or less deeply divided 

 pinnse usually standing opposite each 

 other. 



Culture do. as above. This species 

 likes warm sheltered spots in the rockery 

 with plenty of shade and moisture in 

 summer. Its frail fronds are cut down by 

 the frosts in winter, and serve to protect 

 the roots from frost and wet, and should 

 therefore not be cut away till spring. 



