TREE FERNS 35 



grown into large specimens are too common for special 

 work. One which makes a fine specimen is P- serrulata 

 major gloriosa ; this is an improvement on the well known 

 Chiswick variety. Woodwardia radicans makes a good 

 specimen but takes some years to attain to full maturity. 

 Tree Ferns are always appreciated in collections, and 

 those of moderate size are more decorative than the older 

 plants with tall stems. Freshness is one of the great 

 points which should be considered, this together with 

 choice sorts will carry more points than size of plants. 



Tree Ferns 



All Ferns with erect stems (or elongated caudex) come 

 under this heading, they vary considerably both in 

 height and size. The smallest is the brightly tinted 

 Lomaria L'Herminieri, and the species making the largest 

 or rather highest stem is Dicksonia antarctica. We get 

 them from the tropical and temperate regions, and it is re- 

 markable that none appear to be indigenous in Europe ; 

 the nearest we have is the Royal Fern (Osmunda Regalis), 

 which is found in Devonshire with the caudex from a 

 foot to eighteen inches long and nearly if not quite erect. 

 And like many of the tree-ferns it delights in a moist 

 boggy position, or the banks of a running stream with 

 the tips of the roots in the water. Of all the various 

 species the most popular is Dicksonia antarctica. This 

 though attaining to a height of 20 feet or more and 

 producing fronds from 4 to 5 feet long and about 2 feet 

 broad, is equally desirable in a smaller state. Seeedlings 

 about a year old make pretty little plants. The largest 

 plants from English raised seedling that I have seen have 

 been from four to six feet high, and these must have 

 been a good many years old. The very tall stems are 

 imported from Australia, where they grow luxuriously 

 on the mountain slopes. We hear of them being covered 



