2 [9 



IDEAL FERN HABITATS. 



In the plant world, as in that of humanity, it is the 

 exception rather than the rule for the individual to be 

 naturally placed under such favourable conditions of 

 environment that its potentialities can be developed to 

 the utmost. As a rule, the all but inevitable struggle 

 for existence necessitates some sort of compromise, which 

 may mean such a degree of handicapping that the real 

 merits and capabilities are hardly at all developed. 

 Hence in the Fern world we frequently find that, 

 although Ferns as a rule are constituted to flourish in 

 shady, damp, and sheltered situations, and although by 

 virtue of their robust and hardy nature they manage to 

 exist in places where these essential needs are but very 

 poorly provided, the result is that they present stunted, 

 unattractive growth with but a trace of the natural 

 charm which more favourable conditions would enable 

 them to develop. Nature, with her usual knack of 

 adapting her creations to the* most varied conditions, 

 has, in the course of aeons of time, endowed many of 

 the original shade and moisture-loving Ferns with the 

 capacity to withstand both drought and sunshine, as we 

 may see evidenced in such genera as the Cheilanthes, 

 Nothochlaenas, and even in our familiar Ceterach offici- 

 narum. In all these cases, however, we find the adapt- 

 ation to detract from the foliose, pendulous grace of the 

 major portion of the Fern tribe, the fronds of necessity 

 become more or less hard and leathery, and thus, though 

 undoubtedly pretty when at their best, cannot for a 

 moment compare with the stately grace of the Tree and 

 other Ferns which fill our antipodean valleys or even 

 with the smaller but yet delightful frondage of our 

 largest native Ferns, such as the Lady, Male, and Shield 

 Ferns, which deck the sheltered combes of our humid 

 western counties. 



The aim of gardeners is to obviate, as far as possible, 



