THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



of Wicklow and Clare. The Hard Fern is also found growing luxuriantly 

 in Cumberland at an elevation of 700ft. to 800ft. above sea-level ; but in 

 Aberdeenshire it occurs on the Cairngorm Mountains at much higher altitudes, 

 varying probably from 1000ft. to 1200ft. Gerarde, in his " Herbal," says : 

 " It groweth in most parts of England, but especially on a heath by London, 

 called Hampstead Heath, where it groweth in great abundance." However 

 abundant it may have been in that locahty in G-erarde's time, it is now 

 extinct there. 



The Hard Fern is one of the commonest of our evergreen species, and 

 its striking dwarf and sturdy habit, as well as the deep green colour of its 

 barren fronds, renders it one of the most useful plants for the decoration of 

 the outdoor rockery, where, in a moist, shady nook, it forms a beautiful 

 and most conspicuous object. L. Spicant is one of the least fastidious of all 

 our British Ferns, for, although it prefers a moist situation with a northern 

 aspect, it also succeeds in a stiff, clayey soil, and when exposed to the 

 more or less direct rays of the sun. If it has its preferences, the Hard 

 Fern, according to the authority of some thoroughly practical men, has also 

 one very decided antipathy — it dislikes lime in any form. Messrs. 

 A. Stansiield and Son, of Todmorden, Lancashire, who for many years have 

 made a speciality of the culture of hardy Ferns, and whose name in 

 connection with that interesting class of plants is generally associated with 

 those of eminent men like Clapham, Ivery, Lowe, Moore, Sim, Wollaston, 

 &c., referring in their catalogue to the antipathy of this Fern towards 

 limestone, give it as their opinion that " lime appears to be as injurious to 

 Lomaria Sjjicant among Ferns as it is to the common Ling among 

 flowering plants," and add : " Lime in all its forms, therefore, should be 

 avoided ; even water containing lime should not be used." A fact of primary 

 importance, and one which may be taken as a safe guide in its cultivation, 

 is that in its wild state the plant is found in perhaps a greater variety of 

 soils and situations than any other native Fern. The compost in which the 

 Hard Fern and its varieties grow most luxuriantly is one made of loam, 

 peat, leaf mould, and sand, in equal parts. In planting, it is found most 

 beneficial to intermix, if possible, some fragments of broken sandstone with 

 the compost, which is thus rendered more permeable, although retaining at 

 the same time its permanently moist nature. It is in great request for the 



