NEPHROLEPIS. 



585 



Culture. 



Although not a large genus, yet NeiJhrolepis contains some of the most 

 valuable Ferns adapted for planting on rockwork, a position in which they 

 soon form ornamental masses of a striking and attractive character. All 

 Nephrolepises are most tenacious of hfe, and when it so happens that, through 

 want of moisture at the roots, their leaflets drop off, the plants soon recover ; 

 for, after a few weeks of attentive nursing, another crop of fresh foliage 

 usually takes the place of the fronds previously destroyed. The fronds, which 

 in some kinds attain 4ft. in length, are in most, if not in all, cases produced 

 from crowns disposed at various intervals on long, thin, rapid-growing rhizomes 

 (prostrate stems) of a wiry nature. This is a feature peculiar to the plants 

 contained in this genus, and by which means most of them are rapidly 

 increased, esiDecially the reputed barren forms, such as N. Duffi, N. rufescens 

 trqjm7iatijida, and the fertile but very variable N. davaliioides farcans^ which, 

 when propagated from spores, produces plants showing their crested character 

 in a more or less marked degree. Where it is desired that these should be 

 increased, they should be planted in a shallow bed of coarsely -broken peat, 

 chopped sphagnum, and silver sand, in about equal parts : m this the rhizomes 

 can freely run and produce young plants, which may be safely severed from 

 the parent when they have developed three or fom- fronds. Besides the usual 

 rliizomes already alluded to, a few species, such as N. Bausei, N. cordifolia 

 {tuberosa), N. 2Mippinensis^ N. pluma, and N. uiidulata, are also provided at 

 the roots with small tubers of a succulent nature, which likewise produce 

 young plants in a remarkably short time. In this latter section N. Bausei, 

 N. pluma\ and N. undidata are entirely deciduous, and, from want of know- 

 ledge respecting their habit, have often been lost during theh resting season, 

 when some growers keep them so dry that, long before the time comes when 

 they should start into growth again, the tubers have ceased to Hve. The soil 

 which contains them must, all through the winter, be kept in a moderately 

 moist condition, so as to prevent them from shrivelling up : this is an 

 essential point as regards securing a healthy, strong spring growth. 



All the species of Nephrolepis are particularly well adapted for basket 

 culture, being naturally of an elegant drooping character ; they have also 

 a curious propensity for taking possession of the outer surface of the baskets 



