PTERIS. 



259 



known to every farmer. It is also very rich in potash, and its ashes have 

 on that account been extensively used in glass-making. Bracken is also 

 used in very large quantities for packing, as it forms an excellent substitute 

 for shavings or other more expensive materials. The fattening qualities ot 

 this Fern are so well known that at Nettlecombe, in Somersetshire, it is 

 (or was) customary to gather the young shoots of it and to simmer them in 

 water for a couple of hours : as this cools it forms a strong jelly very useful 

 for feeding pigs. 



P. aquilina is provided with a stout, wide-creeping rhizome, which usually 

 remains underground, and from this the fronds are produced, being placed 

 at somewhat long intervals along its whole length. The fronds are borne 

 on strong, erect stalks 1ft. or more in length, straw^or pale chestnut coloured, 

 and naked. The leafy portion, 2ft. to 4ft. long and 1ft. to 2ft. broad, is 

 broadly triangular, with only the uppermost leaflets simple (undivided) ; 

 those next in order are spear-shaped, cut down nearly or quite to the rachis 

 into short, triangular leafits of a somewhat leathery texture, and with 

 involucre double, or the inner one obsolete. They are of a somewhat leathery 

 texture, and naked, or slightly downy, on both surfaces. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iL, p. 196. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 240. 

 Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 42. Eaton, Ferns of North America, 

 i., t. 35. Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., t. 61. Correvon, Les Fougeres 

 rustiques, p. 89. 



It is acknowledged by all who have tried the experiment that the 

 Bracken can rarely be grown successfully in pets for a long time ; but it 

 forms a noble ornament when planted in a deep, sandy soil, where the 

 development of its fleshy rhizomes is not interfered with. In such a position 

 it should be covered with old leaves every winter, or with its own if 

 these are not required for other purposes. Its propagation takes place 

 naturally by means of the spores, for it requires special care in transplanting, 

 and can only be successfully moved when dormant in winter. 



Several varieties of P. aquilina are known in cultivation, but with the 

 exception of those described on pp. 260 and 261, few of them are constant. 

 B. S. Williams states (" Select Ferns and Lycopods," p. 325) that he also 

 received specimens of a variegated variety from Yorkshire ; this, we presume, 

 has not been constant, as it is not now found in any collection. 



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