CHAPTER II 



CLASSIFICATION FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES. 



OR diversity of form, as also for variations in the colour of 

 their foliage, no other family of plants can compare with 

 Ferns ; for, without disparagement to other plants, it is now 

 generally admitted that these modest representatives of the 

 Vegetable Kingdom, which have no bright flowers to enhance 

 their beauty, are nevertheless of the greatest utility in all matters relating to 

 decoration both in and out of doors. It is therefore readily understood why 

 houses should be exclusively devoted to their cultivation. 



As regards the effects produced by the variety in size and shape of 

 foliage, there need be no misgivings as to the results of a combination ; the 

 bold foliage of some of the gigantic-growing kinds forms a striking yet agree- 

 able contrast when in close proximity to the smaller -growing species and 

 varieties. This is particularly well illustrated in the cases of the lace-like 

 foliage of Cheilanthes (myriophylla) elegans, Pteris scaberula, Davallia 

 Novce-zelandice, Gymno gramme schizophylla, Asplenium viviparum, Adiantum 

 aracillimum, and many other kinds, when opposed to the massive, shield-like 

 form of Platy cerium grande, of the elephant's-ear-shaped Acrostichum (Hymeno- 

 diurii) erinitum, of the various forms of Marattia and Angiopteris, and, above 

 all, of the massive though very elegant foliage of the New Zealand, Australian, 

 and tropical American Tree Ferns with which one frequently meets in well- 

 ordered collections. 



The variation in tints and colours to be found amongst Ferns, as 

 belonging either to matured or to imperfectly -developed fronds, is so con- 



