10 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. aureum, and its scarcer form, P. sporadocarpum, or, again, as in the 

 delightfully dwarf-growing P. glaucopliyllum, whose lovely, bluish fronds are 

 further ornamented by the extremely rich colour of its fructification. To the 

 above-named plants, with permanent-coloured foliage, we may also add the 

 lovely, pendulous Selaginella uncinata (S. ccesia of commerce), and the upright, 

 climbing S. Willdenovii (S. ccesia arborea of. commerce), two species having 

 their foliage of a most beautiful peacock-blue colour, which they retain all the 

 year through. The greatest amount of pleasure and interest is easily derived 

 from a collection of Gymnogrammes, provided a constantly dry corner of the 

 warm house can be devoted to them. These Gold and Silver Ferns are not 

 only rendered attractive by the singularity of their powdered nature, which is 

 mostly shown on the under-surface of their fronds — white, as in G. calomelanos, 

 G. spectdbilis, and G. tartarea ; lemon-coloured, as in G. pulchella, and the 

 heavily -crested form G. Wettenhalliana, in which case, as also in the silver-white 

 G. calomelanos peruviana (G. peruviana argyrophylla of commerce), the powder 

 is suffused over both surfaces of the fronds ; or a beautiful golden colour, as 

 in G. calomelanos clirysopliylla, and its numerous varieties (Laucheana, Alstoni, 

 and the beautifully- crested Parsonsii for instance) — but some, and we may say 

 most, of them are strong and compact growers, and very well adapted for 

 decoration in a general way. 



Garden varieties, which have of late years sprung up in great quantities 

 among exotic as well as among native kinds, also materially add to the list 

 of Ferns worthy of cultivation. See, for instance, what a beautiful object, 

 when grown in a hanging basket, Adiantum cuneatum grandieeps makes; in 

 this case, the weight of the tassels produced at the ends of the fronds gives 

 the plant a most elegant and ornamental habit ; while the naturally dwarf- 

 growing A. Luddemannianum, with the numerous little corymbs formed by 

 the agglomeration of its emerald-green pinnules, may be acknowledged as a 

 real vegetable jewel. From its general appearance, this lovely and most 

 interesting plant could hardly be taken as an offspring of A. cuneatum, yet 

 such undoubtedly is the case, since it is totally devoid of the creeping 

 rhizomes which characterise its nearest ally, A. Capillus -Veneris, to which 

 it appears more closely related. What could be prettier than many of the 

 numerous forms of Asplenium Filix-foemina, or of Neplirodium Filix-mas f 

 while exquisite selections can be made out of the many varieties of Aspidium 



