20 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



with gracefully -cut pinna?, of a light, shining green, which contrast strikingly 

 with those of the well-known and deservedly-appreciated Asplenium Nidus, 

 remarkable alike for the extraordinary substance of its broad, entire, glossy 

 fronds, and for the unusual way in which they are disposed, leaving at their 

 base a circular hollow, from which distinctive character the popular name of 

 " Bird's-nest Fern " originated. Where such groups exist, and when they are 

 surmounted by the noble head of a light and spreading Tree Fern, as in the 

 charming Fernery at Park Hill, Streatham, where a gigantic Dichsonia insignis 

 {Cibotium princeps) towers above the whole Fernery in a majestic manner; 

 or where, as at Chatsworth, the most conspicuous and elevated position is 

 occupied by D. (Cibotium) Barometz, the Vegetable Lamb, the effect is 

 admirable. When, besides the above-named plants, the intervening spaces are 

 filled with such Ferns as D. cicutaria, a kind with very finely-cut and 

 elegantly-drooping fronds, or with the elegant-habited Aspidium (Polystichum) 

 capense, the no less curious Pteris laciniata (Ghiesbreghtii), whose soft, succulent 

 stems and gigantic fronds, of a peculiarly pale green colour and soft texture, 

 possess a most singular aspect, such groups, intermixed with a few noble 

 fronds of Marattias, which are usually borne on - stout, robust, fleshy stalks, 

 from 10ft. to 12ft. high, produce a sight never to be forgotten. These gigantic 

 non-arborescent Ferns are sufficiently numerous to allow for their disposition 

 in all parts of the Fernery. While the common Polypodium aurewm and its 

 beautiful variety sporadocarpum, P. Heracleum, and Acrostichum (Stenochlcena) 

 scandens delight in a moderately dry position, such handsome kinds as 

 Acrostichum aureum, all the Angiopteris and Marattias, as well as Todea 

 barbara (africmia), are particularly well adapted for growing in the dampest 

 places. Such diversity of forms, sizes, and habits, makes a most effective 

 display. 



The variety of colours belonging to the foliage of the various kinds of 

 which this group is composed is equally remarkable. How many intermediate 

 tints are there not, for instance, between the light, glaucous colour of Davallia 

 (Microlepia) platyphylla and the very dark glossy green of Lomaria Boryana 

 cycadoides I Besides the beautiful metallic or bronzy hue peculiar to the 

 foliage of the handsome Didymoclilwna truncatula, Woodwardia orientalis, and 

 Nephrodium (Lastrea) erythrosorum, there are also shades of green sufficient 

 to make of themselves a most interesting group. 



