32 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



other Ferns, is scarcely adapted for pot-culture ; the plants, however graceful 

 they may be in themselves, do not show to the best advantage when grown 

 without due regard to their requirements. The best, and we should say the 

 most natural, way of cultivating this striking species is that adopted at Kew, 

 where fine specimens of it, grown in suspended baskets, . are the admiration of 

 every beholder. 



If we now turn from the strong-growing Adiantums to the smaller kinds 

 belonging to the same genus, we find among these some interesting and 

 striking species, both in colour and habit. Most captivating indeed are the 

 extraordinary tints of some, such as the charming little A. rubdlum, with 

 sub -erect fronds, varying in colour from the yellowish-pink which the plants 

 assume when they clon their spring foliage, to the magenta, and then the bright 

 purple border peculiar to their further development ; while the bright carmine 

 of A. maeropliyllum, with large pinnae of a singular shape, and the brilliant 

 rose, turning later on to a beautiful copper- colour, of A. tetraphyllum gracile 

 and A. t. Hendersoni, are scarcely equalled in any other plants. In the case 

 of A. cuneatum gracillimum and A. c. Legrandi, two varieties which, among 

 dwarf-growing kinds, can hardly be surpassed for gracefulness, the young fronds, 

 naturally light and feathery, assume, when grown near the light, an intense 

 rosy-pink colour, which they retain for a very long time. The long-fronded, 

 pendulous A. concinnum, the erect little A. tinctum, and the exceedingly 

 interesting little A. cuneatum Luddemannianum, are also found among the gems 

 of a good collection : the last is specially attractive, with its agglomerated 

 pinnules, forming little rosettes, which, when the plant is grown near the 

 light, not only exhibit various shades of green, but during the spring and 

 summer are further ornamented by a very pretty pale magenta edge. 



Among other genera we find, in kinds of dwarf stature, with fronds of 

 red and metallic colours, the charming little Doodia media, D. aspera and its 

 crested form multijida ; the now very rare Lomaria V Herminieri, a species of 

 compact and sturdy habit, whose short, coriaceous fronds are produced in 

 abundance all through the summer ; also the charming Polypodium appendi- 

 culatum, whose arching fronds are ornamented with a network of rich crimson, 

 entirely covering them during their young state ; the pretty little Blechnum 

 Lanceola, Osmunda regalis (palustris), 0. r. (japonica) corymbifera, and many 

 Other kinds of minor importance. 



