CLIMBING, 



TRAILING, AND DROOPING FERNS. 



59 



and as pressed specimens, in the markets, of Newhaven and New York. The 

 most astonishing feature in connection with this lovely Fern is the fact that 

 the gathering of it became so destructive that some twenty years ago (1869, 

 we believe) the Legislature of Connecticut passed a special law for its pro- 

 tection, when the offence of wilfully cutting, uprooting, or otherwise destroying 

 it, was made punishable by the infliction of a maximum line of £20 or 

 twelve months' imprisonment, or even both penalties. As is the case with 

 L. japonicum, the greatest ornamental character is imparted to this species 

 by the fertile portion of its very handsome fronds, which climb over other 

 plants to the height of from 3ft. to 4ft. This fructification consists in several 

 of the uppermost pairs of leaflets being paniculately decompound, being 

 pinnately divided, with pinnules generally three-lobetl. L. palmatum is found 

 growing plentifully in low, moist thickets, and damp, open woods, from 

 Massachusetts to Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, and even Florida. 



Among the warm-house kinds, L. dichotpmum holds a most prominent 

 place on account of its foliage, which is very persistent, and, though some- 

 what massive, nevertheless very elegant. Its vigorous shoots, which grow 

 to an indefinite length, are well furnished with dichotomously-clivided fronds, 

 whose opposite and twice-divided segments grow to 10in., or even 12in., in 

 length, and are of a beautiful bright green colour, and of a coriaceous texture. 

 It is not unusual to find specimens of this species trained on pillars and 

 against the glass, as in the large tropical Fernery at Kew Gardens, where 

 they command the admiration of all visitors. L. pintiatijidtim, L. reticulatum, 

 and a few others, are equally strong growers, and show their characters to 

 the best advantage when grown under similar conditions. Lygodiums re- 

 quire an abundance of water at the roots ; the foliage of either warm 

 or cool kinds, having once suffered through drought, never recovers. 



In the following list of Climbing Ferns, those marked with an asterisk (*) 

 require stove treatment ; the others will thrive in the cool-house. 



Lygodium articulatum.* 



dichotomum (pedatiim) .* 



heterodoxum (Lindem).* 



japonicum. 



palmatum. 



pinnatifidum. 



Lygodium polystachyum.* 

 reticulatum (Forsteri).* 

 scandens.* 

 trifurcatum.* 

 venustum.* 

 volubile.* 



