60 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



Trailing- Ferns. 



Covering Tree-Fern trunks or partly-decayed pieces of wood, walls at the 

 end of Ferneries, even clothing rafters and pillars, and joining them together 

 with a mass of luxuriant foliage, and filling up large spaces overhead by 

 means of suspended baskets — these are positions for which Ferns of a trailing 

 habit are particularly well adapted. It is almost impossible for anyone who 

 has not seen living examples to form an idea of the charming effect 

 shown by Tree-Fern stems covered with some of these interesting species ; 

 their rhizomes, in a short time, embrace the whole surface of the trunks, 

 and produce in abundance foliage Avhich, for light and elegance, is equal 

 to many of the Maidenhair Ferns, while the foliage of some of the stronger- 

 growing Acrostichums, more massive and perhaps also more durable, although 

 of a heavier nature, is quite as graceful as that of many other kinds of 

 Ferns with more finely-divided fronds. Their usefulness is brought still 

 more forcibly into prominence when we note that there are some adapted to 

 the cool- and others to the warm-house ; and that, by a judicious selection, 

 almost any part of the Fernery may be greatly improved by their presence. 



If many genera, such as Lindsaya, Pteris, Bicksonia, and Oleandra, 

 supply us with one or more members which may reasonably be classed in 

 this section, on the other hand there are certain other genera, such as 

 Nephrolepis, Davallia, Polypodium, and Gleiehenia, which contain scarcely any 

 other plants but those which can be utilised for the above-named purposes. 

 Foremost among these is the extensive and deservedly popular genus Davallia, 

 which is composed almost exclusively of species of great interest, every one 

 of these vieing with each other in usefulness and elegance, though varying 

 essentially in form and habit. Davallias have been found widely distributed: 

 although the majority of the species known at present are natives of the 

 East Indies and the numerous islands of the Malay Archipelago, some come 

 from Australia and New Zealand, and from Japan; while in the South of 

 Europe, Madeira, the Canaries, and the adjacent islands, is found the most 

 popular species of all, D. canariensis, commonly known as the Hare's-foot 

 Fern. In consequence of their being naturally scattered over such a large 

 area, and being found in such totally different habitats, many beautiful forms 

 can be made to decorate either the cool or the warm Fernery. Although 



