FERNS. 



61 



Spinach, Green Mountain or Orach 



{Atriplex hortensis). French, Aroche ; German, Mel- 

 dehraut ; Italian, Atrepice. — "We possess herein a 

 singular plant as a hardy annual, and indigenous in 

 Tartary, It is a robust plant, growing rapidly to 

 some feet in height, the leaves of which are gathered 

 and used in the same manner as those of Spinacia 

 oleracea. This variety is more esteemed on the Con- 

 tinent than it has been hitherto in this country. 

 It delights in a deep, rich, and somewhat moist soil, 

 fully exposed 

 to sun and 

 aii\ It may 

 he cultivated 

 both in rows 

 and by broad- 

 cast sowings. 

 A single row 

 about ten 

 yards long 

 will afford 

 a moderate 

 supply. 

 Seeds should 

 be sown dur- 

 ing the 

 month of 

 August, to 



insure a spring and summer 

 supply up to the beginning of 

 the month of July. Thin the 

 plants out from this sowing to 

 about six inches apart only, to 

 insure a sufficient quantity in 

 the spring, following the exi- 

 gencies of winter, attention in 

 the matter of hoeing, fee, being 

 the only further aid needed to 

 secure the crop. For the main 

 summer supply, similar sowings should be made 

 during the months of April and May, for which 

 an additional supply of manure should be dug 

 into the gi'ound. The young plants which result 

 from these sowings should be thinned out to nine 

 or ten inches apart in the row. When the plants 

 are well grown they give a successional supply 

 of leaves as they progress in height, which only 

 need to be picked off to be ready for use. As 

 the plant tends to run very rapidly to seed 

 in hot weather if neglected, and is only worth 

 eating when, the leaves are picked young and 

 tender, it is very essential that the regular supply 

 provided be regularly drawn upon and kept 

 down. Disappointment will follow any want of 

 this precaution to keep a succession of young 

 leaves. 



FEENS. 



By James Britten, F.L.S. 



Alsophila Excelsa. 



The Alsophilas. — In point of number of species 

 the genus Alsophila is the most important of the 

 genera of Pol}^odiaceous Ferns, which are included 

 in the tribe Cyathece. It stands alone, too, in that 

 tribe, in the absence of any involucre to the sori. 

 The Alsophilas have the general habit and aspect of 

 the Cyatheas and Hemitelkis, but both these genera 



are readily 

 distinguished 

 from Also- 

 phila by the 

 distinct in- 

 volucre wdth 

 which the 

 sori are fur- 

 nished. They 

 are dis- 

 tributed 

 principally 

 throughout 

 the warmer 

 regions of 

 both hemi- 

 spheres, and 

 nearly a him- 

 dred species are described in the 

 " Synopsis Filicum." A goodly 

 ntmiber of names, not given in 

 the work just mentioned, occur 

 in nui'serymen's catalogues, but 

 probably the great majority of 

 these would, if studied by any 

 competent authority, be referred 

 to species previously described 

 and cultivated imder their cor- 

 rect appellations. From a garden 

 point of view a selection of half a score species is 

 sufficient for aU practical purposes ; indeed, it is 

 only in large establishments that space enough 

 can be spared to allow even that number of indi- 

 \adual8 to develop and exhibit themselves in all 

 their beauty. The largest collection of Tree-fems 

 existing in this country is to be seen in the Eoyal 

 Gardens, Kew, and a visit to that famous institution 

 is necessary to enable any untravelled gardener to 

 form an;)i;hing like an approximate idea of the 

 splendid appearance presented by full-grown speci- 

 mens in their native countries. Wallace, in his 

 " Malay Archipelago," thus speaks of these beautiful 

 plants in their tropical homes : — " But the greatest 

 novelty and most striking feature to my eyes were 

 the Tree-ferns, which, after seven years spent in the 

 tropics, I now saw in perfection for the first time. 



