FERNS. 



67 



surfaces, from four to twelve inches long by throe- 

 quarters to one and a half inches broad. The foi'tilc 

 frond is narrower than the barren one, and on a 

 longer stem. Jn a wild state the widely distributed 

 tropical A. sorhifoUiim has a thick woody rhizome, 

 often thirty to forty feet in length, and clasps the 

 trunks of the trees on which it grows, like a cable. 

 The simply pinnate, somewhat leathery fronds are 

 from twelve to eighteen inches long by six to twelve 

 inches in breadth. This makes a fine subject in the 

 tropical fernery for training 

 over tree-fern stems, or for 

 clothing any piece of damp 

 stone - work. A. toiuifoUuni, 

 from the Mascarene Islands 

 and Natal, is well distin- 

 guished from all the others 

 by its compound fertile pinna? ; 

 it has a widely rambling, 

 slightly scaly rhizome, and 

 simply pinnate barren fronds, 

 three to five feet long by 

 twelve to eighteen inches 

 broad. The bipinnate fertile 

 fronds have a longer stem than 

 the barren ones. 



Cultivation.— Ks> nearly all 

 the Acrostichiims hail from 

 tropical countries, few will 

 succeed except in the stove or 

 warm green-house. All like 

 plenty of heat, atmospheric 

 moisture, and a certain amount 

 of shade. During dull sunless 

 weather, thoy like almost as 

 much light as it is possible to 

 obtain ; but dm-ing bright sun- 

 shine, the houses in which they 

 are grown should be shaded. 

 This serves a double purpose, 

 for in addition to the intense 



light to which they object, the shading prevents rapid 

 evaporation, and keeps the air from becoming too dry. 

 The strong-growing kinds like loam, and those with 

 smooth fronds should be frequently syringed. The 

 species in which the fronds are densely clothed with 

 hairs or scales should not be syringed or watered 

 overhead, as they are apt to become discoloured 

 under such treatment. Those with slender rhizomes 

 '■an either be grown on raised hillocks of peat and 

 sand with a little leaf -mould, pegging down and 

 causing them to root wherever required, or allowed 

 to creep at will round trunks of* tree-ferns or over 

 liioist stone- work. Good drainage is an essential in 

 f'very case. A. aurenm will grow in almost any 

 thoroughly-drained compost ; if required to develop 



ACROSXICHUM PELTATUil. 



very luxuriantly, place the pot to the depth of two or 

 three inches in a tank of water, or stand it during 

 the summer months in a saucer of water, which 

 must be kept constantly replenished. 



The Ijomarias.— The genus Lomarla is a rather 

 (ixtensive one, nearly fifty species being described in 

 the " Synopsis Filicum," although with narrower 

 views as to specific distinction some authors increas(! 

 that number to a very considerable extent. The 

 headquarters of the genus is in 

 the South Temj^erate zone, but 

 there are outlying species all 

 over the world. The close 

 affinity between Lomaria and 

 Blcchnum is indicated by the 

 fact that our native Hard-fern. 

 L. spieant, was, and even now 

 is still, regarded by some 

 botanists as a Blcchnum. Tlie 

 principal points of difference 

 between the two reside in the 

 diffeient position of the soii 

 and the different character of 

 the involucre. All the Loma- 

 rias (wdth perhaps one excep- 

 tion) have dimorphous fi^onds 

 — that is to say, the fertile 

 ones are quite dissimilar in 

 form from the ordinary barren 

 ones. There is no great range 

 of variation in the cutting, but 

 the species vary not a little in 

 size, colour, and habit. A 

 number of excellent garden 

 plants arc furnished by the 

 genus LonHtrla, and, as a rule, 

 they are certainly not difficult 

 to grow. 



STOVE KINDS. 



L. (dtoiuata, a species widely 

 distributed throughout Tropical and South Temperate 

 regions, is a stately plant, with pinnate fronds of a 

 leathery texture. The stipe measures from four to 

 six inches in length, and the dark green mature fronds 

 from one to three feet long hy from six to nine inches 

 broad ; when young these are of a pleasing rosy tint. 

 L. ciliata, a native of New Caledonia — from which 

 country it was introduced nearly a score of years ago 

 by Messrs. Yeitch — is a general favourite on account 

 of its rapid growth and distinct and elegant habit. 

 The caudex attains a height of about a span, and the 

 drooping fronds little more than six or eight inches. 

 This species is allied to L. r/ibha in the swollen dccur- 

 rent bases of the pinn.ne, but differs in its less nu- 

 merous fronds, and in the much less crowded series 



