68 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



of pinnae, as well as in their very apparent fringe of 

 spinulose teeth. L. Herm'mieri has a slender elon- 

 gated caudex, densely clothed with linear dark brown 

 scales ; the stipes, four to six inches in length, are 

 strong, erect, dark brown, and covered with chaffy 

 scales ; the fronds when young are of a fine crim- 

 son colour, but 

 change to a 

 glossy green be- 

 fore they reach 

 their full size, 

 which ranges 

 from nine to 

 fifteen inches in 

 length by three 

 to four inches in 

 breadth. The 

 geo graphical 

 range of this 

 species is from 

 the West Indies 

 and Columbia 

 southward to 

 Chili. Like L. 

 ciliata, it be- 

 longs to the 

 Aitenuata group, and is one of 

 the few kinds which perhaps 

 succeed better in the stov 

 than in the cooler temperature 

 of the green-house. 



GREEN-HOUSE KINDS. 



A good many of the sj)ecic3 

 mentioned under this heading 

 are quite at home in the stove, 

 and some, like L. gibba, and a 

 number of the most southern 

 ones, do well even in the cool 

 conservatory, and also in the 

 stove. The New Zealand 

 species make excellent subjects 

 for planting out in the cool 

 fernery, and one or two of them, 

 which are mentioned below 

 amongst the hardy members of 

 the genus, can fairly lay claim 

 to be considered hardy. Doubtless there are many 

 favoured spots in the South and South-west of 

 England, and in Ireland, where still more would be 

 found to thrive out of doors with comparatively 

 little care and attention. L. Banksii, a native of 

 New Zealand, has a stout, woody, elongated catidex. 

 the upper portion of which is clothed with lance- 

 shaped, rust-coloured scales ; the erect dark-coloured 

 etipes, which are scaly below, are three or four 



inches long, and the lanceolate barren fronds six to 

 nine inches in length by about an inch in bi-eadth. 

 It is easily distinguished from all its allies by its 

 oblong obtuse pinnae, even the upper ones being- 

 more than half as broad as long. L. blcchnoides, 

 from Chili, somewhat resembles the New Zealand 



Alpina, both in 

 general appear- 

 ance and man- 

 ner of growth, 

 and is especially 

 suitable for fern 

 cases of small or 

 moderate dimen- 

 sions. Its pretty 

 leathery, dark 

 green, short- 

 stalked fronds 

 are abundantly 

 developed from 

 the slender 

 creeping caudex, 

 and rarely attain 

 more than six 

 inches in length 

 — the fertile 

 fronds, on the other hand, have 

 a strong, erect, dark chestnut- 

 brown stipe, six inches long, 

 the leafy portion 'being from 

 twelve to eighteen inches long- 

 by thi-ee inches broad. This 

 jiccies only differs from the 

 Australian, New Zealand, and 

 Polynesian Z. lanceolata in its 

 larger fertile frond, with pinnae 

 widened suddenly at the base 

 on both sides. 



One of the boldest and hand- 

 somest members of the genus is 

 L. Boryana, which is frequently 

 found in gardens imder the 

 name of L. magellaniea. This 

 has a wide geographical distri- 

 bution, being found from the 

 West Indies southward to the 

 Falkland Islands and the 

 Straits of Magellan ; in Mauritius, Boui'bon, Mada- 

 gascar, Angola, and South Africa. Plants from 

 the more southern localities do remarkably well 

 in the cool fernery, and make strikingly beautiful 

 objects if planted out and allowed to develop. As a 

 pot plant, too, either for general decorative or for 

 exhibition purposes, it is one of the best of all the 

 Lomaiias. Old plants assume an arborescent cha- 

 racter, the stout, woody, erect caudex attaining a 



LOMAKIA ATTENUAIA, 



