FEKNS. 



69 



height of a couple of feet. The beautiful dark green 

 pinnate fronds are, in well-grown specimens, about 

 two feet lo;ig by six or eight inches broad, and the 

 stout erect stipe is four to six inches in length. 



Perhaps the most distinctive character by which 

 to distinguish L. Boryana from L. procera—a more 

 slender-growing species, with broader and less 

 spreading pinnae— resides in the very dense, long, 

 and fibre-like scales which clothe the caudex and the 

 lower portions of the stipes. L. procera is a hand- 

 some plant, with a wide distribution ; in addition to 

 some of the countries mentioned for magellanica, it 

 is found in the Malayan and Polynesian Islands, 

 New Zealand, South Australia, and Van Diemen's 

 Land. As might be expected in such a case, a 

 number of slightly varying forms are cultivated 

 •under specific names. Among these may be men- 

 tioned L. capensis, L. ehilensis, and Z. GiUiesii. L. 

 Germainii, a charming little plant from ChiH, bears 

 at first sight a great resemblance to L. alpina ; it is 

 -especially suitable for a small fern-case, or for plant- 

 ing out in an open corner amongst stones in the cool 

 fernery. L. discolor very similar to L. attenuata, 

 iilready mentioned under the heading of stove kinds, 

 but is usually larger, the fronds forming an elegant 

 ■crown, red-brown below, the pinnules narrower, 

 those of the fertile fronds often leafy at the base ; 

 this is abundant in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, 

 and New Zealand. L. niida, a variety of L. discolor-, 

 fiom Australia, only differs from the type in its 

 more numerous acuminate pinnae, in their less 

 leathery texture, and in the chestnut-coloured, not 

 reddish-black, stipe. L. Jliwiatilis is readily recog- 

 nised from all the other Lomarias by the shajje of 

 its pinnae, which are oblong, obtuse, and spreading. 

 On account of the graceful arching character of the 

 soft green fronds, which measure about twenty 

 inches in length, this species is better adapted than 

 most others for cultivation in hanging baskets ; it is 

 a native of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, and 

 South Australia. 



Certainly one of the most curious, as well as 

 one of the most distinct and elegant members of 

 the genus Lomaria, is the New Zealand L. Fraseri, 

 which differs from all the others in the peculiar 

 cutting of the frond. Briefly stated, it may be 

 said to possess the frond of one of the Nephro- 

 diums (of which our common native Male Fern fur- 

 nishes a good example), with the fructification of a 

 Lomaria. It is, moreover, perhaps the only species 

 in the genus which presents fertile fronds similar in 

 size and cutting to those of the barren ones. 



Probably the most generally grown of all tbe 

 species is the New Caledonian Z. gihba, which is one 

 of the most useful ferns for general decorative pur- 

 poses, both on account of its symmetrical and graceful 



habit and the rapidity of its growth. It requir; s, 

 moreover, but comparatively little pot-room, and if 

 the necessary attention be paid to watering, good 

 useful plants may be kept in perfect health in small 

 pot^, an advantage which is appreciated by all who 

 have to furnish large numbers of plants for indoor 

 decoration, with at times but limited house-room. 

 A number of garden varieties of this valuable fern 

 have sprung into existence within the last dozen 

 years or more ; but, except as curiosities or collection 

 plants, none can rival the ordinary wild type. Z. 

 nigra, from New Zealand, has a distinct and striking 

 aspect; its fronds are herbaceous in texture, the 

 lower pinnae being quite separate, but a large ter- 

 minal portion lobed only. Including the slender, 

 erect, densely-scaly stipes, the blackish-green fronds 

 altogether hardly measure more than six inches in 

 length. This species is most at home, and appears 

 to most advantage as well, between chinks of stone 

 in the green-house, rockery, or fern-case. Z. ono- 

 cleoides, from the West Indies and Ecuador, is a 

 much more rigid plant than Z. attenuata, which it 

 resembles in the cutting of the fronds, but the pinnae 

 are much shorter, and the fronds also. Although this 

 does well in a green-house, it succeeds thoroughly 

 as a stove plant, and perhaps might be with more 

 justice classed as a stove fern. Z, Fatersoni, a 

 native of Van Diemen's Land, South Australia, and 

 the Philippines, is generally seen with simple sterile 

 fronds about a foot in length ; but when the plant is 

 placed under favourable conditions in the green- 

 house or conservatory rockery, its short -creeping 

 rhizome grows freely amongst the moss-covered 

 stones and on the moist surfaces, and fronds are 

 frequently produced which are distinctly pinnatifid. 

 The New Zealand Z. pumila most resembles Z. 

 alpina, but it is much mo're delicate in texture, and 

 the pinnae are distinctly crenated ; it is a dwarf- 

 growing species, with slender-creeping rhizome, and 

 is one of the best for fern- cases or rockeries of small 

 size. 



HARDY KINDS. 



Foremost amongst the hardy species of Lomaria is 

 our native Hard-fern, Z. spicant, which is too well 

 known to need any detailed description. It is 

 abundant enough in Britain, except in easily acces- 

 sible places near London and some other large towns, 

 where, to minister to the very general love of ferns 

 among town and suburban residents, the ubiquitous 

 "fern collector" has cleared whole districts where 

 once, and not very long ago, the species was to be 

 found in profusion. Thousands of plants are an- 

 nually sent to Covent Garden Market by some 

 growers, and started in pots in a little heat, so as to 

 form a crown of dark green fronds before any of the 

 other outdoor, or rather hardy, ferns have com- 



