FERNS. 



199 



stem.s csespitosc, and the involucre single, contains 

 about fifty well-marked kinds ; as representatives of 

 this section we may mention P. argnta, erotica, 

 Jiaheiiata, laciniata, longifolia, quadriuurita, serridata, 

 and tremula. Of the group Fcesia, with free veins, a 

 creeping rhizome, and a more or loss distinctly 

 double involucre, only four- species are known, and 

 one of these is the common Bracken, P. aquiUna, one 

 of the most widely distributed of all ferns ; a second 

 is the handsome iSTew Zealand species P. scaherula, 

 one of the most graceful of cool-house kinds. In 

 Boryopterls, characterised by the small sagittate or 

 subpedate fronds, the veins anastomose copiously ; 

 less than a dozen species are known, which are re- 

 ferred to here ; of these P. palmata and P. sayittifolia 

 are not unfamiliar examples. About five-and-twenty 

 species belong to the section Litobrochia, Vvhich, with 

 the general habit and aspect of Pteris proper, has 

 fronds with copiously anastomosing veins. In 

 addition to the sections already mentioned, Am- 

 pliihlestra, Campteria, and heterophlehium are also 

 now included under Pteris. 



Altogether Pteris is a cosmopolitan genus, and 

 includes plants of almost every kind of division and 

 venation. 



STOVE KINDS. 



There are comparatively few sjpecies which abso- 

 lutely require stove temperature for their success- 

 ful management. Most accommodate themselves 

 readily to either stove or green-house temperature. 

 In the case of widely 'distributed species, those 

 individuals introduced from a tropical climate would 

 no doubt thrive better in warmer houses, whilst 

 examples of the same species brought from tempe- 

 rate latitudes would most likely prefer the cooler 

 atmosphere and the general conditions which are 

 obtained in the green-house. 



P. comans is confined to the Southern Hemisphere, 

 where its geographical range is a rather extended 

 one ; it has naked, erect, glossy stipes, surmounted 

 by bipinnate fronds of a thinly herbaceous texture ; 

 the rachis and both surfaces axe smooth. P. erenata 

 is a distinct and handsome species, with dark green, 

 rather leathery, bipinnate fronds from a foot to a 

 foot and a half in length, by six to nine inches in 

 breadth ; the specific name was given on account of 

 the crenated margins of the pinnae. This is found 

 in Hindostan, from the Himalayas to Ceylon, Chu- 

 san, and Loo-choo Islands ; southward to tropical 

 Australia ; eastward to Samoa and Fiji. In general 

 aspect P. dejlexa, from tropical America, comes 

 between P. qnadrianrita and our common English 

 Bracken; ithas strong erect stipes, two feet or more 

 long, and broad fronds, somewhat coriaceous in 

 texture, from two to four feet long. This, when 



planted out in the warm fernery, makes a fine object 

 where sufficient sjmce can be allowed it. P. hctero- 

 pJbylla, a native of the West Indian Islands and 

 Brazil, was introduced to Kew many years ago fi'om 

 Jamaica ; it has small, dark green fronds, feathery 

 in cutting, &c., reminding one of our native Parsley 

 Fern {Cryptoyramma crispa), or the common Wall- 

 Rue {Asplenium Rut a-mur aria), much enlarged. It 

 is a compact - growing pilant from six inches to a 

 foot in height, and is one of the best for a small or 

 moderate-sized fern-case. P. incisa is a very variable 

 species, widely distributed throughout tropical and 

 temperate regions of both hemispheres ; it exhibits 

 a considerable range of differences in size, cutting, 

 texture, and venation, and is often scandent with 

 long, spreading, rigid branches — in a wild state it is 

 said to now and then attain a length of ten yards. 

 P. laeiniata has a distinct and somewhat striking- 

 aspect ; the large tripinnatifid fronds, herbaceous 

 in texture, are of a beautiful light green colour, and 

 are borne on stout, erect, very hairy stipes, a foot or 

 more in length. P. leptophylla is a vigorous-growing 

 Brazilian species with firm, erect, straw-coloured 

 stipes from six inches to about a foot in length, and 

 deltoid, herbaceous fronds nine to twelve inches 

 long, by as much in width at the base. P. lonyi- 

 piiinnia is a near alh^ of P. qicadriaurita, with which, 

 from a purely botanical standpoint, it might be 

 united. From a garden point of view, however, it 

 is distinct enough ; it has erect, naked, yellowish- 

 gTcen stipes from two to three feet long in fully - 

 developed plants, and sub-coriaceous fronds one 

 to three feet long by twelve to eighteen inches 

 broad. It is a native of Hindostan (ascending in th(. 

 Himalayas from 2,000 to 4,000 feet), Malayan Penin- 

 sula, Borneo, and Japan. 



P. ludens, from the Malayan Peninsula and Philip- 

 pine Islands, has polished, nearly black stipes, those 

 of the barren fronds three or four inches in length, 

 and those of the fertile frond about three times as 

 long. The barren frond varies in shape from 

 triangular with two slightly deflexed basal lobes, to 

 spear-shaped with two basal and two large spreading 

 lateral lobes with entire margins ; the fertile fronds 

 measure from four to six inches each way, and are 

 cut down into five linear-lanceolate, or lanceolate 

 lobes (one erect, two spreading, and two deflexed) , all 

 of which, except the last, are sometimes again forked. 



P. quadriaurita is a beautiful evergreen fern, a 

 thoroughly useful and easily-managed species, which 

 should find a place in every collection. It is found 

 all round the world within the tropics, and a little 

 beyond them. What we may here regard as the 

 type (for the species is a widety variable one) has 

 fronds from one to three feet in length, the end of 

 each pinna being lengthened out into a long tail. 



