78 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENTNG. 



FEENS. 



By James Britten, F.L.S. 



Brainea insignis. — Among the smaller-grow- 

 ing tree-ferns there are none more deserving of 

 cultivation than this, the only species of the genus. 

 It is a handsome plant, with a stem — in fully- 

 developed specimens — three or four feet in height, 

 and three or four inches in thickness, and dark 

 green, leathery, simply-pinnate fronds, with serrated 

 l^innge. Sometimes the fronds attain a length of 

 three feet, and in healthy, well-grown specimens 

 form a heautiful crown of foliage. It is a native 

 of Hong Kong and the Khasya Hills. It might 

 reasonably enough be expected that a Hong Kong 

 plant would under cultivation thrive in a cool 

 house ; but imported stems, placed m an inter- 

 mediate and cool house, have not, as far as our ex- 

 perience extends, justified such a course of treatment. 

 On the other hand, they have succeeded thoroughly 

 well in a stove, the fronds being much larger and 

 £ner, and the plants growing more freely in the 

 warmer temperature. Brainea, too, is one of the 

 few tree-ferns which can readily be raised from 

 spores, if such a method be followed as that recom- 

 mended for Adiantums at the commencement of 

 these articles. During the season of growth an 

 abundance of water is necessary ; merely wetting the 

 soil in which the plants are potted is not sufficient. 

 The stems should be kept moist, and the entire plant 

 frequentlj^ wetted overhead. In winter a partial 

 drying off is desirable, though not necessary, and 

 the temperature may be lowered and the atmosphere 

 kept drier. Peat is the best soil for Braineas, and 

 care must be taken to thoroughly drain the pots, in 

 order to prevent any possibilitj" of stagnatioil from 

 the copious supply of water necessary to the well- 

 being of the plants when growing. Provided direct 

 sunlight is guarded against, too much light cannot 

 well be given. 



Ceratopteris. — The genus Ceratoptcris is a very 

 interesting, and moreover a rather anomalous one, 

 different authorities placing it in different groups, 

 and some maintaining it as a tribe by itself. C. 

 tlx alictr aides is the only species, and it is widely 

 distributed throughout the tropics. In the " Synop- 

 sis Filicum " the following countries are particu- 

 larised : Mexico and the West Indies southward to 

 Brazil; the Punjaub southward to tropical Australia, 

 Madagascar, Angola, and west tropical Africa. It 

 is one of the few ferns of truly annual duration, and 

 moreover is perhaps the only one which can be 

 classed as truly aquatic. It is always found either 

 floating or attached to the soil in shallow, still, or 

 slightly-moving waters. The &tout, tufted, thick. 



inflated stipes are fiUed with large air-cells, a pro- 

 vision which serves to render the plant buoyant 

 enough for its watery home. The fronds are light 

 green in colour, succulent in texture, the barren 

 ones floating, simple or slightly divided when 

 young, twice or thrice cut, with narrow linear 

 segments when matui-e ; the fertile ones are moie 

 finely cut, the segments being much narrower. The 

 young succulent foliage of this ' fern is boiled and 

 eaten as a A'egetable by the poorer classes in the 

 Indian Archipelago. 



Cultivation. — Wherever tropical aquatics are 

 grown, this fern can be cultivated without trouble. 

 The spores should be sown in spring in a shallow 

 pan of loamy soil made wet like mud, and kept 

 constantly moist. When the plants have attained 

 a sufiicient size they are best potted in pans or pots, 

 and these submerged an inch or two in a larger 

 vessel, or in the tank in which such plants as the 

 exotic Water Lilies, &c., are grown. They thrive 

 well enough even if planted out amongst the muddy 

 soil which is usually found best for such subjects as 

 the Sacred Bean, NclnmbiHm speciosum, &c. ; but 

 the conditions most favourable for the full develop- 

 ment of this strange fern obtain in the tropical 

 Water Lily tank. The fronds — the sterile ones — 

 are very proliferous, and, floating on the surface of 

 the water, soon produce a crop of young plants ; if, 

 however, by means of stakes they are prevented 

 from touching the water, the gemmag do not de- 

 velop into plantlets. In autumn the pot in which 

 the ijarent plant is growing should have its rim 

 raised above the level of the w^ater in order to 

 allow a crop of spores to sow themselves on the 

 muddy surface ; the next spring these will germinate 

 freely, and thus the necessity of saving spores and 

 re-sowing will be obviated. 



The Woodwardias. — Wooclwardia belongs to 

 the tribe Blechnece, of which Blechnum, Doodia, and 

 Sadleria are the only other genera. It is a small 

 genus of some half-dozen species, five of which at 

 any rate are in cultivation. They are essentiallr 

 cool ferns, and thrive well in the cool green-house 

 or unheated conservatory. Unlike most other ferns 

 in habit, they are decidedly worth growing for their 

 distinct aspect. They occur in the northern tem- 

 perate zone of both hemispheres, and are naturally 

 divided into three groups, each containing a couple 

 of species. In the first one (7F. radicans and 

 ir. 07-ientalis) the fronds are uniform, and the veins 

 form at least • one series of areolations between the 

 sori and the margin. The second group {W. vir- 

 ginica and W. japonica) also has fronds alike in 

 outline — that is to say, the fertile .ones do not differ 

 in shape from the barren ones ; but the veins are 



