84 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



soils, tut under cultivation neither chalk nor lime- 

 stone is by any means essential to its successful 

 management. P. Rohertianum has nearly as wide a 

 range as F. Bryopteris. 



At first sight, the evergreen P. Sconleri calls to 

 mind our native F. riilgare, but the fronds are of 

 a much more leathery textui-e, and are broader in 



second time : this form is always barren. A variety, 

 semilaccrxm, usually called the Irish Polypody, has 

 the lower portion of the frond resembling the variety 

 canthricum, and the upper more like the typical F. 

 vnlriarc. It is a very fertile fonn, and one which 

 could not fairly be excluded from even the most 

 select collection of hardv ferns. 



Polypodium: (or Phlebodit:m) aukeum. 



comparison with theii^ length ; it is a native of Van- 

 couver's Island, Oregon, and British Columbia. 



The British F. vnlgare worthily concludes the list of 

 hardy Polypodies, and, under favourable conditions 

 as to shelter, shade, and moisture, it forms a very 

 beautiful specimen. Some of its numerous varieties 

 can certainly vie for elegance of form and grace of 

 habit with any other hardy fern. The best known 

 of these, the Welsh Polypody, F. rulciarc, var. cam- 

 hricum, has much broader fronds ; the lobes, instead 

 of. being simple, are deeply and irregularly lobed a 



Among the numerous garden forms which will be 

 found mentioned in the catalogues of nm^ser^Tnen 

 who make ferns a speciality, the most remarkable of 

 all is that called trichomaiwides. In cutting this 

 resembles in a marked manner the Killamey Fern, 

 and is worth cultivating as a pot-plant for green- 

 house or cool conservatory decoration. 



Cultivation. — Some of the species described as Stove 

 Ferns in the above notes will certainly (especially if 

 plants have been imported from outhdng countries 

 with a cooler climate than that of those which may 



