318 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDEXIXG. 



which frequently root and develop young plants from 

 the whip-like tips. From its habit of growth this is 

 well adapted for growing in a bracket attached to 

 the wall of the fernery, or suspended in a basket from 

 the roof. A native of Japan. 



A. triangiihim, from the West Indies, has tufted 

 stipes, two to six inches long, with large dark brown 

 scales at the base, and leathery dark green fronds, one 

 to two feet long, by one to two inches broad, the 

 pinnse bearing numerous blunt or spinose teeth on 

 their margins. This curious and interesting species 

 does well grown in a basket either in the warm or 

 cool fernery. 



HARDY SPECIES. 



A. aerostichoides is an evergreen species fromXorth 

 America, where it extends from Canada to Florida 

 and the Mississippi. It has tufted stipes, six to eight 

 inches long, densely clothed below with pale bro\^Ti 

 lanceolate scales, and simply-pinnate firm fronds, one 

 and a half to three feet long, by three to five inches 

 broad. 



A. aculcatum. — In sheltered situations the ovate- 

 lanceolate, twice or thrice -pinnate fronds of this 

 species are evergreen. In one or other of its nume- 

 rous varieties it is distributed throughout almost all 

 regions, but is most uncommon in the Arctic regions 

 and in Eastern North America. What is regarded 

 in the " Students' Flora of the British Islands " as 

 typical aculeatum has rather flaccid fronds, with 

 sessile pinnules (the lower ones being free) and 

 spinidose serratures. 



The var. lohatum has bi-pinnate fronds, with rigid, 

 sessile, decurrent pinnules, which are confluent below. 



In the var. annulare the fronds are sub-membra- 

 nous, the small, lax, stalked pinnules are sometimes 

 again pinnatifid, with large awned teeth. In addition 

 to these varieties, there are numerous other exotic 

 ones, as well as a host of crested and other forms of 

 garden origin. 



A.Lonch if is, the Alpine Shield Fern, or Holly Fern, 

 owes its last-mentioned name to its rigid and prickly 

 appearance. It is a handsome evergreen, with 

 simply- pinnate, linear -oblong fronds, twelve to 

 inghteen inches long, and one to two inches broad. It 

 is widely distributed throughout theXorthern Hemi- 

 sphere, but in Britain occurs in rocky clefts of the 

 mountainous districts of Wales and the northern 

 part of the island. 



A. nuinitnm, one of the most distinct and de- 

 sirable of all hardy evergreen ferns, is a native of 

 Western Xorth America, from Xootka to California. 

 It has strong, tufted, straw-coloured stipes four to 

 nine inches long, the lower portions of which espe- 

 cially are densely clothed with large, glossy, lanceo- 

 late scales ; the dark green fronds are one to two inches 

 long, by four to eight inches broad. The numerous 



closely-set firm pinnte are acuminate at the apex, 

 and the margins finch" spinosely-serrated through- 

 out. 



. Cultivation — Most of the Aspidiums are of easy 

 cultivation, all thriving in a mixture of loam and 

 leaf-mould, with an addition of peat and sand. Tht- 

 stronger-growing sorts do well in well-drained loam, 

 and all like an abundance of water, provided stag- 

 nation be guarded against. 



A. Lonchitis is perhaps one of the most difficult to 

 manage, and it is rarely seen tinder artificial condi- 

 tions in anything like the luxuriance it exhibits in 

 the damp elevated rocky spots it naturally affects. 

 Wedged between stones in somewhat shaded and 

 sheltered positions in the out-door rockery, where its 

 roots are kept constantly moist, and its leathery 

 fronds cannot suflPer from drying winds, it makes a 

 beautiful object. 



A. aculcatum makes a bold and handsome jjlantin 

 almost any shaded spot, provided root-room and goo<:l 

 soil be afforded it ; along the shady margins of or- 

 namental water it attains a large size, and grows 

 very luxuriantly ; this, and any or all of its varie- 

 ties, deserve a prominent position in the fern 

 garden. 



The Bleclinuins. — The genus BUchnuw com- 

 prises about a score of species, and is widely dift'used 

 throughout tropical and south temperate regions. 

 Nearly all resemble each other closely in general 

 aspect, in ha\ing pinnate or pinnatifid fronds. Only 

 two vary from this arrangement. One has simple 

 fronds {B. lanceola), and the other bi-pinnate ones 

 {B. vittata) ; the latter, however, has not yet been 

 introduced to cultivation. 



B. Brasilioise, frequently met with in gardens 

 under the name of B. Corcoraclcnse, is a small-grow- 

 ing tree-fern, with a stout, erect stem, a foot or more 

 in height, densely clothed at the crown with dense, 

 brown, fibrillose scales, short, stout, densely scaly 

 stijics, and oblong-lanceolate leathery fronds, two 

 or three feet long, by a foot or more broad. A native 

 of Brazil and Peru. 



B. cariilagineum has an oblique stem, densely 

 clothed at the crown with blackish scales, and strong, 

 erect, rough, scaly stipes, surmounted by ovate- 

 oblong leathery fronds, one to two feet long, by 

 six to nine inches broad. A native of temperate 

 Australia. 



B. lanceola has lanceolate undivided fronds, four 

 to six inches long, by half an inch broad, springing 

 from a slender, creeping, stolonif erous rhizome ; in 

 texture, too, they are less leathery than those of the 

 other species mentioned. A nati^-e of tropical 

 America. 



B. occidentale has a stout erect caudex, clothed at 



