378 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



SELAGINELLAS. 



By W. Watson. 



ALTHOUGH popularly known as Lycopodiums 

 and generally considered to belong to the Fern 

 order, the genus Selaginella is quite distinct both from 

 true Lycopodiums and from Ferns. It comprises 

 about 300 distinct species, according to the latest 

 synopsis. The characters by which the genus is 

 distinguished from the Lycopodiums are the dis- 

 tichous arrangement of the scale-like leaves along 

 the stems, which gives them the familiar flattened 

 appearance, and the fruit in small, often four- 

 angled, clustered spikes on the ends of the branches. 

 The spores are never employed as a means of 

 multiplying these plants, as every one of the 

 kinds which have been in cultivation is easily 

 propagated from cuttings ; and in fact the spores of 

 all the genera belonging to the Lycopod order so 

 very rarely vegetate that it is questionable if, under 

 artificial conditions, the plants are capable of pro- 

 ducing fertile spores. 



Cuttings taken from the lateral branches of 

 the stronger - growing kinds, and from any part 

 of the tufted species, will readily root if inserted 

 in the spring or early siimmer, using for them 

 a sandy peaty soil, and placing them in a close 

 propagating box or under bell-glasses till rooted. 

 Except only the several species found in the 

 higher alpine regions, all the Selaginella s thrive 

 best when shaded from bright sunshine, though 

 during winter it is necessary that they should ob- 

 tain all the light possible, as it is owing to the want 

 of light at this season that the leaves turn brown 

 and often damp, giving the plants a very untidy 

 appearance. In tropical regions these plants are 

 abundantly represented wherever shade and moisture 

 exist. They all delight in a spongy soil, and in 

 cultivation they require during summer an abundance 

 of moisture, both at the roots and in the atmosphere 

 surrounding them. In winter less moisture is ne- 

 cessary, because of the unfavourable conditions as 

 regards light and temperature, otherwise it would 

 not matter, as under natural conditions anything 

 like a rest for these plants means simply more or 

 less injury. 



Many of the species may be effectively used to cover 

 the sides of baskets in which Ferns are growing, for 

 clothing the bare stems of the Ferns, or plant- 

 ing upon the soil in very large pots, or, in summer, 

 to cover bare spaces either under or upon stages in 

 green-houses or stoves. At Kew some pretty com- 

 binations of Ferns and Selaginellas are grown in 

 baskets suspended from the roof of the Tropical 

 Fernery ; a list of the kinds thus used is given 

 on the next page. Several species, and 'especially 



S. Kraussiana (known in gardens as 8. denticulata), 

 are largely grown by market-gardeners and florists 

 for house and window decoration, and in London 

 thousands of potfuls of these "Fern-mosses" are 

 sold annually by the florist to the poorest as well 

 as to the richest of window-gardeners. The fresh 

 clean green foliage of the kinds thus used may be 

 enjoyed for at least several months, if a bell-glass 

 is placed over them and they are kept continually 

 moist. 



Perhaps the most noteworthy of the climbing 

 Selaginellas is 8. canaUculata, which is the strongest 

 and stoutest among the cultivated kinds, and which 

 is represented at Kew by a plant about six feet 

 high, with a stem nearly an inch through, dark 

 brown, covered with scattered scale-like leaves, 

 and bearing long branches distichously arranged, 

 upon which the pale green leaves are developed 

 in the usual flattened way. 8. Wildenovii, the 

 Blue Lycopod, is interesting because of its quick- 

 growing scandent habit, some of the shoots having 

 at Kew grown to a length of twenty-five feet in 

 one year, and its bluish-tinted foliage, which with 

 the light falling upon it at certain angles reminds 

 one of well-tempered steel. These and other climb- 

 ing species may be made to form handsome specimens 

 by training them upon balloon trellises, or they 

 may be used to cover walls or pillars, or even 

 grown as basket plants, if the long shoots are 

 made first to cover the soil and basket, and then 

 allowed to hang down and grow as they please. 

 These species are of great value for purposes of this 

 kind, as they thrive in positions where many other 

 plants would damp off; and they also form, in con- 

 junction with the Lygodiums, the only plants 

 available for draping pillars in Ferneries, that is, 

 assuming the desire of the cultivator to be to 

 limit the plants in his Ferneries to true Ferns or 

 their allies. 



The majority of the species are wild in tropical 

 countries only, others coming from temperate climes, 

 whilst one or two may be considered as being natives 

 of cold countries. Bearing these facts in mind, 

 it is easy for us to separate the cultivated kinds 

 into tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate groups. 

 Of course Selaginellas are grown in temperatures 

 slightly different from those given in the following 

 lists, but' so far as our experience goes, they do not 

 thrive long unless grown in something like the de- 

 gree of heat here advised for them. All the species 

 grow vigorously in the latter part of our summer, 

 so that in the autumn we usually, find them looking 

 their best. Propagation should be managed as early 

 in the spring as is convenient, and as the growth 

 . of the plants from wmich the cuttings are to be taken 

 will admit of. 



