FERNS. 



269- 



A. viride, the Green, and A. Triehomai^es, the Black 

 Spleenwort, thrive well in any well-drained "pocket" 

 of the rockery, with leaf -mould and sand mixed with 

 pieces of stone — pieces of old hrick ruhhish do 

 thoroughly well ; indeed, wedged between the brick- 

 work of an old wall, and kept damp until the roots 

 have had time to fix themselves in their new 

 quarters, when the plants will need no further 

 attention, they will often grow more luxuriantly, 



A. Germanimm succeed well either as pot plants, 

 using loam and leaf-mould mixed with small bits 

 of limestone in well-drained ^pots, or in the open 

 rockery, where care is taken to prevent access of 

 superfluous moisture. Perhaps the most difficult to 

 manage of all the hardy Spleenworts is A. septen- 

 trionalc, which in most places succeeds best in a cold 

 frame, using thoroughly well-drained pots and a 

 compost made up of sharp sand, a small quantity of 



ASPLEXIUJI FONTANUM. 



and look much more beautiful, than when grown in 

 pots. Crested forms exist of the last-named species, 

 and also others with pinnules deeply cut; the best 

 of both sections are incision, cristatum, depcmperatum, 

 miiUiJidum, and ramosum. 



The Wall-rue, A. Ruta-mKraria, and the Scale-fern, 

 A. C'cterach (often given in catalogues as Ceterach 

 officinarum) require very perfect drainage ; the 

 former does best wedged between pieces of lime- 

 stone or old brickwork ; the latter also succeeds well, 

 and reproduces itself freely enough, under similar 

 conditions. The Sea Spleenwort, A. marinum, of 

 which hundreds of bunches of fronds are weekly 

 imported to Covent Garden Market from the South 

 of Europe for household decoration, likes a sheltered 

 spot amongst pieces of sandstone. A. fontanum and 



leaf -mould and loam, and a large proportion of small 

 pieces of soft stone. 



The Onychiums. — The genus Onyclni(m con- 

 tains but four species, and only two of these have 

 yet been introduced to cultivation. It belongs to a 

 large group or tribe, the Pteridece, of which the 

 genera Fteris and Adiantv.m are familiar examples. 

 Indeed, by some authorities Onychium has been 

 united to Fteris, from which the species mentioned 

 below differ rather in the cutting of the fi'onds, and 

 the smallness and narrowness of the ultimate 

 segments, than essentially in fructification. There 

 are few more graceful and elegant ferns than 

 0. auratum and 0. Japonicnm. Both succeed well in 

 a cool house ; indeed, in structm-es where no fire-heat 



