—5i— 



It is obtained by grasping all the green fronds of a plant 

 and giving them a steady pull. When they break loose, 

 the heart comes with them, but this of course destroys 

 the plant. All these uses, however, are insignificant in 

 comparison with the uses of some of the tropical tree 

 ferns, such as Cyathea dealbata, C. medullaris, Alsophila 

 excelsa and A. mstralis. The interior of the trunk or 

 caudex of these ferns consists of a white farinaceous mat- 

 ter that is highly esteemed by the natives and formerly 

 formed no inconsiderable part of their diet. 



The Ferx Garden. — The best time of the year for 

 transplanting ferns is without doubt the spring of the 

 year, just as the fronds are unrolling, but this has the 

 disadvantage of being done when the ferns are identified 

 with the greatest difficulty. It would be a hard matter 

 for any but a fern student to get a complete collection 

 of the ferns in the nearest woodland by this means. 

 Fortunately for us, the ferns may be safely moved in full 

 leaf if a few simple conditions are observed. The most 

 important of these conditions is that the roots be kept 

 moist. They should not be allowed to become dry at any 

 time and this may be prevented by wrapping each plant 

 in a damp cloth as soon as dug. The fronds of many 

 species may well be cut oft" and used as packing material, 

 but some discretion must be used in this for much de- 

 pends upon the species. The ferns may be divided into 

 two groups as regards the way in which the fronds are 

 produced. In one, the fronds for the year all come up 

 in the spring and unless the plant is injured no more are 

 produced. A good example of this group is the cinna- 

 mon fern, or the marginal shield fern (Nephrodium mar- 

 ginale). The other group, represented by such ferns as 

 the bracken, the sensitive fern and the marsh fern have 

 slender creeping root-stocks that put up fronds all sum- 

 mer. In this second group the removal of the fronds 

 works no injury to the plant since they readily produce 

 new ones, but in the first group the fronds are much more 

 sparingly produced and if the plants are wanted to make 



