i6 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



the outset. They may be sent over in War- 

 dian cases, but then they require to be looked 

 after on the voyage by someone who under- 

 stands how to manage them ; and even then 

 a Wardian case is a bulky and brittle article. If 

 they are packed in a tin box in the ordinary 

 way, it is exceedingly difficult to strike the 

 happy medium between packing them too wet 

 and packing them too dry ; and they reach 

 this country either shrivelled up for lack of 

 moisture or blackened by damp, so that only a 

 very small percentage of the plants despatched 

 from the West Indies are fit for growing. But 

 even if you have good plants to start with, it 

 is by no means easy to copy the conditions 

 under which they grow in their native cli- 

 mate. You must give them a warm, moist 

 atmosphere, and not too much light ; but the 

 atmosphere ought not to be stagnant ; and the 

 tender kinds may very easily be kept too warm 

 and too moist. They are very apt to rot with 

 damp, especially the hairy species like Hyme- 

 nophyllum lanatum and H. sericeum, or you may 

 be just able to keep them alive, without their 

 ever striking away into vigorous growth. 



If time were of no account one would like, 

 in speaking of the Ferns of the high woods 

 of Jamaica, to mention some of the interest- 

 ing little Polypodiums which grow in posi- 

 tions exactly similar to those of the Filmy 

 Ferns, dependent from the trunks or boughs 

 of trees. As I have said, the genus Polypodium 

 is a very large one in Jamaica, consisting of 

 seventy-nine species, more than fifty of which 

 grow on trees. Some of the largest ones, as, 

 P. c/woodes, are very beautiful plants, but to 

 me the most interesting were the smaller ones, 

 growing at a high altitude. I have already 

 mentioned the curious Xiphopteris serrulatum, 

 which is really a Polypodium, though the sori 

 ultimately run into one another and form a 

 continuous line. Then there are P. gramineum, 

 P. marginellum,P . trichomanoides, P. basi-attenu- 

 atum, P. moniliforme y the beautifully soft, golden 

 brown P. cultratum, P. suspensum, P. pilosello- 

 ides, and P. lanceolatum. Most of these could 

 probably be made to grow in this country along- 

 side of the filmies, but, perhaps, they would 

 be even more liable to damp off, and would 

 require a compartment to themselves. 



Of the general Fern flora of Jamaica, of 

 its various kinds of Tree-Ferns, of its numerous 



species of Adiantum^ Pteris, Asplenium, Nephro- 

 dium, Acrostichum, which abound in every 

 moist and shady locality, or of the many curious 

 genera that are represented by one species or 

 by a very few, I will say nothing at present, 

 beyond making the general remark that it is 

 amazing to see how freely a large number of 

 the species are distributed, and the immense 

 number of the individual plants. It has been 

 said that within a radius of one hundred yards 

 you may, in some places, gather specimens of 

 fifty different species. At any rate, one is 

 greatly struck with the prodigality with which 

 they are scattered wherever Ferns will grow 

 — in woods, on shady banks, among rocks, and 

 by streams. The Ferns are undoubtedly the 

 features of an island which is luxuriant in all 

 manner of vegetation. Even the casual tourist, 

 who does not know one Fern from another, 

 is struck by their multitude and their diver- 

 sity. — Dr. David Paul in Address to Botani- 

 cal Society of Edinburgh. 



Kashmir: a Land of Flowers. — We drove through 

 pleasant groves of Chestnuts, Walnuts, Peaches, 

 Pears, Cherries, Mulberries, and Apples, all of which 

 are indigenous to this favoured land, while the Wild 

 Vines hung in festoons from the branches. The fresh 

 grass beneath the trees is spangled with flowers — 

 great terra-cotta coloured Lilies, Iris of many shades, 

 and others — while Hawthorn bushes in full blossom 

 emulated the whiteness of the snows above. Forests 

 of Deodar crowned the cliffs, with lawn-like expanses 

 below. Sparkling cascades dashed over many a high 

 precipice. It is a land of running water, of fruit, and 

 flowers, and birds, and sweet odours. The houses 

 are of many stories, most of them richly ornamented 

 with carved wood, while the sloping roofs of nearly 

 all are overgrown with verdure. The dome of one 

 Hindoo temple was covered with long grass, thickly 

 studded with scarlet Poppies and yellow Mustard. 

 Mulberry Trees with Vines winding about them find 

 room to grow between the houses, producing a very 

 pretty effect. Whenever we came across waste land 

 it was covered with the blue Iris, which is spread all 

 over the country, and is so deep-rooted as to render 

 the reclamation of the soil difficult. However, it is 

 a favourite food with the sheep, and is dried and 

 stacked for winter fodder. A larger variety of purple 

 j and white Iris is often seen growing in isolated 

 clumps, not spreading for great distances like the 

 commoner small, blue species. Each of these clumps 

 represents a Musulman burial-place, it being the 

 custom of the Kashmir followers of the Prophet to 

 plant this beautiful flower above their dead. — 

 Knight, " Where Three Empires meet." 



