TREE* 



FERNS. 



Queensland, China, Sikkim, Brazil, and South 

 America, they should prove fully as hardy as 

 any of those in cultivation. 



Cyathea Cunninghami. — A beautiful Tree- 

 fern from New Zealand, of slow growth and 

 small dimensions. Though less imposing than 

 its congeners its tough leaves make it a useful 

 plant for the sheltered garden in summer. 



C. dealbata. — A remarkable kind, some- 

 times in its wild state reaching a great height, 

 but under culture seldom more than 1 5 feet. 

 Its leaves are about 7 feet long, glaucous green 

 above and silvery white beneath, divided into 

 narrow lealiets,with stalks and mid-ribs covered 

 with brown scales or a pale down, according to 

 age. This makes a beautiful object in any col- 

 lection of Ferns, with its black stem forming a 

 striking contrast to the pale foliage. Like other 

 Tree-ferns, Cyatheas need copious waterings 

 upon the stem and at the root; otherwise their 

 culture is of the simplest. Where plants can be 

 spared for the garden the beauty of this kind is 

 singularly striking in contrast with the green- 

 leaved sorts, while if properly hardened off and 

 watered they will stand a good deal of sunlight. 

 New Zealand. 



C. medullaris. — One of the largest and most 

 imposing of Tree-ferns, also a native of New 

 Zealand, where it is found with a trunk reach- 

 ing 40 or more feet in height, bearing a crown 

 of spreading fronds at times as much as 1 5 feet 

 long. The strong bright-green leaves are borne 

 on stalks which, when mature, are smooth and 

 glistening, and of a deep black colour. Where 

 space can be given to it there are few better 

 kinds for all-round use, but being of very rapid 

 growth it must have room to develop. Its spe- 

 cific name is due to the fact that its pithy heart- 

 tissues consist of a farinaceous substance re- 

 sembling sago, and used for food by the South 

 Sea Islanders. New Zealand, Norfolk Island, 

 and the Isles of the Pacific. 



If somewhat less graceful in outline than 

 the Alsophilas and Cyatheas the Dicksonias 

 are very beautiful in leaf, and being far har- 

 dier are of greater value for gardens. The best 

 known kind is hardy in many of the milder 

 parts of the south and west where fine speci- 

 mens may be seen in the open air. Their 

 trunks are stout and well developed, usually 

 straight, but sometimes arching or branched, 

 and often enlarged towards the base by masses 



of aerial root. While this mass of root-tissue 

 gives them a greater endurance than manyTree- 

 ferns, they are easily injured by drought, so that 

 plants which are imperfectly watered never fail 

 to betray it in their fronds ; it is not uncom- 

 mon to see the leaves stunted or withered on 

 an exposed side from this cause. To avoid this 

 the old leaves are sometimes allowed to hang 

 and accumulate round the stem as in a state of 

 nature ; this gives protection, but it spoils the 

 look of the plant. Dicksonias do best in shade, 

 their native haunts being deep ravines shut in 

 by mountain ridges in Tasmania and New Zea- 

 land. The following are the cool-grown species 

 of Dicksonia : — 



D. antarctica. — The commonest and the 

 best of Tree-ferns, a rapid grower, of easy cul- 

 ture, bearing sometimes as many as fifty fronds, 

 often of great length, on a stout trunk which 

 at maturity reaches about 20 feet. The plant 

 varies much in size of trunk, length of fronds, 

 and droop of foliage. A group of Dicksonias in 

 a sheltered dell is an unfailing source of pleasure 

 and interest, and creates an effect of luxuriance 

 and tropical grace unequalled, perhaps, by any 

 other plant. They will stand a considerable 

 degree of frost unharmed and suffer little from 

 snow, but when planted in the open they must 

 be watered without fail twice daily while in 

 growth, and oftener during dry winds. 



D. arborescens. — A rare species confined to 

 one spot on the island of St. Helena, and re- 

 markable as showing a branching trunk with 

 often several heads of hairy fronds. 



D. Barometz. — Another singular variation 

 from the usual type, the hairy trunk being pros- 

 trate in this kind, whence its fantastic name 

 of " vegetable lamb." Its fronds are long and 

 graceful, tough, shining green above and with 

 a glaucous under-surface. Assam, China, and 

 the Malay Peninsula. 



D. Berteroana. — A rare but handsome kind 

 found only in the island of Juan Fernandez. 

 Very robust and vigorous in growth, holding 

 its bold foliage well from season to season; one 

 of the best of the group. 



D. chrysotricha. — Found in the mountains 

 of Java: a good kind but very scarce in cultiva- 

 tion. Its trunk is less developed than in most 

 of this family, with fragile surface-roots and a 

 crown of twice-divided leaves borne with a 

 peculiar droop. 



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