246 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



D. fibrosa. — This rare plant owes its name 

 to the dense coat of interlacing fibres netting 

 the stout trunk; it bears short fronds with little 

 stalk and of rigid habit. New Zealand. 



D. Lathami. — A plant of great interest 

 apart from its beauty, as being the only known 

 hybrid among Tree-ferns. It is a cross between 

 antarctic and arborescens, and shows a blending 

 of the character of these species. It is strong in 

 growth, with leaves of 15 feet in length, the 

 stems woolly or covered with reddish-brown 

 scales. A noble plant for the Fernery. 



D. squarrosa. — One of the slender-growing 

 Dicksonias, its trunk slight and dark in colour, 

 and often producing small side-shoots. The 

 crown of fronds is peculiar in its flatness and in 

 the dark stalks densely clothed with blackhairs. 

 New Zealand. 



D. Youngice.- — An uncommon plant of slen- 

 der proportions, distinguished from squarrosa 

 by its lighter colour; the fronds, of firm texture, 

 are clothed with bright-tinted hairs and scales. 

 Rare in collections. New South Wales. 



There are but two or three kinds of Hemi- 

 telia which can do with cool culture, these 

 plants being for the most part natives of the 

 tropics and rare in collections. In character 

 they are intermediate between Cyatheas and 

 Alsophilas, many of them having at times been 

 classed with one or other of these groups. They 

 are vigorous growers, needing ample space, a 

 fair amount of heat, and copious waterings, their 

 fibres being in general drier than those of most 

 Tree-ferns. The only greenhouse sorts are as 

 follows: — 



H. capensis. — A beautiful species, seldom 

 reaching more than 1 o to 1 2 feet of trunk, with 

 a head of tender green fronds, 3 to 5 feet long 

 and held somewhat erect. The fronds are less 

 numerous than in many Tree-ferns, but bear 

 around their base a mass of delicate filmygrowth 

 of dainty appearance, enveloping the crown 

 and persisting after the fall of the leaves ; this 

 feature distinguishes it at once from other kinds. 

 It has the habit, rare amongst Tree-ferns, of re- 

 producing itself from side-shoots coming upon 

 the trunk. Cape of Good Hope. 



H. Lindigii. — A hardy kind found in the 

 mountains of Columbia, near Bogata ; its ample 

 thrice-divided fronds are borne upon light yel- 

 low stalks, giving the plant a striking appear- 

 ance. 



H. Smithii. — This kind, often classed with 

 the Cyatheas, is a native of New Zealand, 

 found with a stem 1 5 or more feet in height 

 and with fronds longer and more numerous 

 than in capensis. They are light and graceful, 

 densely clothed about the crown with hairs and 

 down of a warm chestnut colour. A'distinct and 

 handsome plant, but its foliage is tender and 

 sensitive to sunlight ; it is thus less suited to 

 open-air use than other cool-grown Fern-trees. 



THE MERTENSIAS {Smooth Lung- 

 worts) : WITH COLOURED 

 PLATE FROM A DRAWING 

 BY H. G. MOON. 

 Widely spread over the continents of 

 North America, Europe, and tempe- 

 rate Asia, the extreme forms of Mer- 

 tensia are very unlike each other. Till 

 recently the genus was represented in 

 gardens by four or five species from 

 North America, of which the best 

 known is perhaps the Virginian Cow- 

 slip ; one kind from northern Asia, and 

 our native " Oyster Plant." But with- 

 in the last three years three or four 

 other species, quite distinct in aspect 

 and habit from those already known 

 in gardens, have been introduced from 

 the Himalayas, including the subject 

 of our coloured portrait, a rare rock- 

 plant which has never before flowered 

 in Europe, and of which Mr. W. Irving 

 of Kew gives us the following account. 

 Mertensia primuloides is found from 

 Cashmere northwards upon the south- 

 ern and western slopes of the Himalayas, 

 but always at a height of from 10,000 

 to 14,000 feet, above the tree limit and 

 near that of perpetual snow. Here it 

 may be seen growing in masses amid 

 Mosses and dwarf alpine plants, includ- 

 ing a white-flowered Sedum, the flowers 

 of which are in fine contrast to the rich 



