FERNS — HARDY AND EXOTIC?. 



353 



we can but indicate a few. All the plumose divisilobes, as they are called, are magnificent. 

 P. ang. div. pi. densum Jones and Fox rivals Todea superha in delicate division. P. ac. 

 pulcherrimum is a grand Fern and without parallel for fineness of make and artistic finish ; 

 it is perfectly barren except in offsets, and is consequently rare. There are many tasselled forms 

 of both species, and many alliances have been brought about between varieties by crossing, so 

 that their name is legion. P. ang. cristatum Woll No. 10, grandiceps Talbot, Abbott, and Jacob 

 Jones are splendid. In this tribe, as in the others, there are giants and dwarfs, and among the 

 latter, often the prettiest, are Lyellii, crispata-congestum, parvissimum, and congestum ; there 

 are also P. ang. revolvens with rolled up fronds, very graceful, and others with infinite variety 

 of cutting and make, proliferous and otherwise. In this tribe, indeed, one can hardly go 

 wrong; a point, however, is that they mostly do best in the open. Some of the finest 

 plumose ones indeed rarely perfect the tips of their fronds under glass, their very density 

 breeding a sort of mouldiness in the unrolling coils unless abundance of air is provided. 



THE YEW ARBOUR, ROUS LENCH. 



Hart's-tongue (Seolopendrium vulgare) would form a grand collection by itself. A favourite 

 position for it is at the foot of a north wall, or under the lee of a row of burrs or rocks 

 facing north. They do well in pots well drained and with some little lime in the soil. 



The frilled Hart' s-tongues (S. v. crispum) are certainlv the handsomest, as all are fine, 

 S. a. c. grande Wills being the most distinct. Of late there have been introduced some crispums 

 (Stansfield's and Cropper's) with fimbriated edges and tassels, all lovely things, but needing 

 glass to show full form. S. v. cristatum ramo-marginatum, ramo-cristatum, grandiceps Cousins 

 and other grandiceps are finely tasselled forms of the species, which varies in all directions from 

 huge frilled ones down to the Mossy sections Wardii, Coolingii, Kelwayii, culminating in 

 S. v. densum Kelway, which resembles, w hen well grown, a spherical ball of some Selaginella. 



Finally, for glass culture in the lightest and airiest parts we must recommend the 

 best forms of the Common Polypody (P. vulgare) ; P. v. cambricum, Barrowi, Prestoni, 

 Hadwini, and other finds are simply lovely plumose forms. P. v. elegantissimum is a lace- 



