NATIVE FERNS. 



THE CHOICEST PLANTS OF WOODS AND GLADES, AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



t not, with its vase-like circle of foliage ? 



ATURE spreadsher 

 treasures with a 

 lavish hand, but 

 the majority of 

 her worshipers 

 gather up her 

 flowers only, and 

 fail to note the 

 wonders of the 

 c r yptogamic 

 world. They give 

 but a passing 

 glance at ferny 

 dells, and see not the infinite variety of form and 

 color which so delight the eyes of all devotees of 

 the filices. 



Fern gathering seems to create a progressive appetite 

 for itself. Fern-loving people are never satisfied ; the 

 more they have the more they want, hence no fern- 

 draped rock or shady nook is safe from 

 these marauders. Fern culture is by no 

 means confined to greenhouses and to 

 imported species, and no lawn is now con- 

 sidered quite complete without its repre- 

 sentation of hardy ferns. 



Rockeries and fern-beds are desirable 

 additions to any lawn if rightly managed, 

 but I know of no more favorable situation 

 for ferns than the narrow strip of ground 

 between the foundation stones of a house 

 and the channel worn by the drip of water 

 from the eaves (supposing of course that 

 the house be furnished with a wide jut). 

 The advantages gained over other loca- 

 tions consist mainly in perfect drainage, 

 coolness and sufficient moisture, all essen 

 tial elements in fern culture. Partial 



This fern is 



commonly called the ostrich fern ; it grows in moist 

 places, often to great height, and is especially beautiful 

 in early summer, before the pinnae have fully straight- 

 ened, as the segments then are curved like the plume of 

 a veritable ostrich feather. As a good foil to the ostrich 

 fern in point of color, we have the deep-green of Goldie's 

 wood-fern, the king of all the aspidium tribe. Although 

 abundant in certain localities it is by no means common. 

 I know of no fern having richer, heavier foliage ; full 

 grown fronds are often two-and-a-half feet long and one 

 foot wide. It is considered one of the finest ferns in the 

 Eastern States. 



But for real elegance in the fern family we must 

 take off our hats to the osmundas. Can anything be 

 more beautiful than the royal osmunda ? Here are 

 several fine specimens, stately and tall, yet graceful in 

 form and delicate in color ; the fertile racemose panicle 

 at the summit of the fronds adds much to their beauty, 

 and gives the name of " flowering-fern " to this species. 

 Scarcely less attractive, but very different, is the cin- 



f:v7r) 



shade is also desirable. 



The question often arises as to kinds of 

 ferns which will bear transplanting, and 

 the prevailing impression seem to be that 

 only the commoner sorts take kindly to 

 cultivation. To convince all skeptics to 

 the contrary, let me introduce my own 

 collection of growing ferns, which occupy 

 sorrie thirty feet of ground on the east 

 side of my house. Unscientific people, 

 who shiver at the sound of long names, please turn^ a 

 deaf ear while I present Strnthiopteris Germanica for in- 

 spection. Tall, handsome and very tropical-looking, is 



Fig. 



OSMUNDA CINNAMOMEA. 



namon fern, Osmunda cinnatnomea ['Fig. -i). This grows 

 in large bunches ; the sterile fronds are clear-cut in out- 

 line, of firm texture and rich color ; the fertile fronds 



