528 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
WOO DSl A— CO /itinued. 
W. polystichoides. 
A very pretty, free-growing species, native of Japan, 
with spear-shaped, simply-pinnate fronds. Sin. to lOin. long. 
The stalkless leaflets are about lin. long, sharply eared at 
the superior base, entire or slightly notched at the ex- 
tremity, and slightly hairy on both sides; their colour is 
a bright green and their texture is thicker than that of 
most of the other species in cultivation. 
W. p. Veitchii. 
On account of the thick, silvery down with which all 
the parts of the plant are clothed, this is a very decorative 
form. As regards the dimensions, habit, and hardihood, 
it is equal to the typical species. This lovely variety is 
a native of Ta-lien-kwan, Yellow Sea, China. 
WOODWARDIA. 
Woodwardias or Chain Ferns are of large or 
medium dimensions. Their distinctive character re- 
sides in the disposition of the sori, which are narrow 
or narrow-oblong, and sunk in cavities of the frond 
placed in single rows parallel with and contiguous 
to the midribs of the leaflets and leafits; they are 
covered by a somewhat leathery involucre, of the 
same shape as the spore masses, and closing over 
the cavity like a lid. Although only a small genus, 
Woodwardia is sub-divided, according to the nature 
of the veins, into three sections — Anchistea, 
Euwoodwardia, and Lorinseria. 
Woodwardias are indigenous to the North Tem- 
perate zone, extending but very slightly within the 
tropics. They all possess a decorative character for 
either the cool greenhouse, the conservatory, or the 
hardy fernery, according to their requirements. Few 
Ferns are as effective as TF. radicans or W . orientalis, 
grown either on the rockery or in a hanging basket 
in the conservatory; and W. areolata is very 
effective planted in a marshy part of the hardy 
Fernery. The compost in which these Ferns thrive 
most luxuriantly is a mixture in equal parts of 
fibrous loam, peat or leaf-mould, chopped sphagnum, 
and silver sand, with abundance of water at the 
roots all the year round. It is of the utmost im- 
portance that these plants should be strictly kept 
