ONOCLEA SENSIBILIS. 51 
Onoclea sensibilis is a native of Virginia, but it 
is so hardy and free in its growth that no Fernery 
should be without it. The fronds are large and 
strongly ribbed, something Hke the leaves of the 
Ehubarb : it sends up long bare spikes crowned 
with fruit, as in Osmunda regalis. Onoclea sen- 
sibilis is a very Bedouin in its wandering habits. 
It seldom pitches its tent for two seasons following 
in the same place. Give it plenty of house room 
this year, make it never so comfortable, and next 
year it will pass up far away in the midst of a bed 
of Dryopteris or Cystopteris. It makes itself at 
home anywhere, runs up hill or down hill with 
equal facility, and is never found where it is 
expected. I soon found the limits of the quiet 
Fernery too circumscribed for the versatile habits 
of Onoclea ; so I moved it to a larger s]3here, 
where it wins general approbation, and brings up 
a numerous family creditably. 
The common hedges of Warwickshire furnished 
me with Polypodium vulgare, which I planted in 
the rough crevices of the sides and back of the 
4—2 
