314 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
crested. Pseudo-mas crispa, very dense and crispy ; p.-m. 
cristata, crested ; p.-m. cristata angustate, a slender counter- 
part of former ; cristata fimbriata, a handsome graceful variety ; 
p.-m. polydactyla, crested ; p.-m. ramosissima, branched and 
crested. N. fragrans (Violet-scented Fern) is a North American 
species, 6 to gin. high, with twice-divided fronds ein. broad. 
When watered overhead or rubbed in the hand the fronds emit 
a fragrance resembling that of violets. A good rockery species. 
N. Goldianum is a pretty N. American kind, grows 2 to 3ft. 
high on long stalks, twice divided, and of a peculiar dark 
metallic green in two shades. N. marginale is another N. 
American fern, with twice-divided fronds some i8in. long and 
dark green; very hardy. N. montanum (Lemon-scented Fern) 
is a British deciduous species, with i8in. pale green fronds, 
twice divided, and faintly odorous of lemon if rubbed in the 
hands. M. cristata is a crested form ; congesta is dwarf and 
crowded ; ramo-coronans is branched and crested. N. opacum 
is a Japanese kind, a foot or so high, with much divided fronds, 
dark green, and with prominent black sori ; stalks black scaly. 
Requires the protection of litter in winter ; evergreen normally. 
N. prolificum, a little Japanese fern, 6in. high, with three times 
divided fronds ; produces buds in the axils of the leaflets, by 
which means it is easily propagated. Sori red is the better 
for winter protection. N. Sieboldi, a bold fronded, evergreen 
Japanese fern, 1 to 2ft. high, once divided into large pinnae, 
6in. by iin. Variegata is a variegated form. This also should 
be protected. N. thelypteris (Marsh Fern) is a British species 
with tall slender fronds produced from a widely-creeping rhi- 
zome ; fertile fronds narrower than the barren, and deciduous. 
It must grow by the margin of water, or else have a large pan 
sunk in the ground which will catch and retain the copious 
supplies of water, which must otherwise be administered. N. 
noveboracensis, a deciduous N. American fern, somewha* 
similar in shape and habit to the foregoing. 
Onoclea (Ostrich Feather and Sensitive Ferns).— A genus 
containing two very distinct species. The first — O. germanica 
— is better known as Struthiopteris germanica, and popularly 
as the Ostrich Feather fern. It is a handsome plant and very 
shapely. The shape of the fronds and the habit remind one 
of our native Male fern, but the former are stiffer, more erect 
and regular in their sequence, forming a huge funnel 4ft. deep. 
From the centre rise the fertile fronds as a second or late 
summer crop ; they are erect, of the same general outline, but 
shorter and much contracted. This species is quite hardy, 
needs an abundance of moisture summer and winter, is de- 
ciduous, and thrives in a good loamy soil with a little leaf-mould 
added. From its height it is suited for the back of the fernery, 
