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THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
bright green. Likes plenty of moisture and a compost of two 
parts fibrous peat, one part leaf-mould, and plenty of sand or 
broken sandstone. The rhizomes should not be deeply buried. 
Makes a good edging for the fernery. P. robertianum (Lime- 
stone Polypody) is a somewhat similar but slightly larger plant. 
P. Phegopteris (Beech Fern) is another British fern, deciduous, 
with triangular, twice divided fronds, having the lowest pair 
of pinnae depressed. The texture is soft and downy. They are 
produced on a creeping stem, and it needs similar culture to the 
Oak fern. P. hexagonoptera is a N. American representative 
of this species, being similar in appearance but larger, 12 to 
15m. by 6 to Sin. broad. The former is not more than half 
this size. P. vulgare (Common Polypody) is a native evergreen 
once-divided fern, the fronds being produced on a stout creep- 
ing rhizome, which may or may not be just buried. It grows 
wild in the forks of tree branches, on old walls and roofs and 
mossy banks. Easily grown in light open soil with plenty of 
leaf-mould. There are numerous varieties, of which the fol- 
lowing are the most distinct : Cambricum (Welsh Polypody), a 
pretty, barren, green kind with overlapping pinnae, the edges 
of which are irregularly jagged or lacerated ; omnilacerum is 
similar, but the lobes do not overlap, and the tip of each pinna 
is elongated; semilacerum (Irish Polypody), deeply twice 
divided in the lower part of fronds, once but toothed above ; 
auritum has the pinnae eared ; bifidum has the pinnae forked at 
the tip ; cristatum, crested ; multifido-cristatum, much crested ; 
trichomanes, several times divided into slender segments, 
plumose ; variegatum, spotted and striped pale yellow. 
Pteris (Brake). — The common Brake or Bracken (P. aqui- 
lina) is too common and strong-growing a fern for the fernery 
unless to fill up inaccessible corners or positions exposed to 
sun or wind, or otherwise rendered undesirable situations for 
better ferns. It does well as a woodland fern. There is a 
crested variety which is worthy a place in the general collection 
known as P. a. cristata ; and another, P. a. depauperata grandi- 
ceps pendens, with depauperated or cripplied-looking fronds, 
which terminate in slender, tassel-like crests, the weight of 
which causes a drooping habit. 
ScoSopendrium (Hart’s Tongue Fern). — The common 
Hart’s Tongue fern (Scolopendrium vulgare) is one of the best 
known, as well as one of the most distinct ferns. Its fronds 
are long and strap-shaped, pointed at the apex and eared at 
the base. Such is the type, but the variations on this are 
endless. It is an evergreen fern, capable practically of living 
anywhere. It will withstand a south sun, live in the chinks of 
old walls, by the margin of water, thrive in deep shadow and in 
