March, 1920 
45 
t3l)e Slower (Brower 
The Fern. 
Crested Pterises. 
Many of the crested and tasselled varieties 
of Pteris are still among the most popular 
for decoration. Of Pterises we have such a 
number of varied forms that it would seem 
almost impossible to find another quite dis- 
tinct variety. One which will be sure to find 
general favour is Pteris cretica Wimsetti. 
The distinctive character of P. c. Wimsetti is 
that, in addition to the terminal crest, each 
pinnule is broad toward the base and cut down 
into irregular segments, these in some instan- 
ces being again lightly crested. These and 
the terminal crests being very light, the 
fronds stand erect. Like all of the cretica 
type, it is of free growth, forming a most 
elegant plant for decoration, and will be sure 
to become popular. Of other crested forms 
of cretica, nobilis is one of the most distinct. 
The fronds grow quite erect and are broadly 
crested. Even from the first tiny fronds of 
seedlings it is easily identified by the broad 
crests. There is a variegated form of some- 
what similar habit. The ordinary form of 
cretica cristata is also very popular. There 
are several slight variations of this, that with 
the broadest pinnae being the most useful. 
All the crested forms of P. cretica differ 
from those of P. serrulata in having broad 
flat crests instead of the finely-cut, dense 
tufted tassels so often seen in P. serrulata. 
There are now several distinct varieties of 
P. tremula, Smithiana being the most densely 
crested; it makes a beautiful plant, but, 
owing to the continual growth of the mul- 
tifid fronds, they are very tender and brittle, 
which has prevented this pretty Fern be- 
coming so popular as was anticipated when 
it was first distributed. P. tremula elegans 
is another pretty variety. Instead of the 
erect tufted growth of the former this has 
drooping fronds, the pinnae being much con- 
tracted, each terminated by a light crest, the 
fronds terminating in a broader branching 
tassel. 
Almost all the crested Ferns may be raised 
from spores, and although occasionally a 
good deal of variation will be found, yet, as 
a rule, they come fairly true. As most 
varieties deteriorate with age, it is advisable 
e to grow others for succession. It is a mis- 
take to suppose that repotting should be 
confined to any season of the year. Young 
« plants may be potted at any time after the 
pots are well filled with roots. I do not 
recommend overpotting, but Ferns — more 
especially the free-growing Pterises— are 
often kept in too small pots and starved, 
is Where it is necessary to limit the size of 
it pots, liquid-manure or any of the artificial 
fertilizers may be used frequently, but not 
it too strong. This will materially increase 
the size of the fronds, and favour the further 
» development of the multifid growths. A 
ft good rich loamy compost will be found to 
't suit all the free-growing Pterises better than 
peat, and plenty of daylight is quite as es- 
sential to Ferns as it is to flowering plants. 
— “A.” in Gardening Illustrated. (English.) 
Fern Growing Suggestion. 
)le 
til 
“A very common mistake in growing Ferns 
or any other plant,” says Mr.' Edgar Tubby 
one of the boticulturists at the Colorado 
Agricultural College, “is to paint the pots or 
to plant in tubs or cans, thereby making it 
impossible for the roots to get air, which is 
absolutely necessary. It will be noticed that 
clay pots are very porous and that the major- 
ity of roots will find their way to the sides 
in search of air, which they cannot get if the 
pots are painted, or if planted in tubs or 
cans. In the case of the latter, the roots 
will find their way to the top of the soil, the 
result being that the first inch or two is all 
that the plant has to sustain it and the re- 
mainder of the soil becomes sour; the plant 
makes weak and deformed growth, the 
leaves soon turn yellow and die.” 
Some people seem to be under the im- 
pression that Ferns should be treated as 
semi-aquatic. This is entirely wrong. If 
one is observant enough it will be noticed 
that the plant is making the best and 
strongest growth when the soil is fairly dry, 
and if taken and knocked very gently from 
the pot without shaking off the soil, the tips 
of the roots will be very noticeable and will 
have a healthy green appearance, which is an 
indication of good treatment. Do not let 
them be subject to any cold drafts or direct 
sunlight. 
The Fern Frond. 
Although popularly the foliage of a Fern 
is regarded as consisting of leaves, like that 
of plants generally, there are several funda- 
mental differences between a frond and a 
leaf. As regards their functions, that of 
the leaf proper is nutritive. By the agency 
of the leaf the raw materials of the food of 
plants are combined to form the actual food- 
stuffs, carbohydrates and proteins. In this 
function the Fern frond is equally active, 
and to it we owe the main portion of our 
coal supply, which consists almost entirely 
of the carbon absorbed and utilized by the 
Ferns and their allies of the coal or carbon- 
iferous age. The Fern frond, however, per- 
forms another function, of which leaves are 
only capable indirectly in their modified 
form of flowers, viz; reproduction by the 
bearing of spores upon their under surfaces 
or upon specialized parts exclusively de- 
voted to such functions. Examples can be 
seen in the royal Fern. Osmunda regalis, 
Blechnum spicant, the Moonwort (Botry- 
chium lunaria), and the Adder’s Tongue 
(Ophioglossum vulgatum), while the other 
native species bear their spores in dots or 
lines, in various ways which determine their 
genera, upon their under-sides. A number 
of exotic species, and many of our varietal 
forms, also bear bulbils or embryo plants 
upon their fronds or frond stalks, but this 
faculty can hardly be claimed as purely 
characteristic, as leaves proper sometimes do 
the same, or at any rate are capable of do- 
ing so when some damage interferes with 
their normal cellular development. The 
Begonia leaf, for instance, if cut across, de- 
velops bulbils on the severed edges, and 
many bulbous plants, like Hyacinths and 
Lilies, are capable of being propagated in a 
similar way. This, however, is very different 
from the production of spores upon the Fern 
frond, for no true leaf proper produces 
spores. Another peculiarity of the Fern 
frond is its mode of growth and develop- 
ment. If we open the,leaf-bud, say, of a 
Horse Chestnut, we find within the outer 
protective husk the entire cluster of foliage 
beautifully packed, only waiting to be liber- 
ated to expand and grow to full size. In 
some bulbs we may note the same thing if 
we cut them through the centre. The Fern 
frond, on the other hand, develops entirely 
from the point or points, and commences as 
a tiny knob. This knob, as it lengthens its 
stalk and rises into the air, shows a growing 
tip, and this tip divides again and again, 
according to its eventual simple or decom- 
posite form, forming a mass, coiled at first 
tightly inwards, crozier fashion. Then as 
the points become more and more developed 
and the stalk lengthens, the coil gradually 
loosens, and by this time we can probably 
see that the frond is there in detail. The 
apical or top growth continuing, we may see 
the originally tiny knob expand on the same 
continuous lines into a frond of many feet in 
length and width, and with thousands of 
fine divisions, according to the species or 
variety concerned. This kind of growth is 
termed circinate, and is, with very few ex- 
ceptions, peculiar to all Ferns, not being, 
we believe, seen at all in flowering plants. 
The spore is sometimes looked upon as the 
equivalent of a seed, but it is only so by 
virtue of its forming the means of reproduc- 
tion by wide dissemination, as do the seeds 
of flowering plants. In itself it is not a 
seed, but merely a detached germ, capable of 
producing what to all intents and purposes 
is a seed. It is a general rule in nature, 
though with some exceptions, that offspring 
cannot be produced without previous fertil- 
ization of the primary germ. In flowers we 
know that this is done by various agencies — 
bees and other insects, and in many cases 
by the wind, these carrying the fertilizing 
material from one plant to the other. In 
Ferns the same rule applies, and we there- 
fore find that the spore, when it falls onto 
congenial soil and is not disturbed, does not, 
as would a fertilized seed, at once project a 
root and throw up leaves, but merely pro- 
trudes a tiny green cell, which multiplies 
itself and grows into a small green heart- 
shaped scale, about the size of a herring 
scale. This adheres by means of minute 
rootlets to the soil, and in time produces 
on its under surface what are practically 
male and female flowers, the latter carrying 
several embryo plants embedded in the 
scale at their base. Fertilization then takes 
place through the medium of the dew-like 
moisture collected below the scale, and as a 
result we next see a young Fern, usually 
only one, but sometimes several, rising 
from the indentation of the heart-shaped 
scale, and a new generation is thus started. 
Toward the end of the last century the 
writer was fortunate enough to make the dis- 
covery that in some rare cases the Fern 
frond was capable of producing this heart- 
shaped scale direct, without the agency of 
the shed spore, and it was also found that it 
originated in some cases by extension of the 
growing tips of the subdivisions. These 
phenomena were called respectively soral 
apospory and apical apospory, both involving 
a considerable shortening of the normal 
cycle of Fern life. Here, again, the Fern 
frond has proved itself to be fundamentally 
different from the leaf proper in some of 
its functions and capabilities— Charles T. 
Druery, V. M. H., F. L. S., Gardeners’ Chron- 
icle t English.) 
Sowing Fern Spores. 
If spores are sown during the autumn a 
good supply of seedlings for early spring 
work is ensured. Athough Fern spores may 
be sown at any season and good results ob- 
tained, it is from those sown either early in 
the spring or during the autumn that success 
is best obtained. It is during the summer 
and autumn that spores should be collected, 
for those matured during bright, sunny 
weather invariably prove more prolific than 
those produced during the dull, damp winter 
months. In preparing the pots for the 
spores the chief thing is to get some good 
yellow loam, which should be quite free 
from worms and other insects, also from 
seeds of any weeds. Five-inch pots are the 
best size to use. They may be filled firmly 
to within about an inch of the rims. No 
drainage is necessary; in fact, it is better not 
to use any, as the most important point is to 
keep a regular moisture. Filling the pots 
with loam and standing in saucers of water 
will ensure this. After the pots are filled 
they should be well soaked, and then sur- 
faced over with powdered charcoal and 
crock-dust. 
After the surface has been damped the 
