22 
THE FERNS OF SOUTH AFRICA 
leaf mould, and, unlike most other ferns, it does better in 
cultivation than it usually does in its forest home. It requires 
shade, and is very fragile. 
H. Schimperi is a compact little fern, exactly a Cheilanthes 
in habit, but with Hypolepis fructification. It is a Rhodesian 
species, and we have not seen it in cultivation. 
Cheilanthes. — These are small herbaceous or subcoria- 
ceous ferns of xerophytic nature, usually growing on or among 
stones, but enduring very long periods of drought. They are 
more interesting than showy; they enjoy fresh air, are more 
or less deciduous, and though they like the constant moisture 
obtainable from a rock, they are more easily damaged in culti- 
vation by overwatering and want of drainage than by any 
other cause. C. hirta , C. depauper ata and C. parviloba are 
usually under stones in open or shrubby localities, and C. 
multifida , C. induta and C. Bolusii occur mostly among loose 
stone heaps. 
C. farinosa, abundant in some parts of Rhodesia, is coated 
on the under surface with white or yellowish powder. A 
healthy and pretty plant of this was shown by Mr Sams at 
last Maritzburg Show, in a six-inch pot. 
Adiantopsis capensis enjoys rather wet banks in dry or 
high districts. 
PELLAEA is another genus mostly xerophytic, having firm 
leathery texture, wiry stipes and in most species a natural 
inclination to occupy hot sunny spots on or among rocks. 
The dry conditions endured by some of these species are sur- 
prising, and though it is usual to think of a small fern in a 
rock crack as being well supplied with moisture by the rock,, 
an instance occurred in which I picked a frondless and prac- 
tically rootless crown of P. auriculata about the size of a pea, 
put it in my pocket and forgot all about it for over a month, 
then as it seemed to be still alive I planted it, and it grew 
well. Like Cheilanthes, the species of Pellaea are more easily 
damaged by saturation than by any other cause ; they like 
fresh air, sunshine, rock surroundings, sufficient drainage, 
loamy soil, and to be never quite dry. 
