THE POLYPODIES . 
187 
to place leaf-mould, and plant our Polypody there- 
in, covering its rhizome lightly with the mould. We 
then placed the pan upon a large red clay saucer, 
and poured water on the roots until the saucer 
underneath was full. We continued this process 
from time to time, never allowing the rhizomes of 
our Polypody to become dry, and always keeping 
the saucer underneath the pan full of water. We 
have our reward in the grand development of the 
plant. The fronds have exceeded by one inch 
their maximum growth when we found them in 
their wild habitat. The seed-pan is crowned with 
a mass of rich, vigorous fronds, nineteen inches in 
length. The old fronds had all got broken oft 
before we planted our specimen; so that its present 
ones are all the new growth under the conditions 
which we have described. 
But now for some detailed description of this 
delightful fern. The Common Polypody is dis- 
tributed very generally throughout the United 
Kingdom. In the forks of trees ; on pollard 
trunks ; on garden walls and old ruins ; in the 
moist crevices of rocks in mid river ; on moss- 
