23 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
tion to OcJvropteris fallens, Antropliyum Boryanum , 
Ophioglossom palniatum. Cyathea canaliculata, and 
C. excclsa, as -well as Adiantum a said folium and 
A. Mauritianum, — all found in that island, — are still 
scarce in, if not altogether lost to our gardens. I have 
already alluded to the paucity of species from Southern 
Africa at present in our gardens, although in the 
“Synopsis” of Pappe and Rawson, published in 1858,. 
no less than 1G5 are described, and the localities 
where they are to be found given in detail. Not- 
withstanding that few of these are remarkable or 
striking in appearance, many would be prized on 
account of their small size and neatness, and they 
would be very suitable for Ward’s cases. Even in 
European countries there are several Ferns which we do 
not yet possess in British gardens ; for instance, the 
Lastrea fragrans of the Arctic and sub- Arctic regions, 
said by Sir W. J. Hooker to be “ one of the most 
beautiful of all ferns,” is, as far as I am aware, known 
only from dried specimens; while Asplenium fissum, 
found in several parts of Southern Germany and Italy, 
is rare even in herbaria, and altogether unknown in 
the gardens of this country. On the south-eastern 
confines of Europe, in the Caucasus, there is also the 
Woodsia Caucasica , an interesting species, closely 
allied to IP. elongata, of Northern India. 
From the Western hemisphere, also, there are nu- 
merous fine species yet to be introduced. Fee’s “ Cata- 
logue of Mexican Ferns ” shows that that country 
contains upwards of 300 not known in our gardens, 
though many of them would be very acceptable. Among 
these are several Tree-ferns, such as the remarkable 
Cyathea Mexicana, found in the neighbourhood of 
