352 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
constant liability to breed fungi and harbour insects. 
On that account pots are preferable, not of the ordi- 
nary shape, but with less difference in the diameter at 
the base than at the top, and with a wide opening at 
ihe side, extending about a third of its diameter from 
the rim down to within a sixth of its depth from the 
base (this will leave the pot in much the same form 
as a scoop). Thorough drainage should be given, and 
a, material of very fibry peat will suit. The crown of 
the plant should be placed about the centre of the side 
opening from where the fronds will be produced. In 
time, the sterile fronds will spread in all directions, but 
mostly upwards, and quickly obscure the pot, and the 
fertile ones will hang loosely downwards. Their position 
in the house should be elevated, and, if possible, against 
a wall or partition. Platycerium alcicorne increasing 
rapidly by offsets, requires a considerable extent of 
surface ; consequently rough sandy peat, arranged in a 
•conical manner on a shallow pot, to which the plants 
will soon attach themselves, is most suitable, and 
which, if fancy leads, may be suspended from the roof 
■of the house by a strong wire. 
For the large-growing species of Drynaria, Gonio- 
ahlebium, and Phlebodium , it is not necessary to raise 
the soil much above the level of the pot ; their 
fleshy rhizomes soon reach the margin, to which 
they cling, and if standing on a moist surface, or 
near water, they creep down the sides of the pot. 
In Davallia pyxidata, I), ornata, and others, the 
rhizomes are what may be termed aerial, rising con- 
siderably above the soil, often extending to a distance 
beyond the edge of the pot, and, as they in these 
cases do not produce roots, the rhizomes in time 
