CULTIVATION. 
361 
in anotlier respect — in being one of the few Ferns that 
are only annual. It is widely dispersed throughout the 
tropics, growing in wet places, often flooded ; its 
sterile, viviparous fronds floating on or below the 
surface of the water, as may be yearly seen in the 
Victoria Lily tanks at Kew. Being annual, care must 
be taken to preserve spores, which in the spring 
should be sown in a shallow pan of loamy soil made 
wet like mud, kept moist ; and when the plants are of 
sufficient size, the pan may be either filled with water, 
or be placed about an inch deep in a tank. Acrostichum 
aureum is mentioned as growing in wet places; for 
instance, in Jamaica and other of the West-India 
Islands it is described as taking the place of the Euro- 
pean Typha latifulia, attaining the height of seven or 
eight feet. By imitating its natural condition, placing 
it in a pan of water, or in a tank, specimens have been 
grown at Kew to the height of six feet; but although 
it enjoys and luxuriates in water, it also grows in dry 
places, its height then not exceeding one to two feet, 
and often with simple fronds. 
The delicately beautiful Selaginellas , on account of 
the large share of notice they receive and meet from 
the admirers of the Cryptogamic family, deserve 
here an especial notice. Originally the species were 
included under Lycopodium ; but have been separated 
on account of differing in the character of their 
spore-cases. The species are numerous, and their 
habit and free growth mark them as a very distinct 
group from true Lycopodium. With a knowledge of 
a few species, two very distinct modes of growth are 
easily understood ; the upright or climbing ones, such 
as S. Africana and S. filicina, are examples, and the 
