CULTIVATION IN HOTHOUSES. 
49 
brilliant gold-colour on the under. A fern of rare 
beauty and well-deserved fame. Growing from 1 to 2 feet 
high, its glossy fronds turn at various angles, and show 
their golden lining, while the young crosiers rise from 
the caudex all covered with gold. It is often called the 
“ king of the gold-ferns.” In seedling plants, the powder 
investing the under surface is sulphur-coloured instead 
of golden. This fern requires a great deal of water, but 
it must on no account be allowed to stand about the 
roots. Very careful drainage is required, an extra pro- 
portion of sphagnum should be laid in the pot, and the 
broken moss should be freely mixed in the compost. It 
seeds freely, and the spores germinate readily in a high 
temperature and moist atmosphere. Its home is beside 
stumps of trees and in crevices of rocks in the West 
Indies and South America. 
Gymnogramma sulphurea . Sulphur Gymnogram . Per- 
haps the most interesting of the golden ferns, from the 
extreme elegance of its form ; the fronds are of a long 
triangular shape ; the pinnse in pairs, far apart, and the 
leaflets prolonged, wedge-shaped. The general contour 
and bearing of the frond resembles that of our Asple - 
nium Adiantum-nigrum. It is a small plant, seldom 
exceeding 8 inches in height ; on the under surface it is 
covered with pale sulphur powder. A native of Jamaica. 
Gymnogramma calomelanos . Silver Fern . Fronds 
larger than in the “ king of the gold-ferns,” bipinnate, 
evergreen, of a dull tint above and creamy-white be- 
neath ; stem and rachis ebony-black, with brown hair- 
like scales at the base. A beautiful Brazilian species. 
Gymnogramma tartarea. Infernal Gymnogram . Re- 
sembling the last species, but of a much clearer white 
on the under surface. Fronds bi- sometimes tripinnate ; 
E 
