BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
Series VII Brooklyn, N. Y., November 26, 1919. Nos. 12 and 13 
A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE CONSERVATORIES* 
The public conservatory collections of the Garden now com- 
prise over 500 genera and about 1500 species and varieties. These 
are contained in Plant Houses 2 to 12, shown on the accompany- 
ing; plan: house number 1 and the propagation and instruction 
houses 1 to 3 are not open to the public. The public entrance 
from the grounds is through house 5, devoted to useful plants, 
such as drugs, foods, beverages, fibres, rubber, etc., and about 
which a special Leaflet will be issued. Keeping to the right 
(which should be done throughout the walk), one comes first to 
the door of house 10, devoted to ferns from sub-tropical regions, 
or at least those not requiring the heat and humidity of house 9. 
House 10 — Upon the west bench are several varieties of the 
Boston Fern, the ancestor of scores of varieties of so-called 
“lace-ferns” and other variants of the well-known form. The 
Garden collection of these beautiful ferns is one of the best, if 
not the most complete in the country. On the opposite (east) 
side of the house are Pteris ferns, extensively used for table 
center-pieces and represented among others by Pteris cretica in 
variety, Pteris serrulata cristata, Pteris e?isiformis, and many 
others. On the bench also is JPolys tic hum aristatum . In the 
cases in the center of the house are mosses and liverworts. 
House 9 — Tropical ferns require much heat and moisture, 
which is apt to be the first impression one gets of this house. 
On the wall inside the door are many of the Stag-horn ferns, of 
the genus Platycerium, which have been much developed from 
their wild ancestor, and they are among the strangest and most 
uncommon objects of the plant world. Apparently living on 
nothing but water and air, they flourish with profusion. On the 
west side bench are many other variants of the Boston Fern, 
the most prolific “thrower of sports” in the fern kingdom. All 
degrees of fineness of foliage are to be found here, but the beauty 
of these delicate leaves is not for the average householder, as 
they will only thrive in the conditions found in the greenhouse. 
Just inside the door are some representatives of the nearly moss- 
like Se/aginelta, which often clambers over trees in its native 
haunts. 
Hanging over the stairs is a peculiar fern, Polypodium piivc- 
tatum , whose leaves, no matter from where they arise, invariably 
♦This Leaflet is the last of Series VII. Series VIII will begin in April, 1920. 
