138 
The Fern Garden . 
moss-like, one of the best. 8. denticulata , green, well 
known, one of the most useful. There is a white- 
tipped variety which makes beautiful tufts in green¬ 
house or stove. 8. Willdenovi , green, fern-like, very 
hardy; one of the best. 8 . lepidophylla , dark green, 
like a miniature cedar tree. This is the American 
“Resurrection plant.” 8. obtusa , green, moss-like, 
beautiful. 
Stove Selaginellas.— 8 . rubricaulis , red-stemmed, 
tree-like. S. laevigata , blue, a splendid climbing plant, 
well adapted for the fern case or to train as a climber. 
8. jamaicensis , phosphorescent, a delicate little gem. 
Pepper-worts.— These plants are known in botany 
as the Marsileacece; they are for the most part insig¬ 
nificant and would have no place in this chapter were 
it not for the peculiar merit of one of the family which 
many fern-growers would like to possess. This is the 
Mar site a macropus , the Nardoo plant of Australian ex¬ 
plorers, the plant mentioned as the last resource against 
starvation in the tragic story of the Burke and Wills 
exploring expedition. This species may easily be taken 
at first sight for a large-leaved oxalis, or trefoil, owing 
to the peculiar divisions of its leaves. It may be grown 
with the greatest ease in a pot of spongy peat kept 
constantly plunged in one or two inches depth of water. 
M. quadrifolia , a native of Germany, is also a pretty 
species, but it has no story to recommend it like the 
other. 
Horsetails or Eqxjisetums.— There is a rather 
troublesome weed, of very elegant structure and curious 
history, met with in undrained clay and loamy soils; 
