7 $ 
BRITISH FERNS . 
Little can be said about the artificial treatment of 
this fern, as it does not appear to have thriven wel- 
where it has been tried. Its natural condition, how¬ 
ever, would suggest a very open medium for the roots, 
which thread their way through dripping rocks and 
constantly abundant though not stagnant moisture.* 
FINE-LEAVED GYMNOGRAMMA. 
GYMNOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA 9 
Desveux. 
(Plate XI. Fig. I.) 
THIS delicate little fern resembles at first sight very 
small specimens of the Curled Allosorus (Allosorus 
crispus). It belongs to a group of ferns, which are 
the pride of conservatories—the gold and silver ferns, 
as they are called. In this group a delicate orange or 
white powder covers the under side of the fronds and 
adds the charm of colour to their beautiful forms. 
The fronds are in little tufts, ovate, twice pinnate, 
fragile ; the pinnae roundish, wedge-shaped, three- 
lobed ; the lobes cut and toothed, obtuse. The 
whole plant is from two to six inches high, with 
slender black stalks. The sori are oblong, nearly 
covering the under surface of the segments on which 
they are borne. 
From the recent discovery of this little fern in the 
* Mr. Newman suggests a small quantity of sphagnum and charcoal 
to be mixed with the soil in which it is planted. 
