December 16, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
245 
SOME BRITISH FERNS.^ 
Artistic Merits. 
It will perhaps be readily conceded that the love 
of Nature and Art constitute two of the strongest 
emotions of which humanity is capable. The 
former excites the noblest passions ; the latter gives 
rise to the noblest form of emulation—for surely the 
highest aim of art should be to copy nature. ’ Thus 
wrote one of our most enthusiastic Fern lovers— 
Francis George Heath ; and what, I would modestly 
inquire, is more capable of stimulating those 
emotions than the study of our native Ferns ? 
We have, it is true, greater variation and 
grander proportion in some of our exotic 
species ; which, possibly, culminate in the mag¬ 
nificent and stately Tree 
Ferns of New Zealand; 
but although we are de¬ 
prived of brilliancy of 
colour and diversity of 
form, we yet have a sweet, 
quiet beauty, which no 
other country can excel- 
Then as to variety, surely 
we are entitled to boast 
that in that direction we 
have enough and to spare, 
for the best collections in 
the country contain be¬ 
tween three and four 
thousand more or less 
distinct varieties. May 
we not then claim that, 
even as art models, our 
beautifully tasselled and 
elegantly plumed sorts are 
more worthy of being 
transferred to stone or can - 
vas than many other things 
which now occupy the art¬ 
istic mind ? The Acanthus 
leaf which inspired the 
Greeks is less beautiful 
than the Lady-fern, the 
Welsh Polypody, or the 
lovely Maiden-hair. More¬ 
over, what are not the 
possibilities, in a decora¬ 
tive way,with the finer and 
richer forms of the types 
here given ? Why cannot 
we have their beautiful 
fronds incorporated on our 
wall-papers,or reproduced 
in our woven fabrics ? 
What better—from an 
artistic point of view, of 
course—than to take one’s 
meal off a table-cloth in¬ 
terwoven with Ferns, 
surrounded by the same 
exquisite forms upon the 
curtains or the walls ? 
Some of the prettiest 
effects I have witnessed 
with these charming sub- 
ects have been in connec¬ 
tion with door-panels. But 
the uses to which they may 
be- put are infinite— 
their ornamental outlines 
and delicate traceries being alike adaptable either to 
the cabin, the cottage, or the castle. 
Conditions. 
But let us return to the living plants, and note 
some of the conditions to which they must be sub¬ 
ject, if we would court success in their culture, and 
increase our knowledge concerning them. Ferns, 
then, belong to the natural order Filices, and occupy 
the highest place in the great class Cryptogamia, 
which class comprises all those plants which are 
altogether flowerless. They are sometimes called 
Acrogens, or " summit growers," from their peculiar 
mode of growth. They are foliaceous plants; the 
leaves, or fronds, are rolled up within the bud after 
the manner of a Bishop’s crosier. The fructification 
is borne on the lower surface of the fronds, or along 
their margins ; and this fructification largely deter- 
paper read by Mr. C. B. Green, on November 28th, at a 
meeting of the Ealing and District Gardeners’ Mutual Im¬ 
provement Association. 
find the essentials of Fern life in moisture and shade. 
As a matter of fact this does accord with our experi¬ 
ence, for the greatest growth of Ferns occurs on our 
western and north and south western coasts. There 
the moist conditions which prevail induce luxuri¬ 
ance ; while on the other hand, or on the Eastern 
■ borders, as we might have anticipated, the conditions 
are-less favourable because the genial westerly winds 
have become drained of their moisture, and moisture 
being a sine qua non, an absence, or scarcity, of 
Ferny forms is the result. 
Cultivation. 
The conditions Ferns enjoy in a state of nature is, 
doubtless, a true indication of their requirements 
under cultivation. As, however, these conditions 
cannot always and invariably be imitated, it follows 
as a matter cf course, that 
some species are more or 
less troublesome to man¬ 
age, and almost refuse to 
become domesticated. The 
Parsley-fern (Allosorus 
crispus), and the Holly- 
fern (Aspidium Lonchitis) 
are fair examples, hence 
I have never succeeded 
very well with these 
species. The Sea-fern 
(Asplenium marinum), and 
the Maidenhair (Adiantum 
Capillus Veneris), also do 
not seem to enjoy life away 
from the sea cliffs and the 
pure ozonic air—except a 
warm greenhouse be ac¬ 
corded—therefore the tyro 
in Fern culture would be 
well advised to leave these 
alone, and commence only 
with the more robust 
kinds, which, with intelli¬ 
gent treatment, are sure 
to succeed. 
In the great majority of 
cases Ferns are found 
growing in woods and other 
protected places—rarely 
do you find them coming 
out of the hedgerow or 
the coppice to seek the 
full light of day. True, 
some are to be found eke- 
ing out a bare subsistence 
on old walls or stony 
structures; while others 
still exist, apparently, on 
the bare rock, their tiny 
rootlets insinuating them¬ 
selves into the crevices 
behind the tuft of fronds. 
The conditions, however, 
under which they thrive, 
must be observed in each 
particular instance, if the 
cultivator desire to adopt 
the best methods to insure 
success. In the woods 
there is plenty of decaying 
vegetable fiumus, while 
on the hills or the moun¬ 
tains the natural dis¬ 
integration of the soil, or 
the stone, supplies the necessary nutrient food. 
Whatever else British Ferns' may be subject to, 
they must have cool treatment, for if the temperature 
be abnormal during the winter months, they will 
continue to grow, become week in consequence, and 
probably end their, miserable existence a prey to 
insect pests. Therefore British Ferns—the Maiden¬ 
hair and Sea-fern excepted—are totally unsuited to 
the conditions which obtain in an ordinary green¬ 
house. Herein lies the fact why most professional 
gardeners despise or ignore these beautiful plants. But 
this very reason should commend itself to those who 
possess cold frames, and don’t know what to do with 
them. In the summer the Lady-ferns, the Beech- 
ferns, the Oak-ferns, the Bladder-ferns, etc., will 
luxuriate ; while the more or less permanent fronds 
of the Male, the Holly, the Hard and Soft Shield, 
the Polypody, and the Hartstongue Ferns, will 
remain intact and evergreen throughout the dreary 
winter months. The mere protection of glass is 
mines the genera to which they belong. The 
reproductive organs consist of sporangia, or spore 
cases, and are quite different to the other great 
group of flowering plants. In the case of the Osmunda 
the fructification is in the form of a spike—hence 
the name " Flowering Fern." Ferns are the 
aristocracy of their class, and represent some of 
the most ancient forms of vegetation with which we 
are cognisant. 
Certain it is that the fuel which commands the 
highest price in the market, and is the most appre¬ 
ciated in the house, is partly composed of this class 
of plant; for at the London Coal Exchange some 
very fine specimens of Ferns, in a fossil condition, 
are on view. These Ferns, although peculiar to that 
distant epoch, are, in all essential particulars, very 
Elaeagnus pungens maculata. 
much like their existing descendants. Thus the 
famous Darwinian phrase, " the survival of the 
fittest,” is as equally applicable here as elsewhere in 
the animal or vegetable kingdoms. The conditions, 
therefore, of the Fern tribe, in those pre-historic 
times, we may’fairly assume to have been humid, 
and tropical inasmuch as the coal measures prove 
that the vegetation was of the rankest and most 
luxuriant description. The Tree-ferns, even in these 
days, where heat and moisture exist, rival the 
magnificent palms in gigantic stature, and refuse to 
give up their proud position to any other form of 
verdure which prevails in tropical countries. 
But to the native genera. These, like their more 
aristocratic congeners, were presumably subject to 
the same climatic influences ; although as time sped 
on, and the conditions changed, their evolution was 
in a contrary direction—otherwise they could not 
have endured our cooler clime. If, therefore, the 
preceding remarks be true, we should still expect to 
