October, 1917 
47 
FERNS THAT FLOURISH IN THE HOUSE 
Handsome Sorts Adapted to Average Living Room Conditions — Soils, Temper¬ 
atures and General Care that Ensure Success Through the Indoor Months 
L. GREENLEE 
F ERNS are among the finest furnishings of 
window and conservatory. In any season 
some are always ready to lend quiet grace or 
cool green contrast to arrangements of cut 
flowers or blooming plants. When the more 
delicate fronds of the outdoor fernery are 
withered by frost, the value of window and 
greenhouse sorts is much enhanced. 
The nephrolepis, or sword fern, family have 
for years been the most popular of tender ferns. 
In the struggle to exchange the rather statu¬ 
esque beauty of the old sword fern type for the 
fluffy ruffles of the maidenhairs they have gone 
through so many freakish variations in frond 
plumage as to suggest a movie show. All 
forms are beautiful, and a further reason for 
their popularity is that they are happy under 
conditions which almost any home can give 
them, even enduring some neglect and abuse. 
Once their soil dries out most ferns are ruined 
for the season. With repentant care, however, 
a nephrolepis will forgivingly regain its beauty. 
Even when young and growing in small pots 
the plants are attractive. 
Some Handsome Varieties 
If a number of ferns are desired for con¬ 
tinual decoration in living rooms the simple 
leaved forms of nephrolepis are best. The 
more showy plumose forms— Scotti, Whitmani, 
Wittboldi, Piersoni and Piersoni elegantissima 
are examples—have weightier fronds much 
laden with curlicues. When mature their own 
weight breaks down the frond stems, so that the 
plants lose symmetry. Their bright, plumy 
young fronds are beautiful for mingling with 
cut flowers, and the plants are useful for any 
location where contact or frequent moving does 
not endanger them. 
Some other stiff-fronded, handsome ferns 
that endure living room conditions quite well 
are Polystichum angulare, the shield fern, 
similar to the nephrolepis but having triangu¬ 
lar pinnae; and the holly fern, Cyrtomium fal- 
catum. The holly fern has glossy, wavy-edged 
pinnae and when young is a favorite for table 
ferneries. Its mature fronds are about 2' long 
and quite stiff. The best small ferns of this 
character for general house and window use 
are the pteris or spider ferns. Quite a number 
of them have golden-yellow stems and silvery 
leaf markings that brighten up the darker sorts 
used for fern dishes. Pteris argyrea, P. cretica 
and P. Victor ice are most admired. 
thoughtful enough to remember to restore Far- 
leyense to her humid atmosphere before drafts 
or dry heat have shriveled her finery. 
There is a hardier form of adiantum, A. 
capillus veneris imbricata, that endures house 
conditions almost as well as the Boston fern. 
Other lovely forms are A. bellum and A. cunea- 
tum. Basket ferns are beautiful for window 
use, and two of the adiantums, A. dolabriforme 
and A. ciliatum, both of which produce young 
plants from the tips of the fronds, quickly 
cover with them the moss of baskets. The re¬ 
sult is not such a fountain of fronds as the 
Boston fern makes when planted in baskets; 
the effect is dainty rather than spectacular. 
Fern Oddities 
Among the davallias and polypodiums are 
several sorts interesting on account of their odd 
rhizomes. These rest on the ground and are 
densely covered with long, coarse, yellow hairs. 
With maturity they hang over the sides of the 
pots and strongly resemble a rabbit's foot. 
Davallia bullata is the species sold in fern 
balls and wound into other odd shapes. Not 
all fern balls develop well, sometimes because 
they are not kept warm and moist enough. If 
the balls have been wound too tightly it is not 
difficult to cut strands here and there to allow 
them to soak up more water when immersed. 
Some of the aspleniums develop young plants 
along the stems of their fronds in a way that is 
both pretty and curious. When these are de¬ 
tached and potted they soon form independent 
young ferns. Well tended aspleniums are beau¬ 
tiful for many years and form grand speci¬ 
mens. They are firm textured enough to live 
in ordinary windows, and their delicately cut 
fronds are as refined as those of some much 
more capricious ferns. 
Much more expensive, curious and exacting 
as to culture are the platyceriums, or stag-horn 
ferns. They look like giant lichens growing 
from blocks hung upon the stems of tree ferns, 
or on the greenhouse wall. Only those who 
have some skill with tropical plants and can 
give tropical conditions under glass should at¬ 
tempt to grow them. 
Temperatures and Atmosphere 
A night temperature of about 55 to 60 de¬ 
grees, rising in daytime to 65 or 70, suits most 
ferns. In coldest w T eather the thermometer 
should not register less than 50 degrees. In 
(Continued on page 74) 
N e phr ole pis 
Scotti is one 
of the showy 
members of 
the family 
As the plants 
grow older 
they lose 
some of their 
symmetry 
The filmy, graceful fronds of the maiden¬ 
hair ferns are always exquisite and perhaps 
better loved than any others. Adiantum Far- 
leyense, queen of ferns, with mist-like, sweep¬ 
ing plumes of translucent green and young 
growth of delicate pink, must spend most of 
her time in a moister atmosphere than the liv¬ 
ing rooms afford. Their dust and dry heat 
would soon destroy her beauty. But everyone 
who has a little conservatory or greenhouse is 
sure to count several pots of this fern among 
her chief treasures. Nothing else is so charm¬ 
ing for table and mantel decoration; nothing 
else so brings out the beauty of orchids, roses, 
lilies or any other choice flower that may be 
mingled with its greenery. Really indispens¬ 
able it seems for state occasions in our rooms, 
or whenever we delight to honor some special 
guest. Some member of the family is usually 
men of N. Whit¬ 
mani, before the 
fronds have aged 
Adiantum Farleyense, with 
sweeping green plumes and 
young growth of delicate pink, 
needs a moist atmosphere 
