names, Pteris, Cryptogramma, and Osmunda Crispa, Phorobolus Onocleoides, and Stegania Onoclea Crispa.

2. ALPINE POLYPODY (Polypodium Alpestre). PL. 5.

The fronds of this fern vary from twelve to eighteen inches in length. They spring from a thick tufted rhizome, and are spear-shaped and bi-pinnate: the pinnules are deeply lobed, and the edges are serrated. The sori are circular and without indusia, situated on either side of the midrib of the pinnules. It is only found in the Highlands of Scotland. It may be grown out of doors in a shady situation, and in loose peaty soil. It somewhat resembles the Lady Fern in general appear ance. It is termed Pseudathyrium Alpestre by Newman.

3. LIMESTONE POLYPODY (Polypodium Calcareum). PL. 5. Each frond of this fern has three branches, one being & continuation of the stem, and the others diverging from it on either side, very nearly at right angles. The pinnæ of the branches are deeply lobed or pinnatifid, and the sori are placed close together along the edge of the under part of the leaflet. It is of a dark green colour, and the fronds are covered with minute glands on fine stems, which give it a powdery appearance. It is found in the limestone districts of the northern counties of England. It must be kept dry, and grown in common soil, mixed with lime and rubbish.

4. OAK FERN (Polypodium Dryopteris). PL. 5.

A fern very similar to the Limestone Polypody in general character and length of the frond, which is from four to fourteen inches. The stipes is slender, purple, and scaly at the base. The lobes of the pinnæ are not so deeply cut, but blunted at the point; the sori are placed at intervals along their edges. It is found in moist situations in the north of England, Wales, and Scotland. It may be grown in common soil, and is well suited for rockwork. It requires shade, and frequent watering, but the roots should be kept well drained.

5. BEECH FERN (Polypodium Phegopteris). PL. 5.

A fern with fronds pinnate at the base, and pinnatifid towards the extremity. The stipes is very long, in proportion to the entire length of the frond from the rhizome, which varies from five to twelve inches. The lower pinnæ droop towards the stipes, the rest turn upwards. The little naked

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PLATE 5.-1, Common Polypody. A, Seed-vessels of do. 2, Oak Fern. 3, Beech Fern. 4, Limestone Polypody. 5, Alpine Polypody. 6, Scaly Spleenwort. B, Underside of a lobe of do. 7, Fine-leaved Gymnogramma. C, Pinnule of do.

sori are on the edges of the lobes of the pinnæ, which are hairy on the under side. It is found in damp wet situations in the south and west of England. It may be grown in a compost of peat, sand, and charcoal, and requires shade and constant watering. It is sometimes called Mountain Polypody, and Polystichum Lastrea or Gymnocarpum Phegopteris by botanists.

6. COMMON POLYPODY (Polypodium Vulgare). PL. 5. A fern with bright green fronds springing from a thick rhizome. They are drooping and slightly spear-shaped, and deeply pinnatifid. The sori are placed on either side of the midrib of the long pointed lobes. It is common in all parts of the British isles, and grows on old walls, rocks, and the decaying trunks of trees. It should be grown in light soil, mixed with charcoal and vegetable mould. Newman calls it Ctenopteris Vulgaris.

XI. PTERIDEÆ.

1. BRAKE OR EAGLE FERN (Pteris Aquilina). PL 4.

A tall fern, with fronds varying from two to five or six feet in height. They grow singly, and there is a great space between the points where the pairs of pinnæ branch from the main stem. The pinnæ are bi-pinnate, and the pinnules deeply cut into pointed lobes, on the margin of which the sori are clustered. They are to be found in any brake, wood, or moorland district. The dark fibres, running through the stem longitudinally, present a curious configuration, known as "King Charles's Oak," or King Charles in the Oak," when that part of the stem which is below the ground is cut transversely. Potash is made from it, and it is used for packing fish and fruit, littering horses and pigs, and even for thatching sheds in Scotland. Newman calls it Eupteris Aquilina. The name "Aquilina" is given to it because some have imagined the figure in the stem above mentioned to resemble a spread eagle.

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XII. WOODSIEÆ.

1. OBLONG WOODSIA (Woodsia Ilvensis).

A little fern, with pinnate fronds from two to four inches in length, growing in thick tufts. The pinnæ are pinnatifid, with an indented margin; the surface is covered with red, dark browr hairs, which are thicker in the under part and almost conceal the sori. It is very scarce; growing in the clefts of rocks in a few mountainous districts of Great Britain. It may be reared in common soil. They do not thrive under glass; but require shade, very little moisture, and protection for the rhizome through the winter, when grown in the open air. It is also called Ray's Woodsia, and Acrostichum and Polypodium Ilvense, and Polypodium Arvonicum, by botanists.

2. ALPINE FERN (Woodsia Ilvensis Hyperborea). PL. 1.

A fern somewhat like the preceding, but the pinnæ do not spring from opposite points on either side of the stem, they are not so hairy, nor so deeply indented along the margin. It is found in rocky districts, but is extremely rare. It requires the same mode of culture as the Oblong Woodsia. It is sometimes called Bolton's Woodsia, and is termed Woodsia Alpina by Newman.

It may be reasonably concluded, that any reader who has carefully studied the foregoing pages will have obtained some idea of the chief characteristics of the principal species of British ferns that are known to collectors, and, with the aid of the engravings, will be able to distinguish and name any fern that he or she may take tenderly from its native soil to adorn the rockery or Wardian case with its rich green, glossy fronds. It may be objected, however, that too much care has been taken to register the several botanical names of each separate species; but this has been done to endeavour to clear away the clouds of doubt and difficulty with which the mind of any one who is commencing the study of ferns will naturally be overcast when it is found that the same plant is spoken of by three or four different botanists under as many different names.

It has been impossible to do more than broadly indicate the locality in which each species may be found; but in whatever part of the United Kingdom the collector may be, the nearest bit of tangled brake or bosky woodland, the marsh and meadow glittering with king-cups, and the yellow blooms of the flag, the distant moorland that breaks the grey horizon with its granite tors, the craggy summit and the mountain side, the crumbling walls of ivy-mantled ruins, the clear, cool village well, and even the churchyard where the quiet dead lie changing into dust, will always furnish specimens that will amply repay the closest search.

In removing a fern to transplant it to the fernery, it will be always necessary to take away a sufficient quantity of the rhizome on either side of the stem of the frond to insure its growth if it be one that creeps below the surface of the ground. The soil about the roots should be disturbed as little as possible. As soon as it has been taken up, the roots and rhizome should be surrounded with wet moss, or some damp envelope, and carefully stored in a tin case or basket, and before leaving the

place from which our specimen has been taken, we should carefully note the aspect and situation, as well as the kind of soil in which it has been growing. Our future success in making our fernery, and in stocking our Wardian cases, depends entirely upon this. Some ferns, by their hardy nature, are better suited for growing in the open air; others, on the contrary, require to be raised in pots, or under a protective covering of glass; but it is not sufficient only to consider for which of these purposes the fern we have removed may be best adapted; a fern that has been accustomed to shade cannot be expected to thrive in a flood of sunshine; the stately Flowering Fern will not flourish on the well-drained summit of a rockery, nor will the Limestone Polypody thrive in the marshy soil that is so congenial to the former: we must, therefore, in all cases carefully mark the nature of the ground in which our fern has been growing, and all the peculiarities of its habitat, that the position and character of the soil into which we are about to move it may resemble them as closely as the artificial means at our disposal will admit.

Ferns may be propagated by seed as well as by removing a portion of the rhizome with the crown, from which the frond springs. The leaf should be allowed to dry, after which the seed-vessels must be rubbed away from the back of the leaf, where they will be found in every description of fern except the Osmundacece and the Ophioglossaceœ. The seed may be mixed with a little fine dry mould, and sprinkled over the interstices of the rockwork, or it may be grown in pots filled with peaty earth and covered with a handglass. The light should be excluded in the latter case until the seed has begun to germinate.

We have now to inquire how we can grow our ferns to the best advantage out of doors, and how we can rear them indoors. The fernery in the open air may be made in rockwork, or consist of an open shed formed of rough trunks of trees set up at the angles, with a trellissed roof of gnarled oak loppings covered with creepers to exclude the sun's mid-day rays. Within doors they must be reared in pots, or in close Wardian

cases.

In constructing a fernery in the open air, we must be guided by circumstances to a very great extent. If we have an ample piece of garden ground at our disposal, either the rockwork or fern-shed may form an admirable means of masking some unsightly corner; but if we have only a small dark court