. British ferns and their varieties. Ferns. THE LASTREAS 143 especially when fading, and even when dead, have a strong scent of new-mown hay or Tonquin bean. Culture requires moist, peaty soil and a damp atmosphere. It is not nearly so plentiful as L. dilatata, only appearing in very congenial Fern districts, and then rarely in abundance. One pretty variety was found in Devonshire. Cristatum.—Very neatly and thoroughly crested. The original find was lost, but a seedling came up, a fertile frond of which was secured by Col. Jones and given to the writer, who, after eradicating two monopolizing
. British ferns and their varieties. Ferns. THE LASTREAS 143 especially when fading, and even when dead, have a strong scent of new-mown hay or Tonquin bean. Culture requires moist, peaty soil and a damp atmosphere. It is not nearly so plentiful as L. dilatata, only appearing in very congenial Fern districts, and then rarely in abundance. One pretty variety was found in Devonshire. Cristatum.—Very neatly and thoroughly crested. The original find was lost, but a seedling came up, a fertile frond of which was secured by Col. Jones and given to the writer, who, after eradicating two monopolizing batches of stray Ferns from the pan, secured as a third batch several hundreds of the L. cemula cristaia, all true, many of which Col. Jones distributed. The Colonel's own sowing w^as placed in a greenhouse, and was frustrated by an invasion of exotic Pteris, etc., spores in similar fashion, which, not being eradicated as they appeared, gave the L. cBmula no chance. Lastrea Cristata (The Crested Buckler Fern) (Plate XIV) This Fern (Fig. 147), as already stated in our introductory remarks concerning the Lastrea family, is considered by good authorities not to be a species proper, but one of the sub-species of the Fig. 147. Lastrea cristata (pinna). dilatata section. In our plate it differs materially and is in any case an extreme form. Why it should have been named "cristata " we have never been able to discover ; there is certainly no trace of a " crest " as the word is understood in Fern circles nowadays. Our illustration obviates description. As a bog Fern moist conditions must be afforded, and a peaty compost provided. Lastrea Dilatata (The Broad Buckler Fern) (Plate XV) This is a robust-growing species which is very widely distributed, and affects moist woods, glens, ditches, and similar habitats where some shade is afforded, and an open leafy or peaty soil is found, though it is by no means dainty in this respect. It is made on very different line
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectferns, bookyear1912
