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BRITISH FERNS AND THEIR VARIETIES 


UNIFORM WITH THIS WORK 


Each with a series of Coloured Plates and 
Text-tHustrations 


FLOWERS OF THE FIELD. ByC. A. 
Jouns, F.L.S., revised by CLARENCE 
ELLiorr. 


BRITISH BIRDS IN THEIR HAUNTS. © 


By C. A. Jouwns, F.L.S., edited by J A. 
OWEN. 

BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND 
MOTHS. By Dr. W. E. Kirpy. 


BRITISH FUNGI. By Georcre Masser, 


of Kew Gardens. 


BRITISH TREES AND SHRUBS. By 
C. A. Jouns, edited by E. T. Cook. 


ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY 
OF THE WORLD. By Ernest Pro- 
THeRoR, F.Z.8, 


ROUND THE YEAR WITH NATURE. 
By W. J. CLaxtTon. 


THE BALANCE OF NATURE AND 
MODERN CONDITIONS OF CUL- 
TIVATION. By Grorce ApBry. With 
150 cuts. 


GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SOS, LTD. 


Cornell University 


Library 


The original of this book is in 
the Cornell University Library. 


There are no known copyright restrictions in 
the United States on the use of the text. 


http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000525042 


BRITISH FERNS 


AND 


LEU: VARIETIES 


BY 


CHARLES T. DRUERY, F.L.8., V.M.H. 


(VICTORIA MEDAL OF HONOUR IN HORTICULTURE) 


AUTHOR OF ‘‘CHOICE BRITISH FERNS, ‘‘THE BOOK OF BRITISH FERNS,” ETC. 


3llustrated with 40 Coloured Plates 
96 ature Prints, and 319 Whoodcuts and other Fllustrations 


LONDON 
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LIMITED 
“NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON AND CO. 


CONTENTS 


The Varieties as well as the Species are arranged in alphabetical order, thus 
precluding the necessity for a special varietal index 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION I 
BRITISH FERNS As A HOBBY 5, 
THE Lire History or FERNS 9 
FrrN PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 21 
FERN SELECTION F 27 
FERN CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZING 34 
MULTIPLE PARENTAGE ‘ . 40 
ROCKERIES, FRAMES, AND \WARDIAN CASES . 43 
WILD “Sports” AND HOW FOUND 48 
TYPES OF VARIATION 52 
FERN FOES AND REMEDIES 57 
ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS 61 
ALLOSORUS CRISPUS 67 
ASPLENIA, THE . 68 
ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM NIGRUM 69 
RS CETERACH 71 

55 FONTANUM 73 

59 GERMANICUM : 73 

33 LANCEOLATUM 73 

is MARINUM 74 

" RUTA-MURARIA : 76 

55 SEPTENTRIONALE ; 76 

sy TRICHOMANES 76 

es VIRIDE 81 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FG:MINA A 82 
BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA 125 
BLECHNUM SPICANT 126 
CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS 137 
sy MONTANA 139 

5 REGIA 139 


GYMNOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA 139 


vi BRITISH FERNS 


HYMENOPHYLLUM TUNBRIDGENSE 
53 UNILATERALE 
LASTREAS, THE (NEPHRODIUMS) 


LASTREA A2MULA . 
+i CRISTATA 
3 DILATATA 
a FILIX-MAS 
36 PROPINQUA 
5 PSEUDO-MAS 


46 MONTANA (OREOPTERIS) 


Ph REMOTA 

i RIGIDA 

5 SPINULOSA 

49 THELYPTERIS 

a ULIGINOSA 
OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM 
OSMUNDA REGALIS 
POLYPODIES, THE 
POLYPODIUM CALCAREUM . 


* DRYOPTERIS 
5 PHEGOPTERIS 
* VULGARE 


POLYSTICHUMS, THE 
POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM 

Ke ANGULARE 

5 LONCHITIS . 
PSEUDATHYRIUM ALPESTRE 
PTERIS AQUILINA. ‘ 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 
TRICHOMANES RADICANS 
WOODSIA HYPERBOREA 

s ILVENSIS 

APPENDIX (NATURE PRINTS) 


INDEX TO NATURE PRINTS 


(APPENDIX) 


I, Adiantum capillus veneris, za, Cornubiense 
II. Asplenium trichomanes, varze/ies 


Il. 


IV. 


ANT. 
XNIL. 


XNIIT. 


NAIV, 
NXY, 
NXVIL 
NXVII. 
XXVIII. 
NNIN. 
XXX, 


XXXI. 


XXNIL 
XXXII. 


XNXNIV. 
NXXV. 
XXXVI, 
XXXVII. 


XXXVIIT. Osmunda regalis, waz. 


” 


” 


var. incisum 


Athyrium, filix-foemina, vas, acrocladon 


» 


” 


>, Clarissima 

oy Frizellize 

», Girdlestoneii 

»» glomeratum 

», plumosum Horsfall 
», Nalothrix 

» regale 

»» Grantize 

x1 Victoriz 


Blechnum spicant, za/. trinervium coronans 


” 


” ” 


ramo-cristatum 


Lastrea dilatata, var. cristata 


” 


” 


2 ” 


cristata Roberts 


pseudo-mas, var. ramosissima 
filix-mas, vay. grandiceps Berry 
pseudo-mas, var. subcristata Dadds 


29) 


», polydactyla Mapplebeck 


filix-mas, a7. cristata Ellacombe . 


” ” 


grandiceps Wills 


propinqua, vas, cristata Barnes 
pseudo-mas, 7za7. cristata : 


m9 


” 


” 


, polydactyla Dadds 
>> Yamo-cristata 


», revolvens 


filix-mas, var. Bollandi 
pseudo-mas, za. crispa-cristata 


a 


>, yamo-furcillata . 


filix-mas, vav. crispata Hodgson . 
montana, var. grandiceps Barnes . 


” ” 


a ” 


” ” 


? ” 


digitata . 
cristata 
Barnesii . 
ramo-cristata 
ramo-cristata 


vii 


viil 


BRITISH FERNS 


AXXIX. Polypodium vulgare, var. 


XL. 
XLI. 
XLII. 
XLII. 
XLI¢. 
XLV. 
XLVI. 
NLVIT. 
NLVIUL. 
XLIX. 
L. 

LI. 

LIT. 
LIII. 
LIV. 

IGN 

LVI. 
LVIL 
LVIIL 
LIX. 
LX. 

LNI. 
LNIT. 
LNIII. 
LNIV, 
LXY. 
LXVI. 
LXVII. 
LNVIII. 
LNIN. 
LINN, 
LANI. 
LNNIT. 
LXNIIL. 
LANIY. 
LXX*. 
LNXVI. 
LNXVILI. 
LAAVITL 
LNNIN. 
ESAS. 
LXNNNI. 
LXNXNIT. 
LANNIIT. 
EXAST.« 
LNNXV. 


” 


” 


” 


” 


grandiceps Parker 
semilacerum grande 
glomeratum Mullins 
grandiceps Fox 
ramosum Hillman 
congestum (Prestonii) 
omnilacerum 
cambricum 
cristatum Forsteri 
cristatum 

serra 

pulcherrimum . 
dentatum 
semilacerum 


Polystichum aculeatum, va7. pulcherrimum 
angulare, za. acrocladon 


” 


” 


2” 


brachiato-cristatum Grey 
ramo-furcillatum 
brachiato-cristatum Keall 
ramo-cristatum Padley 
setoso-cristatum 
grandiceps Talbot 
Thompsonic . 


aculeatum, va. acrocladon . 
angulate, 7a/. cristatum Wollaston No. 10 


” 


” 


” 


” 


cristato-gracile Moly 
divisilobum cristatum Ivery 
pulcherrimum Thompson 
divisilobum proliferum Bagg 


- a Plimsoll 
sit Seymour 
congestum 


setoso-cuneatum 
cristato-gracile Cowper 
obtusissimum 
rotundatum Phillips 
cruciato-pinnulum 
proliferum Wollaston 
tripinnatum Gillett 
divisilobum laxum Wills 
multilobum Gray 
deltoideo-foliosum Moly 
revolvens 
Wakeleyanum 


Pteris aquilina, var. cristata Glover 


” 


” 


” ” 


” » 


congesta . 


, flexuosa (glomerata) 
LXNXVI. Scolopendrium vulgare, zav, ramo-cristatum 


PAGE 
340 
342 
344 
346 
348 
359 
352 
354 
356 
358 
360 
362 
364 
306 
368 
370 
372 
374 
376 
378 
380 
382 
384 
356 
388 
399 
392 
394 
396 
398 
400 
402 
404 
406 
408 
410 
4i2 
414 
420 
422 
424 
426 
428 
430 
432 
434 
436 
438 


INDEX TO NATURE PRINTS 


LXXXVII. Scolopendrium vulgare, var. cristo-galli 


LXNXXVIII. 
LXXNINX. 
XC. 

NCI. 

XCII. 
XCIII. 


XCIV. 
XCV. 
XCVI. 


Drummondie 
laceratum 
sagittato-projectum Sclater 
sagittato-cristatum 

$e +4 Dadds 
crispum fertile 
sagittato-crispum 
cristatum Millett 
limbo-spermum cristatum 
multifido-varians 


INDEX TO COLOURED PLATES 


PLATE FACING PAGE 

I. Athyrium filix-feemina, va. acrocladon Frontisptece 
II. Adiantum capillus veneris j Co 
III. Allosorus crispus, Gymnogramma leptophylla 66 
IV. Asplenium adiantum nigrum, Asp. fontanum, and Asp. f. refractum 68 
\. Asplenium ceterach (ceterach officinarum), Asp. ruta-muraria 72 
VI. Asplenium lanceolatum, Asp. septentrionale, Asp. germanicum 76 
VIJ. Asplenium marinum, Asp. trichomanes, Asp. viride . 80 
VIII. Athyrium filix-foemina . : A $2 
IX. Athyrium filix-feemina, vay. corymbiferum $8 
X. Athyrium filix-foeemina, vay. multifidum . 108 

XI. Botrychium lunaria, B. 1. Moorei (incisum), Ophioglossum vulgatum, 
O. lusitanicum, and Cystopteris montana 124 

NII. Blechnum spicant, and vavs. contractum, c. ramosum, hetero- 
phyllum, imbricatum, ramosum, and subserratum 126 
XIII. Cystopteris fragilis, C. f. va. Dickeana, C. regia. 138 
NIV. Lastrea cristata ‘ ’ : : 142 
XV. Lastrea dilatata i 144 
XVI. Lastrea dilatata, va. lepidota, li uliginosa 146 
XVII. Lastrea filix-mas : i 148 
XVIII. Lastrea pseudo-mas cristata, L. Abe -mas aarbeladan 150 

NIX. Lastrea pseudo-mas abbreviata cristata, L. f.-m. cristata angustata, 
L. f.-m. Willisonii 154 
XX. Lastrea montana, Lastrea helypeedis 158 
NX. Lastrea rigida, Lastrea remota . 162 
XNII. Lastrea spinulosa, Lastrea cemula 164 
XXII. Osmunda regalis : . ‘ ‘ 166 
XXIV. Polypodium calcareum, P. dryopteris, P. phegopteris 168 
XXV. Polypodium vulgare, P. v. cristatum, P. v. omnilacerum 172 
NXVI. Polypodium vulgare acutum Stansfieldii, P. v. semilacerum 182 
NNAVIL. Polystichum aculeatum 5 7 188 
XXVIII. Polystichum angulare . 192 
XXIX. Polystichum angulare siealticainile, P. ang. saline 194 
XXX. Polystichum angulareimbricatum, P.ang. lineare, P.ang.truncatum 202 
XXXI. Polystichum angulare cristatum, P. ang. se ca 2 214 
NXXITI. Polystichum lonchitis . A 210 
NNNIIT. Pseudathyrium alpestre, P. a. flexile, P. a. ‘fecidatin 218 
XNNIV. Pteris aquilina ‘ 220 
XXNY. Scolopendrium vulgare E 224 


PLATE 


XXXVI. 


XXXVII. 
NNNVITITI. 


NNISEX: 


SL: 


INDEX TO COLOURED PLATES 


Scolopendrium vulgare, vars. cristatum, reniforme, sagittato cris- 
tatum, and sublineato-striatum ‘i ‘ 

Scolopendrium vulgare ramosum majus, and ramo-marginatum 

Scolopendrium vulgare, va. Stansfieldii (crispum fimbriatum) and 
marginato-irregulare 


Trichomanes radicans, Higienuphaiis Tiahvidoesey HL. 
laterale 


Woodsia ilvensis, Weodsix alpina 


. 


uni- 


‘Misuiay ysmug yor Siz 


BRITISH FERNS 


INTRODUCTION 


ALTHOUGH the species of Ferns indigenous to the British Isles are 
comparatively few in number, contrasted with the multiplicity of 
those found in tropical and sub-tropical regions, where the necessary 
conditions of warmth and moisture prevail, and although these 
selfsame species are in no instance confined to Britain, most of 
them being widespread and as abundant in many other countries, 
or even more so, than here, yet for some reason, difficult to explain, 
they stand far and away above all outside Ferns, even those of 
their own species, in the varietal phenomena they have exhibited. 
That this is so may be judged by a comparison of the list of varieties 
compiled in 1891 by Mr. E. J. Lowe in his British Ferns, and Where 
Found, the wild finds of which, described and recognized as distinct, 
number no less than 1119, to which may undoubtedly be added a 
considerable number of others, as fresh ones are continually turning 
up, and it is incredible that even Mr. Lowe, with the aid of his many 
Fern-loving friends, could have become aware of many casual 
finds which have fallen to the lot of outsiders. Be this as it may, 
the number mentioned suffices to show that under purely wild and 
unsophisticated conditions, in our shady lanes, woods, and glens, 
and in our roadside hedges, hedgebanks, old walls, and creviced 
rocks, our native Ferns have a most remarkable faculty for depart- 
ing from the normal type, adopting new ones on most diverse lines, 
and, in point of fact, by their constancy and capacity for trans- 
mitting their peculiarities through their spores to their offspring, 
of fulfilling all the definitions of fresh species. Exotic Ferns, it is 
true, have afforded a number of wild sports, but the great majority 
of those which we see at our shows and in our botanical gardens 
have varied under cultivation on selective lines, and it is a re- 
markable fact that we have numerous types of variation in our 
native species, to which no approach whatever has been made by 
the exotic sports, of which the majority belong to the crested 
section, a few to the plumose or extra feathery section, while out- 
side these there are few or none. One very feasible explanation of 


B 


2 BRITISH FERNS 


this difference of yield at home and that abroad, and one which our 
own experience abroad tends to support to some extent, is that it is 
largely due to the fact that for more than half a century a continued 
coterie of gentlemen and some ladies, stimulated at the outset 
by successes in the first half of the nineteenth century, have made 
here a hobby of searching for abnormal forms among the common 
Ferns, while some of them have devoted themselves not only to 
such search and subsequent selective cultivation through the 
spores so obtained, but also to keeping up clear records of the 
discoveries, and even depicting them by nature prints. In this 
connection it is due to the labours of the late Colonel Jones, of 
Clifton, who prepared some 300 beautifully executed prints from 
the fronds themselves, that with the kind permission of his daughter, 
Miss Jones, we are enabled to enrich this volume by a selection, 
as an appendix, of about a hundred of the most striking forms, 
adhering almost entirely to the wild finds. The value of this selection 
is enhanced by the addition of Colonel Jones’s contemporary notes, 
which will be of extreme interest to all students of our indigenous 
plants. It will need but a glance through these to appreciate 
the inventive power of Nature and the diversity of form which 
one and the same species is capable of assuming at her magical 
touch. Why this should happen is utterly unknown to us. Theories 
have been put forward that “sports’’ indicate a sympathetic 
response to environmental influences, but no observant Fern-hunter 
can agree to this, as the widest variations may be, and often are, 
found associated with the common forms, their roots and fronds 
intermingling, so that the environment is identical. Widely different 
forms, dwarf and congested, robust and lax, may be found on the 
same hillside, with the same aspect, soil, and general environment, 
so that the inducing cause of the change must be sought elsewhere, 
and so far has entirely baffled research. It is clear, too, from the 
character of such environments, that the “‘ sports’ cannot possibly 
be imputed to any change of conditions, another untenable theory. 
The theory, too, that the number of wild finds may be partly 
due to escaped spores from the collections dotted about the country 
must also be rejected, since not only have the great majority been 
found in localities far distant from such collections, but as a rule 
there are individual distinctions in wild ‘“ sports’ which differen- 
tiate them from each other, and therefore from the progeny of 
the collected plants. In one instance, in the writer’s experience, 
he visited a wood in the Lake District in which spores from a 
collection had been artificially introduced ; several varieties were 
discovered, but all were distinctly referable to known forms in 
cultivation, which is practically never the case with wild finds. 
Spores, too, despite their minuteness, are solid, heavy bodies, unlike 
the much minuter, ubiquitous ones of the fungi. Hence they are 
little likely to travel far afield, and so mislead the hunter. 


INTRODUCTION 3 


The literature of our native Ferns is very copious, but that of 
the early days of their study either makes no reference to varieties 
at all, or dismisses them as monstrosities, and consequently un- 
worthy of serious attention. Moore’s Nature-Printed Ferns 
was, we believe, the first work to deal with them on appreciative 
lines, both the folio and octavo editions containing a number of 
splendid plates printed from actual impressions of the fronds them- 
selves in soft metal. Mr. E. J. Lowe followed with New and 
Rare Ferns, embracing a number of British varieties, and then, 
in 1876, published two volumes, Our Native Ferns, illustrated 
with a very large number of coloured plates and woodcuts depicting 
and describing all the numerous varieties, of which at that date 
he could obtain a record. Twenty years later he published an 
invaluable little handbook, British Ferns, and Where Found 
(Swan Sonnenschein & Co.), to which we have alluded above as 
dealing with nearly 2000 forms, including those raised by selective 
cultivation. In Britten’s European Ferns, a few varieties are 
mentioned and figured. Mr. P. Neill Fraser, of Edinburgh, issued 
a list of varieties, and an interesting list of the Ferns of the Lake 
District was compiled by Mr. J. M. Barnes, and subsequently ex- 
tended in a second edition by Mr. G. Whitwell, of Kendal. In 
1888 the writer published Choice British Ferns (Upcott Gill), now 
out of print, describing and depicting a considerable number of 
the best types, and in rgor he, in conjunction with a committee 
of the British Pteridological Society, brought the subject more up 
to date by The Book of British Ferns (Newnes), which described 
about 700 such. 

In the interim, however, there have been still further develop- 
ments and “‘ finds,” and it is our object in this work to bring the 
subject still more up to date, on more generous lines, and so far as is 
possible within the limits permissible to make it a complete com- 
pendium of existing records, a book of reference for culture, etc., 
but rather for the practical amateur than for the scientific botanist, 
though for the benefit of the latter we give footnote references to 
some of the most important scientific literature concerned with 
the discoveries which have resulted since scientific research has been 
brought to bear upon the inner phenomena presented by abnormal 
forms of Ferns. The generic and specific names given are also 
those generally recognized by British Fern-growers, and we have 
purposely steered clear of the terrible quagmire involved in the 
infinite number of synonyms, or different names for the same thing, 
resulting from varied and frequently mistaken views on the part 
of those botanists who make classification and nomenclature 
their study, many of whom, too, are constantly inventing new 
names for old friends, and thus turning confusion into chaos. 
The economical uses of our living native Ferns we have also ignored, 
as of too little practical importance in these days; but we should 


4 BRITISIL FERNS 


be ungrateful to the tribe if we failed to remember that in point of 
fact the greatness of our Empire is largely based upon the post- 
hunious wealth bequeathed to us by its ancient ancestors in the shape 
of our coal deposits. Finally, it may be as well to mention that a 
comparison of our lists with those published in the Native Feris 
of Mr. E. J. Lowe will show many omissions. This, however, is 
due to the fact that many of the forms described and figured are 
now regarded as mere sub-varieties, or forms too irregular and 
defective to be worthy of cultivation. All such have been omitted 
to make room for a very large number of additions selected on 
far stricter lines, so that this work may be fairly considered as 
representing all the best known forms extant. Cultural remarks 
are made where needed in connection with the various species, 
and a chapter has been devoted to culture, treatment, and pro- 
pagation for the more general guidance of our readers. 

How far the beautiful varieties we treat of are worthy of places 
of honour in cool conservatories may be judged by our illustration 
(Fig. 1) of a collection by the writer, the whole of which, with the 
single exception of a Woodwardia radicans in the background, are 
of British origin. 


CHAPTER I 
BRITISH FERNS AS A HOBBY | 


THERE are hobbies and hobbies, and these may be divided into 
two kinds—natural hobbies, or those which deal with the products 
of Nature, and artificial hobbies, or those which deal with man’s own 
productions, and of these two the palm must undoubtedly be 
accorded to the first. To the hobbies devoted to human work 
there is an inevitable limit, and many are governed by purely 
artificial tastes which not infrequently impute great value to 
really worthless things solely on account of their rarity or difficulty 
of acquisition. With the natural hobby, on the other hand, which 
deals with Nature’s creations, every branch of study which is 
taken up is soon seen to be inexhaustible, and every thoroughgoing 
student becomes in time a specialist. Thus in Oliver Wendell 
Holmes’s Autocrat of the Breakfast Table we find the so-called ‘‘ ento- 
mologist ’ repudiating the term as far too comprehensive, and even 
confining his study of the beetle family to one section, claiming but 
to be a scarabeeist. Turning again to the artificial hobby, apart 
from its inevitable shallowness, where is the “curio,” the rare 
edition, rendered precious, perhaps, by a misprint, that can be 
multiplied ad infinitum if desired, as, to stick to our subject, 
a rare fern find can be, which, quite possibly, in addition may 
spontaneously endow the finder with ‘‘ editions de luxe’? as well 
under selective cultivation. The writer, to take a concrete example 
of the growth of a natural hobby, started some thirty years ago as 
a Fernist, owing to a stray spore of a Doodia caudata, a small 
growing exotic Fern, developing into a plant under a glass shade 
containing a fine specimen of Selaginella, the study of which Fern 
was so interesting as to induce the acquisition of a few more ex- 
otics, and the provision of a Wardian case in which, by pure chance, 
a British crested Lady Fern appeared. Not long after that the 
specialist tendency induced the gift of all the exotics so far 
acquired to a friend, and, about that time, the British Fern fever 
was severely caught by an original find on Exmoor of a new variety 
of the Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant concinnwm Drueryit. Spore- 
raising resulted in the discovery of proliferous, or bud-bearing 


5 


6 BRITISH FERNS 


seedlings, hitherto unrecorded, and the publication of this, bringing 
in fresh material for consideration, led step by step to greater and 
greater enthusiasm and careful research, rewarded by what have 
been considered to be very valuable discoveries, which, from that 
day to this, have formed the basis of research by a number of 
botanists of high standing, and have been the means of re- 
deeming our British Ferns entirely from the stigma of being 
“monstrosities,” and therefore outside the scope of the serious 
botanist’s consideration. Now what the writer wishes, by this 
personal experience, to impress upon his readers is simply and 
solely the fact that any amateur could do the like, and that these 
results were attained entirely by close observation, “ poking and 
prying and taking notes” in a comparatively small collection of 
plants. In this connection, indeed, it is by no means certain 
that a very large collection is an unmixed boon, since attention 
is apt to be too much distributed, and this consideration leads us 
to point out that the British Fern hobby is peculiarly a hobby fitted 
for all capacities of the pocket or of space available. In the Mid- 
lands we may see very charming specimens in the cottage windows, 
a number of good varietal collections are found in back gardens, 
and, as we may see in the great collection at Kew, splendid effects 
may be attained where available funds permit of well-constructed 
rockwork in the open or unheated houses or frames. With one or 
two exceptions all the species are perfectly hardy, and hence there 
is no expense required for winter protection, as is the case with 
many plants. The ease with which British Ferns can be grown is 
abundantly evidenced by the thousands of suburban gardens in 
which the common species are grown by scores and hundreds in 
individual cases, and among which one may search in vain for 
any of those far more beautiful varieties, the introduction of which 
we advocate, and which would transform an uninteresting monotony 
into an extremely interesting diversity, plus greater decorative 
effect. There are, too, innumerable conservatories so situated as 
to receive little or no sunshine, and in which, as a consequence, 
flowering plants become drawn, verminous, and unsatisfactory. 
In such places our hardy Ferns would be perfectly at home, and, 
by a judicious admixture of the evergreen species, could be a 
source of pleasure the whole year through. All that is necessary 
is to pay some little attention to their requirements, as set forth 
in our chapter on culture. Another interesting feature in the 
British Fern hobby, as a branch of horticulture, is the fact that 
from the patriotic point of view it is unique. We cannot take up 
any other branch without exotic aid, either in the form of foreign 
origin of the plants themselves, or of foreign varietal culture in 
addition to our own. In a British Fern collection, on the other 
hand, we deal absolutely and entirely with home produce, purely 
native plants, whose varieties are either due to Nature’s inventions 


BRITISH FERNS AS A HOBBY Zz 


in our own Ferny districts, or to selective raisings from these within 
the area of the British Isles. The hobby also embraces the charm 
of a definite object in country rambles at holiday times, forming 
an incentive to research in the most picturesque districts of Britain, 
the hills and dales, mountains and glens, breezy moorlands, shady 
lanes, and, in short, the thousand and one lovely spots in which 
Ferns revel, the delight of such wanderings being always enhanced 
by the chance of a good find and the consequent addition to one’s 
collection of a most interesting ‘“‘ souvenir.” Many such places, un- 
happily, have been depleted of their ferny attractions by the raids 
of vandals of various kinds. The impecunious villager collects 
all the seedlings within easy walking distance, and disposes of them 
by advertisement ; the peripatetic tramp “lifts” the larger speci- 
mens, and sometimes, on a wholesale scale, attacks a ferny resort, 
and, with the aid of horse and cart, leaves desolation behind him, 
finding an outlet for his literal ‘‘ spoil” in Spitalfields or Covent 
Garden, while a third grade is found in the heedless trippers who 
fill baskets and bags with the wayside Ferns as souvenirs, of which 
not one in a hundred probably survives subsequent neglect en 
route and at home. ; 

To these several types of vandals we fear we must add another. 
Once, in Scotland, we were informed of the habitat of a rare Fern, 
Cystopteris montana, we believe, and made a pilgrimage to the 
spot, but not a vestige of a fern could be found, and we were 
reliably informed that this was due to the fact that a Professor 
and a body of students had visited the place some few days pre- 
viously. In an American publication devoted to ferns, a corres- 
pondent proudly reported his discovery of an extremely rare species 
in the shape of one plant, to celebrate which he entirely denuded 
it of its fronds as herbarium specimens, and, not content with this, 
sent a friend there in the autumn, who depleted it again of the 
few it had thrown up in the interim, which, as every Fern-grower 
knows, was tantamount to its destruction. The Fern-hunter proper, 
on the other hand, would have carefully secured the prize, cultivated 
it, sown it, and, in that sensible way, would have secured not only 
its continued existence, but have provided a limitless amount of 
material for herbarium purposes as well. It would, indeed, be 
interesting to know how many rarities have found a grave in the 
herbarium cemeteries of the world, owing to this sort of unin- 
tended but thoughtless and culpable vandalism. 

Happily, of late years local laws have been put into force to 
mitigate these evils; but it is beyond a doubt that the most 
efficacious remedy would be a general appreciation of the fact 
that these common forms are greatly inferior compared with the 
beautiful varieties which they have yielded, and which alone are 
worthy of cultivation as pet plants. Since the reproach of “ van- 
dalism ”’ has been, perhaps more jocularly than seriously, hurled 


8 BRITISH FERNS 


at the variety hunter, it may be well to point out the difference 
that exists between the undiscriminating raiders above described, 
and the fortunate variety finder who bags a single plant, and by 
propagating it freely, possibly by the hundred, enriches his own 
and his friends’ collections, and thus, instead of destroying, adds 
definitely to the ferny wealth already accumulated. 


CHAPTER II 
THE LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 


Ferns, as compared with flowering plants, are inconceivably older, 
since, in very similar forms to those of our present species, they 
existed in those far-distant times when our coal measures were 
formed, the evidence of which is incontestable, since the great bulk 
of such coal consists of the debris of Ferns and their allies, the 
mosses and Equisetums of that day, the recognizable remains of 
which are frequently clearly preserved in the coal itself. There is, 
practically, no doubt whatever that these old Ferns were evolved 
from sea-weeds); but, judging by the very material difference be- 
tween the two tribes of plants, even in the carboniferous age, it 
must be assumed that another immense period of time must have 
elapsed during the evolution of the one into the other, so immense, 
indeed, that, as in the case of the subsequent evolution of 
flowering plants from Ferns and their allies, the mind entirely 
fails to grasp it. Modern evolutionary scientists are practically 
unanimous in assuming that life must have begun in the shape 
of some very simple type of organic cell, engendered, how we know 
not, in the originally warm ocean waters. 

Simple, however, as this must have been, it was yet endowed 
with some subtle power of modification and adjustment to its 
environment which, in course of time, led it to assume many 
shapes, varying from that of a simple crawling cell, like our present- 
day Ameeba, to ciliated ones, capable, by means of motile hairs, of 
swimming actively about in search of food. Then the cells, instead 
of dividing and separating into distinct unicellular individuals, 
must have retained their union and built up compound bodies on 
varied lines, and with definite vital organs, so as to fit them for 
varied conditions and environments; and at this point we may 
assume that the two great branches of the organic tree of life, the 
plants and animals, began to diverge and to evolve on separate 
and distinct lines. We may, then, in imagination, view a warm 
ocean, peopled with marine animals of many forms, and weeds of 
perhaps equal diversity. The land, however, has not so far settled 
down to stable or fairly stable conditions; but in time we see 


9 


10 BRITISH FERNS 


this ocean beating upon more permanent shores, admitting of 
life in the air; and again, in imagination, we may see some of the 
sea-weeds adapting themselves to existence, first of all within the 


Fig. 2,—Details of development of Prothallus from spore. 


area between high and low tides, or within reach of the spray, 
and eventually fringing the shores with vegetation, independent 
of the water save that afforded by the rain-giving clouds. This 


THE LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 11 


change of environment, however, involves more than a mere 
change of form and texture. The foliage in the water requires no 
support ; it simply floats, and it is probable that at first the 


Sent aor’ Sea errs vee | 


Fig. 3.—Developed Prothallus, Antheridia, and Antherozoids. 


modified land plants got over this difficulty by being merely adherent 
to surfaces, as is still the case with our Marchantias, or Liverworts, 
and Lichens of to-day. The next thing, however, was the evolution 


12 BRITISH FERNS 


of internal structural supports, and means of conveyance of sap 
from the roots, which had now become feeders instead of mere 
anchors, so to speak, and so in time we come to the Ferns and their 
allies, the so-called Vascular Cryptogams, evolved with elaborate 
systems of veins and branches which enabled them to assume greater 
elevation, and to expose more and more of surface to the vivifying 
sunshine and the air. [vin all these wonderful alterations, how- 
ever, one fundamental Yeature still persisted to characterize both 
sea-weed and Fern, and that was their reproduction by spores, the 
seed still remaining to be evolved, which spores, in order to produce 
a second generation, still required, at the critical period of fertiliza- 
tion, the agency of water.) In the flowering plants, as we know, 
fertilization is effected by’ means of pollen grains, which may be 
transferred by insect agency or the wind from their place of origin 
to the vicinity of embryo seed elsewhere, which they then fertilize 
by transmitting the fertilizing material to it, by means of atube. In 
the sea-weeds, rem and similar spore-producers, or “ Crypto- 
gams,”’ the ferttizing medium is in the form of a free-swimming 
antherozoid, a microscopic body provided with fine cilia, or hairs, 
by means of which it steers itself towards and reaches a body 
equivalent to an embryo seed, which, being fertilized, perfects itself 
to perform the same office and produces a plant. Obviously this 
need of immersion in water at the critical period of fertilization 
is a great handicap for a land flora, and, in point of fact, must have 
restricted it to regions where moist conditions pecwatlec such as must 
have been the case on the sites of the primeval Fern forests which now 
form our coal seams. Hence, as the land presumably became more 
stable and more elevated, vast regions would have remained sterile, 
unless plant evolution took a direction which removed this difficulty, 
and so in course of time flowering plants came into being by subtle 
modifications of the reproductive agents until the dry pollen 
grain took the place of the swimming antherozoid, and eventually 
even the driest regions were provided with plants enabled to live in 
them. Meanwhile, as the plant world was evolved, the animal 
world was doing the same, on correlated lines. The flowers, at first 
small and insignificant, were stimulated to improve by the increased 
visits of the insect world, attracted by brighter colours, stronger 
perfumes, or richer nectaries, and eventually by virtue of such 
stimulus and response thereto, the world became enriched by 
the wonderful wealth and multiformity of flowering plants that 
we now possess. In this connection it is a curious fact that owing 
to the interrelations of the animal and vegetable worlds in the 
case of flowering plants, the seed has taken an all but infinite 
variety of forms, ranging from those of almost microscopic size 
to huge ones Jarger than a man’s head, while, deprived of such 
interrelations, \the Ferns present but very minute differences in 
their spores, and very little in their primary stages when fertilization 


THE LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 13 


takes place, so that although in size an adult Fern may be as small 
as a tiny tuft of grass or, on the other hand, rival a majestic Palm, 
by its tall trunk and widespread plume of frondage, at the outset 


as 


Value 


Fig. 4.—Development and fertilization of Archegonia. 


they may be quite indjstinguishable, and the spores in every case 
are microscopic in size, 
With these preliminary remarks indicative of the past history 


14 BRITISH FERNS 


of the Fern, we may now proceed to consider the normal life cycle 
peculiar to Ferns generally as distinct from that of flowering plants. 
In the latter it is much shorter as regards the several steps or stages 
involved. (Starting with the seed as sown, on reaching a congenial 
spot where there is sufficient warmth and moisture to induce 
germination, its husk swells, bursts, and emits first a root which 
enters the soil, and then a primary leaf or two leaves, according as 
it belongs to one or other of the two great plant divisions of Mono- 
cotyledons and 

eee are Dicotyledons, at the 
base or in the angle 
of which there is a 
bud. This bud pro- 
duces more leaves, 
and without further 
circumlocution the 
young plant is pro- 
, duced. With the 
| spore, on the other 
| hand, when sown 
under congenial 
conditions, although 
| it bursts its husk 
and produces an 
outgrowth, this out- 
growth does not 
consist of a root 
proper and an as- 
sociated leaf or 
| leaves, but forms 
| a small green semi- 
translucent scale, 
more or less heart- 
| shaped, which is 
attached somewhat 
closely to the soil 
by means of a number of root-hairs. This scale starts with a short 
row of cells from which protrude the first few root-hairs as the 
row lengthens by cell fissure and multiplication ; but very soon 
the cells multiply laterally as well, until the heart-shape in question 
is visible, which then increases in size until it is perhaps a quarter 
of an inch in diameter, the two rounded lobes being fairly free of 
the soil, while the abundant root-hairs are clustered at the other 
end. At this stage, if this scale or prothallus be detached and its 
under-side examined with a good lens, it will be seen that among 
the root-hairs there are a number of rounded, pimple-like projec- 
tions irregularly scattered, and that close to the indentation of the 


ae 


Fig. 5.—Development of young Fern. 


THE LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 15 


heart, where the scale is obviously much thickened, there is a 
cluster of teat-shaped, projecting tubular bodies, called archegonia, 
and it is in these two kinds of bodies that we find what are essen- 
tially the flowers of the Fern, and it is through the conjunction 
of their contents that the young Fern is engendered. The rounded 
projections, termed the antheridia, contain a number of extremely 
minute, coiled-up organisms, termed antherozoids, and under 


proper conditions of moisture, which determines the presence of a 
dew-like drop of 


water adherent to me a “ae j 
the under -side of } iy : 

the scale, the an- 
theridium bursts, 
and the anthero- 
zoids, being freed, 
proceed to swim 
about actively by 
means of the motile | ; 
cilia, or hairs, with ||) 
which they are fur- 
nished. At this junc- 
ture the archegonia, 
clustered together 
as described, each 
of which has an 
incipient seed em- 
bedded in the scale 
at its base, are pre- 
pared for fertiliza- 
tion, which is eect- 
ed by one of the 
antherozoids pass- 
ing through it and 
reaching the inci- - : 

pient seed, which Fig. 6.—Further development of young Fern, 
then becomes prac- 

tically a seed proper, and eventually produces a young Fern, the 
scale acting as nurse by supplying nutrition at the outset, as a sort 
of substitute for the nourishment which is usually stored up in the 
seed itself with this object}) It is a very remarkable fact that, 
minute as these antherozoids are, and truly vegetative as they 
must be, they obviously are not only endowed with locomotive 
power, but also with volition, since, when freely swimming, they 
will definitely travel towards a minute touch of malic acid applied 
to the scale, and it has been shown that the archegonia, when ready 
for fertilization, exude this acid, and thus attract the antherozoids 
in the right direction. 


16 BRITISH FERNS 


(we have stated above that there is a cluster of archegonia, each 
with an embryo seed at its base, and although usually only one of 
these produces a plant, the vital energy of the prothallus becoming 
concentrated upon, presumably, the first embryo fertilized, this 
is not always the case, for in one instance in our experience a 
prothallus produced no less than seven plants, happily of an 
entirely new variety (4. f. f. Kalothrix cristatum). If, too, a pro- 


thallus be severed through the cluster in question, the severed 
sections are capable 


of independent re- 
production) Fur- 
thermore,* despite 
the wonderful fe- 
cundity of Ferns as 
regards the number 
of spores, it has 
been noted that 
with some species, 
Osmunda regalis to 
wit, the first formed 
prothallus will bud 
‘ out at the edges 
into others, each 
capable of perform- 
ing its reproductive 
office, so that 
numerous plants 
may spring from a 
single spore. 
A It is clear, from 
our description of 
the process of fer- 
tilization, and the 
small size of the 
~ scale upon which 
the varied organs 
exist, that it is carried through entirely on microscopic lines, and 
it is due to this fact and the lack of any recognized association be- 
tween the observed scales and the resulting ferns that the botanists 
were baffled in their attempts to follow through the life history of 
the Fern until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, that is. 
until 1846, when Count Suminski discovered the final link in the 
chain by determining the nature of the archegonia, or female organs 
of the Fern, Naegeli preceding him by discovering and describing the 
antheridia and the antherozoids, and assuming the office they 
performed. The report of Suminski’s triumph was accompanied 
by a magnificent elucidatory set of drawings, which we reproduce 


Fig. 7.—Young Fern fairly established. 


THE LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 17 


(Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), and which explain themselves in the light 
of our description. 

We thus see that while fhe life cygle of a flowering plant is seed, 
plant, flower, and seed again, that lof a Fern is spore, prothallus, 
antheridia, archegonia, embryo-seed, and fern) an intermediate 
stage, the prothallus, being thus interposed between spore and 
fern to provide for the reproductive system existent in the flower, 
but not in the Fern proper, and which, as a general rule, is essential 
in all the higher organized plants and animals for their continued 
existence. Nature, however, is not content with pursuing always the 
same lines, and, as is peculiarly evidenced in our native Ferns, is apt 
to depart from the normal or usual ones, and not only to vary her 
plans of structure on very wonderful lines, as this work demon- 
strates, but also to vary her modes of reproduction, and in this 
direction it is a remarkable fact that the study of the abnormal 
forms, i.e. the wild ‘‘sports’’ of British Ferns, has, in the hands of 
eminent scientific investigators, proved that the normal life cycle 
can be, and has been, varied in every possible way. In point of 
fact, every one of the stages of the life cycle above indicated has 
been proved to be needless to secure continuance of the race, as 
we will now demonstrate. In the earliest days, when these wild 
“sports ’’ were discovered, they were stigmatised by scientific 
botanists as “‘ monstrosities,’ and being regarded in the light of 
mistakes on the part of Nature, were entirely ignored as subjects 
for study. In the early eighties, however, the writer having been 
fortunate enough to discover an entirely fresh form of Fern repro- 
duction (apospory), of which some particulars are given below, 
he advanced the opinion that Nature was far more likely to betray 
her secrets in her abnormalities or divergences from the beaten 
track than in her normal productions, and this led to investigation 
by Professor F. O. Bower of the Glasgow University, and eventually 
by others, of a number of British Fern varieties, with the astounding 
result that it was found that : 


I. The spore was needless, as the fern frond was capable of 
producing prothalli by direct outgrowth (apospory?), either 
by transmutation of spore-producing energy and consequent 
transformation of aborted spore capsules into prothalli on the 
sites of the spore heaps (soral apospory), or by mere outgrowths 
of the terminals of the frond divisions into true prothalli (apical 
apospory, discovered by Mr. G. B. Wollaston, of Chislehurst). 
Dr. F. W. Stansfield also demonstrated that apospory could be 
induced by close treatment from the crests of a Lady Fern, a very 
curious case." 


1 Professor F. O. Bower, F.L.s., on “ Apospory and Allied Phenomena,” Linn, 


Trans., vol. 2, part xiv. July, 1887. ; : 
2 Dr. F. W. Stansfield, on ‘‘The Production of Apospory by Environment in 
Af. f. uncoglomeratum, Journal Linn. Soc., vol. 34, No. 227, pp. 262-7. 


Gg 


18 BRITISH FERNS 


2. That, given a prothallus, the fern might be produced by the 
aid of a sexual bud, formed in the same place on the scale as a 
sexual one, instead of by the normal interaction between anthero- 
zoids and archegonial seed embryo, and thus eliminate both of 
these (apogamy, previously discovered by Prof. Farlow). 


3. That the prothallus itself was capable of bearing spores, so 
that the frond-forming generation was eliminated, and given the 
power of these spores to perfect and produce offspring of like 
capacity, the frond stage of the fern itself, as we know it, might be 
replaced by a minute Marchantia-like growth of small green scales, 
a reversion, in fact, to one of the primary forms of vegetation. 
This fact was demonstrated by Dr. Lang,! but so far these prothallial 
spores have not germinated. 


4. As regards the elimination of the prothallus, this is evidenced 
by innumerable cases of bud or bulbil reproduction, by which 
young plants are produced by excrescent growths on the fronds 
and elsewhere, such as we see in the familiar Asplenium bulbiferum 
in which the fronds are profusely dotted with young plants. 


To illustrate these various short cuts we reproduce Professor 
F. O. Bower’s diagrams in Fig. 8; but it must be borne in mind 
that all these peculiar vagaries have been noted in connection 
with varietal forms of Ferns, that is, such as present marked diver- 
gencies from the ordinary form of frond, which has led to special 
study of their behaviour in the prothallus stage, with these re- 
markable results. It is therefore seen that the life cycle of a Fern 
is not only more complicated than that of a flowering plant, but 
that it is capable of being varied in so many ways, that every 
individual phase of the normal process may be omitted and repro- 
duction yet be successfully effected. 

Finally, our description of the Life History would be incomplete 
did we omit a reference to the wonderful arrangement by which the 
spores are scattered when ripe. On examining the heaps of spore 
capsules, we shall find them in most species—the exceptions we 
may ignore—to be beautiful oval, shining brown bodies, supported 
on short ribbed stalks, and that these ribs extend right over the top 
of the capsule, like the ridge of a fireman’s helmet, only stopping 
half-way down the opposite side (Fig. 2). When the spores are 
ripe, this ribbed portion contracts, and eventually exercises such a 
strain that a crack appears at the point where it ceases; this slowly 
widens, exposing some of the spores, and after a wider and wider 
yawn, the whole of the top flies back with such violence as to jerk 
the spores in all directions. A tiny pinch of capsules, placed on a 
glass slip and watched under a microscope in a warm room, is a 


- 1 W. H. Lang, M.B., B.Sc., on “ Apogamy and the Development of Sporangia 
upon Fern Prothalli. Phil. Trans. Royal Society, vol. 190 (1898), pp. 187-228. 


THe LIFE HISTORY OF FERNS 


Fig. 3. BK ig. 5. 
wee ye gts 
Sporangiun Spore 
Prothatlas Sporephore 
or Oophore Po orfern Plant 
j or Oophore 
Spt ™ 
CFT, MN 
Sexuad ree. 
Organs, Seauad 
Organ 
Fig. 4, 
ge oe 
Sporangium 
Ke ae 
Prothatlus Sporophore 
or Oophore or Fern Plant 
Vegetative \ Mdventitious 
production Sexuad Organs Buds 


Spore 
Spospory Sporangium 


Pro. 
Fig. 6. 
Lorn Plant 
Seawadl 
Organs 
Fig. 8 
Spore Sporengium Spore So ian 


Organs 


dsoctes Plant 
or Sporophoro 
“Fig ihe 


Fig. 8. 


Fig. 1. Aposporous growths first observed on 4. f. f. Clarissima (magnified). 


Fig. 2. Growths of following year, and subsequently, markedly different, 
but yet producing prothalli on similar lines, 


Figs. 3~8 show the normal life cycle (Fig. 3), and variations of same 
and practically explain themselves, 


19 


20 BRITISH FERNS 


really amazing sight. First there is a general twitching as the 
gaping commences ; the twitching becomes more and more marked, 
and then, without the slightest premonition, the whole heap will 
possibly spring away from the field of view, upon which will be 
noted a miniature hailstorm of spores upon the vacant space. 


CHAPTER III 


FERN PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 


IN the previous chapter we have described the normal and abnormal 
modes of Fern reproduction which have been discovered in con- 
nection with the spore; but inasmuch as propagation by the 
spores of varietal forms cannot be relied upon to produce precisely 
identical types, to secure such other methods of propagation are 
preferable, and fortunately Nature has endowed most Ferns with 
sufficiently superabundant vitality to permit of such being adopted. 
To prevent misconception it is necessary to state that the spores 
of thoroughbred constant “ sports’? as a rule produce offspring 
fairly true to the parental type, but apt sometimes to vary in the 
extent to which that type is displayed. This capacity, as we shall 
see elsewhere, is very valuable to the selective cultivator, since, 
by virtue of it, more and more enhanced types may be acquired 
accompanied by increased beauty. Many Ferns, and particularly 
varietal ones, are gifted with the faculty of producing buds in 
various ways, and it is by these buds that we are fairly certain of 
acquiring fresh specimens absolutely, identical with the parental 
form, since they are, in point of fact,'actually parts of it, and not 
therefore subject to those subtle varying influences which accom- 
pany sexual reproduction by the spore. As with probably all 
plants, however, bud-variation may and does occur, but so rarely 
that it may be practically ignored. In those Ferns which form a 
crown, around which arise a circlet of fronds, shuttlecock fashion, 
such as the Shield Ferns (Polystichwm), Buckler Ferns (Lasirea), 
and others, there is a tendency to produce lateral buds at the base 
of the fronds, close to the soil, and these in time develop indepen- 
dent roots and become full-sized associated plants, thus forming 
a sort of bush. In such cases these offsets can be prised away 
from the main caudex or crown with a blunt trowel or similar 
instrument, and will then come away with their own fascicle of 
roots, and only need planting to become independent specimens. 
In this connection we may remark that this operation is highly 
advisable if the full development of a fine variety is aimed at, 
since the unchecked development of such lateral growths tends 


21 


22 BRITISH FERNS 


not only to dwarf the central one by competition at the roots, 
but spoils the graceful effect afforded by an individual centre, 
owing to the intermingling and consequent distortion of the frond- 
age. In addition to these offset-forming buds, a number of our 
abnormal Ferns, and especially the soft Shield Fern (Polystichum 
angulare), produce bulbils, or small plants, on their fronds. In 
most instances these are confined to the lower part of the frond, 
where they appear as brownish scaly knobs within, or close to, 
the axils of the lowest side divisions or pinne. In some instances, 
however, as in the “proliferum”’ section of this species, such bulbils 
are produced in profusion, even to the very tip of the frond, and 
for some distance up the lateral pinne as well, so that a dense, 
moss-like growth occupies the centre of the frond, and consists of 
many scores of young plants. Each of these bulbils, while still 
attached, is nourished by the parent plant ; but if such a frond be 
detached, pegged down on good compost, either in its entirety 
or in short sections, and kept close, the bulbils will root into the 
soil and produce fresh fronds, and in course of time the connecting 
midrib may be cut apart by scissors or a sharp knife, and a large 
batch of independent plants thereby secured. Where such bulbils 
are few and close to the base, it is better to peg down the frond 
which bears them and let them root in i situ, only removing them 
when well established. In some rare cases bulbils are produced 
on the frond backs in association with the spore heaps; but 
although this occurs as a specific character in one exotic, Lastrea 
prolifera, it has so far only been noted as a varietal feature on 
several plumose Lady Ferns, Athyrium fiix femina plumosum 
divaricatum, Axminsterense, and its progeny, the superbum section 
(see chapter on ‘‘Fern Selection,” p. 29), and some others of the 
same class, and also in one or two cases referred to hereafter. 
Here, however, we are dealing with deciduous Ferns, the fronds 
of which perish in the autumn, and hence such bulbils can only 
occasionally be induced to persist long enough to root when layered 
as described. Much depends on the season. In some years these 
bulbils have appeared so early that by the autumn their fronds 
have formed an obvious fringe to the parent ones, and were easily 
rooted before the latter began to fade. Polypodium vulgare 
elegantissimum also, under very favourable circumstances, pro- 
duces bulbil plants also in conjunction with its spore heaps, but 
only on its most finely cut fronds, and as a secondary growth in the 
second year. Adiantum capillus veneris vars. daphnites and im- 
bricatum both produce bulbils by spore transformation on the 
frond margins, and with a little warmth can be easily propagated 
by their means. Several forms of the Hartstongue (Scolopendrium 
vulgare) are proliferous, sometimes, as in S. v. cristatum viviparum 
O’ Kelly, the surface of the frond is dotted with little clusters of 
young plants. In S. v. Wardii, Coolingti, Kelwayii, and Cousensii, 


FERN PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 23 


bulbils appear freely on the edges of the conglomerate, or infinitely 
branched fronds, and in a recent find by the writer at Torquay the 
crested fronds are viviparous, quite on Polystichum lines, at the 
juncture of the stalk with the frond proper, and even in the angles 
of the ramose divisions. Such bulbils easily lend themselves 
for propagation, if severed with a small piece of frond, layered, 
and kept close. 

In all these cases the bulbils are obvious to the naked eye; 
but it has been found that where none actually exist, nor indeed 
would exist, without artificial treatment, they can be induced to 
form, and often do so very freely. The caudices, or rootstocks, 
of many Ferns are built up of the persistent bases of old and long 
dead fronds, dead, that is, so far as their leafy portion and most of 
their stalks are concerned, but at the very bottom there is an inch or 
two of fleshy base which retains vitality for years, and it has been 
found that when the central growing part of the fern is damaged or 
destroyed the innate vitality of the remainder is apt to find vent 
by the formation of buds, which in time restore the plants. Under 
natural conditions, however, where central growth has stopped 
owing to the lengthening caudex having grown so far out of the 
soil as to be impoverished by drought and over-exposure, the 
still living portion we have described is buried in dead and rotting 
matter, and as the first essential of such incipient bulbil growth is 
access to light for their fronds, and to fresh soil for their rootlets, 
artificial treatment is alone likely to afford them the needful chance. 
This treatment consists in digging up the old caudex and removing 
with a sharp knife all the dead matter, roots and all, until the 
still green or sappy vital part is reached. This is then well washed 
and potted up in good compost in as small a pot as possible. If then 
kept close under a tumbler, in a few weeks bulbils are almost sure 
to appear as little white excrescences, and possibly a very valuable 
plant is not only saved, but freely multiplied. In our own experience 
with one of the oldest and finest collections of British Fern varieties 
in the country, the great bulk .of which had apparently joined the 
majority, the plants were removed and thus drastically treated, 
with the result that not only was there hardly a failure whenever 
a spark of life was left, but many precious original wild finds, 
instead of being solitary specimens, may now be reckoned by the 
dozen or more. The common Hartstongue.(Scolopendrium vulgare) 
affords a perhaps still more remarkable instance of this innate 
vitality. The old caudex, as already described, consists of old 
persistent bases, many scores of which can be pulled off if a plant 
be unearthed and the pulling off process commenced at the 
bottom. These bases are hard, dark green, sausage-shaped, and 
vary from half an inch to an inch in length, according to the robust- 
ness of the plant concerned. The larger ones can be cut across into 
two. Each will bear a little bundle of roots, which should be cut 


24 BRITISH FERNS 


off, and the base well washed. All that is necessary to do now is 
to put a couple of inches of well-washed silver sand into the bottom 
of a glass jar; just moisten this sand, drop the bases evenly over 
the surface, cover close with a glass slip, and stand in a well-lighted 
but shady corner of a room, conservatory, or elsewhere. In a few 
weeks in the growing season, or if a little warmth be afforded, 
little white pimples will appear on every piece, and in time each 
pimple will become a plant, only needing to bring on in the usual 
way to become a specimen, By actual count we have found thirty- 
six such plants on one inch-long base. In this species the finest 
forms, i.e. the Crispum, or frilled ones, bear no spores at all, and 
hence this faculty of basal propagation is particularly welcome 
in their case, though applicable to all. With regard to the non- 
crown-forming Ferns, that is, those which have creeping rootstocks, 
like the various Polypodiums, Cystopteris montana, Lastrea thelyp- 
teyis, and also the common Bracken Pteris agqutlina, all, with 
the exception of the last, can be multiplied independently of their 
spores by severing portions of their travelling rootstocks, taking 
care to secure a frond or two and growing tips provided with roots. 
These, inserted in open leafy soil, will soon take hold and afford 
specimens in time. Pferis aquilina roots so deeply, and has such 
brittle rootstocks, that it is practically impossible to multiply it 
in the same way, the only method being to dig out, in the winter, 
a large, solid mass of soil containing its dormant roots, and transfer 
this en masse, on the then probable chance of survival. Incidentally 
we may remark that P. aguilina has afforded some very fine varieties 
which render these hints of value. 


SPORE PROPAGATION 


Having considered the non-sexual methods and opportunities 
for propagation of which Ferns permit, we may now turn to those 
connected with Nature’s primary reproductive material, viz. the 
spores. In our chapter on the Life History of Ferns we have shown 
how such reproduction is brought about, and a consideration of 
that will help in the comprehension of what follows. The spores of 
Ferns are borne usually upon the frond backs, but are sometimes 
borne on modified fronds, or parts of fronds, devoted to spores alone. 
This we may see in the frond tips of the Royal Fern Osmunda regalts, 
the so-called Flowering Fern, because the spore clusters bear a faint 
resemblance to somewhat withered Spivea blooms, in the little 
Ferns, Opluoglossum wilgatum and Botrychium lunaria, and as a 
sort of intermediate grade in the contracted fertile fronds of the 
Hard Fern, Blechiuim spicant, and the Parsley Fern, Allosorus crispus. 
In the other species they are seen to be arranged in dots, lines, or 
marginal patches, and it is according to these arrangements that 
Fern genera are classified, since they are found to constitute the 


FERN PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 25 


most definite character, and the one best fitted to that end. Since, 
however, the description of each species we deal with will embody 
this, we may dismiss the subject here. One very remarkable fact 
in connection with these spores is their enormous numbers; on 
a fair-sized Fern, a Lady Fern, the annual crop may be by actual 
computation over one thousand millions, and even in the smaller 
species hundreds of thousands are concerned. We mention these 
figures because in spore sowing there is a valuable lesson to be 
drawn from them, and that is the absurdity of the amateur sowing, 
as he is apt to do, too thickly. To collect the spores is easy ; the 
best time to sow is as soon as they are ripe, say in June or July. 
Ripeness is indicated by a deep brown or almost black colour in 
most species, but in Osmunda they are a dark olive-green, and in 
Polypodium vulgare a bright orange-yellow. If a small portion of 
a frond be detached and laid in a dry room on glazed paper or, as 
we prefer, on a glass slip which enables examination under a low- 
power microscope, in a few hours the spore pods (sporangia, Fig. 2) 
burst, and the spores may be collectively seen as a fine powder, 
and under the lens aforesaid will be distinguished as more or less 
definitely oval bodies, bearing in some species small ridges or 
projections. These bodies will probably cover the field of view, 
and will be mingled with the remains of the exploded capsules. 
Slightly breathing on the glass, immediately followed by a smart 
puff, will eliminate most of this debris, and leave the spores adhering 
to the glass, and clear of rubbish. Obviously, with plants which 
produce spores by the million, such spores must be terribly handi- 
capped somehow, or the world would be overrun by them, and in this 
case the handicap is the ‘minuteness and delicacy of the initial 
reproductive operations. Worms, insects, fungi, mosses, heavy 
” rain, etc., etc., are all liable to upset them, and some of these 
adverse factors will do the same with our cultures unless we forestall 
them. Our own plan is, therefore, this. We take a small pot or 
pan, put in the usual crocks for drainage, and fill it nearly full of 
good fern compost, loam, leaf mould, and coarse silver sand 
(2, 2, I); we press this flat and sprinkle some crumbs of loam or 
crushed flower pot over the surface, on which we then place a piece 
of paper to prevent disturbance, and thoroughly saturate the 
soil with boiling water until the pan is too hot to hold. All inimical 
worms, germs, or spores are thus killed, and hence, when the 
soil is cold, and the spores scattered very thinly and evenly over 
the surface, they have a fair field, and we may fully expect that 
all will develop. We finally cover the pot or pan with a glass slip, 
stand it in a saucer in a well-lighted place, but out of sunshine, 
until in time, a few weeks, the green scales described elsewhere cover 
the soil. No watering overhead should be afforded, a little kept 
in the saucer will suffice. If not too thickly sown, a month or so 
more will show the tiny fronds emerging to the light, and the crop 


26 BRITISH FERNS 


will then only need pricking out and bringing on. If, on the other 
hand, our warning has been neglected, and a dense mass of tiny 
prothalli is engendered thereby, a larger pan can be prepared and 
sterilized as described, and tiny patches, pill-size, of these prothalli 
may be pricked out and inserted an inch apart and kept close 
with, probably, success, since room is thus afforded. When a 
number of sowings is in question, a good plan is to sow in small pots 
and embed these closely together in cocoanut fibre in a larger pan, 
covering the whole with one pane of glass. It will then suffice to 
keep the fibre moist until the plants appear. All sowings should be 
numbered and registered in a book kept for that purpose. 


CHAPTER IV 
FERN SELECTION 


HAVING in the last chapter given advice as to how to propagate 
by buds, patent or latent, and by spores, we may now consider 
what is the best material, especially in the latter connection, to be 
used, in order to improve quality and enhance the charm, in which 
direction so much has been done in the past, and so much may be 
done in future. It is a curious fact that once a Fern, or indeed any 
other plant, has departed from the beaten track, i.e. the normal or 
common form, and as a “ sport” has adopted a different habit of 
growth, shape of foliage, or other practically new character, it is 
apt to display these same characters in its progeny, i.e. breed fairly 
true, and sometimes entirely true, throughout the brood. In many 
instances, however, careful examination of the seedlings or spore- 
lings will show divergences, some in the direction of the normal 
form, i.e. reversion, though very rarely entirely, and others in a 
forward direction, showing the “ sport’ character more markedly, 
and it is, of course, in this direction that the judicious spore sower 
should steer. Given improved seedlings (we prefer seedling to 
sporeling, even in Ferns, since practically a seed precedes the young 
Fern) of this class, the probability is that their offspring will vary 
still more, and we may, in this connection, point especially to the 
immense number of beautiful Hartstongues which are now ex- 
hibited at our chief floral shows, as examples which, if sown from, 
would probably yield no two plants exactly alike, though all would 
be on similar lines. In fact, the great majority of them exemplify 
this in themselves. To propagate such truly we must resort to 
division or the induced bulbils already described. Ferns which 
present any signs of inconstancy, such as partial reversion, or any 
irregularities of form, defective pinnz, etc., should be strenuously 
avoided by the spore sower, since defects are almost invariably 
transmitted, and there is nowadays such a wealth of unexception- 
able material that it is waste of time to attempt reformation of 
what are known in Fern language as “ rogues.”” Thoroughbreds, 
on the other hand, ie. perfectly symmetrical and constant forms, 
may be relied on, and in some instances, three especially, with 


27 


28 BRITISH FERNS 


which we deal in detail, have given really astounding results. These 
three are the beautiful Todea-like section of Soft Shield Ferns 
(Polystichum), known as the Jones and Fox plumosums, the mar- 
vellous crested and non-crested ‘' superbum ” section of the writer’s 
Lady Ferns (Athyrium filix femina), and last, but by no means least, 
the extraordinary batch of Hard Shield Ferns (P. aculeatwm) raised 
jointly by Mr. C. B. Green of Acton and the writer, and known as 
the “ gracillimum” and‘ plumosum” section of that species. As no 
greater encouragement to the amateur Fern cultivator can be given 
than such records as these, we make no apology for giving them in 
detail, especially as such extraordinary departures from the normal 
——— __. in one or two strides 
gi | possess also great in- 
| | terest for the evolu- 
| tionary biologist. Like 
| all cases of the kind, 
' we must begin with a 
wild “sport,” a purely 
natural one, and in the 
| Jones and Fox case a 
' find of this description 
| was discovered in 1875 
| 
| 


in S. Devon by Mr. J. 
Moley (P. ang. decom- 
positum splendens), 
which the normally 
bi- pinnate, or twice- 
divided Fern, was 
' modified into a tri- 
| pinnate, or thrice - 
' divided one. Col. 
Jones and Dr. Fox 
_ sowed spores of this, 
which sowing resulted 
in a batch of Ferns 
with fronds so much 
divided, and with such 
overlapping, heaped- 
up moss-like foliage, 
as to constitute a 
perfectly new section, 
rivalling even the New 
- ‘ + Zealand Todea superba 
Vig. 9. Polystichum angulare, var. plumosum densum in beauty. So unex- 


(Jones and Fox). 4 : 
1. Normal form of species. 2. Wild find, South Devon. pected uae this, that 
both the raisers were 


3. Frond of offspring. 4. Pinna of emudbrecatum, raised 
from bulbil of dessem, forced to doubt the 


FERN SELECTION: 29 


parental connection, but a fresh sowing giving similar results, they 
were compelled to accept it, together with the fact that this immense 
advance had occurred in two generations from the normal. The 


ees ee eee ee _ l 
Fig, 10. 
Af. f. plumosum Normal at top. Axminster Alumosum 
elegans (reared Af. f. plumosum Druery. (found wild). 
from wild find). A. f. f. superbum. 


N.B.—Pinne only throughout. 


plants so obtained varied, but all were extremely beautiful, and one 
named Baldwinit excelled by having its ultimate divisions almost as 
fine as hairs. This section still exists, and is embraced in the varietal 
list given elsewhere. Fig. 9 shows the pedigree of this section very 


30 BRITISH FERNS 


clearly. The second case is in some respects even more extra- 
ordinary. In 1863 a plumose or extra feathery Lady Fern (A. ///. 
plumosum Axminsterense) was found by Mr. J. Trott near Axminster. 
Its spores usually produced the parental form, but eventually an 
improved one was raised (A. .f. p. elegans Parsons) which was more 
finely cut. This, showing dorsal bulbils as already described, a 
pinna or side division was sent to the writer for inspection, and as 
there were also spores, and the form was a fine one, a sowing was 
made. The astounding result was only two plants of the parental 
form, and about a hundred of tasselled forms (a feature entirely 
absent in the parent), only two of which were free from defects, gaps, 
and irregularities of make. The two in question were, however, 
perfect, but one (superbum) was much more beautiful in its cresting 
than the other. This in itself formed a unique experience-as the 
offspring of a non-crested parent, to say nothing of its scores of 
defective but crested sisters. Naturally, when this bore spores, a 
sowing was made at once, and again the unexpected happened, for 
its abundant offspring turned out to constitute two sections, the 
one entirely uncrested but extremely refined editions of the grand- 
parent, and the other magnificently crested, even in some instances 
to the fourth degree the pinnulets being distinctly tasselled, one 
and all being great improvements on the immediate parent. 
The best of the non-crested section (A. f./. plumosum Druery) is far 
and away the finest plumose Lady Fern extant, and the whole of 
the two sections stand alone. This case, as will be seen, eclipses the 
first one, by culminating in two distinct sections, crested and un- 
crested, all derived in the fourth generation from the normal, and 
the third from the wild Axminster find. Fig. 10 shows the pedigree 
of A. ff. plumosum Druery, in studying which it must be borne in 
mind that each step shown represents the equivalent portion 
of a frond, viz. only one pinna or side division, and on the same 
scale, though the centre might well be taken for a frond. The third 
case of Polystichum aculeatum is equally astounding as representing 
a sudden metamorphosis of type, and is peculiar as affording such 
results after many years of reputed sterility. In 1876 there was 
found by a farm labourer, in a Dorsetshire hedge, a very fine form 
of the Hard Shield Fern, which he took to Dr. Wills, one of our 
most successful collectors in the locality, who named it ‘“‘ pul- 
cherrimum,” on account of its peculiar beauty. It was apparently 
an entirely barren Fern, but eventually found its way into many 
collections by virtue of offsets which it freely produced. This 
reputation for sterility it maintained until a few years ago, when 
upon a robust plant in Mr. Green’s collection, a well-grown offset 
from the writer’s specimen, given him many years ago by Mr. G. B. 
Wollaston, a few spores were discovered, one or two sporangia 
occurring as minute dots on several of the pinne. These were 
naturally collected, and sown both by Mr. Green and the writer, 


ps ly UZ ¥ . on = A : iy iP 
on SHINY iE j Z a Ce; “7 ( , 
RAN SE We iy 
SRW : SAL Wise! 


XX SY iy 
TA I uv ie | 
cs. NPA PES soar yay 
aks Si) wt 
ALY 

re 


a MAA 4 A 

r a a Pal Was i 

Vp h 4) (Lice 1 V4 / 

AES RE 
LO at 


SANG ZEEE ni We : 
‘ a . aS 3 af y i hi Vs 
SS ; D sw amg i ee 


Fig. 12. 7. arufeatum pulcherrimum 


Vig. 11. P. aculeatum graciilimum (raised), 
(wild find), 


showing alteration in one generation. 


32 BRITISH FERNS 


and about a hundred plants resulted. As these developed it was 
noticed that in about a score of them, the fronds appeared to be 
much slenderer than in the rest, and particular care being paid 
to these as they grew on, they assumed more and more remarkable 
forms, until eventually they became extremely handsome specimens, 
on somewhat varied lines, of an entirely different type, the 
parental half-inch pinnules being in some cases nearly three inches 
long, and the fronds being thus of almost hair-like tenuity, while 
several plants displayed expanded tips to these subdivisions 
somewhat akin to tassels. A glance at Figs. 11, 12, and 13 will 
give a far better idea than any words of the marvellous difference 
between parent and progeny originating at one bound. It is 
interesting to note that the rest of the batch consisted of fairly true 
replicas of the parental form, and two or three plants which ap- 
proached the normal P. angulare rather than P. aculeatum. There 
is only one of the batch which is fairly intermediate between the 
parental type and the “ gracilimum”’ type, while another in Mr. 
Green’s possession has varied in a different direction, viz. in that 
of the beautiful P. angulares of Jones and Fox, above described. 
The mere possibility of obtaining such results as these by sowing 
from thoroughbreds should be sufficient to discourage unsystematic 
sowing from inferior forms. Apart from these exceptional cases 
there are a great many in which great enhancement of the original 
type of the wild “sport” has been attained by careful selection, 
as may be judged by the “ raised ”’ varieties which figure in our list 
appended to each species. There is, however, one warning in 
connection with this subject which should be borne in mind, and 
that is that if a seedling displays faults, it should be destroyed, 
as should all inferior types when they declare their character. 
We have seen collections embracing valuable plants absolutely 
ruined because the tender-hearted raiser would give inferior seedlings 
a chance, and as such are often more robust growers than their 
superiors, aS a consequence a jungle of mongrels has resulted, in 
which the true forms were practically smothered out of existence. 
The successful Fern-raiser must, in short, be a flinty-hearted Herod 
as regards ineligible innocents, or he will rue his clemency later. 

As further details may be welcome regarding the question of 
Hybridization and Crossing, we refer to the next chapter in this 
connection. 


Fig. 13. 2. aceleatum gracillimum cristulatum. 


CHAPTER V 
FERN CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZING 


TuE possibility of crosses being effected between different species 
or different varieties of Ferns was long doubted by botanists, even 
after the final steps completing the knowledge of the life cycle of 
Ferns were taken by Naegeli and Suminski, which demonstrated 
that the reproduction of a Fern through its spores resulted, as 
with flowering plants, from the coalition of two sexual elements, 
formed separately and brought together in the act of fertilization, 
these eventually producing an embryo seed by their conjoined 
influence. The difficulty of the scientist in accepting the cross 
fertilization of Ferns as a demonstrated tact arose from the circum- 
stance that owing to the microscopic nature of the organs concerned, 
and still more of the operation involved, it was impossible to make 
experiments on the same easy lines as is practicable with flowering 
plants, whose pollen could be transferred irom one flower to another 
by hand, and precautions taken to prevent fertilization from 
alien sources, or self-fertilization, so that eventually if seed be 
formed and plants result of mixed character, it is scientifically safe 
to say that such plants are crossbred and are not merely independent 
“sports.” Hence when Ferns were found or raised displaying 
mixed characters, there was no absolute evidence available regard- 
ing their mixed origin, and it could only be assumed from the joint 
features displayed. It was due to Mr. E. J. Lowe to produce con- 
vincing evidence, which the botanist was compelled to accept, 
since he intentionally sowed together the spores of Polystichum 
aculeatum densum, a distinctly congested variety of that species, 
with those of P. angulare Wakeleyanum, a variety in which the 
pinnee were set on in pairs at obtuse angles to each other, so that 
with the opposite pairs so characterized, a cross was formed, a 
rare feature and entirely unknown in P. aculeatum. The result 
was several plants in which distinctly aculeatum characters were 
associated with the cruciate or cross-forming pinne of P. angulare. 
A close study of the mode in which fertilization occurs shows that 
although, under ordinary circumstances, self-fertilization must be 
the rule, cross-fertilization was by no means an impossibility, and 
might even be facilitated by artificial means, if not to the actual 
extent of conveying the one element by hand to the other. The 
spore, under congenial circumstances, forms, as we have seen in our 


34 


FERN CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZING 35 


chapter on the Life History of a Fern, a small green scale. On the 
under side of this, two sets of organs, male and female, are formed, 
while at the base of the latter an embryo seed lies embedded. 
When mature a number of antherozoids, tiny motile bodies pro- 
vided with cilia, swim in the dewdrop beneath the scale to the 
archegonium under which the embedded seed lies, and by passing 
into this effect the fertilizing process. Now it is obvious that 
normally there is practically no chance of an antherozoid crossing 
the comparatively wide gap which lies between one prothallus or 
scale and another, and although it has been mooted by Mr. Lowe, 
and is indeed quite probable, that minute insects like the Podura or 
Skipjack and others may convey antherozoids from one prothallus 
to another, this obviously cannot be profited by for systematic 
crossings, and hence other methods are adopted. The microscopic 
character of the spores creates an initial difficulty in sowing since 
it is essential, so far as practicable, to know what is being sown, 
and it is in the experience of all Fern-raisers that stray spores, shed 
and scattered broadcast from other Ferns, are apt to develop in 
conjunction with the desired ones and thus introduce an uncertain 
factor into the experiments. To avoid this, spores should be 
collected as soon as ripe and as early as possible in the season, thus 
reducing this risk toa minimum. Having secured as far as possible 
a pure sowing of each kind intended to be crossed and taken the 
precautions mentioned in our chapter on Propagation, the two 
kinds should be thoroughly mixed and sown rather more thickly 
than usual, so as to ensure close proximity of the resulting pro- 
thalli, or they may be sown separately, each on relatively thinner 
lines, the one after the other. Here it may be remarked that some 
spores germinate and develop far more rapidly than others, and in 
that case two separate sowings at relatively distant periods may 
be made, the slower germinator first and the faster later on. Which 
is which can only be determined by experience, and the above 
remark applies mainly to hybridizing where different species are 
concerned ; with varieties of the same species it may be ignored. 
The prothalli having reached full size, the time will have arrived 
for facilitating the transference of the antherozoids of one pro- 
thallus to another. These antherozoids have a free - swimming 
period, and then make their way to the archegonia. Clearly if at 
this time we can judiciously flood the prothalli, there is a fair 
chance of a general distribution of the fertilizing antherozoids, and 
that the chances of cross alliances are greatly increased. Lowering 
the pot or pan very gently into warm water until this percolates 
from below and just bathes the prothalli without entirely sub- 
merging them gives this chance, time, say half an hour, being 
afforded for the stimulus of the warmth to rupture the antheridia 
and launch the contained antherozoids upon their wedding trip. 
As a theoretical possibility the following plan has been advanced. 


36 BRITISH FERNS 


The archegonia, or seed-vessels, are as a rule situated just with 
the indentation of the heart-shaped prothallus, and the antherid 
or equivalents of pollen masses among the root-hairs covering t] 
larger and other half of the prothallus. The prothallus is most rete 
tive of life, and will bear with impunity almost any amount 
cutting up. We will therefore suppose two pans of thinly sown spore 
each one of a different variety or species; as soon as the protha 
are half grown, i.e. before any fertilization is likely, we take a kee 
razor and cut each prothallus across just below the indentatio 
We do this in both pans, carefully removing the male halves in eac 
and neatly embedding them in the soil, just touching the arch 
gonial portions of the other variety or species which have been le 
am situ, and which if deprived of root-hairs by the operation w 
certainly develop more if gently pressed into the soil and kept clos 
In this way the chances of self-fertilization would be reduced to 
minimum, and those of a cross increased to a maximum, as tl 
subsequent growth of both halves would bring them into extreme 
close juxtaposition. There is, however, a good deal of irregularit 
in the arrangements of the organs on the prothallus, and hence th 
sort of division cannot be depended upon absolutely as separatir 
the sexes. 

To Mr. E. J. Lowe, as we have said, must certainly be accorded tl 
merits of the first most striking hybrid, viz. that effected by hi 
between a cruciate form of Polystichwm angulare and a dense form ' 
P. aculcatum, the result being a cruciate aciuleatum, and we may he 
remark that it is only where absolutely distinct forms such as the 
are crossed that we can be sure that the progeny is a cross at a 
because once a Fern or other plant has broken away from tl 
normal plan of growth, its progeny is apt to vary again, probab 
more or less on the same lines, but not necessarily so. Fortunatel 
however, numerous crosses have been effected under circumstance 
of choice which eliminate this doubt. Mr. Clapham, for instanc 
sowed the finely cut form of Polypodium vulgare, known as el 
gantissimum, with another form known as P v. bifido-cristaium, < 
attenuate crested form. Elegantissimum has a peculiar knack 
partial reversion to the normal. The offspring of the cross was nm 
merely a more or less tasselled form of elegantissimum, which mig] 
have been a secondary sport fer se, but when it tried to get back 
normality it produced a frond of the true type of bifido-cristatus 

Mr. Schneider, in his marvellous hybrid between this same elega: 
tassimum and the huge exotic Phlebodium aureum,finds the hybridis 
confirmed by precisely the same character of partial reversion. |! 
another cross between Athyrium filix femina Victoria, the mo 
remarkable Fern yet found, bearing percruciate and tasselled frond 
and A. f. f. seltgerum with translucent, bristly excrescences all ov 
it, the result is A. f. /. Victorte, true to type, but bristling througho: 
with the setigerum character. Crosses and hybrids of this cla 


FERN CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZING 37 


bear their certificates of origin upon their fronds: in each case 
the parents are pure-bred original finds, and in their offspring the 
strong parental marks are distinctly brought out. At Kew there 
are a great number of marked instances among the Polystichums 
raised by Colonel Jones and others by crossing his polydactylous 
find of P. angulare with many other varieties. In this Fern there 
must have been some special prepotency, for the crosses were in- 
numerable, but in every one that we have seen as yet they are ear- 
marked by the parental defect of producing here and there non- 
polydactylous divisions and irregular furcation to boot. One and 
all present this feature, which establishes the dual origin convin- 
cingly, but spoils the plants. 

Among hybrids between species, we must not omit to mention 
Mr. Lowe’s indubitable cross between Scolopendrium vulgare and 
Ceterach officinarum, On examination of the fronds it is seen 
that they are of Ceterach pinnation, though confluent at the 
tip and quite scaleless, while the fructification can be detected on 
the basal pinnae as in faced pairs, i.e. Scolopendrium fashion, and 
further up, as single lines, i.e. in the character of the Spleenworts. 
We do not know whether this plant is still alive, but the fronds 
per se establish its hybrid character and determine both parents 
with certainty. Fortunately, whether alive or dead, fronds are in 
the writer’s possession as confirmation of its occurrence and of the 
description here given. In European Ferns, page 137, a presumed 
natural hybrid between the same two species is figured, but con- 
sidering the great varietal capacity of Scol. vulgare, and the existence 
of numerous pinnatifid forms, the hybridism in that case is, to our 
mind, very doubtful, especially as it is fully fertile. 

Having thus cited a few of the conclusive evidences of the possi- 
bility of crossing, not merely varieties, but also widely different 
species, and given a few hints as to the modus operand:, the next 
thing is to give some idea of the directions in which this possibility 
may be utilized to the best advantage. Polypodium Schneiderit 
is, we think, eloquent with two possibilities of extreme value. 
The one is that of enhancing the simple beauty of many exotics 
by alliances with the highly ornate forms which our British hardy 
species have assumed, both under purely natural conditions as 
wild finds and under selective culture of the progeny which they 
have yielded. The other is the increased capacity of exotics, so 
hybridized, to withstand low temperature, due to the infusion of 
hardy blood. In Ferns, thanks to the curious fact that the pro- 
thallus, or green scale upon which the flower homologues are pro- 
duced, is almost constant in size throughout all species except 
the Filmies, the minutest species and the Jargest Tree Fern com- 
mence their career under practically identical conditions, and cross- 
ing and hybridization therefore are not limited as in flowers by 
incompatibilities between length of stigma and size of pollen. 


38 BRITISH FERNS 


Hence, so far as size is concerned, there is no bar, and the smallest 
may be allied with the largest if specific or generic differences 
be not too great. Consequently, though our British Spleenworts 
are all of comparatively small growth, their varietal forms may 
presumably be imparted to many of the grand large-growing 
exotics, and the task is the better worth attempting, as the 
genus is peculiarly exempt from the tendency to form tasselled or 
crested varieties, though examples of such occur among our native 
species, and thus afford fair starting-points for hybridizing pur- 
poses. Scolopendrium vulgare, curiously enough, though extremely 
closely allied to the Asflenza, and capable, as we have seen, of a 
definite alliance with them, is, on the other hand, one of the most 
variable Ferns in the world, and hence, taking the varieties of this 
species and the tasselled forms of Asplenium tvichomanes and A. 
adiantum nigrum, we would suggest systematic admixtures of the 
spores of these with a number of the plain-fronded exotic Asplenza, 
and particularly with A. ndus avis. This last has recently given 
us one curious wild semi-cristate sport, A. . a. multilobatum, 
indicating great capacity for variation; and considering its ex- 
tremely close agreement in structure with Scol. vulgare and the 
alliance above cited of this latter with Asp. ceterach, we feel con- 
fident that with perseverance we might not only obtain handsomely 
tasselled Bird’s-nest Ferns, but also, in conjunction with some of 
the fertile forms of S. v. crisbum, frilled ones as well. That beautiful 
Hartstongue, for instance, S. v. laceratum, with broad sagittate, 
tasselled basal lobes, deeply cut pinnatifid fronds, tasselled heavily 
at their terminals, would be a splendid mate, and the hybridist 
who mated the twain would certainly not repent the trouble taken. 
This field is a very wide one, but care would have to be taken to 
avoid all but thoroughbred symmetrical forms, since faults are 
almost certain to be transmitted and the progeny marred. 
Asplenium trichomanes has, so far as we know, never yet been 
crossed or hybridized. A. ¢. confluens, Stabler, an asserted hybrid 
with A. mavinum, does not bear the test of investigation, as A. 
marinunt did not grow near the locality of origin ; and although its 
spores are always imperfect, this is not enough to establish hybridity 
by itself. A. tvichomanes cristatum, however, would be well worth 
sowing with other Asflenia, many of which are obviously very 
closely allied indeed. Our Blechnum spicant has given us some 
charming forms, crested, dissected, and otherwise varied. B. s. 
cristatum, B. s. ramosum, Kinahan, B. s. trinerviocoronans, Barnes, 
B. s. concinnum, Druery (strings of emerald scallop shells), B. s. 
plumosum, Airey, and others, one and all might find fit mates 
among exotic Blechnums and Lomarias, to many of which new 
charms would certainly be imparted, the twofold character of the 
fertile and barren fronds emphasizing greatly the varietal features. 
Our Lastreas or Nephrodiums and the exotic ones afford another 


FERN CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZING 39 


field for combination, as well as our marvellous Polystichums, of 
which the best plumose divisilobes are often sufficiently fertile to 
afford material. P. setosum especially should be tried with some 
of the best. Could thorough alliances be effected between this lovely 
lucent hard-fronded evergreen Shield Fern and such gems as P. a. 
cristatum (Wollaston No. 10), P. a. cristato-gracile, Moly, and some 
of the divisilobe plamosums of Jones and Fox, Pearson and Esplan, 
the results could only be gems of first water. Then there are our 
Osmunda regalis and Osmunda japonica cristata to act as suitors to 
O. cinnamomea, O. interrupta, and O. gracilis, and finally there are 
our lovely forms of Polypodium vulgare, P. v. cristatum, grandiceps, 
Fox, Forster, and Parker, bifido-cristatum, and pulcherrimum, to 
say nothing of P. v. elegantissimum, the British-born parent of P. 
Schneiderit, all waiting for chances of the introduction which they 
certainly merit to the aristocratic Fern circles of their more stately 
foreign relatives. The field indeed is all but virgin, and we are con- 
fident that careful cultivation of it would yield a host of new and 
charming novelties, provided—always provided—that it be done 
on right lines. 

Into the question of simple crosses between varieties we do not 
propose to enter, space prohibiting, though to us and to British 
Fern specialists generally there is a wide and fertile field still but 
partly cultivated. We have, however, framed our chapter rather 
for the benefit of the more numerous raisers of exotics, who are too 
apt to ignore the merits of our home Ferns altogether, and only here 
and there recognize their value in the direction we have endeavoured 
to indicate. 

In conclusion we may mention that there is one point in connec- 
tion with Fern crossing which has no parallel in flowering plants, 
and that is the possibility of attempts being frustrated by apogamy. 
In numerous Ferns it has been found that the young plants are 
asexually generated in the prothallus, a simple bud arising on the 
spot usually occupied by archegonia. Pteris cretica, Lastrea pseudo- 
mas cristata, Cyrtomium falcatum, and others present this peculiarity 
in nearly every case, and of course under such circumstances no 
crossing is possible, unless in exceptional cases, where the normal 
process may obtain. As Cyrtomium and Lasirea, for instance, are 
closely related, and no crested Cyrtomium had been found, we sowed 
Cyrtomium falcatum and C. fortunei: thickly with L. £.-mas cristata, 
obtaining a pure crop of both, a result we should have expected 
had we not forgotten the apogamous character of both members 
of the desired alliance. This, then, constitutes a hidden hindrance 
peculiar to Fern crossing. There are, however, a number of varieties 
of Lastrea p.-mas which afiord extremely strong evidence of crossing, 
and we are therefore inclined to believe that apogamy in the species 
is by no means without exceptions, and that normal sexual repro- 
duction frequently occurs. 


CHAPTER VI 


MULTIPLE PARENTAGE 


SINCE the possibility of combining the characters of more than 
two varieties by crossing has been advocated by the late Mr. E. J. 
Lowe, and a mass of presumed confirmatory evidence put forward 
in his interesting work, entitled Fern Growing, we think it only right 
to give equal publicity to the reasons which, in our opinion, con- 
trovert this possibility. In the first place must be considered the 
fundamental simplicity of the operation of fertilization. That 
operation consists in the fusion of two sexual principles, one con- 
tained in an ovarial cell, the other in a sperm cell, each of which 
has been previously prepared by Nature for coalition by the removal 
of one-half of the vital nucleus, so that, by itself, it is incapable of 
performing the work of a perfect cell, viz. self-multiplication and 
contribution thereby to the needful vital work of building up the 
plant concerned. Nature has provided many modes of bringing 
these two half-cells together, and it is clear from all biological 
experiments that when they are brought closely adjacent, the sperm 
half-cell makes its way to the ovarian half-cell, with which it 
coalesces, thus constituting one perfect cell by union of the vital half- 
nuclei, and this done the completed cell proceeds to multiply itself 
in the usual way, and to build up a now fertilized seed. Obviously 
with such an arrangement there is absolutely no room for a second 
sperm cell, much less for several, to operate, the combination is 
effected, and it is precisely as if a lid had been fitted on to a pill-box 
and an attempt were made to fit on one or more lids afterwards. 
The fact that a very much larger number of sperm cells are formed 
than there are ovarian ones is simply and solely one of those many 
securities which Nature provides for the permanence of a race, 
regardless apparently of cost of material. 

With reference to the many combined forms of variation which 
were produced by Mr. Lowe, by mixtures of spores of Ferns dis- 
playing different types, we have carefully studied these, and find 
that in many cases the forms sown were more or less of a 
protean character, and likely, by themselves, without any cross- 


40 


MULTIPLE PARENTAGE 41 


ing at all, to yield very diverse progeny, displaying several charac- 
ters in an erratic fashion, which might be imputed to other 
varieties sown in conjunction. To take a concrete case, in Ex- 
periment No. 6, page 84, ‘‘ the spores of eight varieties were mixed 
and sown together. These were multifidum (crested), Victoria 
(cruciate), uncum (lax), Frizelle (lunulate), truncatum (truncate), 
proteoides (a cruciate with projecting pinnae), crucipinnulum 
(cruciate in the pinnules), and ramosum (branched).”” Now, in 
point of fact, “ proteoides,” as its very name implies, would, 
per se, produce offspring of precisely the character depicted on 
pages 85 and 86, which are claimed to show the characters of seven 
out of the eight varieties shown, and thus to demonstrate their 
multiple parentage, that is, that seven half sperm cells had con- 
trived to combine with one half ovarial cell, a biological im- 
possibility. In point of fact, instead of seven combined characters 
there are only signs of two in the truncate form, and of “ pro- 
teoides”’ alone in the other, while the crested characters of multi- 
jidum and Victorie, the branched character of “ vamosum,” and 
the ball-like pinne of ‘‘ Frizellie’’ are entirely absent. We have 
taken this instance as a typical one of many. Turning now to the 
extraordinary combinations Mr. Lowe produced in the Harts- 
tongues, he sowed undulatum (a wavy fronded Fern), spirale (a 
dwarf variety with a spirally twisted apex), muricatum (a muricate 
form), and kevatotdes (a branching, crested form), and he claims 
that four resulting plants, depicted by him, one of which is named 
“ quadriparens,”’ showed unmistakably the influence of four parents, 
but here ‘‘ undulatum”’ and ‘‘ spivale’’ are closely akin, the latter 
a dwarf form of the former, and the great vitiating factor in all 
such experiments is lost sight of, viz. that once a Fern has departed 
from the normal, its progeny may vary greatly without any crossing, 
and may even spontaneously produce crests, as has occurred over 
and over again. Another point is that if such crossing experiments 
be continued for years under glass it is practically an impossibility 
to make pure sowings, and a few strange spores may produce plants 
which lead to entirely mistaken conclusions, since they may already 
be the result of a cross, and, becoming crossed again, produce four 
combined characters, instead of two. It is, however, rather the 
fundamental simplicity of the fertilizing process which we have 
described, upon which we rely as controverting the theory of 
multiple parentage, and we put it forward here merely that the 
opposing views should be grasped by fern-growers, and not in the 
very least as detracting from the great services which Mr. Lowe 
rendered in connection with our native Ferns by his publications 
and experimental work, since it was indubitably he who first con- 
vinced scientific botanists that hybridization was possible. A 
secondary object is to point out to students and experimentalists 
in this line of research that it is unwise to sow mixtures of spores 


42 BRITISH FERNS 


containing erratic and indefinitely varied forms, and that the best 
plan is to select two, and only two, quite distinct varieties, whose 
character may be clearly distinguished if a cross occurs. Owing 
to the practical impossibility of securing a cross by hand, as 1s 
easily done with flowers, it is only by such selection that practical 
certainty can be eventually secured. 


CHAPTER VII 


ROCKERIES, FRAMES, AND WARDIAN CASES 


GIVEN such protection from wind and burning sunshine as we find 
prevailing in those spots where Ferns best luxuriate in their native 
habitats, properly constructed rockeries in the open are admirably 
adapted for their culture. It is always, indeed, in broken, rough, and 
rocky soils that we find Ferns at their best, provided that shade- 
giving trees shelter them both from the rough breeze and the too 
ardent sunbeams, and that moist conditions prevail. When, there- 
fore, the construction of a Rock Fernery be considered, a position 
and aspect should be chosen which tallies as nearly as possible 
with the conditions aforesaid. The main slopes of the rockwork 
should face north or east, and, of course, if a belt of trees or tall 
shrubs can be utilized as a wind-screen so much the better, since 
the fronds can never display their natural delicacy and grace if 
unduly exposed to rough breezes. Ferns, although fond of moisture, 
are averse to stagnant wet conditions, and the loose nature of 
the soil we have described indicates good drainage. Having, 
therefore, chosen the site for a rockery, it is best to begin the 
mound, if such has to be constructed, by making a heap of loose 
brick, or other open and lasting material, some feet deep, covering 
this with good garden soil, avoiding stiff clayey material, which 
soil should be heaped high enough to provide for considerable 
settlement. The mound being made of the required shape and size 
the placing of the rockwork should begin, and for this purpose 
porous sandstone should be used if procurable, though good effect 
may be attained by the use of brick burrs, or the misshapen masses 
of spoilt bricks which accumulate at most brickfields. This material 
is very congenial to Ferns owing to its porous nature, and if the 
burrs be carefully selected, and all corners knocked off, they answer 
the purpose exceedingly well, and do not offend the eye by an 
appearance of artificiality. Clinkers should be strenuously avoided ; 
we do not see clinkers in nature, and natural effects are what we aim 
at. Shells, corals, and similar things we have seen associated with 
rockeries, much to the disgust of any well-constituted mind. Having 
the material ready, the placing should commence at the bottom of 


43 


44 BRITISH FERNS 


the mound, holes being dug sufficiently deep to embed the pieces 
firmly on their centres of gravity, soil is then worked well in behind 
them, and it is advisable that this soil be a good compost of friable 
loam, leaf mould, and coarse silver sand (2, 2, I), since it is this 
into which the Ferns will have to be planted later. Regularity of 
position or size should be avoided as far as possible, and the stone 
should be so arranged on similar lines of firm bedding, as to form, 
as the work proceeds, pockets, nooks, and crevices such as ferns 
delight in. The construction finished, the whole should be well 
watered and allowed to settle for a few days, when planting may 
be done. Planting can, of course, be done as the work of con- 
struction proceeds, but we prefer to do it separately, to preclude 
the risk of damage by local settlements and dislodgements. Ferns 
vary as to their requirements of moisture in the soil. Osmunda 
regalis, the Royal Fern, is naturally a bog Fern, and so is Lastrea 
thelypteris. Blechnum spicant, the Hard Fern, Athyrium filex 
femina, the Lady Fern, and Lastvea montana, the lemon-scented 
Fern, all prefer moist soil, and hence should be planted low down, 
while the other species may be distributed at higher levels, the 
Spleenworts being inserted in the chinks and crevices contrived for 
them. The various Polypodies should have special stations filled 
with leafy soil in which their travelling roots can spread, and if 
the Limestone Polypody is planted, some old mortar, chalk, or other 
limey material should be mixed with the soil. The size of the Ferns 
used must also be considered in arranging them, and it is better 
that at the outset the rockery should look a little bare, than to 
cover it with plants which almost immediately invade each other’s 
domain, mix their fronds together, and hence lose all charm, while 
the smaller species probably perish by the overgrowth of their 
neighbours. Ferns of the shuttlecock form of growth should be 
planted as single crowns; if they are in clumps of several, it is 
quite easy to part the individuals by pulling asunder or prising off 
with a blunt trowel. If connected by a stout neck, a cut in this 
with a sharp knife will facilitate division, and each crown will come 
away with its own roots. 

Although rockeries are undoubtedly more effective than flat 
beds when occupied by Ferns, they are by no means essential for 
garden culture as regards a number of species. The Lady Ferns, 
Shield Ferns, Lastveas of several species, Hard Ferns, the Common 
Polypody, the Hartstongue, all will do very well on the flat if good 
open leafy, loamy soil be available, and water be supplied in cases 
of extended dry weather. We are assuming an annual rainfall of 
about twenty-five inches, but in places where this is exceeded there 
is very little risk of damage by drought at all, especially if masses 
of porous rock, or the burrs aforesaid, are scattered over the soil, 
and thus prevent general evaporation. The best place for a Fern 
is under the north or east side of a large piece of rock, which shelters 


ROCKERIES, FRAMES, AND WARDIAN CASES 45 


the crown from the noonday sun. The best time for rockery 
construction and planting Ferns is in the early spring, after a long 
winter rest, and before the new fronds are actually rising ; at this 
period they will stand dividing and shifting almost with impunity, 
and with the minimum risk of damage to the growth of the coming 
se The next best time is the autumn, just when growth has 
ceased. 


FRAME CULTURE.—We have seen some very charming collections 
of the smaller growing species in cold frames, the species being kept 
separate. In this case, in the area of the frame, the ordinary soil 
is excavated for a foot or eighteen inches, such soil being replaced 
with the compost already mentioned. If, however, the local soil 
be good garden material, a thorough digging and intermixture 
with leaf mould, or whichever material is lacking, will suffice. Into 
this the varieties are planted, sufficiently widely apart to permit 
them to assume full size, and with the needful watering or exposure 
to rain in wet spells, they will take care of themselves. The frame 
itself should have sliding or hinged lights, and be two feet or more 
high at back by six inches less in front, according to the species 
to be accommodated. The length may be anything, but the width 
should not be a hindrance to easy reach. It must be shaded from 
hot sun but not deprived of top light. Its slope should be north- 
ward or eastward. A thin scrim blind is advisable for use in case 
of need. The varieties of Polypodium vulgare, Blechnum spicant, 
and the smaller forms of the Hartstongue are peculiarly fitted for 
frames. Serviceable pockets, or rather troughs, for seedlings may 
be made along the sides of the frame by driving in a row of nails 
obliquely, at an angle of forty-five degrees, upon which may be rested 
the lower edges of the ridge slates used on roofs, which are several 
feet long by six inches wide. Holes can easily be bored through these 
near the upper edge, and copper wire can be passed through and 
looped over another row of nails where necessary, suspending the 
slates at an angle of forty-five degrees, which thus form a con- 
tinuous trough. 


WarbDIAN CasEs.—The simple invention by Mr. Henry Ward 
in the first half of the last century, consisting of an approximately 
air-tight glass covering to a shallow box, capable of containing 
plants, turned out to be one of immense importance in connection 
with the transport of living plants from far distant parts of the 
world with safety, and it also permitted of the culture of delicate 
plants, demanding a constantly humid atmosphere in ordinary 
rooms, which previously had been an impossibility. The typical 
form of case is composed of a metal box about a yard long, half as 
wide, and about six inches deep, provided with a rectangular glass 
cover, with a semi-cylindrical top, with a narrow opening along the 


46 BRITISH FERNS 


centre for ventilation if needed, and swing glass doors at both ends, 
permitting of easy access, but closing tightly. The box has, or 
should have, a zinc bottom, provided with a tap for withdrawal of 
surplus water. To prepare it for use, a good layer of broken flower 
pots should cover the bottom, over which should be laid a mass of 
fibrous material, moss, or coarse peat fibre, to prevent the soil from 
choking the drainage, and upon this is spread sufficient peaty, 
sandy, open compost to more than fill the box, a heap being made 
some inches higher than its edges. Upon this a small rockery of 
porous stone may be made with advantage, and planting may then 
be begun. Undoubtedly the best Ferns for such a case are the 
delicate Filmy Ferns, Tvichomanes radicans, Hymenophyllum 
Tunbridgense and unilatcrale, and small plants may be used of the 
charming New Zealand and Australian Todeas, T. superba and T. 
pellucida, The Hymenophyllums are small-growing moss-like Ferns 
which form mat-like masses, and these must be planted by being 
pegged down on the surface of the soil, then mulched with, or rather 
buried beneath, a handful or so of the sandy compost, which must 
then be washed in until the fronds reappear. Tvrichomanes radicans 
must be planted in like fashion, except that its creeping rootstocks, 
after pegging firmly to the soil, need only the mulching and washing 
process, the fronds being much larger. The Todeas form crowns and 
do not travel and hence should be planted in the ordinary way, 
on the top of the raised soil. In the chinks of the rockwork, if such 
be used, Asp. tvichomanes will grow well, provided the fronds are 
not wetted. The planting done, a good watering should be given 
to settle the soil, and then if the case be kept closely shut, the Ferns 
may be left alone practically for months. The case should be 
placed where it gets plenty of light but no sunshine, a north window 
suits it well. After the installation and subsequent watering, the 
surplus water should be drawn off by the tap, as if left, it is apt to 
breed sourness in the soil. If other Ferns than Filmies are used, 
they must be selected from the dwarf forms, or smaller species, 
air should occasionally be admitted, and morning or evening sun- 
shine will do no harm. The stronger the light and the nearer the 
case is to the windows, the less they will become drawn. To plant 
small specimens of robust growers is a mistake, since they will 
inevitably lead to overcrowding and distorted fronds. The Wardian 
Case is also extremely useful to accommodate spore pans or pots, or 
young Ferns prior to potting on. The still, humid conditions are 
ideal ones for Fern growth, and the risk of drought is reduced to a 
minimum. Returning to the Filmy Ferns, we do not advocate 
repeated waterings overhead ; if the soil be moist, the air is always 
damp enough to keep the fronds in good condition, and promote 
healthy growth ; in fact, if the soil is seen to be moist, the more 
they are left alone the better. Bell glasses and receptacles are 
practically the same thing as Wardian Cases, and require the 


ROCKERIES, FRAMES, AND WARDIAN CASES 47 


same preparation and treatment. As the Ferns named are quite 
hardy, even the Todeas, frost does no harm whatever, and need not 
be provided against. Out of doors, the Filmy Ferns, being hardy, 
will do very well indeed in pits, provided with compost, as described, 
and close-fitting frames of sufficient depth to provide room for 
full-sized Todeas, say three feet from soil to glass. As the pit may 
be a foot or more below the general surface of the soil, the frame 
may be correspondingly shallower. A brick-walled pit, covered 
with a light or lights, and situated in some corner which gets no sun 
at all, or so obliquely as not to reach the plants, is an ideal provision 
for Filmy Ferns. The use of ground or rolled corrugated glass 
will permit of a sunnier position for the frame, but coolness is an 
absolute essential for successful culture. 


CooL, CONSERVATORY AND Room CuLture.—In this connection 
there is little to be added to our cultural remarks anent watering, 
etc., but in rooms, it must be remembered that shade-lovers as 
Ferns may be, they get plenty of light under natural conditions, 
and, if deprived of it, become drawn and unhealthy. They should 
therefore be placed as near to the windows as practicable, top-light 
being always beneficial. Another point, and a material one, is that 
a pot Fern will grow towards the light, and as its fronds develop 
they arrange their surface to catch the maximum amount of it. 
Hence a mark should be made on a pot to secure, when it is shifted, 
that it is replaced as previously, and not turned one way to-day 
and the opposite way to-morrow, which is certain in a growing 
plant to result in a twisted and ugly one, since the fresh growth 
stiffens as it proceeds, and hence a kink is formed at every shift. 
No variety, even of a British Fern, has yet been provided with 
swivel roots. 


CHAPTER VIII 


WILD “SPORTS” AND HOW FOUND 


HAvING now considered the treatment of Ferns when acquired, we 
may next consider how and where the raw material is obtained. 
There is a very general tendency in botanical and also in horti- 
cultural literature to refer to the many varieties of Ferns as “ garden 
varieties,” ignoring thus entirely the fact that the majority of them 
were discovered as perfectly wild plants absolutely disassociated 
from garden culture, so that the term, in this case, is altogether mis- 
placed. It is, of course, true that many now in commerce are the 
outcome of selective culture ; but even in these cases, in the vast 
majority of instances, they have sprung from a marked typical 
form found under wild conditions from which they have varied 
by virtue of the rule that once a plant diverges from the normal 
path, it is eminently likely to vary again, so that the divergence 
can hardly fairly be imputed to garden influence, but was already 
inherent in the wild find. In any case the term “‘ garden varieties,” 
as applied to the original wild “ sports” or ‘‘ mutations,” is a mis- 
nomer. Still worse in our opinion is the term “ monstrosity ”’ as 
applied to marked abnormal forms generally, however beautiful 
they may be and however much, as in the case of the “ plumose ”’ 
or extra feathery Ferns, their greater charm may be entirely due 
to mere extension of Nature’s normal plan of subdivision. This 
term, however, is falling more and more into disuse. Despite the 
great number of distinct forms which have been discovered by 
persevering Fern-hunters in the ferny localities of Britain, it must 
be borne in mind that our present wealth of these is the result of 
more than half a century of persistent search by some scores of 
amateur experts, so that it is obvious that the proportion of “‘sports”’ 
to normals must be but one to very many thousands. So rare in- 
deed are they comparatively, that it is quite a common remark 
by people who have been induced to search in ferny districts by 
a visit to a collector and a sight of his acquisitions, that ‘‘ there 
were heaps of Ferns, but only the common ones,” apparently 
assuming that the uncommon ones were obvious features in other 
localities. In point of fact, it is rarely the case that ‘‘ sports” are 
found otherwise than as single individuals or, where more than one 


48 


WILD “SPORTS” AND HOW FOUND 49 


is discovered, it is usually obvious that they are of common origin, 
that is, due to local propagation. Their discovery is also handi- 
capped by the fact that they are often found intimately mingled 
with, and either partially or entirely hidden by, the common forms 
of the same species, or it may be by robust specimens of other 
species, and hence a merely superficial glance may easily miss a 
prize. The Fern-hunter’s motto, however, is that ‘‘ wherever there 
are Ferns there is a chance’’; but it by no means follows that 
abundance of normals means increased possibilities. In our 
own experience the ferny jungles through which we wade waist- 
deep in vigorous plants, are less likely to yield a prize than rough 
broken ground bearing scattered specimens. This we impute to the 
fact that as a rule varieties are less in size, that is, lose in height 
what they gain by extra development by plumes or crests, and 
that hence in the young stage, under jungle conditions, they 
stand a less chance of survival than under more open ones, and 
even if present are less likely to be seen. Thus in Cornwall and 
Devon, where the Hartstongue may monopolize the soil and carry 
yard-long fronds, in such places we have always failed to find 
a “sport,’’ while on old walls and hedge-banks, where the plants 
were smaller and more individualized, we have found a fair number 
of distinct varieties. In short, old walls, stone dykes, and rough 
and rocky ground generally on hill-sides and elsewhere form, in 
our opinion, the best hunting-grounds. It would be idle to specify 
likely localities, the records show that wherever an expert has re- 
sided in a ferny region, he has gradually accumulated a collection 
within the range of his travels, and the late Mr. J. Moly, one of 
our most noted pioneers, a resident near Lyme Regis in Dorset, 
has some six hundred distinct finds to his credit, as the result of 
many years’ search, while the late Dr. Wills, his neighbour at 
Chard, found in the same district a considerable number also dis- 
tinct. The writer, whose research is confined to annual holidays, 
has nevertheless found over seventy varieties, so that it is clearly 
worth the while of any Fern-loving amateur to devote attention to 
the Ferns of the wayside, woodland, and glen with a view to acquisi- 
tions of this class, and so derive the double enjoyment of charming 
country rambles plus a definite natural object of study. The 
absolutely essential point is concentrated attention upon and 
examination of every Fern met with. It is, we are certain, the 
diverted attention to other plants, with which the hunter is ac- 
quainted, which accounts for the fact that the general botanist is 
rarely a successful Fern-hunter. For the beginner the first essential 
is, of course, a familiarity with the normal forms of the various 
species, and of these our coloured plates will give a clear idea, 
while if he is successful in finding a variety, he will in all probability 
discover its prototype among the other illustrations, and if it be a 
good symmetrical one and is neither figured nor described, there 


E 


50 BRITISH FERNS 


is a fair chance that he has discovered something quite new, always, 
we may add, a possibility in this connection. We may now turn 
to the needful equipment of the Fern-hunter, and the provision 
for the preservation of his finds in a living state until he can instal 
them at home. The orthodox equipment is a strong trowel, and a 
vasculum or oblong metal box provided with a lid and means of 
suspension over the shoulders; but our experience shows that 
when clambering about rough declivities at steep angles this 
apparatus is apt to be a nuisance, and our own personal equipment 
consists merely of a ball of string, a few newspapers, a stout reliable 
hooked stick, and the inevitable trowel, most of which will go into 
one’s pockets, and thus constitute absolutely no impedimenta. 
Given a find, we extract it carefully with as much of the root as 
possible, wrap the roots in moss or grass, which can be usually 
obtained close by, and roll the straightened fronds lightly up in 
paper, secured with string. The parcel can then be either pocketed 
if small, or slung over the shoulders if large, the earliest opportunity 
being taken of giving the roots a soak in water, for if these get dry, 
it is a great check upon the plant. Ferns so treated will stand for 
a week or two without detriment to their vitality, if packed upright 
in a box with moss between them. Of course, it occasionally 
happens that the successful hunter is confronted with difficulties 
which will tax his inventive powers to overcome. One of the 
writer’s finds on Dartmoor weighed about 14 ewt., a huge mass 
of a splendidly tasselled Lastrvea montana, which was obviously 
not amenable to extraction by a pocket trowel or transport in 
paper and string. A labourer and a fork and spade were ob- 
tained from a neighbouring village, but even they did not suffice, 
and the services of a man in a quarry cart had eventually to be 
enlisted to convey the mass on the first stage of its journey to 
London. On another occasion a very desirable Hartstongue was 
noticed just over the arch spanning a Devonshire stream, and only 
just within reach of the trowel lashed to the stick aforesaid. If so 
dislodged, however, it would inevitably fall into the rapid stream 
below and be lost. This problem was solved by the fortunate 
presence of an umbrella, which being opened and suspended under 
the arch by a string, eventually received the prize when dislodged. 
A second similar bridge difficulty with a variety of Polypodium 
vulgare was met differently ; the umbrella could not be used as the 
wall was sheer, but by means of a loose slip-knot of string, the 
fronds were lassoed, and when the root was dislodged, the plant 
was drawn up and bagged in the usual way. In another instance 
a finely crested Hartstongue was seen about ten feet up a high 
wall, quite out of reach, and this was got at by hoisting a village 
lad upon our shoulders and instructing him what to do. This find, 
by the way, turned out to be something new even in that protean 
species. To conclude, we cannot refrain from reverting to the 


WILD “SPORTS” AND HOW FOUND 51 


enjoyment incidental to Fern-hunting apart trom the quest itself. 
We have innumerable pleasant memories of brilliant days spent 
in the Devonian combes and shady lanes, on the rugged flanks of 
the Lakeland mountains, in Scottish glens, on breezy moors, and, 
in short, in innumerable lovely localities to which we were led 
primarily by our love for the Ferns and the chances of adding to the 
number of their wonderful variants. 


CHAPTER Ix 


TYPES OF VARIATION 


In the foliage of flowering plants there is immense diversity of form, 
both specific and varietal, but in Ferns it would almost appear that, 
prevented by their absence of obvious flowers from displaying 
their powers of variation in that direction, they have made up for it 
by doing so in a very wonderful and surprising fashion in their 
foliage. Between the forms of fronds of diverse genera we naturally 
find great differences, but it is in the case of our native Ferns 
especially that one and the same species has proved itself capable 
of assuming hundreds of different types of fronds, and this not due 
to any human selection at all, but solely to some natural impulse 
to which we have absolutely no clue. Naturally the study of these 
types, despite their multiformity, shows them to permit of some 
classification, and they may be broadly divided into two sections, 
viz. those in which the terminal points of the fronds and sub- 
divisions branch in such a way as to form tassels or crests (cristate), 
and those in which the normal extent of subdivision is increased 
or diminished. Thus a once divided or pinnate form may possibly 
yield a quadri- or quinque-pinnate one, i.e. four or five times divided, 
in this way, practically losing all similarity to the specific and 
simpler type, while in rarer cases a normally divided frond may 
not be divided at all, but become simply strap-shaped. The for- 
mation of terminal tassels is the most prevalent type of abnormality, 
and has been found to occur in a very large number of species 
both native and exotic. No cresting proper has been remarked in 
the foliage of any flowering plant. In the Celostas, or Cockscombs, 
and many other cases of fasciation, there is a similarity, but also 
a fundamental difference. In fasciation we find a multiplication of 
growing points, which develop so closely together as to coalesce, 
a normally round stem thus becoming a flat, or almost ribbonlike 
one, or, as in the Cockscomb, a dense Cactus-like mass built up 
of innumerable conjoined branches and flower stalks massed solidly 
together. The typical Fern crest, on the other hand, commences to 
develop on what may be considered a normal stalk or midrib, the 
growing point of which, at a certain stage in this development, and 


52 


TYPES OF VARIATION 53 


not at the outset, multiplies itself, and forms as many independent 
tips which radiate, and may or may not divide again and again, 
but there is no cohesion, the tendency is always to grow apart. 
This tendency to multiply the terminal points extends, in some 
cases, to the fourth degree of subdivision; that is to say, the tip 
of the frond bears a tassel, the pinne, or primary side divisions, 
bear smaller ones, the pinnules, or secondary side divisions, do the 
like on a still smaller scale, and finally, the minute subdivisions of 
these, or pinnulets, are distinctly fanned, showing that the same 
tendency prevails throughout. Since, however, these tassels only 
occur at the tips, i.e. after a definite growth of the midribs primary, 
secondary, or tertiary, on single or normal lines, we have the singular 
fact that at a certain definite point of growth in many thousands of 
cases in such a subdivided plant, the midrib suddenly adopts a 
different plan of growth, and commences to split up and multiply 
itself to form a tassel. This tendency evinces itself in very varied 
ways. The terminals may divide on fan-like flat lines to form 
radiating points, these radiating points may divide again, or again 
and again, to form heavy pendulous flat tassels, or the division 
may occur on other radiating lines so as to produce bunches, also 
of single points or multiplied ones, so as to form corymbs or round 
masses. It is clear that many forms of tassel may result in this 
way, and hence the “ cristate’’ section is a large one. Allied to 
this are those Ferns which branch irregularly, their frond stalks 
commencing to branch near the base and doing so repeatedly, 
the leafy portion being carried by branching midribs, and only 
assuming the strap or leafy specific form if a sufficient cessation 
of the branching occurs. Such forms are in some cases associated 
with regular crests (see Appendix) with fine effect. In extreme 
cases of this type the whole Fern resembles a ball of moss, as is 
seen in the Hartstongue (Scol. v. densum Kelwaym) and in the 
Lady Fern (A. f. f. wnco-glomeratum and A. f. f. acrocladon.) The 
second main section, in which the fronds are divided to a greater 
extent than the normal one (the opposite cases are too rare to be 
considered here), undoubtedly embraces a large number of the 
most beautiful forms existing. This type of variation would appear 
to depend very much, if not entirely, upon a primary simplicity 
of the vein system of the Fern concerned, the little veins which 
carry the cell tissue must be mostly free, that is, not forming a 
network, as we see in most flowering plants and many Ferns, 
but starting from the midrib, run out to the extreme edge of the 
frond, and to the points of the subdivisions. In such case, if they, 
by virtue of ‘sporting,’ continue to grow beyond normal lines, 
they, as tissue-forming feeders, carry the tissue with them, following 
the specific tendency, and in this way, for instance, a Common 
Polypody (Polypodium vulgare) with normally smooth-edged 
pinnate divisions, but with free veins terminating at the smooth 


54 BRITISH FERNS 


edge, may vary into ‘“‘crenate,” with slightly projecting lobes, 
“serrate,” sharp and obvious ones, and so on through bi-pinnate, 
or twice-divided fronds, away into such finely dissected or much- 
cut forms as we see in P. v. Cornubiense, or in the various forms of 
the Welsh Polypody (P. v. cambricum) (see Appendix for numerous 
examples). In numerous Shield Ferns (Polystichum) we see this 
same principle carried out, often in association with extremely 
varied shapes of the pinnules, altering greatly the aspect of the 
plant. By virtue of this tendency to greater division of a normally 
bi-pinnate or twice-divided species, we have tri-pinnate, quadri- 
pinnate, and even quinque-pinnate forms, and in most of these 
extreme cases the subdivisions, though becoming slenderer and 
slenderer, are still seen to adhere to the peculiar specific mitten- 
shaped form if closely inspected, i.e. like a fingerless glove, with 
the thumb projecting at an obtuse angle. In the extraordinary 
gracillimum section of P. aculeatum recently raised, it is, how- 
ever, impossible to trace this form, the normal half-inch pinnule 
being lengthened to between two and three inches, and corres- 
pondingly narrowed (Figs. 11, 12, 13). In the Hartstongue the 
plain, undivided strap-like frond, when inspired by Nature to 
‘sport’ in the same direction, is somewhat baffled by its shape 
from taking it, but finds a way out by forming deep frills (S. v. crzs- 
pum), its free veins, which fork once or twice normally on their way 
to the frond edge, forking over and over again as they approach it, 
carrying the tissue with them, the result being edges two or three 
times as long as the frond, and a consequent folding over, which 
renders this section a very handsome one, some of the members of 
which have invented a further outlet for their superabundant 
energy by providing the frills with fringes. Others of this species 
have not been baffled entirely in the ordinary direction of greater 
division, but have gone far in the direction of the pinnate Ferns 
by producing boldly-toothed and deeply-cut edges (S. v. progectum). 
The true plumose or extra feathery Ferns embrace the frilled 
Hartstongues, and such much-divided members of other species 
as are barren of spores, such as the cambricum Polypodies, Asplentum 
trichomanes incisum, S. v. crisbum aforesaid, Lastrea montana 
plumosa, and others, to which must be added on the score of beauty 
a number of Polystichums and Lady Ferns treated of elsewhere, 
which, despite a certain amount of fertility in spores, rank with 
the most beautiful feathery varieties in the world. A very curious 
type of variation is seen in a number of the divided Ferns, which is 
presumably akin to the sagittate, or arrow-shaped Hartstongues. 
These forms are termed deltoid, or triangular, or brachiate, accord- 
ing to the extent to which the variation goes. In the Appendix, 
a number of marked forms of Polypodium vulgare, Polystichum 
angulare, and Scolopendrium vulgare are shown of this type, in 
which the lowermost divisions are greatly lengthened, widening the 


TYPES OF VARIATION 55 


base of the frond, and even in some instances converting these into 
lateral fronds, the whole representing a trident when they grow 
upwards at an acute angle to the main rachis or midrib. Congested 
and imbricate forms occur in several species. In these the midribs, 
main and secondary, are shortened so that the divisions of the 
frond are compressed, and sometimes densely overlap, the result 
being a great reduction in size, forming a dwarf section of very 
pretty Ferns. The above varietal sections are, as we have seen, 
mostly of a redundant type, exceeding the normal in development, 
or, at any rate, no part of the normal plan is missing, but there are 
others which vary in the opposite direction, and although these, 
as a rule, belong rather to the “curio” class than to the élite, 
this 1s not always the case, as will be seen in A. f. 7. Victorie (Ap- 
pendix No. XIII), which is imputed to the non-redundant, because 
it is assumed that the twin pinnz represent only the enlarged basal 
pinnules of the pinnz proper, the rest of which is lacking. Whether 
this theory be correct or not is immaterial; in any case this 
wonderful Fern is a development of the phenomena of “ cruciation,” 
a small varietal section similarly characterized by twin pinne set 
on at an angle to each other, and thus, with the opposite pairs, form- 
ing crosses, whence the name of ‘‘ cruciate.” 

As a section of truly non-redundants, we may mention the trun- 
cate and the medio deficiens forms. In the truncate we have, as it 
were, the converse type to the cristate, since, instead of the midrib 
multiplying itself, it suddenly leaves off before its work is finished, 
terminating with a projection like a thorn at the squared-off end 
of the frond and side-divisions. In Lastvea montana this is found 
so frequently as to be termed ‘‘the beginner’s Fern”? by Fern- 
hunters. This occurs also in the Lady Fern (A. f. f. excurrens), 
Male Fern, and in various forms in the Hartstongue (S. v. pera- 
jerens, cornutum, etc.) Why, in thoroughly healthy, robust plants, 
the growth should thus suddenly cease is a puzzle, and it is curious 
that in the Tulip Tree (Lirviodendron tulipifera) the leaves should 
be square-ended on similar lines. In the medzo-deficiens type, the 
subdivisions of the pinne, and sometimes of the pinnules, are 
aborted or reduced to rudiments next the midrib, leaving an open 
space, which in one form of Lady Fern found in Wigtonshire by the 
writer is so even as to render the frond pretty, and in the lineare 
section of Shield Ferns it imparts a graceful habit. 

Another distinct type is that in which the fronds and side 
divisions are convexly curved “ vevolvens”’ or erratically twisted 
“ flexuose,”’ examples of which have been found in the Lady Fern, 
the Male Fern, the Hartstongue, the Hard Fern, the Soft Shield 
Fern, and the Common Bracken. A peculiarity of both these types 
is that the curving tends to contravene one of the laws of plant life, 
viz., that of the self-exposure of leaf surfaces to best advantage as 
regards light. The curving, rolling, or twisting tends to expose the 


56 BRITISH FERNS 


under surface instead of the upper, and there is no doubt but that 
the tortuous twisting of the flexwosum and the spiral convolutions 
of the vevolvens forms are largely due to endeavours to counter- 
act this, the varietal tendency and the normal being in constant 
opposition. 

Shortened side divisions constitute another section; in the Lady 
Fern A. }. f. Frizellig (see Appendix No. VI) the pinne are merely 
round ball-like masses, the frond resembling a string of beads; in 
A. }. f. Pritchardii we have a sort of intermediate between this and 
cruciate forms. In the Hard Fern, we have Blechnum spicant con- 
cinnum Drueryit, with fronds like strings of scallop shells, and in 
B. s. lineare the fronds are almost, and sometimes quite strap- 
shaped, the pinne being short and rounded, or even quite con- 
fluent. Conjoined with most of the above types are additional 
peculiarities of many kinds, and it is this fact which renders it so 
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to simplify the often long 
names given to the plants concerned. To those who take the 
trouble to learn what may be termed the Fern language, no such 
great task as it appears, these names are invaluable when the 
christening has been judicious, to which, unhappily, there are many 
exceptions, and no true Fern-lover would care to see new finds or 
raisings named without any indication of their character, as is 
perforce done in the floral world. In a choice of evils it is good 
policy to choose the less. 


CHAPTER X 


FERN FOES AND REMEDIES 


As in every case where plants are grown under glass vermin of 
various kinds are sure to make their appearance, it is as well to 
devote a short chapter to the methods of dealing with them. 
The principal foes we have in our mind are Green-fly, Aphis, 
White-fly, Aleyrodes vaporaria, and the Weevil, Otiorhyncus sulcatus, 
plus, in houses where artificial warmth is provided, Thrips. The 
presence of Green-fly is almost invariably due to insufficient ventila- 
tion or overshading, which induces a tenderness of growth and un- 
healthy conditions; healthy plants appear fully capable of resisting 
their attacks. The first remedy is therefore better ventilation, 
avoiding draughts, and an increase of light if possible. In this 
latter connection removable blinds are better than fixed ones, 
since the more daylight there is admitted the stronger the growth, 
and shading is really only necessary against blazing hot sunshine 
and during the warmest months of the year. The second remedy 
we shall come to later. The White-fly is a terrible infliction when 
once it is allowed to obtain a footing. This is a fly, really of a very 
light lemon colour, which flits about snipe fashion from plant to 
plant when disturbed, and has a clever knack of alighting on the 
under side of the fronds at a point distant from its apparent point 
of settlement. Its flight, too, is remarkably swift, and as we have 
indicated, erratic. This fly attacks both deciduous and evergreen 
Ferns, but only lays its eggs on the fronds, so that those laid on 
deciduous ones are eventually cleared away and the following 
season’s brood only arises from those left on persistent ones. Its 
attack takes the form of a gnawing away of the epidermis or skin 
of the foliage, the result of which is tortuous lines of dirty white, 
which in bad cases pervade the fronds entirely and weaken the 
plants considerably. The eggs, in cold houses, hatch out about 
April, when the larve or immature flies may be found on the backs 
of the discoloured fronds as tiny whitish insects, already busy with 
their gnawing, and capable of creeping to fresh fields and pastures 
new on the same Fern even at this stage, though their wider ex- 
cursions are deferred until May, when after a short chrysaloid 


57 


58 BRITISH FERNS 


stage, the winged perfect insect commences to flit about. Keeping 
this fact in mind it is obvious that we have about a month in which, 
if attacked properly, we can absolutely clear all the plants without 
a chance of reappearance, unless other infected plants be intro- 
duced. Our remedy, which we have found to be exceedingly 
efficacious, is to use the liquid form of the ‘‘X L All”’ insecticide, 
which is vaporized by means of a small spirit lamp and an in- 
expensive apparatus, and, if used about the end of April, entirely 
kills out the larve which by that time will have all been hatched 
out. It is equally effective later on when the fly appears on the wing, 
but as some of these may be at that time in the short chrysaloid 
stage, and therefore dormant, these will escape the fumes and 
appear later on in sufficient numbers to re-establish the pest by 
fresh eggs, which they are not long in laying, thus rendering a second 
fumigation necessary. The same remedy is equally fatal to Green- 
fly, and should be applied directly that pest makes its appearance. 
The same remark applies to Thrips, of which the White-fly is 
really a species. When using it, all ventilators should be closed 
and everything done to prevent the intrusion of fresh air or escape 
of poisoned air during the operation. The comparative proportions 
of space to be fumigated are marked on the bottles in so many 
square feet, which are easily calculated by multiplying the width 
of the house by the length, and then by the height, the average 
height being taken of the sloping roof. When the lamp is lit, the 
house should be closed at once and not opened until the following 
morning, a calm evening being chosen. 

The Weevil is a far more insidious foe and one much more diffi- 
cult to deal with, since it is immune from all fumigatory remedies, 
and even defies to a large extent, and in its beetle form entirely, 
the other insecticides put on the market. This pest is far more 
drastic in its operations than those already mentioned, since 
starting with it in its grub form, a curved, fat white maggot, about 
half an inch long, it devours the very rootstocks and roots of the 
plants, in the soil of which the eggs have been laid the previous 
autumn, so that in the early spring we may find the Fern loose in 
the soil and probably entirely dead, or only to be resurrected by 
one of the processes we describe in our chapter on Propagation. 
The Beetle, an almost black insect, with an oval body, about a 
third of an inch long and with a long proboscis flanked by two 
antenne half-way down it at right angles, emerges from the soil 
towards the end of April, and chmbing up the fronds, preferring 
the rising young ones, eats pieces out of the edges, and as these 
gaps grow larger with the fronds the result is terrible disfigurement. 
Hartstongues are especially to their taste, but by no means ex- 
clusively so. Having described the two forms in which this pest 
appears and its different modes of attack, we may now consider 
the best means to frustrate its malignancy. The presence of the 


FERN FOES AND REMEDIES 59 


grubs in the soil may be known in the winter, if any fronds are 
noticed as wilted, and when pulled come quite freely away from 
the caudex. The only way then is to turn the plant out of the pot, 
pick out the offenders, thoroughly wash the roots, to make certain 
none are actually embedded in the caudex, as they frequently 
are, and then re-pot what is left. Plunging the pot under water to 
drown them, as we have seen suggested, is no good at all, since we 
have submerged some for three weeks and found them survive. 
This process, however, will bring a few to the surface of the soil, 
but not those which are deeply embedded, and hence is only a 
partial remedy. Two remedies have recently been introduced, 
named “ Kilogrub”’ and ‘‘ Vaporite,’ both in the form of dark 
grey powders, which are applied by boring holes in the soil, filling 
them with the remedy and then tamping or stopping the hole with 
soil, which the fumes then penetrate, killing the grub but without 
injury to the plants. From reliable sources we have had good 
reports of these, but cannot speak from experience. The Beetle 
we have found does not travel as a rule far from its larder, and can 
usually be found hidden, if not caught in flagrante deliclo, some- 
where about the plant or the pot. If difficult to find, say in pans 
of seedlings which are seen to be attacked, plunging under water 
will bring the Beetles out in a few minutes, since they cannot long 
stand immersion as do the grubs. The Beetles are largely night 
feeders, but by no means exclusively so. They are very cunning, 
dropping to the earth at the slightest alarm and shamming death, 
so that as they match the soil in colour, they are difficult to find. 
If gently approached when feeding, they are easily caught by 
means of a little paper scoop, five or six inches long, tied to the end 
of a thin bamboo. The scoop being gently passed beneath them, 
a little tap will cause them to drop into it and thus be secured. 
Sometimes an invasion of Caterpillars causes great havoc in the 
late summer, and can only be met by persistent hand-picking. As 
these, with the exception of such rambling species as the Woolly 
Bear, are generally the result of eggs being laid in the house itself, 
no pains should be spared to catch any moths which are seen in it, 
and it is well if the ventilators are screened with wire gauze or 
perforated zinc to prevent their entrance. The attack of a Cater- 
pillar can always be discriminated from that of a Weevil, by the 
latter eating from the edge, the former as a rule making a hole to 
begin with. The above are the principal foes, but occasionally 
others present themselves. The Lady Ferns especially, in some 
seasons, are apt to be attacked by a fly which, when the fronds are 
of some height and still unfolding, pierces the stalk a few inches 
from the uncoiling top and inserts an egg or two. The immediate 
result is the wilting and dying of the uncoiling part down to the 
wound, which is imperceptible. The ultimate result is the hatch- 
ing of the eggs into, usually two, light blue caterpillars or maggots, 


690 BRITISH FERNS 


which bore down the remaining midrib and stalk of the frond and 
eventually pupate in the soil near the caudex. We have never been 
able to discover this fly, but have been informed that it somewhat 
resembles a house-fly. The only remedy for this is to cut off the 
frond some inches below the wilted portion immediately the 
flagging is seen, thus, of course, removing the eggs and preventing 
development of the grub. Cases of similar attacks in the late 
summer have been reported to us, but with us they have been 
confined to the spring. A tiny black snail, Helix allcaria, so called 
from its pungent onion-like odour, is sometimes a nuisance, gnaw- 
ing through the bases of even large fronds, which drop mysteriously 
and without warning in a very provoking fashion. Fortunately, 
this foe is not numerous. Slugs and snails generally should be sought 
for and killed when traces of them appear in the shape of slime ; but 
Ferns do not appear to appeal to them very strongly. Worms 
should be turned out of pots, if their casts are seen, as they tend to 
choke the drainage and sour the soil. Wood-lice should be kept in 
check as far as possible by destroying them in their haunts under 
the pots and elsewhere; but as they are chiefly feeders on dead 
material they are not nearly so inimical to living plants as the other 
invaders named. 


PLATE II. 


SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF 
BRITISH FERNS 


ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS (THE Marwen-Hair FERN) 
Plate II 


This very pretty and delicate species is a solitary member of a large 
genus as regards the British Isles, in which, indeed, it only exists, 
as it were, on sufferance, as a native, properly, of warmer climes. 
Hence it is only found on our warm coasts, and under culture 
requires a warm house, or at any rate one from which frost is 
excluded. Elsewhere it is widely distributed in many parts of the 
world where the climate is favourable, and moist conditions prevail, 
at any rate, locally. Fig. 14 depicts sufficient of a mature frond 


Fig. 14. dd.c. v. (pinna). 


to permit of easy recognition of the species, which, as will be seen, 
bears its fructification in short marginal patches, which are pro- 
tected by the inturned edges of the rounded projections on the 
edges of the subdivisions of the frond. It forms very pretty pot 
specimens, planted in broken peat, silver sand, and a little loam, 
in which its black, creeping rootstock travels slowly, throwing up 
the fronds at short intervals. 

Curiously enough, despite its limited area, several very marked 
varieties have been found, by far the handsomest of which is Ad. 
c. v. var. Cornubicnse, a fairly exact imitation of that beautiful 
exotic, Ad. Farleyense, undoubtedly the most beautiful Adiantum 


61 


62 BRITISH FERNS 


extant. This is figured in our Appendix (No. 1), and as this is on 
a reduced scale, it will be seen that it is not only its make, but to 
some extent its size, that justifies our parallel. 


Fig. 15. dd. cv. admirabile. 


ADMIRABILE (Fig. 15).—Raised by E. J. Lowe. Very large and 
handsome. 


Darunites.—Raised by E. J. Lowe. A gem, somewhat on 
tinbricatum lines, but not so dense. 


ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS 63 


ee 
Fig. 16. Ad. c. v. embricatum, 


Impricatum, Lowe (Fig. 16).—A dwarf, imbricated form, pre- 
sumably raised from Cornubiense ; very beautiful, and bearing 
bulbils associated with the spore heaps, as does daphnites. 


Vig. 17. Ad. ¢. vu. tneisum. 


Incisum, Moore (Fig. 17).—Found in Ireland by Dr. Allchin ; 
pinnules with edges cut into small, acute lobes ; very pretty. 


64 F BRITISIL FERNS 


f ; 
Re Ye 
Zs 


a N A 
\\ \ 


Fig. 18 Ad.c. v. incisum Footit, 


rf 


Incisum Footi, Lowe (Fig. 18).—This is another 


‘sport’ on 
somewhat bolder lines ; found in County Clare. 


ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS 6r 


Fig. 19. A. ¢. v. halon, 


Katon, Lowe (Fig. 19).—A handsome foliose form, raised from 
spores. 


Macniricum.—Found in County Clare. A very fine foliose form. 


66 


BRITISH FERNS 


OPTANDUM (Pig. 20).—Raised by E. J. Lowe; a fine cuneate 
form, 


¥ 


FO 


PLATE Ill. 


ALLOSORUS CRISPUS 67 


ALLOSORUS CRISPUS (THE Parsley FER). 
(Plate III) 


The Parsley Fern is popularly so called from its resemblance, 
to some extent, to the familiar parsley of our kitchen gardens, a 
resemblance accentuated by its growing in dense patches of similar 
size. In its mountain habitats, for it is truly a mountain Fern, 
it is found in great profusion, mainly on the loose debris weathered 
down from above on the talus of steep gradients, whence, by virtue 
of scattered spores, it will also invade the chinks and crevices of 
the loose stone dykes common to such localities, and practically 
monopolize them. Its somewhat triangular fronds, which may 
reach nearly a foot in length, are three or 
four times divided, and vary in form accord- 
ing as they are barren or fertile. Fig. 21 
shows a portion of a fertile frond of natural 
size, and Fig. 22 shows the diversity of form 
which the barren fronds are capable of dis- 
playing even in one and the same plant. 
As regards culture, ordinary pot or pan 
culture, or simply planting in the open on 
the flat, is little likely to succeed. Anyone 
collecting the Fern in its native habitat, on 
the slopes of loose, stony material, weathered 
down from above, will note that season after \" 
season the plant is apt to be buried by the :- 
sliding debris, and, in fact, has been so re- 
peatedly, and that season after season the 
new fronds have pushed their way to the 
light, and rooted higher up to fit. Soil 
proper there is hardly any under such con- . 
ditions, and however moist the rubble may Hig. ax: dates nie: 
be it is well drained. Studying these pecu- 
liarities, we have succeeded in maintaining the Parsley Fern in 
good condition for years, ina London garden, in this way. Digging 
a hole about a foot deep in a suitable position, we have filled this 
with rough brown peat and loam in equal parts, and well mixed 
with coarse sand and gravel. Upon this we have spread the matted 
root mass of the Fern, with its growing end towards the north ; 
we have then buried it bodily with a spadeful of gravel, so that it 
was entirely covered to the depth of a couple of inches. Over the 
root mass, i.e. on the south side, we have then dumped a large 
brick burr, about two feet high, and nearly as wide, thus leaving 
the growing end of the Fern free, save of the gravel. Drenching 
the whole with water, we have then left the plant to its own 


68 BRITISH FERNS 


resources, and, doubtless regarding this cataclysm as a usual thing, 
it speedily pushed a host of fronds through the gravel, and grew, 
thenceforth, season after season, as if at Snowdon’s foot itself. 

As regards varieties, only one was found, a very pretty tasselled 


Fig. 22. A, erispus. Varied forms of fronds on same plant. 


one, but this unfortunately died, as did a large number of true 
seedlings which were subsequently raised by Mr. J. M. Barnes 
from soil collected at the spot whence the original plant was lifted, 
a spot presumably subsequently lost sight of, as no second attempt 
is recorded. 


THE ASPLENIA (THE SPLEENWORTS) 


The Spleenwort genus is represented in the British Isles by no 
less than ten species, viz. Asp. ivichomanes, Asp. viride, Asp. 
adiantum nigrum, Asp. lanceolatum, Asp. marinum, Asp. ruta- 
muraria, Asp. septentrionale, Asp. germanicum, Asp. fontanum, 
and Asp. ceterach, the last of which is usually known as Ceterach 
officinarum, but by all generic distinctions is a true Spleenwort. 
The allocation of Athyrium filix-femina to the Spleenwort family 
is, in every Fern-grower’s opinion, too absurd to be discussed, as it 


Asplenium adiantum nigrum 


PLATE Iv. 


Asp. fontanum 
var refractum 


' 


Asp. fontanum 


THE ASPLENIA 60m 


does not present a single character peculiar to that genus. The 
distinguishing fructification of the genus is the arrangement of the 
spore heaps or sori in definite lines, short or long, arranged herring- 
bone fashion on each side of the midribs of the divisions, resembling 
what we may see on a large scale in the Hartstongue (Scolopendrium 
vulgare), which is a near relation, but has the lines arranged in faced 
pairs, the two heaps coalescing into one when ripe. These linear 
heaps are provided when young with a transparent whitish cover, 
(¢ndusium), springing from one side. By this character any fertile 
Spleenwort is easily recognizable. This arrangement is very clearly 
shown by Fig. 34. The Spleenworts are thoroughly evergreen, and 
are more at home in old walls, rock crevices, and stony dykes than 
in the soil proper, and, in fact, it is only in such positions that our 
native species occur. As regards variation, the genus generally 
is little prone to depart from normal types, and especially to assume 
tasselled forms, and it is therefore somewhat singular that several 
of our native species have done so on rather a generous scale ; 
several, on the other hand, have not “ sported ”’ at all, or at any rate 
have done so on so indifferent a scale that we may well ignore the 
exceptions. Culture, as may be gathered from the nature of their 
habitats, involves perfect drainage, a rubbly, open compost, in- 
cluding some old mortar and porous stone, intermingled with 
leaf mould, and a little loam and sand. On rockwork they should 
be installed in chinks, and not in flat beds, and very close culture 
is not advisable. With these remarks 
we may now proceed to treat of the 
species seriatim. 


ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM-NIGRUM 


(THE Brack MAIDEN-HAIR 
SPLEENWORT) 


(Plate IV) 


This member of the Spleenwort 
family is one of the commonest and 
most widely spread. It is found in 
abundance in many places, on old 
walls, in stone dykes, and in hedge- , 
banks, in which the fronds are some- 
times between one and two feet in 
length, including a very long stalk, 
such length being due to the Fern 
projecting its fronds from very deep 
chinks. For culture a larger admix- 
ture of leaf mould is advisable than 
for other Spleenworts, and Mr. G. B. 
Wollaston advised an admixture for Fig. 23. Asp. ad. nig. (pina). 


70 BRITISH FERNS 


this species of leaves rubbed down to dust with plenty of coarse 
silver sand. Its fronds spring from a tufted rootstock, and have a 


x iy LE 

Be : j = 

Se 
WleP " 


Fig. 24. Asp. ad. nig. grandiceps. 


black, shiny stalk, whence 
the name. Its subdivisions 
vary considerably in the 
direction of greater obtuse- 
ness or acuteness, the 
latter appearing to de- 
pend to some extent on 


> climate. The imported 


Fern fronds sold in our 
markets as the ‘‘ French 
Fern”’ are of this species, 
and are always of the 
acute variety (Fig. 23). 
Several marked varieties 
have been found. 


GRANDICEPS (Fig. 24).— 
Heavily crested at frond 
tip, and with fan-shaped, 
serrate pinne. Found in 
Ireland by the Rev. R. 
Travers Smith. A similar 
form was found in Devon. 


LINEARE.—A form found by the writer in Cornwall, with very 


narrow fronds and linear subdivisions. 


WW 


ees 
Seats 


Fig. 25. Asp. ad. nig. microdon, 


Micropon (Fig. 25).-Found in Guernsey ; is a counterpart of 
the variety of Asp. lanceolatum similarly named ; it is presumably 
a plumose form, and is, we believe, barren, the spores, though 


apparently plentiful, being aborted. 


THE ASPLENIA 71 


Ramosvm (Fig. 26).—Found 
by the Rev. C. Padley; is a 
well-crested form at the frond 
apex. 


ASPLENIUM CETERACH 
(CETERACH OFFICINARUM) 


THE ScALY SPLEENWORT 
(Plate V) 


This pretty and very distinct 
member of the Spleenwort 
family is found in many parts 
of the country, sometimes in 
great profusion on old walls in 
the company of other Spleenworts. It grows in little tufts, 
the thick, leathery fronds being usually four or five inches long, 
consisting of a short stalk and broad-based, blunt side-divisions, 
as shown in Fig. 27. The colour is of a peculiarly dark olive- 
green, and the frond-backs are densely clothed with brown 
scales, amid which the long, straight spore heaps of the Spleenwort 
type are quite hidden. It is a remarkable Fern, since it prefers the 
sunny sides of the walls it frequents, and is gifted with an ex- 
traordinary power of resisting drought. We gathered a variety 
known as crenatum in a village wall, near Smyrna, 
in Asia Minor, put the plant into an envelope, 
pocketed it, and forgot all about it until some 
months later it was discovered, as shrivelled and 
hopeless-looking as may be imagined. After a 
night’s immersion in water, however, it appeared 
as fresh as when gathered, and when potted up 
started growing as if nothing had happened. It 
is not easy to cultivate, but sometimes succeeds 
in well-drained small pans, in well-lighted posi- 
tions, if an open, porous, stony, limy compost 
be given, and well-rooted specimens be sccured 
intact, not an easy task to start with. It has 


Fig. 26. Asp. ad, nig. ramosum, 


Fig. 27. 
Asp. ceterach, ey" 
Part of frond. afforded a few varieties. 


CRENATUM.—Found repeatedly with the lobes cut into blunt 
teeth. 


CRISTATUM, GRANDICEPS.—Both found in Ireland by Mr. O’ Kelly, 
representing various grades of cresting. 


72 BRITISH FERNS 


ed 
— 
Ay 


= 


= 


TOs 
=p 
f 

\. 


uy 


Fig. 28. Asp. c. halon. Fig. 29. Asp. ¢. ramoso-cristatum, 


KALon (Fig. 28).—An extra fine form of crenatum, recorded by 
Mr. E. J. Lowe. 
MULTIFIDO-CRISTATUM. Branched on good, constant lines. 


RAMOSO-CRISTATUM (Fig. 29).—A branched, crested form, found 
in Ireland by Mr. Wise. 


PLATE V. 


Asplenium ceterach Asp. ruta-muraria 


(Ceterach officinarum) 


THE ASPLENIA 73 


ASPLENIUM FonTANUM (THE SMootH Rock SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate IV) 


Our plate (IV) and the illustration (Fig. 30) give a very good 
idea of the construction of this Fern, which is a very pretty one. 
It is very rare, but has been found in several 
places on rocks and walls, though none of 
such finds are of recent date. Several 
varieties have been raised, but it is extremely 
doubtful whether they are in existence, and 
we therefore ignore them. Culture is easier 
than with the two preceding species, good 
drainage and a porous soil of turfy peat 
with a little friable loam and plenty of 


- Beso Fig. 30. tsp. Z 
coarse silver sand suit it well. s ak ws ora 


Rerractum (Plate IV).—Is a very marked variety, the fronds of 
which bear bulbils in the axils of the pinne. Its history, however, 
is obscure ; reported to have been found in Scotland. 


ASPLENIUM GERMANICUM (THE ALTERNATE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VI) 


This is one of our rarest Ferns, and as will be seen by Fig. 31 
and Plate VI, is of very simple make. It is a true rock Fern, and 
has been found in Cumberland, Wales, and Scotland, frequently 


Fig. 31. Asp. Germanicunt. 


associated with the very similar Fern, Asp. septentrionale. It 
grows in small tufts, and has yielded no variety worthy of note. 
Its culture must imitate its conditions as far as possible ; thorough 
drainage, porous sandstone mixed with the soil, and as dry con- 
ditions as are consistent with fern existence. 


ASPLENIUM LANCEOLATUM (THE LANCEOLATE SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VI) 
This is by no means a widely spread species, being found as a 


rule only in the vicinity of the coast, where it occupies the chinks 
of stone dykes, the fissures of rocks, and similar habitats to those 


74 BRITISH FERNS 


tenanted by its near relative, the Black Maiden-hair Spleenwort 
(Asp. adiantum nigrum), from which it mainly differs in the nar- 
rower lance-shaped outline of its 
fronds, and the somewhat different 
cutting of its pinne, which are more 
regular in size. It does not lend 
itself easily to cultivation. It partakes 
a little of the tenderness of its constant 
neighbour Asp. marinum, and is far 
more common abroad in warmer 
climates. 

Fig. 32 represents only the tip of 
a frond. It has not been generous 
in varieties, and although several are 
recorded, it is so doubtful that the 
majority of them are still in exist- 
ence that we only mention mcrodon, 
which is a very fine and distinct 
form, imputed to Asp. marinum by 
Moore, and thought to be a hybrid 
by others, though probably a merely 

Fig. 32. Asp. lanceolatum. plumose sport ” of Asp, lanceolatum, 

(Tip of frond.) Though apparently fertile, the spores 

appear to be aborted. A well-drained 

compost of peat, loam, and sand (2, 2, I) is essential, coupled with 
a mild temperature. 


ASPLENIUM MARINUM (THE SEA SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VII) 


This species (Fig. 33) is very distinct from the other Spleenworts 
by reason of the thick, leathery texture of its fronds, as also by 
its strict confinement to the cliffs and caves of our warmer coasts, 


Fig. 33. Asp. marinum, (Part of frond.) 


or to immediately adjacent walls, practically within reach of the 
spray. It is properly a native of warmer climes than ours, as it 
will not stand much frost, and under warm house treatment, which 


THE [ASPLENIA 


75 


most of our species resent, it assumes a much larger size than in the 
open. In a vinery at Richmond we have seen a plant of it with 
fronds two feet long, forming,a huge plant, a marked contrast to 


even the most vigorous plants we have 
found elsewhere. In congenial habitats 
it is abundant, filling the crevices on the 
cliff rocks, and lining the roofs of sea caves 
with rosettes of light green fronds, in posi- 
tions where every tide must bathe them 
in sea water, a point worth remembering 
in its culture, which otherwise is that of 
rock Ferns generally, though protection 
from frost is essential in winter, and as 
we have seen, warm greenhouse culture 
greatly favours development. Although 
a number of varieties have been recorded, 
most of these are of rather indefinite or 
erratic character, the best being— 


Impricatum (Fig. 34), in which the 
fronds are congested, and the pinne over- 
lapping. 


bipinnate form, barren and rare. 


Ramosum.—A very marked variety, with 
branching fronds, found in Dorsetshire by 
Mr. G. B. Wollaston. 


Fig. 35. Asp. vrula-muraria. 


Fig. 34. 


Asp. marinum imbricatum, 


Fig. 36. 


(A young plant.) Asp. ruta-murarta cristatum, 


76 BRITISH FERNS 


ASPLENIUM RUTA-MURARIA (THE Wati Rue) 
(Plate V) 


This little Fern (Fig. 35) is common on old walls, bridges, etc., in 
association, frequently, with other Spleenworts, but often mono- 
polizing all the chinks near the tops of the walls with its little tufts 
of diminutive fronds, which, even in favourable positions, rarely 
exceed four or five inches in length. It lends itself very unwillingly 
to culture, requiring a dry atmosphere, and, of course, good drainage, 
in stony, limy soil. Where found, it is almost invariably rooted in 
old mortar, with no soil at all. A number of varieties are recorded, 
even a 


CRrISTATUM (Fig. 36), found in several places, but it is open 
to doubt whether any have survived removal, and in any case 
they are all, with the above exception, erratic and depauperate. 


Fig. 37. Asp. septentrionale. 


ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE (THE FORKED SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VI) 


Our figure (Fig. 37) so clearly indicates the difference between 
this and Asp. germanicum that a description is unnecessary, and as 
regards its habitats, etc., the remarks appended to that species 
apply exactly. No varieties. 


ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES (THE MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VII) 


This is one of the commonest, but to our mind the prettiest, 
Ferns, where old walls, stone dykes, and similar erections exist, 
and Ferns are generally plentiful, owing to a liberal rainfall. In 
such situations its pretty tufts, or rosettes, may be seen lining 
the chinks of the old walls by hundreds, both on the sunny and 
shady sides, and rooting obviously into the old mortar with no 
other appreciable admixture. Its fronds, usually about five or six 
inches in length, though in hedge dykes we have seen it over a foot 
long, are only once divided, and consist of a long black, hair-like 
stalk and midrib, whence the popular name, with a row on each 
side of oval pinne, attached by all but imperceptible jointed 


THE ASPLENIA 77 


stalks, and set at short distances from each other, which are of equal 
size all the way up until they taper off to a blunt tip. The same 
description applies fairly closely as regards form to its relative 
Asp. viride, but this has a green stalk and midrib, affects somewhat 
different habitats, and the side divisions are not jointed at the 
junction with the midrib, and therefore do not detach themselves, 
when their course is run, as does As. tvichomanes. Its culture has 
already been indicated, but we may add that when protected, if 
the fronds are wet for any length of time, they turn black and rot, 
and so impoverish the plant, which, clearly enough, is a lover of 
fresh air. If, however, the fronds be not wetted, it will grow 
very well in a Wardian case, but only on that condition. The 
chief varieties are :-— 


BipiInNATuM.—This is a remarkable form, found by Mr. Roberts 
in Wales, and having true bipinnate fronds, the pinne in well-grown 
specimens being quite pinnate and resembling small fronds. A 
strong plant looks like one of the bipinnate exotics. 


Fig. 38. Asp. trich. confluens Stabler. 


CONFLUENS STABLER (Fig. 38)—In this remarkable variety, 
which is a robust form, the upper pinne are confluent, or non- 
divided, the texture is extra stout, and, although it is apparently 
abundantly fertile, the spores are abortive and dustlike. It has 
been regarded as a hybrid between Asp. trichomanes and Asp. 
marinum, but this is doubted, as no marinum grew or was likely 


78 BRITISH FERNS 


to grow in the locality ; hybridization with Scolopendrium vulgare 
is more credible. Similar forms are recorded in four places. 

CoRYMBIFERUM represents a similar type to cristatum, shown 
below, but on round, bunch-crested lines. 


Fig. 39. Asp. (rich. cristatum. 


Cristatum, Wollaston (Fig. 39 and Appendix No. II).—A type 
which the writer has found on two occasions, and which, as figured, 
cropped up from a stray spore under cultivation. 


Harrovu, Moore (Fig. 40), is a dwarf, slender form with small, 
serrate pinne, very pretty. 


Incisum, Moore (Fig. 41 and Appendix No. III).—This, which 
represents the plumose form of the species, and is precisely akin in 
character to the Welsh Polypody (P. v. cambricum) in presenting 
expanded and deeply cut fronds, accompanied by entire sterility, 
has been found in several places; in one instance a fertile form is 
recorded, but as nothing appears to have resulted, we think this 
requires confirmation. 


THE ASPLENIA 79 
Incisum CrapHami (Fig. 42) is the best flat form, having 
pinne as much as three-quarters of an inch long, and so deeply 
incised as to be almost bipinnate. This was found in 1859. 


. 
d iP 
Ly hg 


f 
oe 


( 


i 
ie 


adh 


{ 
Ne 


Fig. 42 


Fig. 41. 
Asp. trich, incisum Claphamzi, 


Fig. 40 
Asp. trich, Harrovt?, Asp. trich, incisum. 


INCISUM TRIANGULARE, Lowe.—Found in 1863; is a good form 


on slenderer lines. 
INCISO-CRISPATUM CLEMENTII.— Undoubtedly the finest in- 
cisum yet discovered. It was found in the wall of a mason’s 
The pinne are beautifully cut, and deeply 


yard in Lancashire. 
overlap, forming a unique variety; in Mr. H. Bolton’s possession 


at Warton, near Carnforth. 


Fig. 43. Asp. trick. incisum laciniatum (centre of frond). 


INCISUM LACINIATUM, Stansfield (Fig. 43).—Found in Co. Clare by 
A. Stansfield ; a laciniate incisum. 


80 BRITISH FERNS 


Movutet.—Found in Devon; resembles Harrovit, but is more 
deeply cut. 


Mu.tiFipuM, Moore (Fig. 44), which is more on the lines of 
vamosum but somewhat more divided. 


Fig. 44. Asp. trich. multifidum. Fig. 45. Asp. trich, ramosum. 


Ramosum, Wollaston (Fig. 45 and Appendix No. II).—A prettily 
branched form, the frond tip dividing into several. This belongs 
to the several forms of cristatum. 


RAMO-CRISTATUM.—Several finds of this are recorded, in which 
the characters of ramosum and cristatum combine to form heavy- 
headed flat tassels of much beauty (see Appendix No. II). 


TROGGYENSE, Lowe.—Found by Mr. Lowe in 1882; may be 
described as a fertile form on incisum lines. 


PLATE VII 


Asplenium marimum 


Asplenium viride 


THE ASPLENIA 81 


Fig. 46. Asp. wiride, 


ASPLENIUM VIRIDE (THE GREEN SPLEENWORT) 
(Plate VII) 


This Fern (Fig. 46) is very similar in make to Asp. trichomanes, 
but has bright green stalks and midribs instead of black ones, and 
the pinne are not jointed at the junction with the midrib. It is 
not usually found associated with Asp. trichomanes, but grows in 
rock crevices, in moist mountain districts, often at high elevations, 
even associating with the Holly Fern (Polystichum lonchitis), but 
is not, like that Fern, confined to high levels, since we have found it 
in the rocks on the banks of streams of little elevation. It is not 
easy to grow under cultivation, requiring cool air and moisture. 
Soil should be mixed with much broken porous stone, and well 
drained ; usual size, five to six inches. A few varieties have been 
found, but none of value. 


82 BRITISH FERNS 


“PE Sa| CS 


eel Boe 
eel 


TOELG 


Fig. 47. Athyrium filév-femina (pinna). 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA (THE Lapy FeErn) 
(Plate VITI) 


This species, which ranks among the most beautiful of our native 
ones, was named by the old botanists long before the actual life 
history of the Ferns had been worked out and their peculiar 
method of reproduction ascertained. The botanical name given is 
a mixture of Greek and Latin, of which the popular name of Lady 
Fern, a polite equivalent of the Female Fern, is a true translation. 
Obviously the species was so christened owing to its greater delicacy 
of make and cutting as contrasted with its coarser companion, 
Lastrea (Nephrodium) filix-mas, the Male Fern, which, again, is a 
correct translation, but which, again, is a misnomer, since both 
species reproduce themselves on the ordinary lines as set forth in 
our chapter on the Life History of the Ferns, and as Ferns proper 
are not practically of any sex at all. Nature, however, curiously 
enough, has appeared to sympathize with the old botanists’ idea 
of the lady-like character of this species by endowing it with the 
faculty of inventing and donning innumerable fashions, many 
of extra beauty, and many of as bizarre, quaint, and eccentric 
types as the most gifted costwmére could devise in the way of laces, 


PLATE VII. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 83 


frills, fringes, tassels, and other decorative adjuncts. The Lady 
Fern, in what we may consider its simple rustic garb, is beautiful 
enough. Its fronds, which spring from erect rootstocks in tufts 
rather than circlets, and which in very; favourable situations may 
reach a length of five feet, are usually nearly thrice divided; see 
Fig. 47, which represents the prevalent type. Independently of the 
very marked varieties, or “ sports,’ with which we shall presently 
deal, it is so fertile in sub-varieties that if we examine a colony, say 
in a long roadside ditch, we shall often find it difficult to match 
exactly any two plants, so greatly will they vary in minor details, 
habit of growth, and so on. The Lady Fern affects very moist 
situations, and is perfectly deciduous, its fronds dying down in 
the autumn quite irrespective of frost. As usual, botanists have 
differed as to the genus to which this species belongs, no less than 
twenty-four different names and eight different genera figuring 
in a list of synonyms before us. This is accounted for to some 
extent by the fact that the fructification, i.e. the spore heaps, are 
indeterminate in shape, somewhat resembling a horseshoe, with 
a more or less ragged indusium or skin-like cover in the middle of it. 
It is thus differentiated from any other of our native species, but 
quite a number of eminent botanists have ranked it with the 
Asplenia, to the intense bewilderment of the British Fern specialist, 
since, in his eyes, there is not the faintest resemblance to that genus 
in any one of the characters. The Spleenworts are thoroughly ever- 
green, have more or less leathery fronds, are denizens of well-drained 
rocky habitats, and have their spore heaps in definite straight lines, 
which even when much shortened never approach a horseshoe 
form; their spores are dark-coloured, small and corrugated, and 
as a genus they are but little prone to “sport.” The Lady Fern, 
on the other hand, is perfectly deciduous, has soft-textured fronds, 
grows in the soil proper in moist positions, has curved spore heaps, 
which are never straight, the spores are large and smoothly egg- 
shaped, and the species is one of the most variable in the world. 
The British Fernist’s bewilderment is not, therefore, to be wondered 
at, and having expressed our own, we take leave of the subject. 
Culture is easy ; the Fern is not dainty as to soil, and the compost 
already mentioned suits it well. Water must not be spared, and 
as the fronds are invisible in the winter, watering then, if the plants 
be in pots, must not be omitted, since under natural conditions 
the Lady Fern is bathed in moisture at that season, and if per- 
mitted to become bone-dry will probably perish. With established 
plants saucers are permissible. 


ABASILOBUM (see mediodeficiens). 


ACROCLADON (see Plate I and Appendix No. IV).—This extra- 
ordinary Fern was found wild by Mr. Monkman, by the roadside 
on a Yorkshire moor, as a small seedling somewhat like crisbum, 


84 BRITISH FERNS 


but under culture it assumed a large size, forming a mass two feet 
high, and as much through. Although for some time reported to 
be barren. spores were eventually found, and a number of even 
more extraordinary forms were obtained from it. As will be seen 
it branches continuously from the base, until a more or less spherical 
mass of branches and crests is produced, the terminals dividing again 
and again ad infinitum during the growing season. 


A. DENSUM.—A denser-growing seedling raised by Stansfield. 


Fig. 48. A. fi f. apioides. 


APIOIDES (Fig. 48).—A dwarf variety, with very large openly 
branched crests, borne on nearly bare stalks. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQiMINA 85 


Fig. 49. 4A. fi fi Applebyanum. 


APPLEBYANUM (Fig. 49).—Pinne rounded, frond tip branched. 
Obviously a cross with Frizellig, or a ‘“‘sport” of same. Raised by 
Mr. Appleby. 


86 BRITISH FERNS 


APU#FORME (Fig. 50).—Found in Yorkshire by Mr. J. Horsfall ; 
fronds prettily crested, and with fish-like outline. 


Laas rs EEO 


a 
j 


Fig. 50. 4. f. fi apucforme (pinna). Fig. 51. al. ff. Barnesiz, 


BarwnEsil (Fig. 51).—Found by Mr. Barnes, fronds eight inches 
by one ; short, wide, and much-incised pinne. 

BLak#.—A very beautifully crested plumose form, raised by Mr. 
Parsons, the nearest approach to the superbum section, but surface 
lucent. 

CANALICULATUM.—Raised by Stansfield ; heavy grandiceps type. 

CapuT Mepus#.—Raised by Mapplebeck ; dense, rounded head 
with twisted, snake-like segments. 

CATHEDRALE.—A dwarf-crested form, found over two hundred 
years ago on Lichfield Cathedral. 

CLARISSIMA JONES.—A very remarkable Fern, found in N. Devon ; 
robust, and with slender pinnules, fronds over two feet wide. 
Apospory on frond backs first discovered on this. See Life History, 
chapter v, page 17. (See Appendix No. V) 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 87 


C. Botton.—Found in Lancashire; smaller than Clarissima 
Jones, and finer cut. Aposporous at sites of sori and terminal 
points. Somewhat inconstant, progeny more so, and mostly 
worthless. 


C. CRISTATUM GARNETT.—A lax, crested Clarissima-like variety, 
raised by Mr. Garnett, and also aposporous on frond backs. 


CONGESTUM CRISTATUM, C. CRISTATUM FITT, C. CRISTATUM (FIND- 
LEYANUM).—Dwarf, congested, and tasselled. 


C. EXCURRENS.—Raised by Stansfield; dwarf, dense, and all 
tips abruptly terminating with a thorn. 


C. GRANDICEPS.—An improvement on Fitts C. cristatum. 


a hy ee ee 
he ee a 
. oo oS 


a 
TA NC 
: 


Fig. 52. 4. fi fi congestunt minus (pinne). 


ConcEstuM MINUS (Fig. 52).—-This very beautiful dwarf and 
congested Fern, found by Mr. Riley in Ireland, was originally 
named Edwardsii, but it has been thought advisable to name it 
according to its char acter, Mr. Edwards not being the finder. 


C. M. CRISTATUM, C. M. GRANDICEPS.—Crested seedlings of C. 
minus, on very charming dwarf lines. 


C. Paut.—Found by Mr. Paul in Cornwall; very congested and 
dwarf. 


C. Purzires, C. Simpson, C. WuirweELt.—All congested and 
dwarf, but varying somewhat in detail ; the last is somewhat crispy. 


88 BRITISH FERNS 


Vig. 53. 4. fi fi contordes. 


ConioipEs (Fig. 53).—Although somewhat irregular in make 
this variety is worthy of a place in collections, owing to the pecu- 
liarly prickly, crispy character of its divisions. It was found at 
Cautly by Mr. T. Appleby. 


C. cristratuM.—Raised by Stansfield; a prettily crested form 
with contoides character. 


Fig. 54. dl. fi fi coronatum. 


CoronATuM (Fig. 54).—A small grower, with heavily crested 
head. : 


PLATE UX: 


Athyrium filix foemina 
var corymbiferum 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 89 


CORYMBIFERUM JAMES (Plate IX).—A very fine form found by 
Mr. James in Guernsey. The tassels are spherical and very dense ; 
very distinct. 


Be eS teas Alero, 
Se Ge GO? 


Wes te of 


Fig. 56. A. f fi corymbiferum strictum (middle pinna). 


C. strictum (Figs. 55 and 56).—Raised by Messrs. Stansfield ; 
fronds narrow ; a dwarfed corymbiferum. 


go BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 7. A. ff Craigit. 


Cratcil (Fig. 57).—A crested form raised by Mr. R. Craig, Miln- 
thorpe. We mention this as it belongs to a very erratic section, 
which comes so freely from spores as to form veritable weeds in 
collections under glass, mostly depauperate or crested on erratic 
lines. 


CrISPATUM PauL (GRANTIZ).—Found by Mr. Paul in Cornwall; 
a fine imbricate, dense variety. 


ATIIYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA gI 


Fig. 58. 4. f. f. crispum (plan of frond). Fig. 59. A. f. f. créspum (pinne). 


CrispuM (Figs. 58 and 59).—Found on three occasions in Co. 
Antrim, Ireland, at Braemar, Scotland, and at Todmorden, in 
Lancashire. This is an interesting branched and crested dwarf, 
which creeps about and forms spreading patches about six inches 
high only. 

C. coORONATUM (Fig. 60).—'A somewhat robuster crispum with 
heavier terminal tassels. 

dy ratttors ge W74 
Ree 


2% y 


Fig. 60. 4. fi f. crispum coronatum. 


92 BRITISH FERNS 


CristatuM.—There are many forms bearing tassels at tips of 
fronds and side divisions, which can only be classed under this 
name, having no other distinctive features. 


C. KILRUSHENSE.—This is undoubtedly the most beautiful 
crested form yet found. Discovered by the writer at Kilrush, 
Co. Clare. The tassels of both frond and pinne are long and slender, 
and divided again and again asin 4. f. /. Victori@, an uncommon 
feature. 


C. Smirutes.—Found in Wastdale ; a pendulous polydactylous 
variety. 


boa 


i 
Wie 

“ LLLER 
BERENS 


ARS 
[SS 


Fig. 61. 4. f. f. ertstato-polydactylum, 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 93 


CRISTATO-POLYDACTYLUM (Fig. 61).—Raised by Messrs. Stans- 
field ; a somewhat dwarfed grandiceps form, with heavy terminal 
crests to frond, and small ones to pinne. 


Fig. 62. A. fi fi cristulatum., 


CRISTULATUM (Fig. 62).—Raised by Messrs. Stansfield; a dwarf 
grandiceps. 


Fig. 63. A. ffi curtum (pinna). 


Curtum (Fig. 63).—Found by Mr. J. Wood at Bowness ; pinne. 
short and compact, hence fronds narrow. 


94 BRITISH FERNS 
CURTUM CRISTATUM.—Pinne short and oval, neat round crests 


C, GRANDICEPS.—Pinne short and oval, heavy crests. 


rl, NK 
SEW 


susan Fig. 65. 
Vig. 64. A. ff. denticulatum Afi f. denticulatum (pinna). 
(tip of frond). 


DENTICULATUM (Figs. 64 and 65).—Found by Mr. Barnes ; a small 
grower, of somewhat congested, stiff make, pinnules very finely cut, 
the edges resembling small teeth, whence the name, which means 
small-toothed. It is, however, the peculiarly pretty, crispy char- 
acter which distinguishes it from the normal and renders it an 
acquisition. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQEMINA ‘ 


Fig. 66. A. f. f. defauperatum. 


DEPAUPERATUM (Fig. 66).—Curiously misnamed, since it is : 
very pretty cristatum, of slender make, but not depauperate, i.e 
defective, at all. Found in Sligo by Mr. J. Gunning. 


96 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 67. A. ff. depaufperatum Edelste'nit, 


D. EpELSTEINI (Fig. 67).—A reputed seedling of Depauperatum, 
it has much heavier terminal head, but the pinne are irregular and 
really depauperate. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQi:MINA 9 


Fig. 68. 4. ff. d’adematum (crest). 


DiaDEMATUM (Figs. 68 and 69).—Raised by Mr. Elworthy. # 
very dense and large corymbose head with tufted crests to pinne 


& 
Gert 
NN ANE Wic 
ce ANE ye 
EEN IES 
GES \\ a 


fe 
(a 


Fig. 69. A. ff, diadematum (pinna) 
ce 


98 BRITISH FERNS 


ne 0G 1, 


he 
a 


Fig. 70. A. ff. diffiso-multifidum (pinna). 


DIFFISO-MULTIFIDUM (Fig. 70).—A narrow-fronded, pretty 
cristatum ; found by Mr. C. Elworthy at Nettlecombe. 


Doopio1bEs (Fig. 71).—Found in Sussex; a curious form with 


Fig. 71. 4. f. f. doodiordes, 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FGQ:MINA 99 


very small, serrate pinnulets, the pinne being thus narrowed, but 
not shortened; frond of normal outline; so named from a re- 
semblance of the pinnz to a Doodia frond. 


Fig. 73. 
Fig. 72, A. fi fi. Elworthii (pinna). Af. f. Elworthi? (plan of frond). 


E_wortu (Figs. 72 and 73).—A magnificently crested form 
found by Mr. Elworthy near Nettlecombe ; robust, and even the 
pinnules crested (percristate). 


1co BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 74. A. f. fi. Elworthii splendens (pinna). 


E. sPLENDENS (Fig. 74).—A percristate form similar to Elworthii, 
found in the same locality by the same finder; but this has the 
pinnules more acutely serrate, and is, therefore, more delicate- 
looking. 


EXCURRENS (TRUNCATUM).—All terminals, even of the pinnules, 
abruptly squared, and midrib projecting as a thorn. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA Io! 


Fig. 75. 4. ff. Fielde (pinne). 


FIELD (Fig. 75).—A very remarkable cruciate form with trun- 
cate, very narrow fronds, the short pinne being set on, sometimes 
in bunches and sometimes in pairs, at obtuse angles forming 
crosses with the opposite parts. 


FLABELLI-PINNULA.—Found by Mrs. Wilson in Westmoreland ; 
a tiny dwarf, with star-shaped, spiky pinne. 


102 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 76. 4. fi f. flexuosum (pinna). 


FrLexvuosum (Fig. 76).—Found at Windermere by Mr. J. Huddart, 
and subsequently near there by Mr. Joe Edwards; all parts 
sinuously twisted. 


FOCUNDULOSISSIMUM DRUERY (Woll.).—A very curious, narrow- 
fronded cristatum, which bore bulbils on its primary fronds, and 
eventually did so on the much-divided crests; one of these has 
yielded a dwarf form, called 


F. Minus, whose fronds are shorter than its name. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCOEMINA 103 


Fig. 77. A. ff. formoso-cristatum Fig. 78. A. fi. fi fi-cristatum 
(crest). (pinna). 


FoRMOso-cRISTATUM (Figs. 77 and 78).—One of a number of 
heavily tasselled forms raised by Mr, Elworthy ; crests at frond and 
pinne tips corymbiferous. 


Fig. 79, Aff. Fi. zellie. 


FRIZELLLE (Fig. 79).—One of the most remarkable finds recorded. 
Found in Wicklow by Mrs. Frizell. Frond over a foot in length, 
very narrow, bearing round massed pinne, imparting an outline 
like a string of beads (see Appendix No. VI). 


F, CAPITATUM (see Appendix No. VJ). 


104 BRITISH FERNS 


F. cristatum (Fig. 80).—Narrow-beaded fronds, like Frizellie, 
tipped with a branchy, tufted crest. 


Fig. 81. 4. fifi Friseliie nanum. 


Fig. 80. 4. fi fi Frizelii@ cristatum. 


F. c. conGEstuM.—A dwarf, congested form, very good. 


F. MULTIFIDUM (see Appendix No. VJ). 

F, nanum (Fig. 81).—A dwarf form, about eight inches, but 
rounded pinne larger. 

F. RAMosIssIMuM.—A dwarf form ; fronds ramose from base. 


F. ramosum (see Appendix No. VJ). 

GIRDLESTONEII (see Appendix No. VIT).—Found in Ross by Canon 
Girdlestone; a magnificent form when it can be grown, but 
of very delicate constitution ; rarely thrives. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FOEMINA 105 


Fig. 82. A. ff. glomeratum (pinna). Fig. 83. A. 7. f. tnciso-digitatum (pinna). 


GLOMERATUM (Fig. 82).—Raised by Mr. Ivery, Dorking. Fine 
form, with dense, rounded crests to frond and pinne. 


GRANDICEPS.—Found near Nettlecombe by Mr. C. Elworthy, 
and near Wiveliscombe by Mr. J. Morse, and raised by others. 
A very heavy and wide terminal crest ; pinnz crests small. 


G. KILRUSHENSE.—Raised by the writer from C. Kilrushense, and 
with heavier tassels on grandiceps lines. 

Howarp1#.—Raised by Mr. Craig; one of the Craigdi section, 
but very good and well crested. 

Hucxil.—Found on West Steddale by Mr. Huck. Beautiful long, 
crispy, crested pinnules. 


INcISO-DIGITATUM (Fig. 83).—A pretty cristatum raised by Mr. 
Lowe. 


106 BRITISH FERNS 


nel 


Fig. 84. 4. f. fi Jameszi (pinna). Fig. 8&5. A. f. f. Aalon (pinna). 


Jamest (Fig. 84).—A very fine, flat, crested form raised by Mr. 
James from his corymbiferium., 


IXALoNn (Fig. 85).—Another handsome form raised by Mr. James 
from corymbiferum ; this has the pinnules crested. 


KALOTHRIN.—One of the loveliest British Ferns; fronds cut into 
very slender, almost hair-like, subdivisions of silky lustre, whence 
the name, which means “ beautiful hair.”’ Separately raised by 
M. M. Howlett and Sim from a plumose form in Oxford Botanic 
Gardens, but an identical form figures in the Herbarium there as 
found wild, many years previously, in the Mourne Mountains 
in Ireland; a photo of this frond was kindly sent by Dr. Masters 
to the writer. All plants we have seen have a slight tendency 
to revert, sometimes entire fronds, but more usually parts of 
pinne only, to a plumose form, presumably the parental form, 
which, from the fact that Kalothrix, when sown, yields true progeny 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCQEMINA 107 


and also the plumose type, indicates the possibility that the Oxford 
parent might have arisen from the original Irish find, though of 
course this can only be surmised. 

K. cristatuM.—A remarkably pretty, but so far small, crested 
form, raised quite accidentally by the writer, several years after 
vain attempts at a cross. The prothallus bore no less than seven 
plants, six of which survived separation. All are exactly alike, true 
Kalothrix, plus crests, and with the same tendency to slight partial 
reversion. 

K. FoLIosumM.—Divisions wider than in Kalothrix, and when it 
reverts, it does so to the normal. 

K. LINEARIS.—A distinct form raised by H. Stansfield; sub- 
divisions longer. 

Ix. pLumosum.—This is the plumose form above referred to as 
raised from Kalothrix by Messrs. Stansfield. 

LacINIATUM.—Very fine divisions. 

L. ELEGANS, L. RAMULOSUM.—These are crosses made by Messrs. 
Stansfield between Craigii and the Horsfall plumosum; elegans 
has cruciate pinnules and no crests, but ramulosum is practically 
a multifid Horsfall. 

LAXo-CRISTATUM.—Found by W. H. Phillips in Co. Down ; long 
lax pinnules, crests small. 

LunuLatum.—A synonym for Frizellie. 

MaAGNI-CAPITATUM.—Raised by Stansfield from acrocladon ; 
fronds flat, but otherwise branched like parent; a splendid 
form. 

MEDIO - DEFICIENS (ABASILOBUM). — 
Characterized by abortion, partial or 
entire, of subdivisions adjacent to mid- 
ribs of frond and pinne, an open space 
being thus left. In a form found by 
the writer, near Wigton, N.B., this is 
so regular even in the pinne that the 
Fern is very pretty, but as a rule it 
is irregular in the many finds so named, © 
and hence they are of little value. 

M. cauDICULATUM.—Found in Ireland 
by W. H. Phillips. Besides the above 
character, the tips of the pinne run out 
into inch-long even tails, prettily set 
with bristles. 

MESEMBRYANTHEMOIDES (Fig. 86).— 
Found by Mr. Clapham ; a dwarf form, mR 
with heavy bunch crest to frond. A small Fig. $6. 
grandiceps. al. f. f. mesembryanthemotdes. 


108 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 87. A. ff. Mooret. Fig. 88. A. ff. multiceps (pinna). 


Moore! (Fig. 87).—Found in the Channel Islands by Mr. James ; 
a dwarf grandiceps. 


Mutticers (Fig. 88,—This very fine variety was found near 
Truro, in Cornwall. It bears crests at all terminals on multifiduim, 
lines, but the tassels are more finely cut. 


MuLtiripum (Plate X).—This very fine form has been found 
in several places, though differing slightly in detail as independent 
wild finds always do. Our plate obviates detailed description. 


M. Cootinei.—A prettily crested form raised by Mr. Cooling. 


PLATE X. 


Athyrium filix foemina 
var multifidum 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQEMINA 109 


i aed 


j ee 


Fig. 89. 4.f.f multifidum tenue (pinna). Fig. 90. 4.f. f, multifurcatum (pinna). 


M. TENUE (Fig. Sq).—A dwarf, slender form found by Mr. J. 
James in the Channel Islands. 


MULTIFURCATUM (Fig. 90).—A fine foliose cristatim found near 
Ruthen by Mr. T. Pritchard. A different form, with wide-branching 
terminal crests, was found in Westmoreland by Mr. Mapplebeck. 


Noposum.-—Another name for Frizellic. 


NUDICAULE CRISTATUM.—Raised by Mr. Mapplebeck; stalk 
bare, heavy head. 


FERNS 


BRITISH 


p@ fe) 


eh 
pat 


Af, f. orbiculatum, 


I. 


9 


Fig. 


Elworthy ; huge 


Mr. 


g. g1).—Raised by 
spherical crest, composed of numerous much-divided branches. 


(Fi 


ORBICULATUM 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FOsMINA II 


Panrviceps (lig. 92).—.\ dwarf, compact form, with small crests ; 
found by Mr. Barnes. 


PERCRISTATUM COUSENSII.—Raised at Snaresbrook by Mr. J. 5. 
Cousens ; a fine typical form. The term pereristafum is properly 
applicable to all crested forms in which the pinnules crest. 


Tig. 92. 
A. fi f. parviceps (pinna). Fig. 93. A.A f. plumosim Barnesti (pinna). 


PLuMosuM AXMINSTER.—Found in 1863 by J. Trott. A fine 
plumose form and progenitor of the beautiful superba strain raised 
by the writer. (See chapter on Fern Selection, page 27). 


P. Barnes (Fig. 93).—Found wild at Milnthorpe, and named 
after the finder. 


P. pivaricatumM.—Found by M. Morris in Lancashire; one of 
the finest wild plimmoswms, robust and beautilully feathery. 


hep ype a pres . 
Fig. 94. to ff. plumosum Diuery (young frond). 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA 113 
P. Druery (Fig. 94, voung frond; Fig. 95, plant).—Raised by 
the writer from ~. elegans, the direct offspring of p. Axminster. 
P. ELEGANS Parsons.—A more finely cut p. -Lxmnséer. 


P. Hopcson#.—Found by Miss Hodgson at Ulverston ; a very 
delicate and distinct plaumosum. 


P. HorsraLt.—Found at Skipworth by Mr. Horsfall; a fine, 
slenderly cut, and very distinct form ; one of the best. 


re tach vablleg teetbaaee 
COMICS 
LEER ‘fe 
Fig. 96. AL fi fi plamosum Jervisi? (pinna). 
P. Jervis (Fig. 96).—Found wild at Stone, Staffs., and named 
after the finder. 


P. Jones.—Large and elegant. 


P. PounpEN.—Found Co. Antrim by Rev. Mr. Pounden, an erect, 
distinct variety. 


P. STANSFIELD.—See Kalothrix plumosum. 
I 


114 BRITISH FERNS 


P. STANSFIELDII (Fig. 97).—Found wild at Todmorden, and named 
after the finder. 


Fig. 97. A. ff. plumosum Fig. 98. A. ff superbum and normal 
Stansficldi? (pinna). for comparison. 


P. supERBUM (Fig. 98).—A section raised by the writer (see 
chapter on Fern Selection, p. 27). <A fine, flat-crested pliumosum ; 
parent{of plumosum Druery and the following, also a number 
unnamed so far. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA 


Fig. 99. One of the pererzs/ate supertums, 


P. s. CRISPATUM, P. S. DISSECTUM, P. S. FOLIOSUM, P. S. GRANDI- 
CEPS, P. S. KALON, P. S. PERCRISTATUM.— Their special characters are 
indicated by these names; the last-named is by far the finest 


crested form extant, even the pinnulets being distinctly and evenly 
fanned at tips. 


116 BRITISH FERNS 
P, Witts.—A grand robust find by Dr. Wills in Dorset. 


PoLyDAcTyLoN (Fig. t00).—Found under somewhat different 
forms in various places ; an inferior type of er/staliim. 


Fig. 100. A. ff. pola Grlon (puma). Fig. tot choy. Pritchard’? (pinne). 


Pritcuarpi (Fig. ror).—Found near Ruthen by Mr. T. Priteh- 
ard. It somewhat resembles /ield?@, being a cruciate form with 
short-bunched pinne, very long and slender fronds. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA 117 


PuLcurrkimum (Fig. 102)—< finely cut plumose variety on 
otherwise normal lines, very pretty. 


P. cristatum.— A crested form of same character. 


P. JAckson.—More foliose than the last. 


Es 
S “Shy ie, = 
ay Wy y 


Ny, 


Ty 
Se 


‘. 


Fig. 102, Af. fi pulcherrimum Fig. 103. A. ffi ramo-cristatum 
(tip of frond). (pinn.). 


P. WaLkER.-- .\ dwarf, pretty form, pinnules long and serrate. 


PuLLEeR.—Found in Isle of Skye by Mr. Puller ; pinnules short 
and rounded like pinne of Frize//1@, but closer. 


RamosumM ForsTER.—Found at Woodhead ; branched. 


RAMo-CRISTATUM (Fig. 103).—Raised by Sim; a fine form, the 
large tassels being loosely branched. 


118 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 104. A. ff. ramo-thyssanotum Fig. 105. A. f. fi vamo-thyssanolum 
(showing branching). (pinnze), 


RAMO-THYSSANOTUM (Figs. 104 and 105).—Raised by Mr. C. 
Monkman ; a branched form of it ; pinnulets deeply cut. 


RAMULOSISSIMUM.—Fronds ramify from base and all tips crested ; 
very distinct and pretty. 


R. MappLEBECK.—Similar, but larger. 
R. LINEARE.—Raised by Edwards ; very slender. 


RECTANGULARE.—Found in Westmoreland by Mrs. Wilson ; 
divisions so slender that spore heaps are seen from front; very 
distinct. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQEMINA 119 


REGALE.—Raised from splendens by Mr. Barnes; a splendid 
sub-plumose and crested form (see Appendix No. XI). 


4 


og SON Ti 
Hudson dKeargs 


Fig. 106, A. /. 7. vevolvens. 


REVOLVENS (Fig. 106),—Found in Strathblane by writer ; fronds 
and pinne rolled up convexly, frond curved and terminating 
spirally, pinne like ringlets. 


120 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 107, A. 4 f scofaforme. 


SCOPHFORME (Fig. 107)—Raised hy Mr. Elworthy ; on grandt- 
ceps lines, but with wedge-like outline to head. 


SETIGERUM.—Found in Lancashire by Mr. Garnett; normal 
outline finely divided and segments very bristly ; yields crested 
forms of very diverse and beautiful types, but with tendency to 
revert. 


S. CORONATUM, S. CORYMBIFERUM, S. CRISTATUM, S. GRANDICEPS, 
S. PERCRISTATUM.—AIl raised by Birkenhead and others, and the 
names indicate character; but there are innumerable linking 
forms. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 121 


S. Victoria.—Is a very successful cross with A. /. /. Victoria, 
the result being a true Victorie plus the bristly character of 


setigerum. The spores of the cross yield true progeny showing the 
two characters. 


SPLENDENS.—Raised by Craig; a splendid form, the parent of 
regale. 


SUPERBUM.—See plumosum superbum. 


Fig. 108. 4. f. f. thyssanotium (pinna). 


Tuyssanotum (Fig. 108.)—Found in Guernsey by Mr. James ; 
a very handsome form of cristatwm, with finely and deeply toothed 
subdivisions. (See also p. 118.) 


TopEOIDEs.—Prettily cut but not Todea-like. 


122 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 109. A. 7. f. lodeoides cristatum, 


T. cristatum (Fig. 109.)—A beautiful crested form raised by 
Mr, Troughton of Preston. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FQ:MINA 123 


UNCo-GLOMERATUM.— A wonderfully divided form raised by 
Stansfield from acrocladon ; looks like a ball of green coral; the 
tips persist in growing if layered in the autumn, and eventually 
become aposporous and proliferous in the succeeding season. 


-VELUTINUM.—A dwarf acrocladon, raised therefrom. 


Sy, 
Nath 
ANG 3 

SAS 


Fig. 110. A. ff. Vernonie (pinne). 


VERNONI& (Fig. 110).—A very prettily crisped form found by 
Miss Vernon, somewhat on the iines of contoides. Our illustration 
hardly does it justice. 


Fig. 111. A. ff. Vernonie cristatum (pinne). 


V. cristatum (Fig. 111).—A very pretty crested form of 
Vernonia raised by Messrs. Stansfield. 


124 BRITISH FERNS 


VICTORLE (Figs. 112,113 and Appendix 
No. XIII).—This extraordinary Fern re- 
presents the most remarkable composite 
“sport”? yet discovered, as our ilustra- 
tions show, being a combination of the 
perfect cruciate, or cross-forming char- 
acter, and that of cristatum, or tassel- 
forming. It was found as a robust 
plant of several crowns, growing in a 
cart road off the high road at Drymen, 
in Stirlingshire, by Mr. James Cosh, a 
Scotch student, who, jumping over the 
stone dyke into this road, nearly alighted 
on the clump, the nature and value 
of which he immediately perceived. In 
Mr. E. J. Lowe’s records, it is stated 
that the Fern was left undisturbed for 
about two years, and as this struck the 
writer as a singular fact, if it were a 
fact, he made a pilgrimage some years 
back to the cart road in question, and 
was introduced to the identical farmer, 
Mr. Buchanan, who was engaged cutting 
the grass in it at the very time of the 
discovery, and was asked by Mr. Cosh 
to take care and not damage it, and 
also to look after it until the next day, 
when he would return. On the next 
day, and not two years later, the Fern 
was lifted and divided by Mr. Cosh him- 
self, part being left at Buchanan Castle, 
the seat of the Duke of Montrose close 
by, and the rest sent, we believe, to 
Edinburgh, to Mr. Cosh’s friends. The 
writer being related to the Duke of 
Montrose’s factor, not only had every 
opportunity of ascertaining the actual 
facts of the case on the spot and, as it 
fortunately happened, from one who was 
actually present when the discovery was 
made, but also became the possessor of an 
actual division of the original plant. This 
remarkable Fern comes quite true from 
spores as regards its cruciate and cristate 
character, but we have never seen a seed- 
ling the size of the original, the fronds 
of which we have had over a yard long. 


uh» 


fh 


Picker 


4 


r % 
GaN es 
Nee SEY 


aN 


<< 


ec 
ak 


Fig. 112. 4. fi fi Victoria, 


PLATE XI. 


Cystopteris montana Botrychium lunaria B. t. Moorei (incisum) 


Ophioglossum vulgatum 


O. lusitanicum 


BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA T 


Fig. 113. 4. f. f. Victorie (plant). 


V. ELEGANS, V. GRACILE, V. MAGNIFICUM, raised by Lowe and 
others. 


BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA (THE Moonwort). 
(Plate XI.) 


Like the Adder’s-tongue this (Fig. 114) grows in pasture land, 
but of a drier character, and is found at 
higher levels up to three thousand feet. If 
lifted it must be done en masse in a clod of 
soil with the grass, upon which it is considered 
to be in some way dependent. It has but two 


ae 


fronds, a sterile lobed one, with rounded, fan- Fig. 114. 
shaped pinne a la Adiantum, but tough and — Botrychiwm lunaria 
fleshy, and a divided fertile one, like a little (pinnz). 


grape cluster. Two varieties are worth recording :— 


Incisum (Plate XI)—Found several times; the pinne are 
deeply incised instead of rounded, and merely crenate. 


TRIPARTITUM.—-Found by Dr. Kinahan in Co. Dublin; fronds 
deltoid and each frond resembling three normal ones. 


126 BRITISH FERNS 


BLECHNUM SPICANT (THE Harp Fery) (Plate XII). 


This evergreen species is the only one representing in this country 
a very extensive genus which, though closely allied and very similar 
in appearance to the genus Lomaria, is so definitely differentiated 
from it in the particular feature upon which botanists most depend 
for generic determination, i.e. the form of fructification, that we 
cannot possibly class it therewith. Both produce two forms of 
fronds, one barren and one fertile, the 
latter growing erect and being very much 
narrowed in their divisions, these practi- 
cally bearing merely modified pinne, only 
sufficiently wide to carry the two lines of 
spore capsules, while the barren ones are 
leafy and more or less decumbent or 
drooping. In Lomaria, however, the very 
edges of the modified pinne serve as pro- 
tection to the spore capsules by turning 
backwards and in the young stage covering 
them. In Blechnum, however, this is not the case, the lines of 
capsules lie well within the margin, which is not reflexed to protect 
them, as there is an independent indusium or cover for that 
purpose. In one variety, B. anomalum, not very infrequently 
found, this difference is accentuated since all the fronds are wide 
and leafy, but in some the fructification is formed near the midrib, 
with a wide, leafy space between it and the pinna margin which 
could not obviously occur on Lomaria lines. 

We have taken some pains to make this difference clear, because, 
curiously enough, some botanists of the highest standing name our 
native Blechnum ‘‘ Lomaria,”’ and the latter name still obtains at 
Kew on that account. Britten, in his European Ferns, gives clear 
illustrations of the difference, and the late Dr. Masters, to whom 
we submitted specimens in conjunction with a protest against an 
obvious misnomer, fully justified our contention, as indeed must 
every one who will ascertain the difference as accepted by the 
selfsame botanists, and then examine the plants themselves. The 
fronds of Blechnium spicant are deep green, very tough and leathery, 
whence the name of Hard Fern, and has only once-divided fronds 
in its normal state, vide Fig. 115 and other illustrations for this and 
general make. The erect fertile fronds range from a foot to nearly 
three feet in height, and the barren ones, about two-thirds the 
length, form a lax, spreading rosette, from the centre of which the 
fertile ones arise. It is a very common Fern in many districts, but 
affects moist habitats on hedgebanks, the vicinity of streams, damp 
woods, and also, in hilly districts, is found amongst the heather. 
Its pet antipathy is lime, and under culture rain water is an essential 
to successful growth. A compost of friable loam with a plentiful 


Fig. 115. Blechnum spicant 
(pinnze}. 


\ 


MM (iE 


\ 


\ 


7 


i 


\ 
ll 


yy “ / 
ag 


y 


“E 
t 
_— 


QO 


PLATE XII. 


Blechnum spicant 


B. s. subserratum B. s. ramosum 
a Bs. heterophyllum B B.s. imbricatum 
ec B.s.contractum p B.s, contractum ramosum 


BLECHNUM SPICANT 127 


admixture of peaty or leafy material should be used. Owing to its 
tough nature it does well out of doors, in a northern aspect, as a 
rockery plant, provided it is not exposed to drought and is fairly 
shaded. In practice it does better in the open than under glass. 
It has been fairly liberal in “sports,” the best of which are as 
follows :— 

AITKINIANUM.—Found in Co. Clare by Mr. A. Stansfield; an 
irregular branched form of spreading habit. 


ANOMALUM (Fig. 116).—See note above; we have, however, 
found much leafier fertile fronds, quite like barren ones until 
examined dorsally. 


; * 
Fig. 116. 2B. s. anomalum. Fig. 117. 4B. 5. beceps. 


A. muLtiripum.—A crested form of anomalum; found at Rydal 
by Mr. Crouch. 

BELLUM.—Found at Hutton Roof by J. J. Jones ; normal outline, 
but neater in make. 

Biceps (Fig. 117).—Found near Marwood by Rev. F. Mules ; 
very long toothed pinne, frond forked at tip. 


/) 
LY 


VU 


Ui 


ii 


IN 


(il 


Fig. 


/ 


(| 


3 form found by Mr. Crouch in Wastdale. » 
i 


2 ContTRAcTUM.— Found in North 


BRITISH FERNS 


BiripuM.—Found in several places; tips of frond 
and pinne irregularly forked. 


Caupatum (Fig. 118)—Found at Eastwood by Mr. 
Stansfield ; frond tips reduced and undivided, forming 
a tail. 


ConcINNuM.—Found in several places; a very nar- 


however, are sometimes irregular in 
size. In the best form— 


C. Druery, found by the writer 
1 on Exmoor, the pinne are regularly 
4 rounded and sharply and _ evenly 
"——~/ toothed, the barren fronds being less 

~/ than half an inch wide by nine inches 
——~_ long, and like a string of scallop shells ; 
the fertile are merely beaded stalks. 


row form, with toothed, rounded segments which, 
ae 
LG 
ee 


CONFERTUM (Fig. 119).— Found by 
“—z) Mr. Clapham in Yorkshire. A dwarf, 
= dense form with crowded pinne, really 


-—Y an imbricatum. 


ee, CoNFLUENS.—A form found by the Bal 
—=/ writer in the Gap of Dunloe, on Dart- 
ee moor, and near Tintern Abbey, in 
[ee which the pinne are joined together 
towards the frond tip. 


ConcEstuM.—A densely congested XS 


Wales by Mr. J. Holmes; an extreme 
form of Sérictum. 


CONTRACTO - RAMOSUM. — Found in 
Scotland by Mr. Horsfall; a branched 
form of contractum. 


CRENATO - CONGESTUM. — Found in 
Patterdale by Mr. W. Forster ; pinne 
densely congested and blunt-toothed. 


Fig. 119. 
B. 9. confertum, 


118, 


B. 9. caudatum, 


BLECHNUM SPICANT 129 


CRISPATO-ImBRICATUM (Fig. 120).—A very pretty, cris im- 
bricate form raised by Stansfield. y pretty, Py; 


CrisPissiMuM.—Raised by Mr. Hartley from strictum: a pretty, 
dwarf, dense form, only two or three inches high ; quite unlike 
parent. 


Crispum.—Found in Langdale by Mr. Barnes, and also by Mrs. 
Wilson on Blawith Moor ; pinnz broad and crispy. 


Fig. 120, Fig. 121. Fig. 122. 
B. ». crispato-imbricatum, B. x, cristatum, B. ». elegans. 


CRISTATO-GRACILE.—Found at Red Bank by Mr. Crouch ; narrow 
and crested. 

CRISTATUM (Fig. 121).—Crested at tip of frond ; found in several 
places. 

C. BarrAuD#.—Found by Miss Barraud; small crests, pinne 
fanned. 

C. HuppartT.—Fine crested form found Windermere. 


CRUCIATO - PLUMOSUM.— A very fine, dense, foliose form raised 
by Mr. Forster, with cruciate pinne. 
ELEGANS (Fig. 122).—Found in Scotland by Mr. Park; almost 
bipinnate, bluntly and deeply toothed. 
K 


130 BRITISH FERNS 


N 
\ 


Fig. 123. 2B. s, flabellatum. Fig. 124. Bs. furcans. 


FLABELLATUM (Fig. 123).—A very fine form found by Mr. 
Monkman; really a fine vamo-cristatium, fronds branching re- 
peatedly into crested secondary fronds. 


Furcans (Fig. 124).—A dwarf form with branching head. 


BLECHNUM SPICANT 131 


Fig. 125. 8B. ». giganteum, 


GIGANTEUM (Fig. 125).—This would have been better named 
latifolium ; found by Mr. Edwards at Totnes. 


GLOMERATUM.—Raised by Mr. Maunder ; a dwarf ball £ 
of cresting. 
SS 


HETEROPHYLLUM.—Found by Mr. Wollaston, Mr. 
Stansfield, and Mr. Dadds ; an irregular, curious form. 


IMBRICATO-ERECTUM (Fig. 126).—A very pretty form, 
with bluntly toothed pinne, densely overlapping. 


ImpricatumM.—Found in numerous places; side divi- 
sions set on very closely, and overlapping, growth erect, 
handsome and distinct. 


LANCIFOLIUM (Fig. 127).—Found by Mr. G. B. Wollas- 
ton near Tunbridge Wells, and subsequently in Scotland, 
Wales, and elsewhere. Barren fronds, very narrow and 
undivided for nearly half their length, forming a sort 
of tail. 


LinEARE.— Found on Witherslack by Mr. Barnes ; 
fronds evenly narrow and almost strap-like, i.e. un- 


divided. 


Fig 126. 
MAuNDERII.—See glomeratum. B. s. imbricato- 
erectum, 


132 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 127. Bs. lancifoliam. Fig. 128. B. +. Monkmaniz. 


MonkMANNII (Fig. 128)—A leafy form with wide, flexuose 
pinne, frond tip confluent, and divided into a semi-crest. 


MULTIFURCATUM BARNES (TRINERVIO-CORONANS.)—Found in 
Langdale by Mr. Barnes; pinne narrow and acute and fronds 
ramify at tip into many acute points ; very distinct ; occasionally 
the two lower pinne are lengthened, whence second name. 


M. Symons (Fig. 129).—Found in Cornwall by Mr. F. Symons, 
and in Lancashire by Mr. Stansfield ; fronds branch irregularly into 
acutely pointed segments. 


PADLEYENSE (Fig. 130)—Found at Exmouth by Rev. Chas. 


BLECHNUM SPICANT 


Padley; both the stalk and the 
midrib are winged, ie. bear a 
narrow, leafy portion on each side, 
from which, instead of directly from 
the midrib, the small, bluntly 
toothed pinnze spring; the very 
long stalk bears these wings alone 
for more than half the length of the 
frond, the pinne then commencing 
abruptly ; vede the illustration. 


Parvicers.—Found at Ronstead 
Gates by Mr. Hodgson; small, star- 
like crests. 


PARADOXUM.—No beauty, but too 
curious to omit, as it has a third 
row of pinne on the upper side of 
the midrib; found at Ramsdale by 
Mr. G. Whitwell. 


Fig. 129. B. s. multefurcatum. 


Fig. 130. 


B. s. Padleyense. 


133 


134 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 131. 8. s. plumosum Atrey. 


Prumosum Airey (Fig. 131).—Raised by Mr. Airey; decidedly 
the finest form of all; tripinnate and robust. The illustration is 
from the author’s own plant. 


BLECHNUM SPICANT 138 


a 


Fig. 132. 3B. 9. ramo-cristatum., Fig. 133. 8. s. ramosum Cliftit. 


RAMO-CRISTATUM (Fig. 132).—Found in Yorkshire by Mr. Monk- 
man ; fronds twin-branched and well crested. 

R. Kinauan.—A branched and tasselled form originally named 
vamosuim, which see. 

RAMO-CRISTATUM SINCLAIR—Found in Strathblane by Mr. 
Sinclair ; a thoroughbred branched and tasselled form. 

Ramosvum (Plate XII and Appendix No. XV).—Found in England, 
Ireland, and Wales; a very fine form in which the fronds branch 
repeatedly, the branches bearing good crests. 

R. Curr (Fig. 133)—Found near Birmingham. A dwarf, 
pinne small and irregular, becoming confluent towards frond tip, 
which is dilated into a confluent crest. 


136 


Fig. 134. 8. s, rotundatum. 


BRITISH FERNS 


a 


Fig, 136. Bs. serrulatum. 


<a / 


SQ 4 
. \\ pees 
We 


g 
7 
| 

YZ 

(i! 


in 


5 


Gi 
\y 
Ne 
NAD 


4 

f 
ye 
iS 


if 
we 

A 
! 


Fig. 137. B.s. strictaum, 


CYSTOPTERIS 137 


Rorunpatuo (Fig. 134.)—Found by Mr. Clift ; pinne round and 
very small at base, fronds narrow, with occasional elongated pinne. 
A similar form, but with more even pinne for entire length, was 
found by the writer near Aberfeldy. 

SERRATUM (Fig. 135).—Found by Mr. G. B. Wollaston and others ; 
a very fine form, with close-set, curved, and saw-toothed pinne. 


S. AtrEy No. 1.—The parent of plumosum Airey ; a markedly 
serrate form, but not tripinnate. 

SERRULATUM (Fig. 136).—A prettily saw-toothed dwarf form. 

STRICTUM (Fig. 137.)—This has been repeatedly found, and is 
distinguished by saw-toothed side divisions, which are usually 
extra short near the base, and occasionally 
somewhat irregular in length; not so robust 
as the normal. 

SUBSERRATUM (Fig. 138 and Plate XII).— 
Found near Castle Howard by Mr. Monkman 
and near Todmorden by Mr. Stansfield ; 
in this the pinne are prettily blunt-toothed, 
especially on the lower side, the upper being 
often smooth. 

TRINERVIO-CORONANS.—See multifurcatum. 

TRINERVIUM.—Found in Wicklow by Dr. 
KKinahan and subsequently in considerable 
numbers in the Mourne mountains by Mr. 
W. H. Phillips; the two lowest pinne are 
considerably elongated. 

T. Hopcson#.—Found on Kirkley Moor 
by Mr. Hodgson ; the two lower pinne are 
developed into secondary fronds, so as to 
form a trident ; extremely distinct. 


Fig. 138. 


By s. subserratum, 


CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS (THE BritTLE BLappDER FERN) 
(Plate XIII) 


The Bladder Ferns (Fig. 139) derive their names, both popular 
and botanical, which are synonymous, from the fact that their 


Fig. 139. Cystopteris fragilis (pinne). 


small round spore heaps are covered by thin, domed skins, looking 
like little bladders, while the term brittle is well applied, since the 


138 BRITISH FERNS 


twice-divided fronds are very fragile, as are the slender stalks 
and their texture generally. They are perfectly deciduous with one 
exception, viz. sempervirens. It is widely distributed, but is most 
common in hilly districts in the north, where it is found sometimes 
in abundance in the chinks of rocks and stone dykes often associated 
with the Oak and Beech Ferns. It has a short, creeping rootstock, 
but does not travel fast like its companions in question, but forms 
its fronds in closer order. It needs moisture and shade. It may 
be cultivated in same sort of soil and conditions as suit the de- 
ciduous Polypodies, but is, unfortunately, extremely apt to turn 
brown and become unsightly very early in the season, and hence 
is not particularly to be recommended for culture. This remark 
does not, however, apply to a constitutional variety, found in 
Scotland and sent to the writer by the late Mr. R. Somerville, of 
Edinburgh, which is not merely evergreen under glass, but is prac- 
tically ever-growing, though otherwise normal, except, perhaps, 
that it is of robuster growth; vide sempervirens. Several varieties 
are recorded, but we doubt very much whether the bulk of them 
are in existence ; we, therefore, only mention the following :— 
CristaTta (Fig. 140)—This variety was raised from spores 
by Mr. C. Elworthy; frond and most of the pinne crested. 


: | The writer received a crested 
NTN, Ay form from Col. A. M. Jones 
SN BANG which is imputed to the sem- 

Ns Na pervirens or evergreen type, 

SCE? scarcely, perhaps, justifiably, 

XQ zd though it is much more robust 
=c04y than the normal, and remains 
— pee green much longer. It is 
= Vie peculiar in reverting sometimes 

Tey pe to the uncrested type and then 
a ee returning even to gvandiceps 


forms. 


Dickieana (Plate XIII).— 
Found in a cave near Aberdeen 
by Dr. Dickie,and subsequently 
in three other places in Scot- 
land and Ireland ; very distinct 
and far more beautiful than 
the normal, the pinne being 
very broad and overlapping. 


Furcans.—Found in Scot- 
land several times with all 
fronds forked at the tips, and 
occasionally the pinne also. 


Fig. 140. C. f. cristata, SEMPERVIRENS. — Found in 


PLATE XIII 


Cystopteris regia 


Cystopteris fragilis v Cystopteris fragilis 


ar Dickeana 


CYSTOPTERIS 139 


Scotland about 1903 on Corrie Clanmor by Mr. William Young, of 
Kircaldy; previously, its British origin was doubtful, as it is 
properly a native of Madeira, but this find removes all doubt 
whatever. Under glass it is quite evergreen. 


CYSTOPTERIS MONTANA (THE Mountain BLADDER FERN) 


(Plate XII) 


This species (Fig. 141) is very distinct both in form of frond 
and mode of growth from the other species described, resembling 
the Oak Fern somewhat in the 
tripartate form of its triangular 
fronds, and in the possession of 
a similar string-like travelling 
rootstock instead of a compact 
creeping one. It is by far the 
best adapted for cultivation, 
thriving in wide pots or shallow 
pans if treated similarly to the 
deciduous Polypodies with open, ; 
leafy sandy soil, plus some broken porous rock and good drainage. 
Dark green and perfectly deciduous, dying down early in Septem- 
ber and rising at end of March. It has, we believe, only been 
found in Scotland, but there it has been discovered in several 
places. No varieties. 


Fig. 141. C. montana (pinna). 


CYSTOPTERIS REGIA (ALPINA) (THE ALPINE 
BLADDER FERN) 


(Plate XIII) 


A colony of this Fern (Fig. 142) was found early last century on 

a wall at Low Leyton in Essex, but we very much doubt if it still 

f exists as a wild plant in this country, and 

may be regarded rather as a foreign Fern 

than as a real native. The culture, if it 

were required, would be the same as for the 

Fig. 142. C. regva other members of the family. The fronds 

(pinnee). are nearly thrice divided, but from the 

descriptions available it does, or rather did not, differ very 
markedly from C. fragilis. 


GYMNOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA (THE SLENDER-LEAVED 
GYMNOGRAM) 


(Plate III) 


This little Fern has only been found in Jersey, as it is a native of 
warmer climes than ours, and is rather an exotic than a British Fern 


140 BRITISH FERNS 


proper. It is a very small Fern, of com- 
paratively simple make, as shown in Fig. 
143, and, like the rest of the genus, a 
large one, boasting many very beautiful 
silver and gold exotics, the spores are 
simply scattered along the lines of the 
veins on the under side of the frond, 
eventually covering the backs entirely. 
The Fern, as found at one or two stations, 
occurs in moist places, associated with 
moss and lichens, but we have found it 
in the Orient, in company with Ceterach 
& officinarum, a Fern of exactly opposite 
=~ tastes, to which the conditions approached 
far more closely. It is one of the rare 
Ferns which are annuals, only lasting one 
season, and springing anew the next from 
the spores produced. Under culture, 
therefore, a bell glass or close case must 
be used, and moist conditions maintained, 
in which event it may re-establish itself 
season after season by self-sown spores. 
No varieties. 


Fig. 143.  G. leptophylla. 


HYMENOPHYLLUM TUNBRIDGENSE 
(Tue TUNBRIDGE Firmy Fern) 
(Plate XXXIX ) 


This is a very small and moss-like Filmy Fern, so named because 
first noticed at Tunbridge, in Kent, which grows also in moss-like 
masses In mountain glens on the rocks by 
stream sides, and is very generally distributed 
in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and 
adjacent islands where suitable habitats exist. 
Its slender fronds (Fig. 144) are nearly twice 
divided, and arise from almost threadlike 
creeping and branching rootstocks, which in 
favourable situations form dense mats on the 
rock faces, but only in such situations where 
the fronds are constantly bedewed with mois- 
ture. The spores are borne in receptacles, Fig. 144. 
cup-shaped, with saw-toothed edges, as shown _™ “#ortagense. 
in Fig. 414. For culture see Wardian Case Cul- {Pinm4 2nd sporangium). 
ture (page 45). Forms have been found in which the fronds branch 
on somewhat cristate lines, but this adds nothing of decorative 
value to Ferns of this diminutive and massed class. Quite evergreen, 
the fronds lasting for years. 


THE LASTREAS 141 


HYMENOPHYLLUM UNILATERALE (THE ONE-SIDED 
Firmy Fern) (Plate XXXIX) 


Somewhat more common than H. Tun- 
bridgense, and occupying precisely similar 
habitats. The only differences, indeed, 
are indicated in the name, as regards form 
of frond (Fig. 145), and in the shape of 
the spore receptacles, which in this species 
consist also of two valves, but differ in 
shape, as shown in Fig. 145 ; otherwise our 
previous remarks apply exactly. 


Fig. 145. 4. uzzlaterale 
(pinna and sporangium). 


THE LASTREAS (NEPHRODIUMS) (THE Buckier Ferns) 


The Lastreas are also named Nephrodiwms, and the latter name 
being descriptive of the kidney-shaped spore cover of the genus, 
we think it well to mention it, since as a distinctive name it is 
better than a merely personal one. The latter, however, Lastrea, 
named after a French botanist, is too familiar to dislodge from the 
British Fernist’s vocabulary, and we are the very last to attempt 
to do so and thus contribute to the confusion already caused in 
that connection by would-be reformers. As we have said, it is the 
kidney-shaped indusium, or spore cover, which distinguishes this 
genus, and this is indicated in the popular name of Buckler Ferns, 
as distinct from the Shield Ferns, in which the cover is perfectly 
round, This, however, is by no means the only difference, since 
the Shield Ferns are of very different make, and are all easily 
recognizable by the peculiar mitten-shaped pinne, or pinnules, 
as well as by their texture. 

There is considerable difference of opinion as to the number 
of our native species of this genus, owing to the fact that several 
of them run each other so close, and present so many linking or 
intermediate forms, as to render the drawing of a hard and fast 
line an impossibility. Several species, however, are beyond cavil, 
viz. L. montana (oreopteris), the Lemon-scented Fern, L. thelypteris, 
the Marsh Fern, L. dilatata, the Broad Buckler Fern, L. vigida, the 
Limestone Buckler Fern, and L. emula, the Hay-scented Fern. 
These are accepted generally as unassailable species, though the 
late Mr. E. J. Lowe, in his British Ferns and Where Found, put 
forward the theory that L. emula was merely a mountain form of 
L. dilatata, to which it was apt to revert under unfavourable 
conditions, an idea which we cannot possibly accept, as there are 
marked specific differences. Another species, the commonest of all, 
L. filix-mas, or the Male Fern, we have not ranked with the un- 
assailables, since Mr. G. B. Wollaston discovered, and undoubtedly 
demonstrated, that this species fell into three sub-species, each with 


142 BRITISH FERNS 


sufficiently marked specific differences to determine them as such, 
if not as species proper. These three he named L. jfilix-mas, the 
Common Male Fern, L. pseudo-mas, which we will name the Hard 
Male Fern, and L. propingua, a form distinct from either, and these 
three we will therefore treat of under separate headings. The dis- 
putable species, viz. L. cristata, L. uliginosa, L. spinulosa, we cannot 
help considering as varied forms of L. dilatata, and Dr. F. W. Stans- 
field, one of our foremost authorities on British Ferns, agrees with 
us in this view. He states: ‘“ L. dilatata, spinulosa, uliginosa, and 
cristata form a chain of sub-species in the order named ; the extreme 
forms are as distinct as any two species in the genus, but the inter- 
mediate forms merge into each other. L. cristata is a real bog Fern, 
dilatata does not grow in bogs, though it is found on islands in bogs.”’ 
L. remota must be judged by itself; we gravely doubt its actual 
specific distinction. We shall, however, with this reservation, 
treat of them separately, and illustrate their, as we consider, sub- 
varietal differences. As there are material differences between the 
species, constituting the genus here, as to natural habitats and 
cultural requirements, deciduous nature, or otherwise, we will 
also reserve our remarks on these points in this introduction, as 
we cannot treat of them generally as with the other genera. 


Lastrea A’muLa (THE Hay-scENTED BucCKLER FERN) 
(Plate XXII) 


This is a very pretty species, closely allied to L. dilatata, but 
distinguished from it, and from its recognized sub-species, by 
greater delicacy of make in the fronds, the segments of which are 


Fig. 146. Lastrea emula (pinna). 


prettily curled and crisped. A further difference is seen in the 
caudex, which is smaller and of a more tufted character, the whole 
plant, indeed, being more compact. The fronds (Fig. 146), too, 


PLATE XIV. 


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. emula cristata, all true, 
many of which Col. Jones distributed. The Colonel’s own sowing 
was 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. emula no chance. 


LASsTREA CRISTATA (THE CRESTED BUCKLER FERN) 
(Plate XIV) 
This Fern (Fig. 147), as already stated in our introductory remarks 


concerning the Lasivea family, is considered by good authorities 
not to be a species proper, but one of the sub-species of the L. 


= TRO ANO. Gn 65 re 
(paXREN NOG Oe 
te \ Sane 0 


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 DivataTa (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 lines to most of the other Lastreas, having dark green 


144 BRITISH FERNS 


thrice-divided fronds (Fig. 148), very broad at the base, and 
sometimes four or five feet long. 
They are of spreading habit, with 
bright green stalks of some length, 
and spring from a stout, erect 
caudex, but less compact than that 
of L. filix-mas and others, which 
send up their fronds in erect 
circlets. The round spore heaps 
are fairly large, and very plentiful 
and dark in colour, the kidney- 
shaped indusium obvious, but only 
partly covering them when ripe. 
Our plate gives a good idea of the 
form. It has “sported’’ fairly 
freely, and is a very variable fern 
in minor details, but a great many 
of the forms recorded are too 
erratic or indefinite to recommend 
for culture, and for that reason 
are probably not now in existence. 
These we ignore. 


CristaTa (Fig. 149).— Found near ve 
Doncaster by Mr. Appleby; prettily Wy 
crested at frond and pinne tips; a Ae 
better form was found in Devonshire v 
by Mr. C. Jackson, and another by 2) 
Mrs. Thompson, also in Devon. 


C. DRuERy.—Found by the writer at Z 
Clovelly; a very robust form with 
bunch crests of medium size. 


Fig 148. Z, dilatata 
(parts of pinna). 


C. Oscrort.—Found near Bristol ; 
a very finely bunch-tasselled form, 
somewhat crispy in make. 


C. GRACILE RoBERTS.—A very pretty 
percristate form, the pinnules being 
fanned. Unfortunately, though pro- 
duced so freely from spores as to appear 
abundantly as strays under glass, all 
without exception have a tendency to 
partial depauperation, short pinne oc- 
curring here and there. 


FOLIOSA- CRISTATA, F. DIGITATA.— 
Although found in the Azores by Mr. 
Brown, and therefore best grown under Fig. 149. Z. ail. cristata (pinna). 


PLATE XV. 


Lastrea dilatata 


THE LASTREAS 145 


warm conditions, though hardy under glass, we cannot omit these, 
since both are very beautiful in make and cresting, on slightly 
different lines. 


GRANDICEPS Barnes.—-A very heavily bunch-crested form, 
raised by Mr. J. M. Barnes ; a very fine variety. 


Fig. 150. ig. 151. Fig. 152. 
L. adil. Howardit (pinne). 


Howarpu (Figs. 150, I5I, 152).—A very extraordinary form 
found at Castle Howard by Mr. Monkman and Mr. Stabler; a 
robust grower with the pinne for the greater part of their length 
greatly reduced in width, owing to the pinnules becoming short 
and sub-cruciate ; a little on the lines of A. 7. f. Fieldie ; unique. 
Six strong plants were found. The young fronds present little or 
no trace of the peculiar character, which is only assumed as the 


plants attain a fair size. 
L 


146 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 153. L. del. hymenophyllotides Fig. 154. L. dil. hymenophylotdes 
(tip of frond), (pinna). 


HyMENOPHYLLOIDES (Figs. 153, 154).—A dwarf, congested form, 
found by, Mr. Dadds at Ilfracombe. 


Fig. 155. ZL. lepédota (pinne). 


Lepipota (Fig. 155, Plate NVI).—Said to have been found in 
Yorkshire ; it is an extremely distinct and beautiful form, all the 
pinne being contracted and narrow, giving the whole plant a very 
light and delicate appearance ; it is very scaly, whence the name ; 
the pinnee shown in Fig. 155 are rather more foliose than usual. 

L. cristata.—Presumably a cross, raised by Messrs. Stansfield ; 
a true lepidota, with pretty crests throughout. 

PoLtybDACTYLA TURNER.—With pointed crests at all tips. 

RaMoO-CRISTATA Barnes.—Another fine form raised by Mr. 
Barnes in which the fronds branch as well as crest. 


am J 


PLATE XVI. 


Lastrea dilatata 
var lepidota 


Tastrea uliginosa 


THE LASTREAS 147 


Fig. 156. Z. dil, Stansfielddi (pinnee). 


STANSFIELDII (Fig. 156).—A small- growing form found in 
Cheshire by Mr. J. Lord ; pinnules thick, leathery, and crispy. 


Fig. 157. Z. del. succtsa (frond tip). 


Succisa (Fig. 157).-A markedly truncate form found by Mr. 
E. J. Lowe in Derbyshire ; somewhat densely made ; every frond 
terminates abruptly with a few bunched and truncate pinne. 


Lastrea Firix-mas (THE MALE FERN) 
(Plate XVII) 


This is undoubtedly one of the most familiar Ferns with which 
we have to deal, since not only is it very common in many localities 
by the roadside and generally wherever Ferns abound, but it is 
one of those few species which are seen in thousands of suburban 
gardens, monopolizing space which would certainly be better 
devoted to varietal forms of this and other hardy species. It is a 
robust plant, and may practically be grown in any soil, so that 
cultural directions are hardly necessary, though we need hardly say 
that it and its varieties profit by specially favourable conditions. 
The fronds (Fig. 158) rise erectly in circles from a stout rootstock, 
shuttlecock fashion ; they are twice divided, and of a lightish green. 
Before, however, we pronounce it to be deciduous or evergreen, 
we must advert to the fact mentioned elsewhere that it has, and we 


148 BRITISH FERNS 


consider justifiably, been split up into three sub-species, viz. 
L. filix-mas, L. pseudo-mas, and L. propingua. Mr. G. B. Wollaston’s 
definition of the differences we may render into popular language 
thus. 


Fig. 158. LZ. fdeév-mas (pinna). 


Lastrea filix-mas.—Partially deciduous, the fronds lying prostrate 
in winter (i.e. not dying absolutely in the autumn as with deciduous 
Ferns proper). Fronds lance-shaped, reaching five feet in length, 
pinne long and broad at base, once divided, pinnules oval, saw- 
toothed, lowest part the longest ; spore cover, when young, does 
not cover the spore capsules, and later often drops off. 

Lastrea pseudo-mas.—Sub-evergreen, fronds hard and leathery and 
do not drop in winter (and under glass are quite evergreen) ; fronds 
lance-shaped, twice divided, reaching five feet in length; pinne 
long and widest at base, once divided; pinnules with almost 
parallel sides, slightly saw-toothed, scarcely any difference in the 
length of the lowest pair; spore cover, when young, covers the 
spore capsules and does not fall off. (The colour is also a yellowish 
green.) 

Lastrea propinqua.—Quite deciduous ; not found at so great an 
elevation as the others reach; fronds ovally lance-shaped, twice 
divided, reaching rarely four feet in length; pinne once divided, 
pyramidal, i.e. of a long triangular form; pinnules doubly saw- 
toothed, crispy, and with a projecting ear-like one at the base, 
basal pair distinctly stalked and much longer than the rest ; spore 
cover quite covers the capsules. 

A little study will show that these are definite differences, and 
as all three types occur in many places, and retain these peculiarities, 
it is obvious that Mr. Wollaston, one of our oldest and most reliable 
authorities on British Ferns, was not a mere hair-splitter in making 
the division. In the varieties, however, these differences are, 
naturally, sometimes masked by other characters, and hence, 
although we class the varieties under separate heads, we do so under 
some reserve in several cases. All three have been fairly liberal 
in “sports,’”’ the best of which we will now indicate, ignoring, as 
usual, such as have been recorded but owing to defects, irregularities, 
or indeterminate character have probably fallen out of cultivation, 
and in any case deserve to do so. We may, perhaps appropriately, 


PLATE XVI. 


Lastrea filix mas. 


THE LASTREAS 149 


mention in this connection that in the early days of Fern-hunting, 
varieties presenting very trifling differences, such as we now ignore, 
were considered worthy of note and of a name, but as the catalogue 
of thoroughbred and distinct forms increased they became con- 
sidered as mere sub-varieties, and ceased to attract attention. 
The Male Fern is peculiarly liable to ‘‘ sport’ into what are termed 
“rogue ’’ forms, in which some of the fronds are irregularly foliose, 
forked, or depauperated, sometimes assuming, temporarily, so 
marked a character as to deceive even the expert, since when 
removed they always revert more or less to the normal. We are 
strongly of opinion that some of these figure in the old records of 
varieties proper. 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS 


ACROCLADON (Plate XVIII).—A beautifully crested form, but un- 
fortunately named, as “‘ acrocladon”’ is applied in other cases to much- 
branched, heavy-crested forms to which this does not approach. 


Fig. 159. ZL. f. m. Barneszi (pinne). 


Barnesil (Fig. 159).—Found in Lancashire by Mr. Barnes; a 
very distinct narrow-fronded form with short, wide pinne, some- 


what on the lines of Pinderit. 
aN Ny NZ 


my 
\ 


= Wt 


YY; 


SN hike / / i 


7 


Fig. 160. L.f. m, Beeverta, 


BEEVERI& (Fig. 160).—Found near Coniston by Miss Beever ; 
somewhat resembles Pinderiz, but more foliose and denser. 


150 BRITISH FERNS 


BoLLanpi#®.—Found at Tunbridge Wells by Mrs. Bolland, and 
remarkable for being the only plumose variety found in this species ; 
it is very foliose, and usually quite barren ; dark green and hand- 
some, but handicapped by occasional irregularities of make. 


Apex of frond. Lasal pinna. Middle pinna. 
Figs. 161, 162, 163. LZ. fi m. Clowesti, 


CLowesll (Figs. 161, 162, 163).—Found at Bromsgrove in 
Worcestershire ; this is a tasselled form which differs from Jervisid 
in bearing crisper tassels and deeper-cut pinne; the tassels also 
vary in size, sometimes bunched and sometimes flat, and pinne 
sometimes plain. 


ConFLUENS.—Found by W. H. Phillips; subdivisions not 
entirely separated. 


CrispATtA.—Found by J. K. Hodgson and others; a fine, com- 
pact, crispy variety. 


CRISPATISSIMA (FLUCTUOSA).—A_ still more marked variety ; 
very pretty. Vide also Fluctuosa. 


CristaTa.—Found by Mr. Crouch at Rydal; well tasselled. 


C. ELLACOMBE, C. MARTINDALE, C. ROUTLEDGE.—AII three very 
fine forms found by the gentlemen named. 


PLATE XVIII. 


Lastrea pseudo mas var cristata Lastrea filix mas var acrocladon 


THE LASTREAS I5t 


DeEcomposituM.—Very foliose; found by Mr. Allchin in S. 
Devon. 


DEPAUPERATUM.—Found by Mr. C. Padley on Exmoor; too 
curious to omit, the subdivisions extremely slender and confluent. 


Dicirata.—Found by Mr. J. M. Barnes at Burton; neatly 
crested. 


D. STEWARDSON#.—Found at Lancaster ; similar but distinct. 


Fig. 164. L. f. m. elongata (pinna). 


ELoncata (Fig. 164).—Found in the Isle of Wight by Rev. 
W. H. Hawker and subsequently elsewhere ; large fronds, pinne 
tapering into a tail, and pinnules plain edged. 


FiLuctuosa.—See crispatissima. 


152 BRITISH FERNS 


F. cristata.—A beautifully congested and crested form, raised 
by Mr. T. Bolton, of Warton, near Carnforth. 

GRANDICEPS.—Found by Mr. Wearing on Warton Crag, near 
Carnforth; a splendid robust, ramo-cristate variety, with heavy 
heads ; forms a dense bush. 


G. Dapps.—A heavier crested form, raised from polydactyla 
Dadds. 


G. PapLEy.—Somewhat on similar lines. 


‘ 


y 
= \ wv 
4 WBE 
\w aS ae Z3 
¢ y ety a 


cae 


a 
KSES 
iy 


Fe 


WN 


NN 


WSS 


is 


Fig. 165. LZ. jf. m, Jervisit (frond tip). Fig. 166. Z. f. m. Jervisdi (pinna). 


JeRvisi (Figs. 165, 166).—Found in Staffordshire by Mr. Swyn- 
fen Jervis; a robust, tasselled form, but unfortunately handi- 
capped by persistent partial depauperation ; short and ragged 
subdivisions. 


LinEARIs.—Pinnules very narrow and depauperate as found, but 
some better forms have been raised ; very hard in texture, crispy 
in make, and well worth growing. 


THE LASTREAS 153 


Lux Lun&.—Found in Yorkshire by Miss White; variegated 
with white and constant. 


MEDIO-DEFICIENS.—Found near Kenmore by the writer ; frond 
divisions narrow and pinnulets absent down centre of frond. 


~ 


\ 


~ 


N 


Fig. 167. L. f. m. multicristata (pinna). —- Fig. 168. Z. 7. m. polydactyla (pinna). 


MULTIcrIstTata (Fig. 167).—A very fine form raised from cristata, 
some of the pinnules forming tassels as well as the pinne tips. 


PoLypacTyLa (Fig. 168)—A very prettily crested form, found 
at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, also at Whitbarrow by Mr. Barnes. 


P. Dapps.—A very finely tasselled form, imputed to pseudo-mas, 
but as it drops its fronds in autumn we place it here. 


Willisonii (Plate XIX).—A neat, small deltoid form. 


LASTREA PROPINQUA 


ATTENUATO-CRISTATA.—Found at Clougha by Mr. J. Stewardson ; 
narrow tasselled form. 


154 BRITISH FERNS 


<i arian! 
set N Hi aan 
aes mS. 
sae a 
GND 


Fig. 169. LZ. prop. m. crispa. 


Crispa (Fig. 169),—A dwarf imbricate form raised by Mr. R. Sim. 

Cristata.—Found several times ; all prettily tasselled. 

C. BARNES.—Extra finely tasselled. 

C. Cowarpb, c. GotTt.—Small, neat crests. 

GRACILE ForsTeER.—Found in Mardale ; very narrow, finely cut 
subdivisions. 

GRANDICEPS BArNnES.—Found in Mardale ; large, spreading head. 

Mixra (Fig. 170).—~.\ dwarf, neatly crested form. 


Fig. 170. L. p. m. mikra. Fig. 171. Z. p. m. Pinderid (pinna). 


PINDER! (Fig. 171).—Found in the Lake District by the Rev. 
G. Pinder, and also subsequently by Mr. M. C. Monkman and T. 
Stansfield near Walton; a very marked form, erect and very 
narrow fronds, say three feet by six inches, tapering below and 
towards tip. 


PLATE. “I 


L. p. m. cristata L. f. m. abbreviata 


Lastres filix mas var , 
angustata cristata 


Willisanii 


THE LASTREAS 155 


Propucta Forster.—Fine slender variety. 


SMITHIESII.—A handsome robust, crispy, congested form, 
resembles pseudo-mas in its tough make and scaly character. 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS 


ABBREVIATA CRISTATA (Plate XIX).—Prettily crested ; found in 
Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Mr. R. D. Harrison ; a comparatively 
small grower, a foot to eighteen inches. 

APOSPORA PERCRISTATA.—LRaised by Mr. Cropper, presumably 
from L. ps. cristata ; a lovely small- growing Fern, with fine fim- 
briate and crested subdivisions; any portion layered and kept 
close produces prothalli in abundance and young plants shortly 
after ; a unique variety, but unfortunately very delicate in con- 
stitution ; one of the most interesting varieties of all, since besides 
its beauty it is both aposporous and apogamous ; see Life History. 


CONGESTA CRISTATA.—A dwarf gem raised by Dr. Lyell. 


big. 172. L. pseudo-mas crispa. 


Crispa (Fig. 172).—Found in Wales ; dwarf and crispy. 


156 BRITISH FERNS 


C. GraciLis.—A dwarf and pretty form raised by Dr. Lyell. 


C. CRISTATA ANGUSTATA.—Raised by Messrs. Lang of Kirkcaldy ; 
a dwarf, congested form of cristata angustata. 


CrisTaTa (Plate XVII).—Found at Charleston, near St. Austell, 
in Cornwall; this has well been termed the ‘‘ King of the Male 
Ferns.” A splendid robust evergreen, which, under certain treat- 
ment (see chapter on Culture), can become a tree Fern of great 
beauty. A peculiarity of this variety is that it reproduces itself 
from the spore by “‘ apogamic”’ buds, no fertilization occurring. 
The plate obviates description as does the nature print (see Ap- 
pendix No. XXV), which latter, however, is taken from a somewhat 
damaged frond, giving an irregular appearance which is not obvious 
in the growing plant. 


C. Ancustata (Plate XIX).—A narrow form of cristata, not 
growing so large. 


C. Wirson.—Found in Langdale by Mr. Wilson ; fine pendulous 
tassels. 


C. rimpriata.—A beautifully fringed offspring of cristata, a sort 
of half-way type between crisfuta and apospora percristata, and 
probably the parent of the latter. 


GRANDICEPS RaNnyarD.—A splendid heavily crested variety. 


PoLtypactyLA Druery.— The parent form, when found near 
Kilmarnock, was a robust, splendidly polydactylous form, but 
proved to be a “rogue’’; one seedling, however, lost its bad char- 
acter, and repaid the finder for previous disappointments. 


P. Jones.—Found in Burton by J. J. Jones ; finely tasselled. 


P. Wirits.—A magnificent rival to the ‘‘ King of the Male 
Ferns” ; produces fewer fronds, but much longer and wider. 


RAMO-CRISTATA Fitt.—A small-growing, branched, and tasselled 
variety. 


Ramosisstma.—Found in N. Wales by R. Wright ; fronds branch 
repeatedly and terminate with heavy tassels, forming a ball of 
verdure ; very fine. 


RAMULOSISSIMA.—Raised by Sim from Schofieldii; a densely 
branched and tasselled gem. 


R. GRANDE.—Raised by Mr. G. Whitwell, Kendal, we believe 
by a simple secondary “‘ sporting ’”’ of a division of ramulosissima, 
which we believe is barren of spores; a beautiful dark green bunch 
of cresting, nearly a foot high. 


REVOLVENS.—Found at Troutbeck by Mr. Clowes, in a green- 


THE LASTREAS 157 


Vig. 173. L. ps. m. Schofieldii, 


house among a number of common ones collected by a gardener ; 
fronds almost tubular. 


SCHOFIELDH (Fig. 173).—Found near Buxton by Mr. J. Schofield ; 
a very dwarf ramose form, not in itself very attractive, but it has 
produced a very beautiful dwarf grandiceps ramulosissima. 


STABLERII.—Like L. propinqua Pinderii, but larger. 


SUB-CRISTATA Dapps.—Tassels very small, but fronds peculiarly 
broad and handsome (see Appendix No. XX). 


LastREA MONTANA (OREOPTERIS) (THE MOUNTAIN BUCKLER 
FERN—THE LEMON-SCENTED FERN) 


(Plate XX) 


This beautiful species is very widespread, and is not, as its name 
montana denotes, by any means confined to high elevations, though 
it is very abundant on hillsides in the lake districts of Wales and 
Scotland, covering large areas on the open moor, fringing the 
streams, and forming dense communities in the woods. It needs 
root moisture, but given that will well withstand both wind and 
sunshine. In form it has a superficial resemblance to the Male 
Fern, but apart from the yellower green of its fronds (Fig. 174), and 


158 BRITISH FERNS 


the lemon-like odour produced if these be handled, it will be found 
on closer examination that the side divisions commence close to the 
ground as round lobes which lengthen slowly at first, and then 
more rapidly, forming a lance-shaped outline with a gradual 


Fig. 174. L. montana (pinna). 


tapering off below, while in the Male Fern they start abruptly of 
some length a third of the way up the frond, the stalk below being 
bare. The spore heaps are small and numerous. It resents lime 
in soil or water, and grows best in moist, friable loam, in well- 
drained pots, or on the northern sides of rockeries. Curiously 
enough this species for a very long period had the reputation of 
being a very constant and ‘‘non-sporting”’ one, since, despite its 
abundance, no varieties turned up to reward the hunter’s per- 
severance. Then, however, two or three varieties were discovered, 
and Mr. J. M. Barnes, of Milnthorpe, in the Lake District, devoted 
particular attention to the species, and found some very fine ones. 
Others followed, and at present L. montana figures as by far the 
most versatile species of the genus, over seventy varieties being 
catalogued as found in the Lake District alone, clearly due mainly 
to the residence there of a number of experienced hunters, since 
we have ourselves found several very choice and distinct forms 
in Devonshire and Scotland, and Dr. Stansfield recently found 
a magnificent plumose form in Wales. The following are the best. 


Apu#Formis.—Found at Swindale by Mr. Barnes; a multifid, 
branched terminal crest. 


ATTENUATO-CRISTATA.—Tound in Mardale by Mr. Barnes; a 
narrow, crested form. 


Barnesil.—Found by Mr. Barnes; a remarkable variety, with 
short, oval side divisions set on to the midrib at right angles, like 
the steps of a ladder. Unique when found, and still distinct ; but 
a number of very similar, narrow varieties have since been dis- 
covered by Mr. Whitwell and others. 


Concinnata.—Found Loughrigg by Mr. Crouch; a narrow 
revoluens. 


Concesta.—A number of very good congested forms have been 
found ; the best we have seen is cr?spalissima, found by Mr. Gott 
near Troutbeck. 


CRISPATISSIMA.—See note to cunyesta. 


\/ 
4 


PLATE Ax 


Lastrea montana (oreonteris) 
Lastrea thelypteris 


THE LASTREAS 159 


(Mingo 
UOC 


Fig. 175. L. m. cristata. 


CristaTa (Fig. 175).—Found in Monmouthshire by Mr. T. H. 
Thomas ; frond heavily tasselled, pinne much less so; also by 
Mr. J. M. Barnes, a finer form. 


CRISTATO-GRACILE DRUERY.—A very fine slender, crested form 
found at Sticklepath, Dartmoor, by the writer. 


Curvata.—A form with deflexed pinne, found several times. 


Fizirera.—Most remarkable forms raised by Mr. J. Wiper ; 
pinnules deeply incised, and points extended into threads. Bul- 
biferous at base. 


oS SC EANAMN 

LAT) 7 

LI. UZ, WW Vy Wn 
Fig. 176. Z. mm. furcans (pinna). 


Furcans (Fig. 176).—Found by Mr. Monkman at Bowness ; 
fronds and pinne tips divided into several. 


GRACILIS.—Found Hawkshead by J. Wiper; beautifully cut 
pinnules. 


GRANDICEPS BARNES.—Raised by Mr. Barnes; very heavily 
tasselled. 


G. SMITHIES.—A very fine form found in Long Seddale by Mr. 
Smithies, who had previously found a less marked form at Martindale. 


Nowe Liana (Fig. 177).—Found by Mr. J. Nowell and Mr. A. 
Stansfield in N. Wales; a very curious form with much reduced, 
saw-toothed, irregular pinnules, and long, acutely pointed and 
sometimes forked pinne. 


PLumosa.—True plumose forms, very foliose, barren, and finely 
cut, have been found by Mr. T. Airey, Mr. G. Whitwell, Dr. F. W. 
Stansfield, and the writer. The finest of all is that of Dr. Stansfield, 
found in Wales, Igo09g (see Fig. 178). 


PoLypacTyLa,—Numerous finds, tips divided into pointed crests. 


BRITISH FERNS 


160 


ba A 
Fae 
BER aS Heo i 


6 e 
. oe 

ro aig BN ee he o | 

se Sete Ate Be ai, Nae 


¢| 
yw 
pag! 


a BH | 
gut ae $8 Ge 
ane at TS 288 ter 

Aca 


Fig. 177. 1. um. Nowelliana, 


RAMO-CORONANS, R. CRISTATA.—Both raised by Mr. Barnes ; 
splendidly crested and branched. 

REFLEXA.—Found Coniston by J. Stewardson; pinne like 
ringlets. 

REVOLVENS.—See concinnata. 

SIMPLEX.—Found by Mr. Barnes in Mardale; fronds like 
P. vulgare, pinne smooth-edged. 

Truncata (Fig. 179).—This very curious form, first found by Mr. 


G. B. Wollaston near Tunbridge Wells, has fronds of perfectly 
normal make, except that the tips of the frond and of the side 


161 


THE LASTREAS 


"IOS JVIGOJOPOAIADT YSUYIAT 


‘(mpaysunjg) vsounpd runjuom vasswy ‘*QLi ‘BLY 


M 


162 BRITISH FERNS 


divisions are prematurely and abruptly terminated squarely, the 
midrib projecting from the centre as a thorn or bristle ; this form 
occurs so frequently that in the Lake District a Fern so characterized 


Iwi 
WTA 


Fig. 179. ZL. m. truncata (pinn). 


is termed the “ beginner’s Fern,’’ since it is nearly always the first 
thing which the young Fern-hunter comes across in the varietal line. 
We have found it repeatedly. Sometimes plants are found partly 
truncate and partly normal, but constant ones are not rare. 


LASTREA REMOTA 
(Plate XNJ) 


This Fern (Fig. 180) was first found in Westmoreland by Mr. 
F. Clowes, of Windermere, who regarded it as a form of L. spinulosa, 
but a frond being submitted to Mr. Moore, of the Chelsea Botanic 


Fig. 180. Z. remota (part of pinna). 


Gardens, he pronounced it to be identical with a species native to 
southern Germany, and{named; Aspidiwm remotum (Braun), thus 
adding a new species to the British list. In view, however, of the 
variability of L. dilatata, and Mr. Clowes’ own opinion at the time 
of the find, that it was a form of L. spinulosa, which we regard as one 
of its variants, we are hardly inclined to accept L. remota as a dis- 
tinct species, but rank it rather with the other indefinite ones of 
the same section of L. dilutata forms, It is quite hardy, but de- 
ciduous, and grows to a considerable size. : 


PLATE XxXIl. 


Lastrea rigida 
Lastrea rémota (apex of frond) 


THE LASTREAS 163 


LaSTREA SPINULOSA (THE SpINy BUCKLER FERN) 
(Plate XXII) 


For a description of this Fern, which we regard as a sub-variety 
or sub-species of the L. dilatata section, we cannot do better than 


Fig. 181. Z, spisulosa (part of pinna). 


refer to Fig. 18t and Plate XXII. There are no marked varieties 
which can be imputed to it. 


LasTrEA RicIpA (THE RIGID BucKLER FERN) 
(Plate X XI) 


This Lastvea is entirely confined to Limestone districts of some 
elevation. It roughly resembles a somewhat small, stiff-growing 
Male Fern, and like that Fern the fronds (Fig. 182) arise in circlets 


Fig. 182. Z. rzgida (pinna). 


from an erect rootstock, but as its fronds have a somewhat mealy 
appearance, owing to numerous glands on their surface, it is easily 
distinguished. In cultivation, the usual compost may be used, 
but with an admixture of limestone. It is deciduous. The only 
constant variety, cristata, was found by Mr. F. A. Barraud, we 
believe near Ingleborough, Yorks; a thoroughbred, prettily crested 
at all tips, but, unfortunately, it is not now in existence, and is 
only mentioned to stimulate further search. 


164 BRITISH FERNS 


LASTREA THELYPTERIS (THE MarsH BuCKLER FERN) 
(Plate XX) 


This species is the only British one which actually grows in 
boggy, water-logged soil, and it differs widely from the other 
Lasireas in forming no definite crown, but in having a thin, creeping 
rootstock, almost on Polypody lines, these forming mat-like masses, 
whence the long, slenderly made fronds spring singly. These 
fronds (Fig. 183) are erect, and have very long, naked stalks, bearing 
somewhat distant pinne, very much on attenuate L. montana lines, 


VIS AE 1 
by SL 


\ 
SLAs, hel Y 6 VG 
at OL Ae Wy 


e, aS 
VIN, n Vn WS nee 

aN Wis NOS MANOS OS NOR é 
y a AC a % eh cy ‘ AA A u AS cs 


Fig. 183. LZ. ¢helypterts (pinna). 


but without the short lobes commencing near the base which are 
characteristic of that species. They are of a delicate green, and tall, 
attaining in favourable situations over a yard in height. Its 
culture is easy if boggy, peaty conditions and plenty of moisture 
be provided. We produced a rampant specimen by planting a 
piece of the creeping caudex in peaty soil, over a good-sized glazed 
earthenware pan sunk in the ground and filled with pieces of 
broken brick, over which moss was laid to prevent admittance of 
the soil. Every rainfall or watering was caught by this pan, and 
obviously the roots proper of the thirsty Fern obtained admission 
to this supply, for the creeping rootstocks spread, and even emerged 
in all directions, and had eventually to be drastically checked to 
prevent monopoly of valuable space. Peaty soil, in pans, kept well 
watered, suits the Fern admirably, though owing to its tall growth 
and slender stalks it does not rank among the decoratives. No 
variety has been found in this country, but a very good crested 
form, L. 4. polydactyla (Puffer), was found some years ago by a 
lady in the United States, and figures in our collection as, if not 
a British find, at any rate a “‘ sport ” of a British species, and there 
are some very promising grandiceps forms raised by the writer. 


PLATE XXII. 


Lastrea spinwosa Lastrea cemula 


OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM 165 


LASTREA ULIGINOSA 
(Plate XVI) 


For this species we refer our readers to Fig. 184 and Plate 
XVI), for the reasons given in connection with L. spinulosa. 


Fig. 184. Z. udég¢nosa (pinna). 


L. uliginosa is a denizen of boggy woods; it has afforded no 
varieties worthy of note. 


OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM (THE ApDDER’Ss-TONGUE FERN) 
(Plate XJ) 


This little Fern (Fig. 185) consists of a smooth-edged, lance- 
shaped, leathery, barren frond, minus any midrib, and a long, 
spiky, fertile one, the latter bearing a fanciful resemblance to a 


Fig. 185. O. vulgatun (part of frond). 


serpent’s tongue, though not forked. It is probably far more 
plentiful than is supposed, since it frequents open, moist, pasture 
land, and might be easily mistaken for plants of the common plan- 
tain weed, both as to its barren frond, which resembles the leaf, 
and the fertile spike, which resembles the seed spike. Deciduous, 
It has a creeping rootstock, and if lifted en masse in a clod of earth, 


166 BRITISH FERNS 


and transferred to a garden, will continue to grow year after year. 
It has no decorative value at all. A diminutive form has been 


Fig. 186. O. deséfanicum. 


found in Guernsey, which is considered to be a distinct species, 
O. lusitanicum (Fig. 186). 


OSMUNDA REGALIS (Tue Royat FErn) 
(Plate XXIII) 


This grand Fern stands alone as a species in this country, and 
attains a great size, ten or eleven feet high, and in the upper reaches 
of the Dart we have seen it so robust and abundant as to resemble 
coppices at a short distance, the ground being a solid mass of the 
massive rootstocks, clothed densely with aerial rootlets like huge 
sponges. It exists in many places where moist and almost boggy 


Fig. 187. Osmenda regalts (pinnule). 


conditions prevail, and attains its largest size on the banks of streams, 
on islands in the lake districts, and similar habitats where its 
feet, so to speak, are bathed in moisture. Its huge fronds spring in 
clusters from definite centres of the rootstocks described, and are 
twice or thrice divided into pinne as shown in Fig. 187, the fruc- 
tification being confined to the tips of the fronds where the leafy 
portion disappears, and is replaced by branched masses of un- 
covered spore capsules which, when ripe, are of a brownish tint, 


oN, 


5 
pas 


PLATE XXIII 


Osmunda regalis 


OSMUNDA REGALIS 167 


the contained spores being a bright green. This form of fructifi- 
cation, having some resemblance to faded spivea flowers, has given 
the popular name of the Flowering Fern to this species, though we 
need hardly say it is a misnomer. The character of its habitats 
must be remembered in its culture ; the soil should be spongy peat, 
and kept constantly moist. Given such a supply of root moisture, 
the fronds stand exposure to sun and wind with impunity. The 
young fronds are covered with a brownish wool, which, however, 
is detached as they rise. It is perfectly deciduous, despite its 
tough texture. It has afforded several varieties. 


Fig. 188. O. regalis cristata. 


CristaTA (Figs. 188, 189).—A very beautiful crested form 
which was accidentally acquired from a hawker in the winter, 
when dormant, by Messrs. Osborn & Sons, of Fulham, and dis- 
covered in their nurseries, when it developed, by Mr. G. B. Wollas- 
ton, who at once offered a good round sum for it, but failed to 
acquire it, a rather tantalizing fact under the circumstances. 


168 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 189. 0. regalis cristata (pinna). 


A bulbiferous form was raised from this by Mr. Clift, of Birming- 
ham, bulbils being borne near the frond bases. 

Rotunpata.—A round pinnuled form found in Ireland by Mr. 
M. H. Phillips. 

DecompositA.—Found in Ireland by Mr. Alex. Cowan ; fronds 
much more divided, and with saw-toothed pinnules, the fructifica- 
tion taking the form of detached bead-like masses instead of slightly 
crenate spikelets. 


THE POLYPODIES 


The Polypodium genus is represented in Great Britain by four 
species, viz. Polypodium vulgare, the Common Polypody, P. 
dryopteris, the Oak Fern, P. phegopteris, the Beech Fern, and 
P. calcareum (Robertianum), the Limestone Polypody. The name 
Polypodium signifies many-footed, the rootstocks travelling on 
or near the surface of the soil, and, as in the well-known Haresfoot 
Fern (Davallia), the growing tips resemble more or less hairy paws. 
In point of fact, however, many species, the Davallias themselves 
to wit, do the same thing, but belong to quite different genera, the 
actual generic distinction of the Polypodium family being a fruc- 
tification, consisting of round or oval masses of spore capsules, 
quite destitute of any protecting cover, so that the generic name 
is another of those misleading ones which we have inherited from 
the old times when botanical knowledge was very imperfect. 


PoLYPODIUM CALCAREUM (ROBERTIANUM) (THE LIMESTONE 


PoLypopy) 
(Plate XXIV) 


This Fern, as regards make of frond, may be roughly described 
as a slightly coarser and considerably larger edition of the Oak 


PLATE XXIV. 


Polypodium phegopteris Polypodium caleareum 
(Robertianurn) 
Polvnodium drvonteris 


THE POLYPODIES 169 


Fern, but with a less delicate shade of green, while its developing 
fronds (Fig. 190) do not divide at the outset into three ball-like 
pendants, but form a crozier-shaped pendulous hook. It imitates 


Fig. 190. P. calcareum (pinna). 


the Oak and Beech Ferns exactly as regards its creeping rootstocks 
and general habit of growth, but differs from them in its confine- 
ment, as its name indicates, to limestone soils, which, under culture, 
necessitates an admixture of old mortar, chalk, or other form of 
lime, in the station assigned to it. Treated thus, it is equally 
easy to grow. It has yielded no varieties. 


Potypopium DryopTEeRis (THE OAK FERN) 
(Plate XXIV) 


This most beautiful little Fern, whose name is equally difficult 
to explain as that of the Beech Fern, and for the same reason, 
differs markedly in the make of its fronds from P. phegopteris, 
these being triangular in outline, and practically consisting of three 
branches, each of which is again triangular and pinnate. The 


Fig. 191. P. dryopterds (pinna). 


stalks are long and very slender, and the leafy portion of the frond 
is bent backwards at an angle at the junction of stalk and frond, 
the fronds (Fig. 191) thus spreading more or less horizontally. 
A curious feature in this species is that when the fronds commence 
to unfold, the three divisions loosen and fall apart in the shape of 
three round balls, exactly like a pawnbroker’s sign. Another dis- 
tinctive feature is the peculiarly delicate moonlight green of the 
fronds, which, and its general habit, render it one of the prettiest 
of our native Ferns. Its usual height is six to eight inches. As 
regards its habitats and cultural requirements, they are precisely 
those of the Beech Fern, and need not, therefore, be repeated. 


170 BRITISH FERNS 


So far, absolutely no variety, constant or even inconstant, has 
been noted in this beautiful little Fern, which Nature is apparently 
quite content to regard as a masterpiece, and therefore declines to 
meddle with in the way of “ sports,’ which might mar, but could 
hardly improve. 


Potyropium PHEGOPTERIS (THE BEECH FERN) 
(Plate XXIV) 


This very pretty Fern, whose popular name of the Beech Fern 
is a translation of the botanical one, and equally difficult to explain, 
since there is no connection between the tree and the Fern, is far 
more restricted in its habitats than its robuster relative, the Common 
Polypody, being a denizen of moist woods in the vicinity of water, 
and also of loose stone dykes, or stone-faced earthen banks, where 


Obie taht i 
‘alas MDP tn. 
PE SE 


Fig. 192. P. phegoplerus (pinna). 


humid conditions prevail. Its fronds (Fig. 192) of triangular out- 
line, once divided, and with the two lowest pinne turned down- 
wards, a very distinctive character of this species, are of soft, 
delicate make, supported on very slender, long stalks, their nature 
thus precluding them from withstanding similar conditions of 
exposure to wind and occasional spells of drought. When uncoiling 
the tips of the fronds turn over backwards, as do most of the Shield 
Ferns, an exception to the general rule. In sheltered woods we 
find it sometimes in spreading colonies, yards across, its fronds 
hanging pendulously from their stalks, and forming thus a sheet 
of beautiful light green. Its rootstocks are very thin, black, and 
string-like, creeping rapidly about in the loose, leafy debris in which 
it is most at home, and throwing up the fronds singly, at intervals, 
as they proceed. Its spore heaps also differ markedly from those 
of P. vulgare, being dark, dot-like, and very small. Under culture, 
especially under glass, it is easy to grow, all that is required being 
shelter from strong sun and wind, and a shallow, well-drained pan, 
filled with very leafy, loose, sandy compost, water not being spared. 
It rapidly spreads and is perfectly hardy. It is quite deciduous, 
the fronds dying down in the autumn and rising again about the 
middle of April. It must not be allowed to dry out in the winter. 
This species has been very chary of varieties. 


THE POLYPODIES 171 


Fig. 193. ?. phegopterus multifidum. 


MuLtiripuM.—A multifid form was found by J. Jones at 
Burton with the tips slightly but constantly divided. A form 
under this name is recorded by Mr. E. J. Lowe (Fig. 193) but ob- 
viously is not correctly christened. This identical type, however, 
we have found more than once at Aberfeldy and elsewhere, but it 
has always proved to be inconstant, reverting to the normal under 
culture. We have dried fronds of even more marked cutting than 
our figure. 


172 BRITISH FERNS 


Potypopium VuLcaRE (THE Common Porypopy) 
(Plate XXV) 


P. vulgare, which is by far the most widely distributed species 
of this genus, differs very markedly from the other three. It has 
once-divided, tough fronds, consisting of a long stalk, continuing as 
a midrib bearing two rows of normally bluntly tipped side divisions, 


as seen in Fig. 194, forming a sort of double comb with well- 
separated broad-based teeth, the frond tapering gradually to a 
blunt point, or perhaps with pinne set on endwise, even the 
normals varying somewhat in different districts. Its native habitats 
are on the tops of old walls or roofs, where dense colonies some- 
times accumulate, along the hedges in the stony dykes which back 
them, in the forks of old trees, and even on the trunks, and in the 
woods on elevated masses of woodland debris and rocky detritus. 
Its fronds may attain a length of two feet under very favourable 
circumstances, but ordinarily are less than half that size. The 
spores are borne in very conspicuous round masses on the frond 
backs, and are of a brilliant orange yellow, the spores themselves 
being of similar colour, a solitary exception in British species. 
Both capsules and spores are also comparatively large, the spore 
heaps, under a lens, resembling heaps of oranges. The rootstocks 
branch and spread on the surface, not burrowing, as in the other 
species of the same family ; they are also much thicker and fleshier, 
often as thick as one’s little finger. The fronds spring from these 
singly, and do not form clumps. As their tree resorts indicate, 
leaf mould and good drainage are essentials to successful culture, 
and shallow pans, providing room for the travelling rootstocks, are 
preferable to pots. This species is perfectly evergreen, the fronds 
lasting well into the second season, until new ones arise to replace 
them. The other members of the family will be treated of under 
their respective headings. This species has been very liberal in 
“sports,’’ many of which are of great beauty, as is seen by the 
nature prints in the Appendix. 


PLATE XXV. 


Polypodium vulgare 


Polypodium vulgare Polypodium vulgare 1 
var omnilacerum 


var cristatum 


THE POLYPODIES 173 


Samay Z 
SS Zao ee 


(Ass 
Fig. 195. P. v acutum. 


Acutum (Fig. 195).—A form with lengthened and pointed, 
smooth-edged side-divisions ; it has been found in various places, 
but is not common. 


A. STANSFIELDII (Plate XXVI).—This is an extra fine form of 
acutum found by Mr. Stansfield, Mr. Barnes, and Mr. Clapham ; 
very fine. 


174 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 196. P. wv. attentuatum. 


ATTENUATUM (Fig. 196).—Pinnz still more elongated than in 
acutum, slightly toothed, fronds very wide. 


THE POLYPODIES 175 


Fig. 197. P. uv. auritum. 


_AuRITUM (Fig. 197).—Found in several places, it is distinguished 
by longer pinne, with bluntly toothed edges, and a pair of distinctly 
elongated lobes on each pinna next the midrib. 


176 BRITISH FERNS 


NN 


Fg. 198. Pe. aurttum dentatum. Fig. 199. P. v. bifidum 
g 
(obtuse form). 


AURITUM DENTATUM (Fig. 198).— Found by Mr. C. Monkman 
near Boness ; a form of azritum with saw-toothed pinne. 


THE POLYPODIES 477 


Fig. 200. /. uv. bifidum (acute form). 


BiFIDUM (Fig. 199, 200).—This occurs not infrequently ; 
many of the lower pinne are bifid or trifid at tips; Fig 199 shows 
the usual form, Fig. 200 an acute one. No constant thorough 


form has been gathered. 


BIFIDO-MULTIFIDUM.—Found at Grange by Mr. Walmsley ; 
fronds long and narrow, all pinnz bifid or trifid, and with a broad, 


branching, flat, terminal tassel. 


N 


178 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 201. P. uv. Cambricum, 


CaMBRICUM (Fig. 201 and Appendix No. XLVI).—This very beau- 
tiful form was originally found in Wales, whence the name which 
means Welsh, but it has subsequently been found in several other 
places, some superior forms of it having been found in the Lake 
District. As our illustration shows, the normal plain-edged lobes 
are transformed into very deeply cut ones, and so widened as to 
overlap each other considerably. The fronds, too, are of thinner, 
papery texture, and are always perfectly barren. This is really 
the true plumose form of the species. 


THE POLYPODIES 179 


Fig. 202, P. v. camb, Hadwinii. 


C. BARROWH, Cc. Hapwint (Fig. 202), C. OAKLEY, C. PRESTONII 
(Appendix No. XLIV).—These are all quite distinct forms of Cam- 
bricum, and very beautiful; Barrowii is a robust grower with 
longer and more acutely pointed divisions than Cambricum, and 
Prestonit is much denser in make; Hadwinti is a narrow form 
with blunter divisions, and Oakleye a smaller grower than the 
others ; all are perfectly barren. 


CORNUBIENSE.—Found in Cornwall by Mr. White and others, 
as a result of which it has been also named elegantissimum and 
Whiteti, the first indicating locality, the next character, and the 
last one of the finder’s names. It is one of our most curious 
varieties, producing indiscriminately three kinds of fronds, viz. 
perfectly normal ones, very finely cut ones consisting of tripinnate 
or even quadripinnate, very narrow segments, and a coarser type 


180 BRITISH FERNS 


of these; one and the same frond may display all three types of 
cutting ; the spores invariably yield the same inconstant form. 


C. FOLIOSUM.—Raised by Mr. Clapham ; shows mainly the inter- 
mediate type on somewhat leafier lines. 


C. pLuMosum.—Raised by Mr. Barnes; has broader and leafier 
fronds, but finely cut. 


C. TRICHOMANOIDES.—In this, we believe by constant suppression 
of the normal fronds, an almost constant form has been arrived at 
by Messrs. Backhouse, of York, only showing the finest-cut type 
with very little reversion ; very beautiful. 


CRENATUM (Fig. 203).—Found in several places ; a wide-fronded 
form, the subdivisions being bluntly toothed. 


CRISTATUM (Plate XXV and Appendix No. XLVIJ).—Found in 
Ireland by Mr. H.S. Perry and others; a very prettily tasselled 
form. 


C. MoRLEYII.—Similar to cristatum, but less markedly tasselled. 
ELEGANTISSIMUM.—See Cornubiense. 


GLOMERATUM.—Found in Dorset by Mr. Mullins; a curious, 
ramose, and subcristate form, no two fronds alike, but no reversion 
to normal. 


GRANDICEPS ForsTER, G. Fox (see Appendix Nos. XLII and 
XNLVI).—The finest forms of cristatum, heavy bunch crests, but 
distinct. 


G. PARKER.—Found in Somerset by Mr. Parker ; a splendid form, 
bearing heavy, much-branched heads on almost bare stalks, with 


the tips of the cresting prettily crisped; the finest crested form 
of all. 


HvtTcHISoONII.—Reported as found by Mr. Hutchison in Wales, 
but its history is obscure, and as it is so exact a replica of Cornu- 
biense in all respects, we are inclined to doubt its wild origin. 


LONGIPINNATUM.—Found by writer at Killarney ; very long and 
narrow pinne, fronds consequently very wide, six inches and 
more. 


Macrosorum.—A very fine deltoid form, with very long and 
pinnatifid basal pinne, the rest serrate, sori extra profuse and 
conspicuous ; found by writer at Minehead. 


Macrostacuyon.—Found in Ireland by Mr. O’Kelly; fronds 
have wide lateral lobes, and terminate with a very wide and large 
one set on end, forming a broad caudate tip. 


IM 


e Ls 
a 
eae 
SW a . 
SS 


Fig, 203. PP. ¥. crenatum, 


182 BRITISH FERNS 


Marcinatum (Fig. 204).—Found in Kent by Mr. Wollaston 
and at Windermere by Mr. Clowes; the margins are irregularly 
broken up into pointed teeth, with a minute marginal ridge at the 
back. Fig. 204 represents Mr. Clowes’ find, which is distinct, as 
shown; Fig. 212 Mr. Wollaston’s. 


Fig. 204. 2. vu. marginatum, Fig. 205. 2. v. multihido-cristatum. 


MULTIFIDO-CRISTATUM (Fig. 205).—Found by Mr. Tasker, locality 
not stated ; a very heavy-headed form, with long and almost bare 
stalk, sometimes quite so. 

M. ELEGANTISSIMUM.—Raised by Mr. Clapham ; b:fido multifidum 
elegantissimum. More eccentric even than latter, both varieties, 
plus the normal, asserting themselves entirely or in patches. 


Polypodium vulgare var 
acutum Stansfieldii 


PLATE 


XXVI. 


Zs 
p; 


) 


= 


ALANA 


@ 


Yh 


Polypodium vulgare var 
semilacerum 


THE POLYPODIES 183 


oe 


GE 


Pee 


ine ey 


5 = 
ie Lee 


got MEE 2 
Seoren LL LL LEA 


Fig. 206, P. 7. multiforme, 


MULTIFORME (Fig. 206).—Found several places ; robust and very 
versatile, partaking irregularly of the characters of semilacerum, 
truncatum, and serratum. 


OMNILACERUM (Plate XXV and Appendix No. XLV).—Found by 
Mr. E. T. Bennett in Ross, Herefordshire ; somewhat resembling a 
narrow Cambricum but fertile; it only, however, assumes the forms 
illustrated when grown under peculiarly congenial conditions. 


O, ALDRENII.—Found Milnthorpe ; splendid variety when in form, 
which is rarely the case. 


184 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 207, P. uv, pulcherrimum, 


PULCHERRIMUM (Fig. 207 and Appendix No. L).—Found by Mr. 
Barnes near Milnthorpe; a splendid, robust form on Cambricum 
lines, but with less acutely pointed subdivisions, and of normally 
leathery texture, and fully fertile. 


Le nk 
My) Cae | 
L975 


Ramosum (Fig. 208).—A conspicuously bluntly toothed bifidum 
on thorough lines. 


THE POLYPODIES 185 


R. Hirtman.—Found in Hampshire ; fronds branch repeatedly, 
very fine form. 

SEMILACERUM (Plate XXVI and Appendix No. LII).—Known as 
the Irish Polypody, but found in many other places ; only assumes 
full character under generous cultivation. 

S. GRANDE (Appendix No. XL).—Found in Wicklow; a mag- 
nificent form, fronds almost circular in outline, finely cut and a 
foot across. 

S. Lowe11.—Found by Col. Lowe in Athlone; very imbricate. 

S. TRUNCATUM.—Found at Levens by J. M. Barnes; frond and 
pinne truncate and horned. 

SERRA.—Found by Mr. Wilson in Lancashire; a narrow Cam- 
bricum form, foliose, saw-toothed. 


Fig. 209. P. séuuatum Monkmannit, 


StnuatUM Monkmannll (Fig. 209).—Found at Morecambe Bay ; 
a curious dwarf form, displaying many characters on eccentric lines. 


186 BRITISH FERNS 


Qo 
SSSst j V4 


\ YX 


\ 
Visi illo 
14 EER NSSSS 


7Y Viz 


: 
Fig, 210. P. v. suprasoriferum, Fig. 211. P. v. Thompsonit. 


SUPRASORIFERUM (Fig. 210).—Found in Sussex by Mr. G. B. 
Wollaston ; subdivisions narrow and irregularly toothed, @ la 


marginatum ; spore heaps often on upper surface at the edges, as well 
as on frond backs. 


Tuompsonil (Fig. 211).—Found near Whitby by Mr. George 
Thompson ; an obtuse, dense, almost imbricate form. 


TruncatuM (Fig. 212).—Found in Ireland by Dr. Allchin, and at 
Windermere by Mr. Clowes; pinnze minutely saw-toothed, fronds 
sometimes abruptly terminated, midrib projecting like a thorn. 


P. vu. marginatum. 


P. v. truncatum. 


Fig. 212. 


188 BRITISI FERNS 


THE POLYSTICHUMS (THE SHIELD FERNs) 


The genus Polystichum is represented in this country by three 
species, viz. P. aculeatwm, the Hard Shield Fern, P. angulare, the 
Soft Shield Fern, and P. lonchitis, the Holly Fern, all of which are 
similarly characterized by the peculiar form of the ultimate sub- 
divisions, which are shaped somewhat like a fingerless glove, the 
thumb projecting at nearly right angles. Their edges are, however, 
sharply toothed and their terminals sharply pointed. This pecu- 
liarity is clearly seen in many of our illustrations, but, as will also 
be seen, especially in the case of P. angulare, the make of the 
frond and subdivision varies very greatly, so that sometimes it is 
both marked by partial suppression, or accentuated by lengthening 
of the segments. All three species are perfectly evergreen and hardy, 
and a further peculiarity by which they may be recognized, when 
the fronds are rising and unfolding in the spring, is that as the 
terminal coil develops and loosens, it falls over backwards, and 
hangs like a reversed crozier, an exception to the general rule. At 
this stage, too, the protecting scales, which are plentiful, are snow- 
white, only eventually becoming brown. The spore heaps of this 
genus are perfectly round, and are covered by a circular indusium, 
attached mushroom fashion by a short central stalk. This, having 
a resemblance to a shield, gives the popular name to the genus. The 
fronds are deep green, and with a shining surface, especially in 
P. lonchitis and P. aculeatum; their distinguishing characters, 
however, will be treated of under their respective names. All three 
species have yielded varieties, P. lonchitis a few, and P. aculeatum 
a fair number, but P. angulare has been far and away more generous, 
and ranks, indeed, with the four or five most versatile Ferns we 
possess. With these few introductory words we will now proceed 
to treat of them individually. 


PoLysTICHUM ACULEATUM (THE HARD PRICKLY SHIELD FERN) 
(Plate XXVII) 


Polystichum aculeatum, or the Hard Prickly Shield Fern, is 
intermediate in texture between P. lonchitis, the Holly Fern of the 


SS SS = 
Vig. 213. P. aculeatem (pinna). 


mountains, and P. angulare, the Soft Shield Fern of our warm’ 
lowland districts, and is also to some extent intermediate in its 


PLATE XXVIL. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 189 


habitats, since it extends far north into the Scottish glens, where 
P. angulare, its more delicate relative, exists but as a rare record. 
P. aculeatum is very widely distributed, and frequents hedgebanks, 
woods, and in the north and elsewhere is found in abundance in 
the rocky walls of deeply cut streams, where its handsome plumes 
of fronds may be a yard long in favoured spots. It is by no means 
a dainty Fern, and its culture is of the easiest. Like its relatives 
it is a thorough evergreen, and its bright, lucent fronds, see Plate, 
do not drop, unless by stress of weather, until the new set rises in 
the spring to take their place. In habit it is more erect than P. 
angulare, and its most persistent differentiating character is that 
in P. angulare the minor subdivisions have a distinct stalk, but in 
P. aculeatum they are wedge-shaped, and the attachment is by the 
point of the wedge, no stalk appearing. It forms a very stout caudex 
and carries its fronds in a circle, so that a well-grown pot plant is 
very handsome. 

This species has yielded a fair number of varieties, some, as we 
shall see, of peculiar interest. 


ACROCLADON (Fig. 214).—Found by Mrs. Thompson near Exeter ; 
as our illustration shows, it has a very beautifully branched and 
heavy terminal crest, the pinne being reduced in size and tasselled 
on regular, but smaller lines; it is of rigid, erect habit and very 
ornamental. 


ACULEATO-CRUCIATUM (HYBRIDUM) (Lowe).—A narrow cruciate 
form, interesting as being, we believe, the first intentional hybrid 
between two recognized species, viz. P. aculeatum densum X 
P. angulare Wakeleyanum, a cruciate variety, i.e. with most of the 
pinnz in duplicate, and set on at obtuse angles to each other, thus 
forming crosses with the opposite pairs. Mr. E. J. Lowe effected 
the crossing. At first the hybrid was thought to be barren, bearing 
only aborted spores, but eventually numbers were raised showing 
the combined characters and resembling the immediate parent. 


AcUTILOBUM.—Found by Mr. Allchin ; subdivisions narrow and 
acute, resembling the proliferous forms of P. angulare, and like those, 
proliferous ; lax habit. 


CapITATUM.—Heavy terminal crest. 
CORYMBIFERUM.—Heavy bunch crest. 


CRISTATO-GRACILE.—Found by Mr. Bolton; very spiny, small- 
tasselled. 


DrnsuM.—Very foliose, pinne imbricate ; found by Mr. Jackson. 


GRANDICEPS ABBOTT#.—Found by Mrs. Abbott; a splendid 
form, somewhat on the lines of acrocladon. 


PULCHERRIMUM.—Found by a farm labourer in Dorset, and given 


190 BRITISH FERNS 
(righ 

Wy 4 

=A Gh 

NWS, 


tN 


Fig. 214. 2. acu. acrocladon., 


to Dr. Wills; a most beautiful Fern, of robust but graceful habit, 
slender pinnules, and with the pinne near the frond tip, turning 
inwards and overlapping to form a unique, long, slender termina- 
tion ; reputedly barren until a few years ago when it yielded, in the 
hands of Mr. C. B. Green, of Acton, and the writer, a unique new 
section, for which we refer to our chapter on Selective Culture. 
Some of these we cite here. (Appendix No. LIII for type.) 

P. DRUERYI, P. GRACILLIMUM DRUERY.—In these the half-inch 
pinnule of the parent is greatly lengthened, sometimes to nearly 
three inches, the whole Fern consisting of almost hair-like segments, 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 191 


which tend in some cases to expand at the tips into fimbriate, fan- 


like tassels. See Figs. 11, 12, 13, ill 5 
Selected. § , 12, 13, illustrating chapter on Fern 


Fig. 215. £2. acul. pulchrum, 


Putcurvum (Fig. 215).—Fine terminal crests, pinnules acute, and 
pinne usually subdivided at tips; found by Rev. C. Padley in 
Devon. 


P. GRACILLIMUM CRISTULATUM. See Fig. 13. 


P, PLUMOSUM GREEN.—This has varied on the lines of the finest 
angulare divisilobe plumosums of Jones and Fox, but retains the 
aculeatum character, a very beautiful fern. 


192 BRITISH FERNS 


PotysticHum ANGULARE (THE Sort PRICKLY SHIELD FERN) 
(Plate XXVIII) 
This beautiful evergreen species is closely allied to P. aculeatum, 


the Hard Shield Fern, from which it differs in its softer texture, 
more delicate cutting, and the possession of definitely stalked 


Fig. 216. 2. angzlare (pinna). 


pinnules (Fig. 216), instead of wedge-shaped, stalkless ones. Al- 
though perfectly hardy, its natural habitats do not extend so far 
north as do those of P. aculeatum, and it grows with the greater 
luxuriance in our warmer western counties, and particularly in 
Ireland, while in Scotland it has been recorded in but a few of the 
lowland and western counties, the writer adding Perthshire to the 
list by finding a solitary small plant in a glen near Aberfeldy in 
association with a number of young P. aculeatums. Some botanists 
consider it to be simply a form of P. aculeatum, but no British Fern- 
grower can accept this verdict, since the two species may be found 
growing side by side in the same hedge and yet preserving their 
distinguishing characters intact. It is true that intermediate forms 
are occasionally found, but to our mind it is far more reasonable 
to impute these to accidental crosses, owing to the intermingling of 
species so closely related, or to that remarkable faculty of variation 
which this species has evinced, and as a result of which the best 
authorities have sometimes differed as to which species particular 
“sports” belonged. With these remarks we will now describe such 
varieties as are best worthy of mention, ignoring a considerable 
number which have figured in previous works, but which are now 
only recognized as sub-varieties of little or no merit. 


ACROCLADON (Fig. 217).—Found in Devon by Mr. Mapplebeck ; 
a unique form in the species, fronds branch again and again, the 
branches terminating in bunch crests. 


PLATE XXViii. 


Polystichum angulare 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 


Ese 


LP. ang, acrocladon, 


Fig. 217. 


194 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 218. P. ang. acutélobum. 


ACUTILOBUM (Fig. 218).—Found near Barnstaple by Mr. C. 
Jackson ; this represents a section, embracing a number of very 
fine forms, found by R. J. Gray, Mrs. Hartley, W. H. Phillips, 
G. B. Wollaston, Dr. Allchin, Mr. Choule, Mr. Dadds, F. Foot, and 
Mr. Wells; the pinnules are long and slender, and very acutely 
pointed, and the varieties are generally proliferous. The term 
‘ acutilobum ” has been substituted for ‘‘ proliferum,” so many other 
forms bearing bulbils. (See Appendix No. LXXVI). 


ACUTO-GRACILE (Plate XXIX).—Found near Ottery St. Mary by 
Mr. G. B, Wollaston ; a dwarf form with acutely pointed pinnules. 


ALaTuM (Plate XXIX).—A remarkable form, the normal wedge- 
shaped bases of the pinnules being much widened at point of attach- 
ment so as to form a continuous wing connecting them. 


BRACHIATUM.—Found in Devon by Mr. Hillman; this form is 
very wide at the base, the lower pinne expanding almost into 
fronds; several types of this have been found by others forming 
a very distinct section. (See Appendix No. LV and LVII) 


BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM KEALL.—Fronds branch into three from 
the bottom, forming a trident, such terminal bearing a bunch crest. 


CapirosuM.—Found by Mr. Moly at Tatworth; narrow-fronded 
grandiceps. 


ConcHATUM.—Found by Mr. Moly at Hawkhouse;  shell-like 
pinnules. 


PLATE XXIX 


Polystichum angulare var Polystichum angulare var 
a aati alatum 


195 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 


P, ang. concinnum, 


Fig. 219. 


—Found near Nettlecombe by Mr. C. 
ly cut variety with evenly long-spined 


219) 


a very pretti 
h. 


ConciInNuM (Fig. 


Elworthy ; 
pinnules of extra lengt 


196 BRITISH FERNS 


Vig. 220. P. ang. conflucus, 


CoNFLUENS (Fig. 220).--Found in Ireland and Somerset by Mr. 
S. Foot and Mr. C. Elworthy ; this really represents the /iucare 
type, with which the confluent character is usually correlated. 

CoNnFLUENS MoLy.—Found in S. Devon ; marked form of type. 

CONGESTUM GRANDICEPS.—Raised by Birkenhead ; dwarf, dense, 
and heavy terminal tassel. 

C. LyELL.—Raised by Mr. Lyell; a dwarf, congested beauty. 

C. PaptEy.—Found in S. Devon ; densely congested. 

C. WiLL_s.—Fine dwarf, imbricate form. 

ConsPICcuILoBuM.—Found by Dr. Wills in Dorset ; the “thumb” of 
the pinnule very conspicuous (see Appendix No. LIII re section). 

CORYMBIFERUM.—Found at Whitby by Mr. Willison; heavy 
bunch crest at frond tip ; pinnate tips forked only. 


CRISPATA FOLIOSUM Parsons.—Raised ; very handsome small- 
growing form, with bristly, crispy, imbricate divisions. 


Fig. 221. 2. ang. cristato-gracile. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 197 


CRISTATO GRACILE (PERCRISTATUM) (Fig. 221).—Found at Ottery 
St. Mary by Mr. C. Jackson, and also by Mr. R. J. Gray; it has 
delicately cut pinnules and small terminal crests to fronds and 
pinne ; another form, however, 


C. G. (PERCRISTATUM) Mozy, found by Mr. Moly, has the pinnules 
also regularly fanned at the tips as well. 


CRISTATUM (Plate XX XI).—First found near Bristol by Mr. Hill- 
man ; the tips of the fronds and of the pinne are neatly tasselled ; 
subsequently, however, a number of cristate forms were discovered 
on varied lines. 


CrISTATUM Wotraston No. 10.—Found in Somerset by Mr. 
G. B. Wollaston; a very fine form; fine fan-shaped tassels to fronds, 
and small ones to pinne. 


SORANt 


Fig. 222. P. ang. decurrens, 


DercurreEns (Fig. 222).—Found by Mr. Elworthy in Somerset ; 
a fine form with large pinnules attached not by plain stalks, but by 
a narrowed, leafy portion of the pinnule itself (alate or winged). 


DECOMPOSITUM GRANDE JoNES.—Found Torquay; very bold, 
finely cut variety. 


D. MAGNIFICUM JONES.—Similar, but distinct. 
D. Puitires.—Found Co. Down ; finely divided. 


D. sPLENDENS Moty.—Found S. Devon ; parent of the wonderful 
plumose strain raised by Col. Jones and Dr. Fox. 


DELTOIDEO-DECOMPosITUM.—Found by Moly, S, Devon; fine, 
broad-based, decomposite form. 


198 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 223. P. ang. depauperatum. 


DEPAUPERATUM (Fig. 223).—Interesting as an extremely dwarf 
and slender form of the species ; proliferous. 


DrvistLopum (see Appendix No. LXIX).—This constitutes one of 
the finest of the much-divided sections ; distinct forms have been 
found by Elworthy and J. Bagg in Somerset, J. Plimsoll, Moly, 
and Miss Seymour in S. Devon, and Padley in N. Devon, and it 


also embraces a number in which its special character is combined 
with others. 


D. acurum.—Found by Padley in S. Devon ; lax and very fine. 
D. cristatum IvEry.—A beautifully crested variety, raised. 


D. CrawrorpianuM.—Found in Ireland by Mr. W. H. Phillips ; 
a proliferous form, more properly an acialobum. 


D. pEcoruM.—Raised by Col. Jones ; very finely cut. 


D. D. POLYDACTYLUM.—Raised by Stansfield; finely cut and 
crested. 


D. pENsuM.—Stansfield ; resembles some of the plumose divisi- 
lobes. 


D. ELEGANS.—Raised by Birkenhead. 


| D. rALcATUM.—Found by Moly; long, lax, falcate pinne and 
pinnules. 


D. FoLt1osuM.—Raised by Birkenhead ; very leafy. 
D. GRANDE JONES.—Very fine form. 
D. G. STANSFIELD.—Broad triangular fronds. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 199 
D. GRANDICEPS CARBONELL.—Heavy crested head. 
D. IMBRICATUM BIRKENHEAD.—Very dense, congested fronds. 


D. Laxum Puitiips.—Found in Ireland by W. H. Phillips; fine 
lax variety. 


D. L. Witts.—Found S, Devon by Dr. Wills ; similar but distinct. 


D. LONGIPINNATUM CARBONELL.—Lower pinnules very long ; 
slender, graceful plant. 


D. pERFECTUM JoNES.—A lovely form ; well named. 
D. PLENUM JonEs.—Very fine foliose form. 

D. pRropuctum Fox.—Very fine form, 

D. QUADRIPINNATUM JoNnES.—Extra finely divided. 


D. roBustum MoLy.—Found S. Devon by Moly ; a grand plant, 
perhaps the largest of all. 


D. STIPULATUM CARBONELL.—A_ beautiful imbricate form, 
ultimate divisions plainly stalked. 


FLABELLI-PINNULUM.—Found in Dorset by Dr. Wills ; _pinnules 
curiously fan-shaped, and when in form, the Fern is unique, but 
it is apt to revert somewhat at times. 


Fig. 224. P. ang. flexuosum. 


FLexuosum (Fig. 224).—Found in Devon by Mr. C. Jackson ; 
very erect, the fronds and pinne very sinuously twisted ; pinnules 
acutely serrate ; a more marked form was found by Mr. Wollaston 
in Somerset. 


FoLIoso-LATIPES.—Found by Parsons in Devon ; fine foliose, 
broad-based form. 


200 BRITISH FERNS 


4Y 
Ze 


ee 


Fig. 225. 2. ang. foliosum, 


Fotiosum (Fig. 225).—Found by Mr. G. B. Wollaston in Hamp- 
shire ; a very fine, leafy form with large pinnules and somewhat 
overlapping pinne. 


Fronposum Jones.—Densely foliose. 
F. BULBIFERUM JoNES.—Densely foliose and bulbiferous. 


Tig. 226. P. ang. gracile. 


GRACILE (Fig. 226).—Found by Mr. G. B. Wollaston in Devon , 
pinnules very slender and acutely cut; resembles lzneare, but 
minus the reduced pinnules of that section; frond terminal nar- 
rowed and caudate. Mr. Padley found a similar form, and also Mr. 
R. J. Gray in $. Devon. 


GRANDICEPS (Fig. 227).—Origin obscure; one of the finest heavy- 
crested forms known; a fine, symmetrically branched terminal 
crest and pinna, short and evenly small-crested, and only sub- 
bipinnate, the lobes being confluent. 


G. BarrauD.-—Heavy terminal crests ; found near Barnstaple. 


TIE POLYSTICHUMS 201 


<M Sa N wil ie 
SY . E, 


Sa Teen Ree oa 


202 BRITISH FERNS 


G. Brapgury, Gc. J. Jones, c. Morty, Gc. TALBot.—Found at 
various places ; finders’ names attached ; all are very fine forms ; 
fronds more or less narrowed, pinne small, tasselled, and fronds 
bearing heavy, much-divided crests. (See Appendix No. LX). 


Fig. 228. P. ang. grandidens (centre of frond). 


GRANDIDENS (Fig. 228).—This form has been repeatedly found, 
and although marred by irregularities, its subdivisions are so deeply 
toothed and peculiar, that it figures in all collections ; the most 
remarkable form of it is 


G. Pearson, in which the pinnulets are cut into very fine,seg- 
ments; this was raised by Messrs. Pearson, of Nottingham, a 
percentage of it, singular to say, always occurring in sowings of 
a very fine symmetrical decomposite form, decompositum Pearson, 
in association with a far superior plumose form (plumosum Pearsonit), 
a fair rival to the Jones and Fox plumosums. 


HIRONDELLE.—Found in Dorset by Dr. Wills; pinnules, with 
swallow-like outline, whence name ; pretty. 


PLATE XXX. 


Polystichum angulare var Polystichum angulare var 
imbricatum lineare 


P. ang. var 
truncatum 


THE .POLYSTICHUMS 203 


IMBRICATUM (Plate XXX).—Found in Somerset by Mr. Elworthy ; 


fronds narrow, pinne blunt, and pinnules d ae 
bulbiferous. P ense and overlapping ; 


Fig. 229. P. ang. inctso-acutum., 


Inciso-acutuM (Fig. 229).—Found in Lancashire by Mr. A. 
Stansfield ; a robust form, with long, falcate pinnules, deeply cut. 


INEQUALE VARIEGATUM.—Nearly normal in make, but distinctly 
speckled with pure white, the tissue being somewhat contracted 
when white, but not enough to disfigure the plant. 


I. v. pPoLyDACTYLUM.—A cross obtained by Col. Jones with a 
polydactylous form to which the variegation was exactly trans- 
mitted. 


Kitson (Fig. 230}.—Found at Torquay by Miss Annie Kitson ; 
a very distinct form, somewhat resembling a grandiceps, but with 
less-developed tassels. Pinnules very small and frond terminal 
much branched ; its chief peculiarity is a tendency on the part 
of the pinnulets to form tassels. 


LaTIroLi1umM.—Found by Mr. Moly in S. Devon; very fine, 
long lower pinnules. 


LATIFOLIO-GRANDICEPS.—Raised by Col. Jones; broad, heavily 
crested fronds. 


Latiprs Parsons.—Fine foliose form. 


LAXO-CRISTATUM PRAEGER.—Found Castle Dobbs; lax habit 
and crested. 


LINEARE (Plate XX X).—Found in Jersey by Mr. James and else- 
where by Moly, Tait, and Wells, but on varied lines ; the peculiarity 
of the section is the great tenuity of the subdivisions, which are 
more or less suppressed or reduced to rudiments at the centre of the 
frond; the terminal subdivisions are indistinctly separated or 
confluent ; very distinct. 


BRITISH FERNS 


ae 


ae 


ere 
Sean 


Epa 


a 
=any 


WRONG 
oF 


Vie. 230. 2, ang. Attsone. 
g S 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 205 


\ 3 
Re ALE } 

FL] A >a | 

D an as 


Tig. 231. 2. ang. léncare. 


L. PROLIFERUM (Fig. 231).—Found in N, Devon by Rev. C. 
Padley ; our illustration gives a good idea of the lineare section 
generally, though on rather extreme lines. 


MANICA-INFANTIS.—Found by Moly ; so named, pinnules being 
like a baby’s glove ; really a conspicuilobe. 


MuLtirIpum (Fig. 232).—Apex of frond divided into several, 
and pinna tips also. 


MULTILOBUM (Fig. 233).—This really constitutes a section of 
prettily divided Ferns, for a description of which we refer to 
Appendix, p. 417. 


MuLtTiILopum.—Found by Gray in S. Devon; a fine tripinnate 
form. 


M. ATTENUATUM, M. DECORUM, M. DENSUM, M. IONA, M. LAXUM, 
M. OVALE, M. PLUMOSUM MAGNIFICUM.—AIll these are fine tripinnate 
forms on somewhat varied lines, as conveyed approximately by 
their names; besides Gray, we are indebted to Col. Jones and 
Mr. Padley for independent finds, and to Mr. Birkenhead for the 
last-named ; a very fine raised variety. 


BRITISH FERNS 


206 


Fig. 232. 2. ang. multificum (frond tip). 


Fig. 233. 2. ag. multilobum (pinna). 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 207 


i 


RRs 
oe 


(Ee 
7 
i 


Fig. 234. 2. ang. obtustssimum., 


OxtTusissimuM (Fig. 234).—Found at Ottery St. Mary by Mr. 
G. B. Wollaston ; a very beautiful imbricate form with oval pin- 
nules, also imbricate, with very small spines. 


Fig. 235. P. ang. oxyphyllum. 


OXYPHYLLUM (Fig. 235).—Found near Nettlecombe by Mr. 
Elworthy ; an intermediate form between flumosum and acutilo- 
bum, but nearer the latter. 


PaRvISsIMUM.—A very pretty, small, compact form raised by 
Veitch, of Exeter ; misnamed, as others are smaller, 


PenDENS WILLS.—A handsome, broad-fronded, pendulous 
variety. 

PERSERRATUM BAYL&, P. PaTEy, Pp. WoOLLASTON.—These three 
forms are similar, but distinct, the subdivisions are deeply cut and 
very bristly ; medium growth. 


PLUMOSO-DIVISILOBUM, P.-D. GRANDE FOX, P.-D. TENUE Fox, 
p.-D, BALDWINII JONES AND Fox, P.-D. DENSUM JONES AND Fox, 
P.-D. IMBRICATUM JONES AND Fox, P.-D. LAXUM JONES AND Fox, 


208 BRITISH FERNS 


P.-D. ROBUSTUM JONES AND Fox, P.-D. DISSECTUM PEARSON, 
P.-D. FOLIOSUM PEARSON, P.-D. PEARSON, P.-D. GRIMMONDII, 
p.-D. Espran.—This section represents absolutely the ézle of the 
plumose Shield Ferns ; one and all are splendid, but each one has 
its distinguishing character. Baldwinti is the finest cut of all. 
The Jones and Fox group were raised directly from a decomposite 
find of Mr. Moly’s ; see chapter on Fern Selection. 


Priumosum E._worrHy.—Found by Mr. Elworthy in Somerset ; 
very beautiful, as indeed are all the plumosums proper. 


P. Mory.—Found in Dorset ; very foliose, reputedly barren. 


P. Patey.—Found in Dorset ; thin papery finely cut fronds. 


ae [fue 
/ ne VLG 


ne he 


Tig. 236. Middle pinna. 


a ern ae 


Fig. 237. Lower pinna. 


P. ang. plumosum Wollaston. 


P. WOLLASTON (Figs. 236 and 237).—Robust and fertile. 


P. GRANDE Fox, P. PERFECTUM, P, SPLENDENS,—Very robust, 
splendid forms. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 209 


Fig. 238. 2. any. plumosissimum (Birkenhead). 


PLuMOSISSIMUM (Fig. 238).—A most extraordinary development, 
as our figure shows, raised by Mr. Birkenhead, the fronds re- 
presenting dense masses of moss-like verdure, growth hardly seeming 
to be able to cease; the plant still exists, but requires extremely 
favourable conditions to equal its portrait, preferring, as a rule, 
to remain as a prettily divided plumosum. 


PotypacTtyLuM Wottaston.—Found Somerset ; pinne small 
crested, fronds heavily tasselled. 


& 


210 BRITISH FERNS 


L. 


2 UNS proli, eri, 


Fig. 239. 


ProiirERum (Figs. 239 and 240).—This constitutes a section in 
which the subdivisions are very narrow and acutely pointed, for 
which reason it is also termed acutilobum, a character which appears 


EN 


Fig. 240. P. ang. pro. Wollastonit. 


to be generally correlated with proliferation, bulbils appearing in 
the axils of the pinnz and even of the pinnules so profusely, some- 
times, that the whole centre of the frond presents a mossy appear- 
ance ; the fronds are long, and of lax-growing habit. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 211 


=; 
SA es 


Fig. 241, BP. ang, prolif. Crawfordianum, 


_P. CRAWFoRDIANUM (Fig. 241)—Found by Mr. W. H. Phillips ; 
similar to other acutilobes, but distinguished by wider pinnules ; 
a handsome form. 


Nie A 
a VPage <a> <a 
= (* SS ae \ 


—_ 


“ET ASS 


oes 
\ KS} AN 
QUIN ROR 


Figs. 242, 243. LP. ang. prolif. Footii (A, pinna; B, frond tip). 


P. Foorm (Figs. 242 and 243),—Found in Co. Clare by Mr. F. J. 
Foot ; a somewhat dense acutilobe with broader fronds than usual 
in that section ; handsome and abundantly proliferous. 


P. PaDLEYANUM.—Another distinct acutilobum, found in Devon 
by Rev. C. Padley. 


PULCHERRIMUM, P. PADLEY, P. THOMPSON, P. WILLS, P. VARIE- 
GATUM Moty (see Appendix No. LXVI).—This section is of pecu- 
liar interest, since in its best form it produces long, slender, falcate 
pinnules with deeply cut sections, and most of the points run out 
into slender threads which bear prothalli at their tips (apical apes- 


212 BRITISH FERNS 


pory; see chapter on Life History); unfortunately, however, all 
but Moly’s varicgalim are inconstant, and we believe that this is 
the only one now existent and showing the aposporous character. 
The prothalli, if layered, yield young plants, but almost invariably 
of ragged and depauperate form. The names attached are those of 


the finders. 


LS 


ES 


Tig. 244. P. cng. ramulosum (frond tip . 


a 


SS 
Fig. 245. 2. ang. ramulosum (pinne). 


Ramutosum (Figs. 244 and 245).—Found near Belfast by Mr. 
J. Stansfield ; frond tips branch into many, and generally turned 
backwards ; pinne plain. 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 213 


Fig. 246. 2. ang. retroflexum (centre of frond). 
RETROFLEXUM (Fig. 246).—Found by Mr. C. Jackson in Devon ; 
many of the pinnz bent sharply backwards, clasping the stem. 


REMOTO-DECURRENS PaDLEY.—Found in S. Devon; broad, 
confluent pinnules, spiny. 


REVOLVENS.—Wills and others; fronds of normal make, but 
rolled symmetrically almost into tubes, very pretty. 


wrt, 
oA S| 


44/\ 33 
eK Ss 
Sp i 


WS 
OS 
NS 


Fig. 247. P. ang. rotundatum. 


ROTUNDATUM (Fig. 247).—Found near Nettlecombe by Mr. 
Elworthy, and, later on, by Mr. W. H. Phillips in Ireland; very 
distinct, the pinnules being almost round, and the serrations 
minute ; both frond and pinne terminals are rounded also. 


214 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 248. P. ang. rotundilobum. 


RotunpiLopum (Fig. 248).—Found near Nettlecombe by Mr. 
C. Elworthy ; a spiny rotundatum. 


SETOSO CRISTATUM.—Found in S. Devon by Moly ; crested very 
bristly ; fine form. 


S. cuNEATUM.—Found Ireland by W. H. Phillips ; very delicate 
and beautiful, proliferous at base of fronds. 


StrpiIratuM CARBONELL.—Beautifully divided, long, slender 
pinnules. 


Fig. 249. P. ang. lente. 


TENUE (Fig. 249).—One of the proliferum or aculilobum section, 
but only sparsely proliferous. 


THOMPSONIZ (Fig. 250).—Found at Lynmouth; very fine ter- 
minal crest to frond, almost a grandiceps, pinne forked at tips ; 
pinnules 4 la P. aculeatum. 


PLATE XAXAIL. 


Polystichum angulare var 
cristatum 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 


Fig. 250. P. ang. Thompsonie. 


215 


216 BRITISH FERNS 


TRIPINNATUM (ACURODES) (Plate XXNI).—Found by Mr. E. J. 
Lowe in a batch of normal seedlings sent from Cornwall; it is 
described as of erect habit, with the pinne set on horizontally like 
the steps of a ladder. As the name indicates, the pinnules are sub- 
divided into pinnulets constituting a tripinnate or thrice-divided 
form. 


T. GILLETT (see Appendix No. LNXVII),—Found near Yeovil ; 
a very fine form indeed. 


T. Mittetr, T. Papitey.—Similar to those above described, but 
distinct. 


TRuNcATUM (Plate XXN).—Found in Ireland ; fronds and pinne 
terminate squarely and abruptly, the fronds being thus reduced in 
width and length 


Figs. 251,252. P. ang. vestitum. A, apex showing bulbil; B, middle pinna. 


Vestitum (Figs. 251 and 252).—Found in N. Devon by Rev. 
C. Padley ; peculiarly fertile and distinguished by the fronds bear- 
ing a terminal bulbil resembling an exotic form. 


PLATE XXXII. 


Polystichum lonchitis 


THE POLYSTICHUMS 217 


WaKELEYANUM (cRUCIATUM).—Found in S. Devon by Mrs. 
Wakeley ; pinnee set on in pairs at right-angles, forming crosses with 
opposite pairs ; one of the parents of Mr. E. J. Lowe’s hybridum 
aculeatum. 


PotysticHum Loncuitis (THE Hotty Fern) 
(Plate XXXII) 


This Fern has been named the Holly Fern, owing to the hard, 
leathery texture of its fronds, and the shape and prickly edges of 
the pinne or subdivisions. It is purely a mountain Fern, and in 
Great Britain is never found wild at a lower elevation than 1100 
feet, most of its habitats being far above that limit, 2000 to’ 3000 
feet. It grows in the chinks of the weathered rocks, or in the short 
gtass or other growths under their lee. At the rzoo level, near 
Aberfeldy, we found numerous large plants in rocky soil among the 
heather, where, at a distance, the projecting, erect fronds were at 
first taken for the fertile fronds of the Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant), 
and, but for the guidance of the Rev. Mr. Maclean, of Aberfeldy, 
who had previously discovered the station, we should certainly have 
overlooked it, since it occurred on level ground, close to the road. 
It has been found in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where 
mountains of sufficient elevation have encouraged the search. 
It is distinguished from the other two species by being persistently 
only pinnate, that is the pinne are never divided to the midrib, 
see Fig. 253. Reported finds of the Holly 
Fern at lower levels are not infrequent, 
but are invariably found to be young 
forms of P. aculeatum, by the fact that 
apart from their less rigidity, the lower- 
most pinnz are invariably divided. The 
separation of the species from P. acutlea- 
‘um is entirely justified ; it is not merely 
a mountain form of that, compressed 
and dwarfed by exposure to hardening 
influences, and when the spores are sown, 
the parent form is truly reproduced. Furthermore, plants collected 
and brought down to lower levels do not respond to milder conditions 
by larger growth, or the assumption of aculeatum characters, but are 
difficult to grow, requiring pure air and cooler conditions. We have, 
however, seen very decent specimens in the open where fairly 
congenial conditions exist, say in rockeries with stony soil, con- 
stituting a fair approach to their natural environment. The 
different pressure of the air is by some considered as constituting 
a difficulty, but we hardly share this view. We have expressed the 
opinion that the species is justifiably set apart from P. aculeatum, 
but may mention that several peculiar cases of the latter species 
have mysteriously appeared among sowings of P. lonchiits, to- 


Fig. 253. 2. lonchitis. 


218 BRITISH FERNS 


gether with intermediate. types, which have raised in some 
minds a little doubt as to their absolute distinctness.  P. 
aculeatum, however, frequents mountain glens to a great elevation, 
so that the possibility of wind-borne spores must be admitted. 
The Holly Fern, too, is open to variation, and, obviously, if it 
“sported,” as both its relatives do, in the direction of increased 
subdivision, its main difference from P. acudeatwm would disappear. 
A bipinnate “‘ sport ” of P. lonchit’s would infallibly be ranked as 
P. aculeatum unless its pedigree could be certainly determined. 
The writer, indeed, found on Ben Lawers, near the top, amongst a 
numerous group of the Holly Fern, an apparent plant of P. aculea- 
tum, which, however, failed to survive removal, though that species 
is usually very easy to re-establish. These points we merely 
record for the guidance of future students, who may observe similar 
cases and follow them up. P. Jonchitis has not varied very much ; 
we can only mention two instances. 

Cristatum.—This is a very good crested variety, found on Ben 
Qui, in Scotland, by Dr. Craig, and we believe by others elsewhere. 


Fig. 254. 2. lonchites imbricatum., 


IMBRICATUM (Fig. 254).—An imbricate, dense form recorded as 
the Irish type of the species, but which we have found on Ben 
Lawers, in Scotland ; Mr. Boyd has also found it in both countries. 


PSEUDATHYRIUM ALPESTRE (Tue Mountatn Lapy 
FERN) 


(Plate XX XIII) 


This Fern with numerous botanists ranks as a member of the 
Polypodium family on account of its dot-like fructification and the 
apparent absence of any cover. No one, however, who is acquainted 
with the Fern in its growing state can accept this classification, 
since it agrees in size, make, and general character so closely with 
Athyrium filix-femina, the Lady Fern, as to compel the belief 
that it is really a mountain form, if not of that identical species, 
at any rate of the same genus. It is only found at high levels on 
our Scottish mountains, above the levels at which the Lady Fern 


Sai 
cy 


Pseudathyrium alpestre 
Tae ORL 


PLATE AAAILLL, 


Pseudathyrium 
alpestre 
var laciniatum 


Pseudathyrium alpestre 


PTERIS AQUILINA 219 


is found. Its fronds (Fig, 255) are deep green, and grow to two or 
three feet long from a caudex, 4 la Lady Fern, which, as we have 
said, it closely resembles, the chief difference being in the very small 
spore heaps, which, however, despite 
their resemblance to those of the Poly- 
podium family, sometimes display a 
rudimentary cover or indusium, which 
the true Polypody never does, and 
what is more to the point, some of 
the recognized varieties of Lady Fern, 
the Horsfall plumosum to wit, have 
spore heaps of precisely similar nature. Despite its mountain 
habitats, where it grows among the rocks and is often in the 
clouds, it does quite well under culture, treated like the Lady Fern, 
and not allowed to get dry. Several varieties are recorded, viz. : 


FLEXILE (Plate XX XIII).—A narrow form with short pinne and 
more distant pinnules, deeply toothed, very distinct, found on the 
Cliva Mountains by Mr. Backhouse, and in Ben Lawers by Mr. 
Donald Haggart. 

Lactniatum (Plate XX XIII).—A distinct form of flexile raised 
by Messrs. Stansfield ; see illustration. 

CristaTuM.—A thoroughbred, pretty cristatum found by Mr. 
Alex Cowan, of Penicuik, finely tasselled. 


Fig. 255. . adpestre (pinna). 


PTERIS AQUILINA (THE Common BRACKEN) 
(Plate XXXVI) 


The Common Bracken is probably the most widely spread species 
of Fern, since it is found nearly all over the world in more or less 
modified forms. In this country it covers large areas up to a 
level of about two thousand feet, monopolizing in many places 
heaths, commons, and woodlands, and in the latter especially 
producing immense fronds eight or ten feet long, and, despite its 
commonness, of great beauty. Its botanical name means the 
eagle’s wing. Fig. 262 shows a colony of a crested form of this 
species, and is peculiarly interesting as a rare example of a variety 
extending over a large area to the entire exclusion of the normal. 
The illustration shows that all the plants are tasselled, and Fig. 261 
shows the character to be well marked, and also depicts two other 
abnormal varieties found some fifty yards away on the same ground. 
In point of fact this Fern varies considerably, and given a fair 
acreage of it, we may be practically certain of finding three forms, 
the normal, a much leafier type, and a stiff, leathery, crispy form, 
much narrowed and of a darker green. The Pleris family, which 
is a very large one, has its spore capsules arranged in unbroken lines, 
immediately next the margin of the subdivisions, such margin 


220 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 256. LPlerds aguilana (part of pinna). 


being rolled back so as to form an indusium, or protecting cover. 
P. aquilina has a fleshy, travelling, underground rootstock, which 
sometimes penetrates very deeply into the soil, and produces its 
fronds at a considerable distance from each other. As a result 
of this, it is all but impossible to remove a plant successfully in the 
growing season, and the only way is to hft it in the winter, by 
digging up a good mass of soil pervaded by these rootstocks, and 
without disturbing them by breaking the mass, drop the latter 
en bloc into a peaty station provided where a plant is desired. 
The spores, however, germinate very freely, and the resulting plants 
rapidly assume a good size, so that where valuable varieties are 
concerned they are easily propagated in this way. Curiously enough, 
however, despite its reputed hardiness, and wide distribution as a 
hardy plant, in the seedling state hard frost is often fatal, especially 
if the youngsters have been raised under glass. We have been 
successful in raising very fine varieties from spores in small pans, 
and transferring them to the garden by sinking the pans containing 
young plants with five or six inch long fronds, into prepared peaty 
stations in the late summer, at a depth permitting a mulch of about 
two or three inches of similar soil. The travelling rootstocks will 
then climb over the pan edges, and plunge into the adjacent soil 
sufficiently deep to be safe during the winter, and the following 
season they will establish themselves so strongly as to commence 
to exercise their usual monopolizing tendency at the expense of 
the plants in the vicinity. We have seen splendid specimens 
grown in sunken tubs, which have been adopted to check such 
invasions, Obviously, indoor culture for so robust a Fern is a 
mistake, nor should it be installed outside unless there is ample 
room for it to spread. An exception to this remark is P ag. congesta, 
which see. The most marked varieties are :— 

CONGESTA.—A very beautiful, densely congested form, which 
grows about two feet high and travels very slowly; is adapted, 
therefore, for pan culture ; a gem. 

Crispa.—This thick, dark green, leathery, crispy form is, as we 
have said above, not uncommon in association with the normal ; 
it is very pretty. 


PLATE XXXIV. 


Pteris aquilina (pinna)’ 


PTERIS AQUILINA 221 


Fig. 257. 2. ay. ertspa-cristata Druery. 


CRISPA CRISTATA DRUERY (Fig. 257).—This splendid variety 
was found near Pitlochry by the writer, in the shape of a single 
frond about three feet high, and as much across, and evidently 
risen from a well-established plant, yet no other could be found. 
As it was barren, this frond, as shown in our figure (Fig. 257), 
constitutes the only record. 


CRISTATA GREEN (Figs. 258, 261 top centre).—Found at Fay- 
gate, Sussex by Mr. C. B. Green, as covering a large area (see 
Tig. 262). 

GLOMERATA.—A great curiosity, all the tips curl up tightly 
into ball-like knots; found in Westmoreland, where the finder 
described it as resembling bunches of grapes hanging down the slope. 


“Aq 9s0]9 punoy satjariea JoursIp om) WySu pue “yey f MOTeq erjUEd [eULION 


*do} a1juao ‘(use1d) vypysr42 ‘bo ‘ge “19% Sogz ‘6Sz ‘gSz ‘ssi 


*xassng ‘oyeSheg je uayovig payserg JoZAuojog ‘zgz “SIy 


224 BRITISH FERNS 


Col. Jones raised a cross between this and cristala, but as the 
resulting tassels were hidden within the knots, and thus invisible, 
the cross has been lost sight of, and does not, we think, now exist. 

GRANDICEPS.—See note to fercristata; this form is always 
barren, and can only be raised indirectly. 

PercRISTATA.—A far finer crested form, found in the Lake 
District; bearing heavy tassels at all tips and with even the 
smaller divisions distinctly fanned. The spores of this when sown 
yield two very distinct forms; viz. the parental, true percristata 


Vig. 263. P. ag. polydactyla. 


PLATE XKXXV. 


Scolopendrium vulgare 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 225 


and a heavy-headed grandiceps, with large bunch crests; the 
fronds indeed being a collection of such, and connecting bare 
sie ta The latter only grows about two feet high, the former four 
or five. 


Potypactyta (Fig. 263), in which the terminals of the sub- 
divisions are branched into numerous slender points. 


REVOLVENS.—Found at Windermere and near Chepstow by the 
writer ; a robust, handsome form, with fronds convexly curved 
and tips and side divisions terminating spirally. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE (THE ComMoN 
HarTSTONGUE) 


(Plate XX XV) 


With the exception of the little Adder’s-tongue Fern (Op/io- 
glossum vulgatum), the Hartstongue Fern is the only British 
species in which normally the fronds are quite undivided. In 
the Hartstongue they consist of a stalk of about one-third of the 
whole length, surmounted by a long, leafy portion, commencing 
with two rounded lobes of a semi-heart shape, whence the frond 
continues with smooth parallel edges for some distance, finally 
narrowing and terminating in a bluntish point. In robust speci- 
mens the fronds may be between 
two and three feet in length by 
three or four inches in width. 
The Fern is perfectly evergreen, 
and its fronds are of a dark, 
shining green and fleshy texture. 
Its fructification is peculiar, as is 
shown by Fig. 264, consisting of 
two rows, arranged herring-bone 
fashion on each side the midrib, of 
long, sausage-shaped masses of 
capsules, each mass on close ex- 
amination being found to consist 
of two lines, distinct when im- Fig. 264. Scolopendrium vulgare 
mature, but confluent when ripe. (part of frond). 

Each line is exactly of the Spleen- 

wort type, and has the same translucent skin-like cover or indusium, 
but in Scolopendrium these covers are situated on the outer edge of 
each pair, and turn inwards towards each other, so that in the early 
stages of growth their opposed free edges meet, but are subsequently 
forced asunder as spore growth proceeds. This peculiarity dis- 
tinguishes the genus Scolopendrium from the Asplenia, to which, 
however, it is very closely allied, so closely, indeed, that hybridiza- 
tion has been effected (S. vulgare x Asp. Ceterach) by Mr. E. J. 


Q 


226 BRITISH FERNS 


Lowe, and similar twin and faced clusters of capsules occasionally 
occur in true Spleenworts. The genus derives its name of Scolo- 
pendrium from a fanciful resemblance of the lines of spore heaps to 
the legs of a centipede (Scolopendra). As regards its natural 
habitats, it is very generally distributed wherever moist climatic 
conditions prevail, but is somewhat rare in Scotland. It is peculiar 
in the fact that while associating with the Spleenworts as a tenant 
of old walls and rock chinks as comparatively small plants, it is 
equally at home as much larger ones in hedgebanks, woods, and 
other places where there is plenty of good soil and a shady, moist 
environment. Its presence in the chinks of old walls, and its 
abundance in limestone formations would seem to indicate a pre- 
ference for lime, but as it grows with equal vigour under other 
conditions, lime is obviously not an essential, though probably 
beneficial. Loam, peat, and sand (2, 2, 1) suit it well with good 
drainage. Its fronds spring from a definite caudex or rootstock on 
shuttlecock lines, but not quite so definitely as with the Lastreas, 
etc. The rising fronds are densely clothed with snow-white scales. 
Coming now to its varieties, it is absolutely safe to say that the 
Hartstongue stands pre-eminent among all the Ferns of the world 
as regards the diversity of form which it has sportively assumed. 
Normally, as we have seen, of the simplest construction, a plain- 
edged, undivided, smooth-surfaced frond, resembling in shape 
a two-edged carving knife, Nature, in some subtle fashion, has played 
as it were fantasias upon this simple theme to an absolutely be- 
wildering extent ; not a feature but has been varied in not one but 
many ways. We may begin with the tapered tip ; no long search in 
localities where the Fern is plentiful is ever needed to find this tip 
expanded into several (S. v. Jobatwm), and in this direction there are 
innumerable types of crests and tassels, flat and fan-shaped, round 
and bunched, radiating points or repeated divisions, and so on, one 
and all multiplications of the tapered tip. As a converse variation 
of this, there are numerous forms in which the taper tip is replaced 
by an abrupt termination of the frond, the midrib suddenly stopping 
short, and ending as a projecting thorn in the centre of a frilled 
pocket, or projecting from the chord of a semicircular end, with the 
spore heaps arranged like the figures of a clock. The pocket may 
be in front or at the back, and in one instance, raised by ourselves, 
there are pockets in the rounded lobes at the junction of the stalk 
(S. v. perafero-sagittatum), which a jocular friend named “‘ breeches- 
pocketum.” Turning to the stalk, this may be multiplied by 
branching so as to carry many fronds instead of one, and this 
branching may be carried to such an extent that the end result is 
a ball of apparent moss (S. v. densum Kelway). The plain edge is 
varied in all sorts of ways, blunt-toothed, saw-toothed, deeply 
cut, fringed and frilled. The semi-heart base, where the frond 
proper commences, has been lengthened to form arrow-shapea 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 227 


fronds, or even extended and divided at the tip, transforming the 
frond into a trident, with or without tassels at the points (S. v. 
sagiitatum). The smooth surface has been broken up in all sorts of 
ways, roughened (rugose, muricate, etc.), ridged above or below, 
and so on, and even the spore heaps, in one variety, gymnosorum, 
have lost their Spleenwort character and been resolved into an 
irregular scattering of capsules on the frond back, without any 
indusium or cover at all. To crown all, in many forms two or more 
of these peculiarities are combined, so that the possibilities are 
inexhaustible. 

With this prelude, which, as will be seen, amply justifies our claim 
on behalf of our familiar Hartstongue as the most variable Fern in 
existence, we will now proceed to figure and describe some of the 
most marked types extant, excluding those which are merely 
eccentric, inconstant, or defective. Where the figures show the 
variety clearly, we have refrained from needless description. 

BIMARGINATUM.—Found at Ulverston by Mr. Hadwin ; narrow 
form, with marginal excrescence on both sides of the frond. 

BIMARGINATO-MULTIFIDUM (Fig. 265).—Fronds consist of a mid- 
rib fringed with irregular, toothed projections, and bearing a 
branched head of somewhat leafier character, but all very narrow. 


Fig. 265. S. v. démarginato-multijpdum. 


228 BRITISH FERNS 


BIMARGINATO-RAMOSUM.—Same, with multifid tips. 
CapITatuM.—Found by Mr. Stewardson ; very heavy crests. 


C. Forster and Srupparr have a touch of marginatum in both 
finds. 


C. pRojectuM.—The fronds are sagittate, otherwise like the 
preceding. 


Fig. 266, S. uv. cervi-cornu. Figs. 267, 268. S. 2. cércénatum, 


CERVI-cORNU (Fig. 266).—One of the marginate section, the 
margin half-way to the midrib being cut into rough projections, 
while the frond tip branches and re-branches like a stag’s horn, 
whence the name. 


CIRCINATUM (Figs. 267 and 268).—Raised by Mr. Clapham; a 
very curious, narrow-fronded, marginate form, with crozier-like 
crests. 


CiirtTu.—Found in N. Wales; multifid, foliose crests. 


Fig. 269. S. v. concavo-ramosun. 


Fig. 270. S. v. conglomeratum, 


230 BRITISH FERNS 


Concavo-RAMOsUM (Fig. 269).—Raised by Mr. Clapham ; frond 
stalk branches, each branch bearing a crested frond with leafy 
portion folded inwards. 


ConGLoBATUM.—Found by H. Bull, St. Pierre ; a finely crested 
sagittato-projectum. 


CONGLOMERATUM (Fig. 270).—Found at Truro by Mr. Dadds ; 
a naked, stalked, heavy capitate form. 


Fig. 271. S. vu. congregatum. 


CONGREGATUM (Fig. 271).—A fine form of vamo-cristatum with 
heavy, branching head. 


VULGARE 231 


SCOLOPENDRIUM 


SoS aber , 
x wa 


Se 
ey 


S. uv coniugendum. 


Fig. 272. 


CoNJUGENDUM (Fig. 272).—Found by Rev. F. Miles in Devon ; 
twin, very narrow fronds, branching into broad, flat, digitate heads. 


232 BRITISH FERNS 


ee ay i ake : 


Fig. 274. S. uv, Coolingzt. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 233 


CONSTELLATUM (Fig. 273).—Raised by Mr. Glave ; a very hand- 
some ramo-cristate form with corymbiferous crests to branches. 


COOLINGII (Fig. 274).—A fine conglomerate form, closely akin 
to Wardii, and also proliferous. 


Me, 


Wf: 
WN ee 
\) oe 


EIN 


ST 


\ 


TN 


Mb Wulf’ 


Wy 
WN 
NY 


/ 
7 
SN 


LL 


ip” 


A 


Fig. 276. Fig. 277. 


Fig. 275 
S. uv. cornuto-abruplum. S. uv. cornuto-superbum. 


S. uv. cornucum, 
CoRNuTUM (Fig. 275).—Found in Yorkshire and elsewhere ; 
fronds end semicircularly, with projecting midrib in centre. 
CORNUTO-ABRUPTUM (Fig. 276).—Raised; this belongs to the 
peraferens, or pocket-bearing forms, distinguished by abrupt 
termination of the midrib, which projects as a thorn. 
CORNUTO-SUPERBUM (Fig. 277).—Raised by Mr. Elworthy ; 
a long stalk bears a fleshy frond of beehive-like outline, with crenate 
edges, near the centre of which the midrib projects as a long thorn. 
CoronatTuM.—A fine corymbiferous form. 
CORYMBIFERUM DRUERY.—Found Sidford ; round, mossy crests. 


CousENsu.—Found at Torrington by Mr. J. Schott Cousens, of 
Wanstead ; this is the finest of the conglomerate forms, the fronds 


234 BRITISIT FERNS 


branching from the base upwards into an infinity of rounded lobes, 
at the edges of which small plants are formed ; it is on the lines of 
Wardii, Coolingii, and Kelwayii, but more divided. 


Fig. 278. S. uv. crispum, 


Crispum (Fig. 278).—This name applies to a number of beau- 
tifully frilled, barren forms which vary somewhat in length of stalk, 
width and depth of frill, and other details, but are all handsome ; 
the best are those known as Bowdenii, Cowburnii, diversifrons, 
grande Wills, Grey, latum Jackson, majus Moses, Robinsonit, 
vobustum, Roundstone, and Stablere ,; all these have been found 
wild in different places, and must therefore, owing to their barren- 
ness, have been of quite independent origin. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 235 


CRISPUM CRISTATUM.—The above are uncrested, but Kitsone, 
capitatum, and adornaium bear tassels at their tips, and the section of 


Fig. 279. S. v. crispum fimbriatum. 


C. FIMBRIATUM (Fig. 279), embracing Stansfield’s and Cropper’s 
are beautifully fringed, while 


236 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 280.  S. uv. crispum fimb. cristatum. 


C. F. CRISTATUM (Fig. 280), of Stansfield and Cropper, and 


C. DrummMonpd&, found by Miss Drummond at Falmouth, are 
both fringed and tasselled, the latter ranking as one of the most 
remarkable, having two sorts of fronds, one very long, narrow, and 
frilled, with plain edges and very broad, branched crests, and the 
other on like lines, but beautifully fringed, the tips of the fringes, 
if layered, yielding plants by apospory (see page 17). 


C. D. supERBUM.—Has no plain-edged fronds, all are fringed. 


C. D. GRANDICEPS.—Raised by Mr. H. Bolton, of Carnforth; has 
extra heavy tassels. 


C. FERTILE.—Varieties of the frilled type have been found which 
are partly fertile ; as seedlings they are fully equal to the barren 
forms, but when they begin to bear spores, the frill is defective, the 
frond apparently being incapable of bearing spores and completing 
the frill. By virtue of this fertility, crosses have been effected 
with good results. 


PLATE XXXVI. 


Scolopendrium vulgare 
var sagittato-cristatum Hillmanil 


Scolopendrium vulgare 
var sublineato-striatum 
Scolopendrium vulgare 
var cristatum 


Scolopendrium vulgare 
war renifarme 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 237 


Wee 


Fig. 281. S. vu. crispum grandidens, 


C. GRANDIDENS (Fig. 281).—Found in N. Wales by Mr. Clift ; 
fronds frilled and cut into pinnatifid, crenate lobes. 

C. LatuM (Fig. 282)—Found at Barnstaple and Nettlecombe 
by Mr. C. Jackson and Mr. C. Elworthy ; a robust form with fronds 
three to four inches wide, doubly frilled, as shown. 

C. MURICATUM.—With rough surface projections, a cross with 
muricalum. 

CRISTA-GALLI.—Found by Mr. Moule; resembling a cock’s comb. 

CrIsTATUM (Plate XXXVI).—This represents a typical form of 
which there are many variants. 

C. PROLIFERUM DRUERY.—Found by writer at Babbacombe ; 
bears bulbils on the basal lobes, and in the angles of its branching 
fronds ; proliferous on the lines of Polystichum angulare ; distinct. 

C. vivirparuM O’Ketry.—Found in Co. Clare; peculiar in 
producing young plants freely on the surface of the fronds ; neatly 
crested with slightly sagittate base. 


BFE 
(Uf 


S. uv, crispum latum. 


Fig. 282, 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 239 


CrISTULATUM.—Raised by Stansfield; beautiful, round, com- 
minuted crests. 


DENsUM KELwayit.—Like a ball of moss, so much is it branched : 
proliferous edges. 


I 


E, ppt le 


LD 


Fig. 283. S. v. digdtatum. 


Dicitatum (Fig. 283).—Raised by Mr. G. B. Wollaston and 
subsequently found in Essex by Miss Lucy Moss, and in Cork by Mr. 
Crossfield ; forms fine, dense, fan-shaped crests, extremely divided 
at edges ; generally the fronds are branched as well. 


DimorpHUM BarNES.—A curious form, some fronds normal 
width, but tasselled, like lobatum, and others with very narrow 
linear fronds with fan-like crests. 


240 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 284. S. v. Edwardsii. 


Epwarpsil (Fig. 284).—A dwarf form of vamo-cristatum found 
in Devonshire by Mr. Edwards. 


Fig. 285. 5S. v. flabellatum. 


FLABELLATUM (Fig. 285).—Found by Mr. Elworthy near Nettle- 
combe ; a form of ramo-cristatum with wide, branching heads. 
FLEXuosuM.—Found several times; a curled variety. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 241 


Fig. 286. 9. v. slomeratum, 


GLOMERATUM (Fig. 286).—Found in Jersey by M. Piquet. 


GLovert (Fig. 287).—A ramo-cristate form with very rounded 
outline to crest divisions, not unlike glomeratum, 


R Fig. 287. S. a. Gloveri?. 


242 


BRITISH FERNS 


ALD) y % 
ij NY, V f Z 2 
Wye @ 
oe, j 
<y 
iss 


Ws 


Uy 


DY 


SY 


py Wy 


—s 


<j RS 


Fig. 288. 


S. uv. grandiceps Cousins. 


Fig, 289. S. '. gymmnosorum, 
GRANDICEPS Cousins (Fig. 288).—Fronds heavily crestéd. 


Gymnosorum (Fig. 289).—Found near Minehead by Mr. M 


Bowden, and by the writer at Kilrush, Ireland; a dwarf, very 
narrow form, with scattered, naked spore heaps. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 243 


WMG 
NZ 


YY 
AY WA 


MM NWY YY 


AGE! 


Fig, 291. S. v. Hendersonii. 


SEUSS SS 


Fig. 290. S.v, hebetatu . 


HEBETATUM (Fig. 290)—Fronds end almost squarely, but with 
rounded angles, the spore heaps behind radiating like the spokes of 
a wheel. ; 


HENDERSONII (Fig. 291).—Found near Whitly by J. Henderson ; 
a dwarf form, but peculiarly pretty, the frond stalk dividing and 
re-dividing, all the divisions ultimately bearing definitely stalked 
and similarly fan-crested fronds ; a robuster form on similar lines 
was found by the writer at Penrhyn, Cornwall, in 1906. 


244 BRITISH FERNS 


Hooxern (Fig. 292).—Raised by Mr. Lowe, probably from 
laceratum , fronds bluntly triangular in outline, consisting prac- 
tically of one large crest, flat but overlapping. 


Ketwayu.—Found in Somerset ; a dense conglomerate form, 
similar to Coolingit and Wardii, parent of densum , proliferous. 


Fig. 292. S wv Hookers. Fig, 293. S. vw. Aevalordes. 


KERATOIDES (Fig. 293).—Very narrow fronds with deeply cut 
margins branching into a staghorn-like cresting; raised by Mr. 
Clapham. 


LACERATUM (ENDIVEFOLIUM) (Fig. 294).—A very beautiful 
form found at Taunton by Mr. J. Young; finely crested and frond 
edges deeply cut on pinnatifid lines (see Appendix No. LAXXIX 
for better illustration). 


LIMBOSPERMUM CRISTATUM.—Found in Somerset by Mr. El- 
worthy ; narrow, serrate-edged fronds with lace-like tassels. 


LoncHopHoruM.—Found in Lancashire by Mr. Preston and Mr. 
Hodgson ; a form of marginatum. 


246 


Vig. 295. 


ony 


5 wy 


Sia. marginatum. 


BRITISH FERNS 


MarGINATUM (Fig. 295).—A form {re- 
quently found in which the frond is 
narrowed, the edge slightly frilled, and at 


the back is more or less ridged just within 
the margin. 


’ MARGINATO-CRISTATUM.—Found by Mr. 
J. M. Barnes ; marginate and crested. 


M. FIMBRIATUM.—Marginate, edges fim- 
briate. 


M. IRREGULARE (Plate XXXVIII).— 
Raised by Mr. C. Clapham. 


M. UNDULATUM.—Marginate and undu 
late. 


Fig. 296. S. uv. multifidum nanum, 


MULTIFIDUM NANUM (Fig. 296).—A 
dwarf form found in Devon by Mr. W. 
Edwards ; twin-fronded, bare stalks bear- 
ing fine, spreading crests. 


Fig. 297. 
S. uv, muricatum, 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 


“ 
ij 
Ath — 
0 ae 


pesip 
ee 


i 


“za 
ns Ap 
CX. 


Fig. 298. 
S. uv. omnilacerum, 


247 


\ 


mS 


S| 


\ 


LRA 


PSM 


ANT 
\ 


Wi Wy) At, 
UI) 
WTA 

S Ape 


4 

AZ 

Gi # 
Fig. 299. 


S. v, papellosuit. 


Muricatum (Fig. 297).—Found in several places; fronds nar- 
rowed and very rough-surfaced. 
NUDICAULE CAPITATUM ForRSTER.—Spherical, dense crests on 


bare stalks. 


OMNILACERUM (Fig. 298).—-Raised by Mr. Glave ; fronds narrow 
and cut into lobes almost to the midrib, the lobes fanning and 


forking at tips. 


PapILLosum (Fig. 299).—Found in Guernsey by Mr. Jackson ; 
a narrow, supralineate form. 


248 BRITISH FERNS 
PECTINATUM JONES.—Marginate, with comb-like edges. 


PERAFERENS.—Found in several places with slight variations ; 
truncate fronds terminating in a pocket and thorn. 


PERAFERO-SAGITTATUM DRuERY.—Frond and basal lobes termi- 
nate abruptly with pockets and projecting midrib. 


RapiosoruM.—Fronds normal, but with rounded ends, where the 
sori are arranged like the figures of a clock ; a form of truncatum. 


RAMO-CRISTATUM.—Fronds branch repeatedly, bearing crests 
at terminals on lines of ramo-marginatum, but leafier and non- 
marginate. 


R.-c. Moty.—A splendid form (see Appendix No. LXX XVI). 


RAMO-CRISTULATUM STANSFIELD.—A branched form of cris- 
tulatum. 


Fig. 300. S. v. ramo-marginatum. 


RAMO-MARGINATUM (Plate XXXVII, Fig. 300).—A magnificent 
branch-crested form, narrow and marginate, and repeatedly 
branching until a wide and beautiful crest is developed, 


PLATE XXXVII 


Scolopendrium vulgare 
var ramosum majus 


Scolopendrium vulgare 
yar ramo-marginatun 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 249 


Ramosum (Fig. 301).—Found at Ilfracombe and in Guernsey ; 
has broad, dense, fan-shaped crests, many times divided. 


R. Macus (Plate XX XVIJ).—A large branched form 


Fig. 301. S. o'. ramosum, Fig, 302. 8. vw. rotundifolium. 


RENIFORME (Plate XX XVI).—Kidney-shaped fronds. 
ROTUNDIFOLIUM (Fig. 302).—Similar, but smaller. 
RuGosum.—Surface of fronds roughened with blunt excrescences. 


SAGITTATO-CRISPUM.—Found in Dorset by Mr. Coleman; a 
sagittate, narrow crisbum, somewhat on Drummonde lines ; others 
found in Devon and Ireland by G. B. Wollaston and Mr. Forster. 


ia 


NTP 
di 


Fig. 303. S. 7. sag@t/ato-cristalum. 


S.-CRISTATUM (Fig. 303).—Found in abundance near Scarborough 
by Mr. Clapham ; and also found elsewhere by Mr. Hillman and 
Mr. J. Welman ; a very fine form was also raised by Mr. Hankey ; 


R2 


250 BRITISH FERNS 


a dwarf form, shaped like a trident, was found in N. Devon by Mr. 
Dadds. 

S.-c. Hittmanu (Plate XX XVIJ).—Fronds arrow-shaped, with 
crested barbs, and heavy terminal crest to frond. 
SAGITTATO-GRANDICEPS.—Raised by the writer from a wild find 


of sagittato-lobatum ; basal lobes densely and heavily crested, as is 
also the frond tip, each frond consisting of three close-set bunches, 


with bulbils on leafy portion. 


RS Gok 9 
een 
co 
“) 


AW 


X 


= 
Mi 


\ 
\ 


\ 


\ 


\ 
S 
= \ 
ANS 
SY 


a 


/ /} : 
4 
QW gy dds 
TN 


BS 
WN 


ee Yl) 
eee 


\ 
ee 
ra 7 
anne wy 


ila 
\ 


Fig. 304. S. a. sagg@tato-projectum. Fig. 305. S. uv. seem, 


5.-PROJECTUM (Fig. 304).—Found Tiverton by Rev. C. Padley, 
and subsequently several very fine forms were found by Moly in 
Dorset, Sclater in Sligo, Smithies in Westmoreland, Westropp 
in Co. Clare, and Whitwell near Kendal; the last-named is shorter 
and muricate. 

SCALPTURATUM.—In this the surface is roughened like rugosum, 
but on sharper and more file-like lines. 

Sinum_(Fig. 305).—-Really a form of perajercns, the frond ending 
abruptly with a pocket and projecting thorn 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 251 


Fig. 306. Si v. stniato-mullifidum. 


SINUATO-MULTIFIDUM (Fig. 306).—Fronds semi-frilled and with 
twisted crests ; foundin N. Devon by Mr. C. Padley. 


252 BRITISH FERNS 


Fig. 307. 5. @. sprrale. 


SPIRALE (Fig. 307).—Found in several places ; a dwarf, undulate 
form, twisted like a corkscrew, and with very thick, leathery fronds ; 
really a very congested, undulate form of the species. 


SK SIGS 


SS 
—< 


= 
a 


Fig. 308. 0S. a. suh-cornudum. Fig. 309. Sia. supra-linealo-mullifndum 


STANSFIELD (Plate SNNVIII).—A splendid form raised from 
spores of S. v. undulatium rigidum (see Fig. 314); fronds frilled and 
fringed, a most unexpected result trom such a source. 


PLATE XXXVIII. 


S. v. marginalo 


Scolopendrium vulgare var 
irregulare 


Stansfieldii (crispum fimbriaitum) 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 253 


SUB-CORNUTUM, SUPRA-CORNUTUM.—Applied to forms of the 
truncate section, according as the thorn projects in front or at back. 


SUB-CORNUTUM (Fig. 308).—A marked form of the cornute, or 
horned section. 


SUB-LINEATO-STRIATUM (Plate XXXVI).—Found in Devon by 
Mr. Hillman ; one of the marginatum section. 


SUPRA-LINEATUM.—Found several times ; a form of marginatum, 
distinguished by an even ridge near the midrib on the upper side. 


S.-L. CRISTATUM.—A branched, crested form, similarly charac- 
terized. 


S.-LINEATO-MULTIFIDUM (Fig. 309).—One of the supra-lineate 
section, so called owing to the linear ridge each side the midrib on 
the upper side of the frond. 


Fig. 310. SS. 2, dorteoso-cristatum. 


TorTUOSO-CRISTATUM (Fig. 310).—Raised by Mr. Lowe ; broadly 
branched and twisted crests. 


254 BRITISIT FERNS 


ve a 
\" =) 


Vig. 311. S. uv. transverso-lobatum, 


TRANSVERSO-LOBATUM (Fig. 311).—Found in several places; it 
bears double tassels which cross each other, and is a very pretty 
form. 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE 255 


Fig. 312. S. v. ¢ransverso-multifidum, 


T.-MULTIFIDUM (Fig. 312).—Found by Mr. Dadds near Ilfracombe; 
very similar to ¢vansverso-lobatum., 


TRUNCATO-CORNUTUM.—Similar to vadiosorum, but with pro- 
jecting midrib at the chord of the semicircle ; no pouch. 


256 BRITISIT FERNS 


Fig. 313. S. a, wrdudalo-ramosum, Fig. 314. Sv, wndulatune. 


UNDULATO-RAMOSUM (Fig. 313).—Found by Mr. Moly; robuster 
than simuato-mulitfidum, but on similar lines. 


U.-r1GIDUM.—It was from the spores of this variety that 
Messrs. Stansfield raised their beautiful fimbriate crispums (sec 
Plate XX XVIII) ; found by Mr. Edwards in Devon. 


U.-SUPRA-LINEATUM.—A very fine form raised by Col. Jones. 


Unpburatum (Fig. 314).—Found in several places; fronds un- 
dulate or semi-frilled @ la crispum, but freely fertile. 


PLATE XXXIX. 


Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense 


richomanes radicans . 
Ee ‘ Hymenophyllum unilaterale 


TRICHOMANES RADICANS 257 


_Uncutcers.—A narrow form of the marginate section with 
divided tips which curve downwards like claws. 


Fig 315. Sia. Warde. 


Waroui (Fig.-315).—A dense, conglomerate form, the whole plant 
becoming a mass with no indication at all of the normal strap ; 
the frond edges bear bulbils ; raised by Mr. Glave of Scarborough. 


TRICHOMANES RADICANS (THE BritisH FERN) 
(Plate XX XIX) 


Trichomanes vadicans belongs to the small group of Filmy Ferns 
found in Great Britain, but which are abundant in tropical and 
subtropical Fern habitats where extremely 
humid conditions, both of soil and atmos- 
phere, prevail. Their fronds (Fig. 316) are 
so thin and translucent as to be entirely 
dependent upon such conditions for their 
existence, since dry air shrivels them at 
once beyond recovery. In this country T. 
vadicans has been reported as found in York- 
shire, but in Ireland it has been found so 
frequently as to have acquired the popular ; 
name of the Killarney Fern. Its name tig. 316. 7% radicans (pinna). 


258 BRITISH FERNS 


given above, the Bristle Fern, is due to the peculiarity that the 
spore capsules are contained in little, urn-shaped vessels projecting 
from the margins of the frond divisions, and through these urns 
a vein is carried, and protrudes like a bristle from the orifice. Its 
natural habitats here are by the sides of mountain streams, in the 
vicinity, or actually in the spray of cascades, or in rocky hollows 
where the air is constantly at saturation point and no sunshine 
ever enters. T. radicans has a very tough, travelling rootstock, 
which creeps over the rock surfaces and into their crevices, into 
which the roots proper penetrate. The fronds, which are nearly 
thrice divided, are of a deep, lucent green and translucent, but by 
no means fragile. They are quite evergreen, and last for several 
years. For the culture of this species we refer to our chapter on 
Culture, under the head of Wardian Cases, since no Fern is better 
adapted, or lends itself more admirably to case culture than this. 
Several varieties have been found. 


Bf Maee” 
WV ee = 


Pease 


Fig. 317. S. v. Andrewsiz. 


ANDREWSII (Fig. 317).—Found in Ireland ; has narrower, more 
lance-shaped fronds, with longer stalks and more widely separated 
pinne. 


Di_atatum.—A very handsome, broad-fronded form introduced 
from Ireland by Messrs. Backhouse, of York. 


PROLIFERUM.—-A small-growing form, sent the writer many years 
ago by Mr. Burbidge, of Dublin, as bearing bulbil plants on the 
fronds, ala Asplenium bulbiferum. Young plants were raised from 
these, but the parent eventually refused to develop more. 


ALatuM.—Found in Ireland ; conspicuously winged stalks. 
BacKHOUSEIL.—Intermediate between dilatatum and Andrewsit. 


CrispuM.—Found Killarney by Col. A. S. H. Lowe ; crispate and 
irregularly branched. 


DissEctuM.—Finely cut, beautiful form. 


aa 


Woodsia ilvensis 


“y 
tA 
fra 


PLATE XL. 


Woodsia alpina 


WOODSIA HYPERBOREA 259 


WOODSIA HYPERBOREA (THE ALPINE Woopsta) 
(Plate XL) 


The Woodsias, of which there are two species indigenous to Great 
Britain, W. hyperborea and W. ilvensis, are both small-growing 
Ferns, rising from small, definite rootstocks in tufts. Our figures 
(318, 319), show both size and make, and obviate description, 
except that the fronds are somewhat hairy, and the spore capsules, 
which are in small round heaps, are protected by a fringed indusium, 


aa 
“VA 
Ae 
uv 
ea na) Qe 
2 YEP 
s) HP Von 
ees ; BW) iS 
SB x ¥. 
ss aan KOS) NF 4 
Way Y “al We 
j 1), WES 
is , fi? & YAS 
} ARS 
lithe SH “a 
WP xm gS 


Fig. 318. Woodsta hyperborea, Fig. 319. Woodsta tlvensis. 


quite distinct from any other genus. The species is rare; it has 
been found in Wales, but like W. ilvensis, which is the commoner of 
the two, most of the recorded finds have been in Scotland, and we 
have ourselves found it on Ben Lawers in Perthshire. Culture must 
be on the lines of the rock-loving species, with some broken porous 
stone mixed with open, well-drained soil. No varieties. 


WOODSIA ILVENSIS (THE Ostonc Woopsia) 
(Plate XL) 
Regarding this species, we have practically nothing special to 
add to our foregoing remark on W. hyperborea, since the difference 
is indicated by the plates and illustrations, 


APPENDIX 


NINETY-SIX NATURE PRINTS OF FINE VARIETIES 
OF BRITISH FERNS 


Selected from some three hundred printed from the fronds 
by the late Colonel A. M. Jones, of Clifton, and, by kind 
permission of his daughter, reproduced on a reduced scale, 
together with his notes and descriptions. 


2U2 BRITISH FERNS 


ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS, var. CORNUBIENSE (Moore) 
Mr. H. H. Trevethick, Tolray, Hayle, Cornwall. 1868. 


1 ft. 2 in. 


‘*] found it in a high cliff on Showheld in this town ” (Hayle). 
Note by Mr. Trevethick. 


ADIANTUM CAPILLUS VENERIS, vay, CORNUBIENSE (Afoorc) 


264 BRITISH FERNS 


ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES- — 


I, CRISTATUM. 
2, DENDROIDEUM, 

Mr. Wollaston. Westmoreland. 1872. 
Sy. RAMOSISSIMUM. 


3. RAMO-CRISTATUM. 
Mr. W. H. Sergeant, Lukenham, Cornwall. Cornwall. 1861. 
2 in. 

4. RAMO-CRISTATUM. 
Mr. Patey. Cardigan. 1873. 
3 In. 
5. A. RAMOSUM. 
Rey. C. Padley. South Devon. 1864. 


nae 
35 In. 


1. By Mr. Wollaston. 

2. By Mr. Stabler.~ -The only plant of this remarkable variety 
in the possession of Mr. Stabler. 

2. Found in a slate quarry; and within a yard of the spot the 
variety /vczsunv fell to the lot of the same fortunate discoverer. 

3. Found on an old wall, which was covered with crested forms 


of the species. 


Il 


ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES, varieties 


266 BRITISH FERNS 


Ill 


ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES, var. INCISUM 
Mr. A. Clapham. Yorkshire. 1859. 
6 in. 

Syn. PLuMosuM (HWol/.) 


The plumose form of the species. First noticed in the Brztish 
FHlerbal, 1743, without name of discoverer or place of discovery. 
Mr. Wollaston considers that the first recorded discovery was in 
Jersey, by Sherard. The following discoveries are also recorded: 
In Yorkshire by Mr, Clapham, 1859, and previously by Mr. J. 
Tatham; Cumberland, Miss Wright; Westmoreland, Mr. Wollaston, 
1870; Lancashire, S. Gibson ; Devonshire, Rev. W. S. Hore and 
R. Moule, 1869. The most remarkable ‘‘ find” was that of Miss 
Wright in Borrowdale, where it is described by Mr. Wollaston as 
having been seen by him growing in a granite fissure, and extend- 
ing nearly a yard in four or five elongated tufts, containing at 
least two hundred crowns. 


III 


ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES, var. INCISUM 


BRITISH FERNS 


lV 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-F@:MINA, var. ACROCLADON (J/oore) 


Mr. Monkman. Yorkshire. 1860. 


Syn. RAMO-CRISTATUM (IF //.) 


IV 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-F(EMINA, var, ACROCLADON (Monkman) 


270 BRITISH FERNS 


Vv 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FG@:MINA, var. CLARISSIMA ( Joves) 


R. Moule. North Devon. 1868. 


Under glass by Captain Jones. It has been thought desirable 


to print another frond of this variety to show the development of 


which it is capable. Though barren it produces an infinity of 
abortive spore cases.* 


* N.B.—It was upon this fern that the phenomenon of ‘“ apospory”’ was 
first discovered by the author (vide ‘‘ Life History of Ferns’’). 


y 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA CLARISSIMA (Joule) 


272 BRITISH FERNS 


vi 


20, FRIZELLIZ (A/vore) 
Mrs. Charles Frizell, Castle Kevin, Co. Wicklow. 
Co. Wicklow. 1857. 
1 ft. 3 in. 
Syn, LUNULATUM (IVo//.) 


21, FRIZELLLE RAMOSUM (Lowe) 
Mr. E. J. Lowe. (Raised) 1874. 


1 ft. 
Syn, RAMO-LUNULATUM (IT o/.) 


22. FRIZELLIZ MULTIFIDUM. 


Sy, LUNULATO-MULTIFIDUM. 


23. A similar form has been raised by Glave, of Scarborough. 


Mr. Phineas Riall, of Old Conna Hill, Bray, writing on the same 
subject, says :—‘‘ Mr. Bain, of the College Botanic Gardens, raised 
quantities from spores, and about five years after he got it gave 
me a young plant which crested beautifully, the original plant 
being quite plain. I had many seedlings—some wonderfully 
crested.” 


The following definition of the peculiarities of Ath. f. f. Frizellice 
is from Mr, Edwin Fox:—‘‘In Frizellie@, the secondary rachis 
aborts at 1st, 2nd, or 3rd pair of pinnules, generally at 2nd, but 
then the tertiary rachis on which they are situated aborts also, 
and to that degree that the pinnules are crammed, or superimposed, 
as it were, on the top of one another, the posterior imbricating 
and half covering the anterior. The lamina of the pinnules partakes 
of the abortion and becomes, in some specimens of /7rrse/lice, so 
congested as to appear warty or nodose,—the edges of the 
lamine are dentate and revolute. The anterior pinnule projects 
backwards in a plane posterior to the rachis, the posterior pinnule 


VI 


. 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FGMINA, vay, FRIZELLIA 


274 BRITISH FERNS 


projects downwards and forwards ina plane anterior to the rachis, 
and both are somewhat contorted—so as to embrace between them 
the rachis and to give the appearance of a twisted cable running 
up the rachis from below upwards.” 


Perhaps the most remarkable sport of the cruciate class, and it 
is remarkable that after an interval of twenty years, precisely the 
same variety should have been found in another part of Ireland. 
Mrs. C. Frizell has kindly supplied the following interesting 
account of the original discovery. ‘‘I found it on our own property 
in a most beautiful reach of the Avonmouth river, which runs from 
Lough Dan, through this place (Castle Kevin, Co. Wicklow.) It 
was in the year 1857; it grew between two large boulders so fast 
and with apparently so little soil, that it was with great difficulty 
my husband removed it. I don’t think I ever saw any plant of the 
Frisellie so perfect as the original ; there were about eight fronds, 
none of them with those sports and irregularities one has since 
seen on it. I watched it for two years by the river-side, and it 
never had any appearance of seed, so we gave it to Mr. Bain, of 
the College Botanic Gardens, who put it into the hot-house, where 
it seeded immediately.” 


The following account of the second discovery has been supplied 
by Dr. Moore, of Glasnevin. 


‘« This variety has been again found this year in the Co. Donegal, 
near Letterkenny, by Henry Chichester Hart, Esq., son of the 
Vice-Provost, Trinity College, Dublin, who accompanied the last 
Arctic Expedition as Naturalist. The two finds were exactly 
similar in form in every way. A wild frond from Mr. Hart’s plant 
was sent to Mr. Moore, of Chelsea.” Mr. Moore, of Chelsea, 
writing in the Gardener's Chronicle with reference to this frond, 
says that he has no hesitation in identifying it with di. ff 
Frizellie. 

Mr. Hart states that ‘‘there were several fronds on the plant, 
all perfect, and similar to that sent to Chelsea, which was fault- 
lessly typical.” 


Probably no form has been more productive of varieties by seed 
than Frizediie. Mr. Glover, whose experience in this direction is 


FRIZELLIAL 275 


perhaps the largest, writes, ‘‘ Mr. Clapham sent me a frond of the 
original in fine fructification, from which I raised several hundreds 
of plants. The second year I observed one showing a small crest, 
with spores, from which crest I obtained many curious varieties, 
and all the varieties subsequently obtained emanated from this 
source.” 


276 BRITISH FERNS 


Vil 


GIRDLESTONEII (very) 


The Rev. Canon W. Harvey Girdlestone, Gloucester. Rosshire. 


1866, 1 ft. g in. 


Sy. LINEARIS (TVo//.) 


VII 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FG@MINA, vay. GIRDLESTONEL 


278 


BRITISH FERN 


VIII 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-F@MINA, var. GLOMERATUM (/very’), 


Raised. 


ee, ee 


Se eI 


— 


H 

i 

\! 

Ps aaa aii cea 
VIII 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FG@MINA, Var. GLOMERATUM 


280 BRITISH FERNS 


IX 


PLumosum (JZoore) 


James Horsfall, in the employ of Messrs. Stansfield, The Vale 
Nurseries, Todmorden. Yorkshire. 1860. 


2 ft. 9 in. 


Besides the form here figured, varieties of p/wmosum have been 
found by R. Moule in N. Devon in 1865, and by Mr. Wills in 
Dorsetshire in 1869. There is also the Axminster form, found 
in 1860 by John Trott, a working farmer, a tenant of the Rev. Z. 
Edwards, and the Scotch form found in Lanarkshire in 1863 by 
Mr. M. Campbell, a nurseryman of Blantyre. The three last are 
more frondose than the others that have been mentioned, but much 
less so than plumosum divaricatum of Messrs. Stansfield (found in 
1872 in Lancashire, by Wm. Morris, a fern collector). P/umosum 
elegans (Alvore), a seedling of Mr. Parsons, from the Axminster 
variety, is perhaps the most beautiful of the true plmmosumes. 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-F@MINA, Va’. PLUMOSUM HORSFALL 


282 BRITISH FERNS 


x 


KALOTHRIX (Lowe) 


Mr. Howlett, County Court House, Oxford. (Raised) 1870. 
Mr. Sim, Foot’s Cray, Kent. (Raised) 1874. 


1 ft. 6 in. 


It was thought for some time that this was an Irish form of 
plumosum, but Mr. Baxter writes that it came from the Chelsea 
Botanic Gardens. With reference to this point Mr. Moore adds 
that it must have been in this case a division from Stansfield’s 
original plant, half of which having been exhibited for a certificate 
at S. Kensington soon after its discovery, was sent by Messrs. 
Stansfield to Chelsea. It is strange, however, considering the very 
marked tendency in the seedlings from the Oxford plant to run in 
the Aalothrix strain, that no similar trace of this strain should ever 
have been detected among the thousands of seedlings raised by 
Messrs. Stansfield and others from the Yorkshire plant. The 
nearest approach to an analogous formisind. f. fiacuminatisstmum 
of Stansfield (a seedling of p/umosum), but the distinction is so 
marked as rather to be an argument in favour of a different 
parentage. 

The original plant was raised by Mr. Howlett from a form of 
plumosum growing in the Oxford Botanic Gardens. Stimulated 
by this result, Mr. Sim obtained a division of the Oxford plant, 
also a seedling pl/umosum, raised by Mr. Howlett from the same 
source, and from one of these (he is not certain which) he states 
that he obtained at the first sowing some hundreds of plants, of 
which about ten or twelve per cent. were Kalothrix, the remainder 
varying between p/umosum, sub-plumosum, and normal purple- 
stemmed f/zx-fem/na. 

In the Sherardian Herbarium, Oxford Botanic Gardens, is to be 
seen a wild frond gathered many years since in the Morne Moun- 
tains, almost identical with Kalothrtx. 

This variety requires extreme care in cultivation, strong light 
being fatal to its beauty. When well-grown it is perhaps the most 
delicately beautiful of British Ferns. Some of the happiest results 
have been obtained under treatment suited to filmy ferns, to which 
indeed in appearance it bears no slight resemblance. 


SN Hee A 


4 
vy 

{ 
ries 


Xx 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FEMINA, Ua?. KALOTHRIX 


284 BRITISH FERNS 


XI 


REGALE (Barnes) 
Barnes. (Raised) 1867. 


2 ft. 6 in. 


Raised by Mr. Barnes from sflendens, and worthy of its name,— 
the nearest approach to a real crested p/umosum,—though it bears 
spores ;—in colour a clear golden green,—some of its seedlings 
promise to be even better than the parent, if that be possible. 

There is something in the cresting of Azhyriums which seems 
destructive of the true plumose character,—perhaps it is that a Fern 
cannot think of too much at one time, —however, the fact remains 
that hitherto, in spite of the efforts of all the most skilled manufac- 
turers, the two characters, in their perfection, have not yet been 
combined. J. Wilson, of Bowness, can show seedlings from a 
plumose Athyrium, in every stage from simple plumosum to perfect 
cristatum ;—the plumose character being unmistakably visible when 
the plants are but slightly crested, but fading away exactly in 
proportion to the development of the cresting, and to a certain 
extent this change goes on in the same plant. 


CEMINA, var. REGALE 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-F' 


286 BRITISH FERN 


XII 


GRANTLE (Moore) 


Mr. Paul, Truro, Cornwall, 1865. 
1 ft. 2 in. 


Syn. CONGESTUM Paut (IVoll.) 


By Mrs. Grant. The finest of the congested forms of Athyrium. 
There were two crowns when it was found, one of which came into 
Mrs. Grant’s possession, the other found its way to Foot’s Cray ;— 
but whether they were from the first separate plants, or whether 
the crowns afterwards developed differently, it soon became 
evident that they had distinct characters—Mrs. Grant’s plant 
being a crzspatum, Mr. Sim’s a congestum—subsequently the latter 
also came into Mrs. Grant’s possession, and is now considered the 
typical form of Grantie. 

A very similar form was found by Mr. Padley in N. Somerset. 
There are also two other congested forms—smaller in growth but 
very beautiful; crzspzsstmum of Stansfield, renamed Szmpsont 
from its discoverer—and the form improperly named Adwardszi— 
which Mr. Biggs, curator of the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, be- 
lieves to have originated in Ireland. This plant came from the 
Cambridge Gardens into the possession of Mrs. Riley, of Papplewick 
Lodge, Nottingham, among whose family it soon became known 
under the familiar title of ‘Little Mr. Biggs,” out of compliment to 
the donor. Some time afterwards a person whose individuality 
we think it only kind not to particularise further, and who had 
heard of its beauty, came to see it, and was so interested in it that 
he asked to be allowed to take another parting look at it. It was 
afterwards remarked that the plant seemed rather in a state of 
confusion, and that the soil had been a little agitated, but nothing 
more was thought of it, until a year or so later, when it became 
known that a plant exactly similar, and accompanied by a very 
promising family, had been exhibited at one of the Royal Horti- 
cultural Society’s Shows as Adwardstz, and had received a 1st 
Class certificate. 

Crested seedlings of this latter variety have been raised by Mr. 
Lowe. 


All 


ATHYRIUM FILIX-FEMINA, 


GRANTIAZ 


var. 


288 BRITISH FERNS 


NHI 


VicTor.E (1/vore) 
Mr. James Cosh. Stirlingshire. 1861. 
1 ft. 6 in, 


Syn. CRUCIATO-CRISTATUM (TV0//.) 


By Mr. Wollaston, and from the original plant. It is difficult to 
conceive how such an extreme deviation from the normal form 
could have been produced in all its strange perfection without 
gradual development, yet it would seem to have sprung directly by 
seed from some common l¢hyrium. 

Mr. Lowe has had his usual good fortune in his seedlings of 
Victoria, two of which have been figured and named by him 
Victoria magnificum, Victoria gracile. 

Mr. Edwin F. Fox thus defines the peculiarities of this variety. 
‘* A cruciate and crested Athyrium. In it we observe abortion of 
secondary rachis at the first pair of pinnules, then an abnormal 
development of this first pair—which is really a tertiary rachis — 
upwards and downwards and away from the primary rachis, so as 
to cross the similarly developed pinnules above and below them :— 
apices of primary and tertiary rachides crested.” 


XIII 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FEMINA, var, VICTORIZ 


290 BRITISH FERNS 


XIV 


BLECHNUM SPICANT, var. TRINERVUM CORONANS (JZoore) 
Mr. J. M. Barnes. Westmoreland. 1872. 
6 in. 
Sy, BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM 
Grows freely and with a neat, compact habit, and is perhaps the 


most marked and beautiful form of Blechnum yet discovered. The 
outline of the lower part of the frond varies considerably. 


\ 


Ee 


ae 


SSS 


PUIETT I7 


XIV 
BLECHNUM SPICANT, vay, TRINERVUM CORONANS 


292 BRITISH FERNS 


XV 
RAMO-CRISTATUM (Stans/fd. ) 
W. G. Maunder, gardener, Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire. 
Carmarthen. 1876. 
g in. 


By Messrs. Stansfield. ‘* Found in the neighbourhood of Wid- 
welly, Carmarthenshire.”—Note by Mr. F. W. Stansfield. 


AV 


BLECHNUM SPICANT, RAMO-CRISTATUM 


204 BRITISH FERNS 


XVI 


LASTREA DILATATA, vay. CRISTATA Oscrort (IT0//.) 


Mr. Jno. Oscroft, Fern Collector, Brighton. Somerset. 1873. 


2 ft. 


By Major Jones. Found within a few miles of Bristol, on the 
Somersetshire side. 


XVI 


LASTREA DILATATA, Vdr. CRISTATA 


296 BRITISH FERNS 


XVII 


CristaTa Roserts (!Vo//.) 
Mr. Roberts, Llanberis. Carnarvon. 1870. 


1 ft. gin. 


Syn. CRISTATA-GRACILIS (Jones) 


Under glass by Mr. Mapplebeck. Would be one of the most 
useful of British Ferns were it not for a partial depauperation that 
sticks to this variety and its progeny as persistently as it does to 
L, fi-mas Jervestt, 


x 


LASTREA DILATATA, Ua’. CRISTATA RoOReERTS 


298 BRITISH FERNS 


XVITI 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, vu’. RAMOSISSIMA (.J/uvre) 


The late Mr. Robert Wright, Parkfield, Stone, Staffordshire. 
N. Wales. 1864. 


Syn. RAMO-CRISTATA (TI0//.) 


By Mr. Parsons. This variety has never been reproduced 
from seed. Mr. Parsons considers that he has raised the variety 
cristata from it, but probably like its counterparts in P. angulare, 
and with 4. ff, viz., werocladon, it is barren. 

It is maintained by more than one good authority that ZL. ps.-mas 
—and that only—can be raised from spores of ZL. ps.-mas raimo- 
séssima, Plants in Mr. Wollaston’s collection—said to have been 
raised in this way—-seem certainly smaller and paler in colour than 
the common cvzs.a/a. 


NVIL 


LASTREA pSEUDO-MAS, var. RAMOSISSIMA 


300 BRITISH FERNS 


NIX 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS GRANDICEPS 


Mrs. Berry, Key Pit, Ilfracombe, N. Devon. 1870. 


manda’ f 


“ee S 


Te 


Dcohe 
spied hag. NaS 


hr 
| 


ae 


XIX 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, var. GRANDICEPS BERRY 


302 BRITISH FERNS 


AX 


Susberistata Dapps (Jfoure) 


John Dadds, Ilfracombe. N. Devon. 1861. 
3 ft. 


Sy, FURCILLATA (ITod/.) 


A grand Fern, scarcely as well known as it deserves ; a consider- 
able colony of this variety had the audacity to establish themselves 
in a wood within sight of J. Dadd’s house close to Ilfracombe, and 
soon met the fate such temerity deserved. Furcillate forms have 
been found by many, of these perhaps as good as anv is the one 
found by Wilson. 


AX 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, vay. SUBCRISTATA Dapps 


304 BRITISH FERNS 


XXI 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, vu. POLYDACTYLA MaAppLEBECK (JT 2.) 


Mr. J. E. Mapplebeck. Westmoreland. 1862, 
2 ft. 9 in. 


Syx. MAPpPLEBECKII (.1/vore) 


Another grand fern. It is remarkable that almost identically the 
same form—-‘' Z. ps.-mas polydactyla Wills’—should have been 
found a few years later, hundreds of miles away in S. Devon— 
perhaps Mr. Wills’ form may be a shade the more robust of the 
two,—but it is very much a case of Cesar and Pompey. Mr. 
Crouch’s polydacty/a found in Westmoreland is a fine form too, but 
more Jax and scarcely as heavily tasselled. 


NAIL 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, vai. POLYDACTYLA MAPPLEBECK 


306 BRITISIT FERNS 


XXII 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, vd7. CRISTATA ELLACOMBE (TI0//.) 


The Rev. H. Ellacombe, The Rectory, Bitton, Somerset. 
Pembroke. 1856. 


oft. 3°ins 


The finest and most symmetrical of the larger forms of L. //7x- 
mas cristata ;—that of Martindale found in the Lake District (and 
sent out as Iveryana) is not so large or it might otherwise run it 
closely ;—/erviszz could do it if it chose, but it never can throw 
off the untidiness that disfigures it,—Mr. Padley has several forms. 
all good,—attenuata cristata perhaps the best. Dr. Allchin's 
crested form was found in N. Devon in 1870. 


TA 
INH tn 
Pater 


oe 


ie 


XXII 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, var. CRISTATA ELlACOMBE 


308 BRITISH FERNS 


NAIL 


GRANDICEPS WILLS (IT v//,) 
Mr. John Wills. Dorset. 1870. 


emacs 


Towers above all other forms of grandiceps,—three forms have 
been found by Mr. Padley, all in N. Devon ;-—the original 
grandiceps was found by Wearing, a labouring man, on Warton 
Crag in 1862. It had four crowns, one of which soon found its 
way to | oot’s Cray. Mrs. Berry’s form was figured as No. 2, 
2nd series. (See XIN.) 


XXIII 


LASTRE\ FILIX-MAS, 7r. GRANDICEPS WILLS 


310 BRITISH FERNS 


XXIV 


LASTREA PROPINQUA, wr. CRISTATA BARNES (JT e//.) 


Mr. J. M. Barnes. Westmoreland. 1870. 


2 ft. 3 in. 


Syn, CRISTATA, BARNESII (Jfoore) 


The best of the many forms of propingua cristata, Myr. Barnes 
has noted three other crested forms ;—the original wbdreviata 
cristata (JJovre) found by J. D. Harrison in Borrowdale, many 
years since ;—erisfata Cowurdt? (Moore) found at Ambleside in 
1871, and curvata cristata (Barnes) found by Mr. Barnes at Swin- 
dale in 1863. 


AATV 
LASTREA PROPINQUA, var. CRISTATA BARNES 


312 BRITISH FERNS 


XAV 
LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, var, CRISTATA (Vvnre) 


Cornwall. Before 1850. 


a ity 


Perhaps the grandest and most useful of British Ferns, and it is 
scarcely to the credit of Pteridologists that its history should still 
remain obscure ;—all that is known is that it was found in the 
parish of St. Austell in Cornwall, in the grounds of Caercleugh, 
and that the plant was at Kew in 1850. 

Dadds, of Ilfracombe, found in N. Devon a crested form of this 
species, differing however in character from this—and R. Moule of 
the same place, and whose statements are to be relied on, says 
that he found near Ilfracombe four plants apparently identical with 
the original. 

More seedlings have probably been raised from this variety 
than from any other British Fern, yet it is remarkable how rarely 
has there been any marked divergence :—-angustatu-cristata is the 
most remarkable, and was reared by Mr. Sim from a batch of 
small fry given to him by Mr. Wollaston—cristata elegans of Mr. 
Wollaston, cristu/a crispata of Mr. Ivery, and créstata intermedia 
were, until lately, the only other sports from it worthy of note,— 
but a new form of créspata crista/a has lately been raised by Mr. 
Gott, of Kendal, which promises to be a distinct and handsome 
variety. 


NKV 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, var. CRISTATA 


314 BRITISH FERNS 


XXVI 


PotypactyLa Dapps (IT 0//.) 
John Dadds. Raised, 1872. 


a tC, 


There are few Ferns grander, more distinct, and more graceful ;— 
owing to its upstanding habit, the frond itself will not bend under 
the heavy crest,—so the latter has to bend down, which it does in 
a way and with a grace rarely seen. It is a dark-complexioned 
Fern, yet with a clear lustrous look, and the flat digitate endings 
of the pinnz stand out in a way that is very striking. It is said 
to have been raised from furcans, to which it has, no doubt, some 
points of resemblance, but it must have better blood in it than 
that. 


XAVI 
LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, ¢r. POLYDACTYLA Dapps 


316 BRITISIE FERNS 


XXVII 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS PALEACEA (.Veqov7077) 


Sra, L. pseupo-mas (FV ol/.) 


lar. RaMo-cristaTA (IT od/.) 


Mr. Wilson, Bowness, Lancashire. 1871. 


XXVIT 


RAMO-CRISTATA 


var. 


T.ASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, 


gis BRITISIE FERN 


NAVIII 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, tui’, REVOLVENS (IV o//.) 


Mr. F. Clowes, Windermere. Westmoreland. 1868. 


1 ft. 


It is remarkable that this very distinct variety should have been 
unconsciously introduced into a fernery (that of Mrs. Taylor at 
Iffotsholnme Farm, ‘Troutbeck Bridge, Windermere). ‘‘She 
wished,” Mr. Clowes writes, ‘‘the gardener to ornament with 
ferns a sort of paved bank near the garden; he got a lot of ferns 
anywhere and this was one of them.” It was there first noticed 
by Mr. Clowes, who adds that it was then a fairly tall-growing 
plant, —at least 2 ft. high,—but since its division it has adopted a 
much more dwarf habit, which as far as can be yet judged of, is 
shared by its seedlings. 


Pa 


; 
oy 


eee TE 
iS . <= 
: a 
Sak ra 

ay 


atten 


wah 
ash 
2 


as 
f 


XXVIII 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, 


var. REVOLVENS 


320 BRITISH FERNS 


NXIN 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, va7. BOLLANDLE (.1/ourc) 


Mrs. Bolland. Kent. 1857. 
3 ft. 


Syn, PLUMOSA (TT 0/1.) 


By Mr. Clowes. The only plumose form of the species yet 
known. Mrs. Bolland states that she found it growing in a hedge 
entirely apart from other Ferns. As it occasionally bears a few 
spores, attempts have been made to raise a form free from the 
depauperation which always detracts more or less from its beauty. 
The most promising results have been obtained by Dr. Allchin, 
but the experiments are as yet too recent to be quite relied on. 


XXIX 


J.ASTREA FILIX-MAS, var. BOLLANDIE 


322 BRITISH FERNS 


RONEN 
LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, wu. CRISPA-CRISTATA (.)/vore) 


Dr. Lyell. (Raised) 1866. 
TO in. 


Sit, CONGESTA CRISTATA (JT 0d/.) 


Under glass by Mr. Wollaston. Mr. Sim writes that the 
original plant of Z. ps.-mus crispa was found by the late Mr. 
F. W. Salter, of London, in Wales, and given by him to the 
Hon. Mrs. Wrightson, of Warmsworth Hall, Doncaster. Mr. S. 
Appleby, of Balby, obtained a fertile frond, and raised a goodly 
batch, of which 200 went to Foot’s Cray ; these were all perfectly 
true to character, as were all that have since been raised at Foot’s 
Cray or anywhere else almost. Dr. Lyell, however, had in his 
first batch of seedlings two remarkable deviations—-crispa cristata, 
here figured, and erispa gracil’s. Mr. E. J. Lowe has two other 
remarkable sports— one raised by Dr. Lyell which he has named 
crtspa l/nearrs, extremely narrow, and not erect in habit ; the other 
a very beautifully crested form—a stray seedling, also quite dis- 
tinct. Mr. Lowe did in a hasty moment propose a name for this, 
but it has been thought kinder to the Fern and to him to allow 
time for a little further consideration, so the Fern stands nameless 
though it is a very beautiful one. 


NS 
Fae 


Vey 


ao 


NP bros. 


i 
“bf 


Hal 


a! 
aN 


nia 


ukipayie 


toon 


1 


1 


4 


aN 


ul 


ay 


WAR 


NS ADEA 


= 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, tar CRISPA-CRISTATA 


324 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXI 


RAMO-FURCILLATA (TT 0//.) 


Mr. J. Dadds, Ilfracombe. N. Devon. 1864. 


Two plants of this variety were found, one more ramose than 
the other. The frond figured is from a seedling raised by Dadds. 


XXXI 


LASTREA PSEUDO-MAS, U@r. RAMO-FURCILLATA 


326 BRITISH FERNS 


NXXII 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, tur. CRISPATA Hopcson (Barnes) 
The late Mr. J. K. Hodgson, Ulverstone. Lancashire. 1864. 
1 ft. 3 in. 
Syn. CONGESTA (JF //.) 


Syn. FLUCTUOSA (Sfunsfeld) 


Its dark green colour, crisped pinnules, and compact habit give 
to a well-grown plant of this variety a charming look. 

A remarkable dwarf crisped form of //¢x-mas (now in the 
possession of Major Jones) was found by Canon Swayne, of 
Salisbury, in Carnarvon in 1874. 


AC eA 
NOE 


XXXII 


LASTREA FILIX-MAS, var. CRISPATA HoDGson 


328 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXIII 


LASTREA MONTANA, var. GRANDICEPS (Barnes) 
Mr. J. M. Barnes. (Raised) 1872. 


1 ft. 6 in. 


A seedling from cristata Barnes. (See note to No. XXXV.) 


ae Nay 


ae & i x 4% 
Fase 


XXXII 


LASTREA MONTANA, var. GRANDICEPS I3ARNES 


330 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXIV 


Dicitata Mrs. Hopcson (_/oves) 
Mrs. J. K. Hodgson, Ulverstone. Westmoreland. (Raised) 1875. 


1 ft. g in. 


It is clearly to the credit of this variety, that with such strong 
natural temptation to break out into extravagance—as is evident 
from the conduct of its pinna—the plant itself should never have 
lost its head—for the apex of the frond shows no signs of cresting 
or even of furcation. Mrs. Hodgson writes: ‘‘ When found, it 
did not show any digitate character, only a few of the pinne were 
just bifid—but it was very young, only about eight inches high ; it 
has gone on improving, but I don’t think it has ever had a frond 
divided at the apex ; I found it in Langdale.” 

Mr. Barnes includes under the name folydactyla the variety 
found nearly twenty years ago by Mr. Clarke, of the Glasgow Botanic 
Gardens, and long known in the trade as cris¢ata ; this, like poly- 
dactylous forms generally, is crested at the apex; also cristatu 
Clowes, found by J. Huddart, long ago, near Windermere. 


XXXIV 


LastTrea MONTANA, var. DIGITATA 


332 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXV 


CristaTA Barnes (IVoé/.) 
Mr. J. M. Barnes. Westmoreland. 1871. 


2 ft. 


The grandest discovery of recent years—it holds the same place 
among montanas that the old crzstafa did, and does, among the 
male ferns. One can hardly help feeling that it is just a /2¢¢le bit 
unfair that this and montana Barnestt (vide No. XXXVI) should 
have both fallen to the lot of one discoverer—at least, one would 
have been inclined to do so if it hadn’t been Mr. Barnes—who 
writes: ‘‘It was but a small plant when I found it, with four or five 
fronds, but at least one of these had spores; these I sowed at once 
and in the following year three distinct forms appeared in about 
equal proportions, one-third being normal Z. montana, one-third 
cristata and named by Moore coronans, and one-third ramo- 
angustate and wonderfully crested; these were named by Moore 
cristata angustisstma ; there would I think be about 150 plants in 
all,—say 50 of each of the three forms ;—no two plants are just 
alike either in cresting or narrowness of frond, in the latter respect 
ranging from # of an inch to 12 inches in width; there is only 
one plant out of the above seedlings that I call grandiceps, 
although there are three or four that come near it in the form of 
cresting and size of the head.”’ 

Mr. Barnes records the following other crested forms,—-w¢fenuatu 
ertstata (Moore) found by Mr. Barnes at Mardale, in 1865, and 
caudata cristata (Barnes) found by Mr. Crouch at Rydal Head in 
1863. 


XXXV 


LASTREA MONTANA, var. CRISTATA 


334 BRITISH FERNS 


ANXVI 


BaRneEsil (J/vore) 
Mr. J. M. Barnes. Westmoreland. 1865. 
2 ft. 2 in. 


Svit. ADPRESSA BARNES (IT o//.) 


One of the rarest and most beautiful of British Ferns ;—its 
perhaps most marked characteristic, —the perfectly horizontal ‘‘ lie ” 
of the pinnules, which gives such an air of lightness, and makes it 
look like a very ladder of the Fairies,—is quite obliterated in a 
nature print. 

Who will not read with the liveliest interest and sympathy Mr. 
Barnes’ account of its discovery! ‘‘Z. montuna Barnes was found 
on a bare mountain side exposed to the north, it grew on a slightly 
raised breast or ridge of earth close to a spring of water; there 
were three or four separate and good-sized plants ;—its aspect to any 
Fern-hunter would have been most startling, to me it was astound- 
ing; here, on a bleak mountain side, where other Ferns were 
stunted and starved, stood this marvellous-looking plant, with its 
bold, upright, narrow fronds two feet high, its dark green colour, 
its pinnules, standing in their peculiar way, and its robust habit, 
utterly unlike anything I had ever seen in creation; I believe my 
first feeling was that I must be in a dream,—the next that it must 
be a new species,—and when I found it to be a montana I sat down 
to admire it, feeling the happiest of Fern-hunters. 

It is unfortunate this Fern prints so badly that no one can form 
any correct idea of what the plant is like from seeing either a 
pressed frond or a print. 


S.pfttSy) Bien, 


XXXVI 


LASTREA MONTANA, var. BARNESIL 


330 BRITISH FERNS 


XXAXVIT 


Ramo-cristata (IWoé/.) 


Mr. J. M. Barnes. Levens. (Raised) 1873. 


Raised from a very fine crested form which was found by 
Mr. Barnes, in 1871, and which will be hereafter printed. The 
seedlings, thus raised, showed three distinct characters—those 
generally known by the names of cristata, ramo-cristata, and 
grandiceps. (lide Nos. XXXIII and XXXV respectively.) 


XXXVII 


LASTREA MONTANA, var. RAMO-CRISTATA 


338 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXVIII 


OSMUNDA REGALIS, var. RAMO-CRISTATA 


(Raised) 1864. 


By Captain Jones. A seedling derived from the crested form, 
from which it differs only in a tendency to divide in the rachis. 


XXXVIIT 
OSMUNDA REGALIS, var. RAMO-CRISTATA 


340 BRITISH FERNS 


XXXIX 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. GRANDICEPS PARKER (IJ 0//.) 
Mr. Henry Parker, Weston-super-Mare. Somerset. 1854. 
g in. 
Syn, MULTIFIDO-CRISTATUM (J/v0re) 
Under glass by Mr. Wollaston. The most extreme of its class, 


—it might almost be considered a conglomerate form. It was 
found by a nephew of Mr. Elworthy. 


XXXIX 


PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. GRANDICEPS PARKER 


342 BRITISH FERNS 


AL 


SEMILACERUM GRANDE ( Jones) 
(Unknown.) Wicklow. 1862. 


1 ft. 2 in. 


By Mr. Barnard Hankey. The details of the discovery of this 
magnificent variety are unknown. All that can be traced of its 
history is as follows: ‘‘ Years ago one of the Beresford family, 
a friend of ours, went to Ireland and was presented when in 
Wicklow with a fine clump of semz/acerum ; this was divided, and 
a portion came to me,—in due course | divided my portion, and 
observed at the time there was some difference in growth,—I there- 
fore kept what was inclined to sport, quite distinct from the 
original bit, and whenever a normal frond appeared I stopped it— 
this bit never gives me more than a few fronds per annum. I must 
have had it more than fifteen years at least."’—Note by Mr. Barnard 
Hankey. 


yi 
an 


= 


“Fee, 


Se 


XT 


PoLyYPODIUM VULGARE, var, SEMILACERUM GRANDE 


344 BRITISH FERNS 


XLI 


GLOMERATUM (Joly) 
Mr. Job Mullins (gardener to Lady Oylander), Beaminster, 
Dorset. 1873. 


XLI 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. GLOMERATUM MULLINS 


346 BRITISH FERNS 


XLII 


Granpiceps (Barnes) 
Mrs. Fox, Liverpool. Lancashire. 1868. 


11 in. 


Under glass by Mr. Hodgson. The history of this variety was 
for many years obscure,—but through the exertions of Mr. Barnes 
and Mr. Hartley, the uncertainty has at last been removed ; the 
original plant is in the possession of Mrs. J. K. Hodgson, of 
Ulverstone. 


XLIT 


PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, vir. GRANDICEPS Fox 


348 BRITISH FERNS 


XLIII 


RAMOSUM 
C. Hillman. Hants. 1860. 
By Mr. Wollaston. 


tes rat % Hp, ‘Ware 
ee th gees 
te Vessisases 


te 
NG sgt s, 

ws a een ft a Laer “sii 
eat as 
reetecy 


XLII 
POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. RAMOSUM HILLMAN 


350 BRITISH FERNS 


XLIV 


CONGESTUM PRESTON ( IVod/.) 
Mr. R. P. Preston, Yelland, Carnforth. Lancashire. 1871. 
11 in. 


Syn. Prestoni (Moore) 


Mr. Barnes records the discovery in the north of the following 
plumose forms of the species :—Freséonzz, found in 1871 on the 
limestone range called Warton Crag, Lancashire, by Mr. Preston, 
of Yelland ; Barrowi?, found in 1874 near Witherslack, West- 
moreland, by Thomas Barrow, astonemason, of Lindale; Hadwznz7, 
found in 1875 near Silverdale, Lancashire, by Mr. Hadwin, of 
Liverpool. Mr. Lowe has a fine plumose form which is said to 
have been found near Macclesfield, by the gardener of the late Mr. 
Brocklehurst of that town. There is also Mr. Ivery’s Camébricum 
erectum, a very robust deltoid form which is said to be fertile, and 
whose history appears to be lost. Preston? is the nearest approach 
to a congested form. 

Under glass by Mr. Barnes. ‘‘ This plant was found by Mr. 
Preston not far from his own farm; it was very small, growing in 
the crevice of a rock,—and so fast that he could not get it out ; he, 
however, managed to break off the piece of rock on which it was 
growing, and with true patience and perseverance got it safely 
home.” —.Vole by Alr Barnes. 

Perfectly barren,—-in fact a close-growing plumose form. 


| 5 I 
iv ? rere 


XLIV 
PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, var, CONGESTUM (PRESTONII) 


352 BRITISH FERNS 


XLV 


OMNILACERUM (d/oore) 


Mr. T. E. Bennett, Bolkham Lodge, Betchworth, Surrey 
Hereford. 1848. 


1 ft. 2 in. 


By Mr. Clowes. 


XLV 
PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, var, OMNILACERUM 


354 


BRITISH FERNS 


XLVI 


CAMBRICUM 


Syn. PLUMOSUM 


emery PE 


XLVI 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. CAMBRICUM 


356 BRITISH FERNS 


XLVII 


CrisTaTUM CLEWARTH (Woi/.) 


J. Clewarth, Fern Collector, Salford. Co. Clare. 


II in. 


Syn, CRISTATUM, ForRSTERI (Forster) 


1876. 


a XLVII 


eK 


PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, ?7. CRISTATUM FOoRSTERI 


aA 


358 BRITISH FERNS 


XLVIII 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. CRISTATUM (/Moore) 


Mr. H. S. Perry, Cork Lodge, Monkstown, Co. Cork. 
Co. Cork. 1854. 


1 ft. 


By Mr. Wollaston. The original crzstatum,—distributed by 
Mr. Sim, who writes with reference to it, ‘‘ It was found by Hy. 
Parry, Esq., then of Cork Lodge, Monkstown, Co. Cork, on his 
brother’s property ;—it was brought here by that gentleman in 
1856-7 ; I think he said that it had been under cultivation by him 


” 


for some years previously. 


XLVIII 


PoLypopium VULGARE, vay, CRISTATUM 


360 BRITISH FERNS 


XLIX 


SERRA (1TVo//.) 
Jno. Wilson, Bowness. Lancashire. 1865. 


II in. 


Under glass by Mr. Barnes. ‘‘ The best biserrate variety.” 
Mr. Wollaston. 


XLIX 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. SERRA 


362 BRITISH FERNS 


L 


PULCHERRIMUM (Jfoore) 
T. Addison. Westmoreland. 1861. 


1 ft. 3 in. 


By Mr. Wollaston. With reference to this variety Mr. Barnes 
writes, ‘‘I was with Addison when he found it, and I thought it 
then a good semzlacerum; it, however, improved very much by 
cultivation, but when it went into Messrs. Stansfield’s hands I had 
no idea of its great excellence; I sold it for the young man to 
Messrs. Stansfield for 15s., the whole find. 

‘*T have now in my collection three distinct strains of this plant, 
—all very different ; on one the fronds are very long and broad, 
the sori abundant and large; on another the fronds are longish 
and lax, sori few and small; on the third the fronds are thick, 
short, and almost deltoid, sori few and small.” 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, vay. PULCHERRIMUM 


364 BRITISH FERNS 


LI 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, vr. DENTATUM (Moore) 
Mr. J. M. Barnes. Westmoreland. 1865. 


1 ft. 


A deltoid form—rather suggestive of Onoclea senstbilts. 


LI 


PoLYPODIUM VULGARE, var, DENTATUM 


366 BRITISH FERNS 


LI 


POLYPODIUM VULGARE, var. SEMILACERUM (L717) 
The late Mrs. Delves, ‘Tunbridge Wells. Co. Wicklow. 1850. 
1 ft. 1 in. 


Syn, Hibernicum. 


By Mr. Wollaston. The forms of Polypodtum vulgare semt- 
lucerum may fairly be considered analogous to the decompositum 
forms of Polystichum angulure, and in either case the character 
can generally be developed, to a certain extent, from the normal 
form by luxuriant growth. 

Some of the finest of the very numerous forms of semzlacerum 
have been found by Mr. Barnes, Mr. Wollaston, and Mr. Barnard 
Hankey. 

‘*The name semz/ucerum was originally given by Professor Link 
of Berlin, and was adopted by me for the British plant (ze. the 
Irish) believing it to be the same.’"’-—Note by Mr. Moore. 


_— 


LIL 
POLYPODIUM VULGARE, vay, SEMILACERUM 


368 BRITISH FERNS 


LHI 


POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, wr. PULCHERRIMUM ( /ones) 
Jno. Bevis, Hawkchurch. Dorset. 1876. 


2 ft. 


Perhaps ‘‘the greatest discovery of modern times”; had this 
plant fallen to the lot of the most aspiring hunter that ever bore a 
vasculum, he could scarcely have helped feeling at the moment of 
discovery that he had not lived quite in vain ;—but it was pulled 
out of the hedge in a ploughed field by a common labourer who 
knew nothing of Ferns. The whole find,—a goodly clump of six 
or seven crowns,—-was handed over to Mr. Wills, and by him 
(with a rare liberality) very soon dispersed in about as many 
different directions.* 


* Many and hot have been the discussions as to the species to which this 
variety belongs. Mr. Wills, who knows the exact circumstances of its 
discovery, and whose keenness of eye and instinctive knowledge in such 
matters are well known, stoutly maintains that it is acw/eatum,-—and it has vet 
to be proved that it is not either the plumose or pulcherrimum form of that 
species ;—the slight tendency to crest at the extremity of the pinnz is rather 
in favour of the latter supposition. It is a fact that not one of the plants has 
yet produced the sign of a spore. Mr. Wollaston, who confesses it is ‘“‘a 
puzzler,’ admits that it has the aculeatum pinnule, and suggests that it may be 
a natural hybrid. Mr. Wills, writing with reference to it, says, ‘‘I am inclined 
to think it aculeafum, from its having a greater resemblance to it than to 
angulare,—rigidity, though the parts are slender,—‘‘ sheen or gloss on upper 
surface of pinnules,—shape of frond,--the same angle at parting from rachis, 
—pinnz also tending to diminish in length from middle of frond downwards.” 

Mr. Fox adds that it has also the peculiar shade of green of angulare. 


LHI 
PoLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, vay, PULCHERRIMUM 


370 BRITISH FERNS 


LIV 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, v@r, ACROCLADON (/Moore) 
Mr. J. E. Mapplebeck. S. Devon. 


Syn. RAMO CRISTATUM (T¥’o//.) 


ACROCLADON 


PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. 


372 BRITISH FERNS 


LV 


BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM GREY (ITod/. ) 


Mr. Robert Grey, Newlands, Alphington, near Exeter. 
S. Devon. 1854. 


1 ft. 6 in. 


Sva. GREY! (Afoore) 


The first and still the most brachiate and crested form, and un- 
equalled in its fine, robust character. When found it had five 
crowns, only one of which then showed brachiation, but under 
cultivation all the others subsequently developed it. It was found 
close to the sea, near Exmouth, growing on stiff soil, which is 
generally considered to be so unfavourable to the production of 
varieties in P. angulare. 

The forms of brachtato-cristatum had for a long time seemed 
peculiar to the South and South-west of England until the 
present year, when a plant with the same unmistakable character 
was found in the North of Ireland by Mr. W. H. Philips, of 
Holywood, Co. Down. 


PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, JUdar. BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM GREY 


374 


BRITISH FERNS 


LVI 


RAMO-FURCILLATUM (AJd/chin) 


Dr. Allchin, Bridport. South Devon. 


1871. 


“Sel tt 
“DS 


LVI 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. RAMO-FURCILLATUM 


376 


BRITISH FERNS 


LVII 


BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM (Grey) 


LVII 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vay. BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM KEALL 


378 BRITISH FERNS 


LVIII 


Ramo-crIsTaTum (Padley) 


Rev. Charles Padley. 


LVIII 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE. vay. RAMO-CRISTATUM PADLEY 


380 BRITISH FERNS 


LIX 


SETOSO-cRISTATUM (JZo0re) 
Mr. J. Moly. South Devon. 1874. 


1 ft. 7 in. 


LIX 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. SETOSO-CRISTATUM 


BRITISH FERNS 


we 
he 
to 


LX 


GRANDICEPS (J/o0re) 


William Talbot, late of Glasnevin Gardens. Co. Cork. 1861. 
1 ft. 5 in. 


Under glass by Mr. Wollaston. Found by a boy employed at 
the Glasnevin Gardens. Mr. W. H. Phillips records the discovery 
in Co. Antrim in 1877 of another plant, which is practically 
identical with this. Mr. Moly has two forms from South Devon, 
very closely allied toit. The plant found by the late J. J. Jones in 
Pembrokeshire, and distributed by Messrs. Stansfield under the 
name of 7. ang. /Jonestt, and which has at times been classed as 
aculeatum, is generally regarded as another form of P. ang. grandi- 
ceps. Mr. Wills’ grandiceps is a fine compact plant, but does 
not partake of the narrowness of frond that marks the true forms 
of grandiceps. Mr. Moly’s robust form, called grandiceps Joly 
by Mr. Wollaston, departs still more in this respect from the typical 
graudiceps. 


LX 
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. GRANDICEPS TALBOT 


384 BRITISH FERNS 


LXI 


CristatuM Mrs. THompson (JI’0//.) 


Mrs. Agar Thompson. N. Devon. 1860. 
1ft. gin. 


Syn. THOMPSONLE (JZoore). 


One of the most deceptive of ferns, its transformations are truly 
startling. In its infant state it seems, and indeed is, in continual 
danger of being strangled by the very extravagance of its growth, 
for in point of cresting, branching, etc., it indulges in all the 
wildest excesses that a Fern is capable of (and a large proportion 
do die from suffocation), but it gets steadier after a bit, and the 
ramose character becomes less and less marked as the plant 
approaches maturity, but before it quite reaches this, it generally 
breaks out once more into a fit of extravagance, but in another 
direction, running to head, and assuming for a time the appear- 
ance of a grand capitate form, so much so as to deceive the 
unwary, and sometimes others too; in this stage it narrows itself 
at the base as if intending to establish itself permanently as a 
grandiceps—but it does not really mean it—for after a bit it takes 
more sober views, and either from this or from having exhausted 
itself by early excesses it settles down at last into the humdrum 
life of a very ordinary cristatum, and not even that always, for Mr. 
Wollaston maintains that his plants of Zhomsonze generally run 
out altogether, but his experience in this way is exceptional, for 
it is still in the blood, and from spores of these almost normal 
plants will spring a fresh brood, that will run through the same 
wild career of extravagance, and settle down quietly at last like 
their parents before them. If anyone is anxious to undergo a 
series of surprises and disappointments, let him grow Zhompsonieé 
from spores. 

Perhaps in its half-grown state it is seen to the greatest advan- 
tage—it is then one of the most striking of British Ferns—com- 
bining with the dark green foliose character and thickness of 
cresting that are peculiarly its own the branching habit of 
acrocladon ; in fact, so close a resemblance does it bear, in this 
stage, to the latter variety, that the late Mr. lvery, in spite of all 
his experience, was completely led away, and with perfect good 
faith sent out seedlings of it at a stiffish figure as acrocladon, 
which he had subsequently to redeem. 


LXI 
ANGULARE, var. THOMPSON 


PoLySTICHUM 


386 BRITISH FERNS 


LXII 


POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, var. ACROCLADON (Lowe) 
Mrs. Agar Thompson. S. Devon. 1858. 


1ft. 5 in. 


By Mr. Wollaston. The only densely-crested form of aculeatum 
—and perhaps it is chiefly from this cause that some have doubted 
whether it belongs to this species. Mr. Padley, who has had 
more opportunity of observing this plant than anyone else, and 
has brought to bear on these matters as large an gxperience and 
as sound a practical judgment as anyone, has no doubt whatever 
that it is aculeatum. 


LNII 


ACROCLADON 


POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, Jvd?r. 


388 


BRITISH FERNS 


LXIIl 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. CRISTATUM WOLLASTON 


No. 10 (Woll.) 
Mr. G. B. Wollaston. Somerset. 1870. 


1 ft. gin. 


H a as 
pss re 
sa 


Bay st 0 P eke 


BE ba ' 
“ayes 


LXIII 


PoLySTICHUM ANGULARE, var, CRISTATUM Wo LvLaston No. 10 


2C 


390 BRITISH FERNS 


LNIV 


CRISTATO-GRACILE MOLy (II ’o//.) 
Mr. J. Moly. S. Devon. 1868. 
rft. Sin. 


Sy. PERCRISTATUM MOLty. 


So thoroughly crested in all their parts are the true forms of 
ristato-gracile, that the name percristatum might with propriety be 
givento them. The original form was found in 1862 in S. Devon 
by Mr. Grey. Shortly afterwards Mr. Jackson found his in 
N. Devon. It is believed that Mr. Wollaston, Mr. Wills, and Mr. 
Charles Cowper are the only other discoverers of the true form of 
this variety. Mr. Elworthy’s and Mr. Padley’s crested forms, 
called by this name, lack the percristate character which is now 
considered as the only claim to this name. Mr. Moly’s form is 
now generally admitted to be the finest and most characteristic of 
the class—next probably in excellence come two of Mr. Wills’s, 
the pale-complexioned one found in Dorset, in 1872, and the 
Sidbury one found in 1874, and Mr. Grey’s well-known dark green 
form. Mr. Moly has two forms. 


at 


LXIV 


PoOLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. CRISTATO-GRACILE MoLy 


BRITISH FERNS 


LXV 


DIVISILOBUM CRISTATUM (T¥’o/Z.) 
Messrs. Ivery. (Raised.) 1870. 


1 ft. to in. 


By Mr. Wollaston. The parentage of this splendid variety is 
unknown. All that can be ascertained is that among a large batch 
of seedlings raised by Messrs. Ivery, from seed of some form of 
divisilobe supplied by Mr. Wollaston, a very fair sprinkling of 
crested forms appeared ;—Mr. Barnard Hankey also raised a most 
extraordinary batch of crested divisilobes from some non-crested 
variety,—and in several instances Major Jones has had crested 
seedlings of divisilobes from some unknown source and Mr. 
Wollaston and Mr. Moly have each had one; it would appear 
that some particular strain of simple divisilobe, not yet identified, 
has the curious faculty of freely throwing crested seedlings. 


LXV 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vay. DIVISILOBUM CRISTATUM IVERY 


394 BRITISH FERNS 


LXVI 


PULCHERRIMUM (T¥’o/Z.) 
Mrs. Agar Thompson. S. Devon. 1863. 
2 ft. 3 in. 


Clearly the fairies have been at work here! This variety is con- 
sidered to be a step beyond plumosum. It was first found in N. 
Devon by Mr. Padley and by the late Mr. C. Jackson ; after- 
wards in S. Devon by Mrs. Agar Thompson and by Mr. J. Smith 
(then gardener to Mr. Padley), and in many instances by Mr. 
Moly and Mr. Wills in the border-land of Devon, Somerset, and 
Dorset. 

Mr. Moly distinguishes between the permanently symmetrical 
varieties (of which he has been the much-envied discoverer of 
three, and Mr. Wills and Mr. Smith of one each) and the non- 
permanent or intermittent forms of which he has found six and 
Mr. Wills two (Mr. Padley and Mr. Thompson’s plants were also 
intermittent), Mr. Moly has also found two of a class called by 
Mr. Wollaston caudiculato-cristatum, in which the minute extremi- 
ties show signs of cresting. 

The sub-permanent forms are apt to revert very curiously. 
Occasionally the whole plant, sometimes a frond or two, or only 
a portion of a frond is normal. The marked character of this 
variety is the excessive and peculiar development of the posterior 
pinnules. It is believed to be barren, at least in such portions as 
show the true character. 

Mr. Wills’s permanently symmetrical form differs from all others 
in its fine robust foliose character and in being proliferous. With 
relation to these forms Mr. Moly graphically writes: ‘I found 
the first in 1862, and on the same day I found another of which (as 
the first was a far better specimen) I contented myself with taking 
only a frond, but on cogitation at home I saw so much beauty in 
it that a week or two afterwards I railed again to the town, and 
on reaching the spot my nerves received such a shock on per- 
ceiving that the Vandals had removed all the soil from the hedge 
where I had left it!) Every year since I have made a pilgrimage 
to the neighbourhood in the hope of securing a specimen (for the 
original plant I had sent to Mr. Wollaston and it had died); my 
efforts were, however, unrewarded until the summer of 1876, when 
I found the one I now possess.” 


LXVI 
PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE PULCHEKRIMUM THOMPSON 


396 BRITISH FERNS 


LXVII 


DIvISILOBUM PROLIFERUM Baac (IVo//.) 


Jno. Bagg, gardener to the late Mrs. Henley, Leigh House, 
Wickham, Somerset. Somerset. 18609. 


2 ft. 
Syn. HENLEY (.l/oore). 
Under favourable circumstances the beautiful development and 


lax habit of this variety can hardly be surpassed,—it is highly 
proliferous. 


LXVII 
PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vai. DIVISILOBUM PROLIFERUM BacG 


398 BRITISH FERNS 


LXVIII 


DIVISILOBUM PROLIFERUM PLIMSOLL (IT 0//.) 


James Plimsoll, gardener to Mrs. Hole, Bovey Tracey, S. Devon. 
S. Devon. 1861. 


1 ft. 8 in, 
Sy, PROLIFERUM HoLEANz& (Afoore). 


By Miss F. Kitson. One of the best close-growing proliferous 
divisilobes. 


LXVIII 
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vay. DIVISILOBUM PROLIFERUM PLIMSOLL 


400 BRITISH FERNS 


LXIX 


DIvISILOBUM SEYMOUR (IT0//.) 
The late Miss Seymour, Okehampton. South Devon. 1870. 
t ft. 6 in. 


Syn. SEYMOURLE (Moore). 


By Miss F. Kitson. Almost a congested form of divisilobe. 


LXIX 
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. DIVISILOBUM SEYMOUR 


402 BRITISH FERNS 


LXX 


Concestum (T}Vol/.) 


Rev. C. Padley. South Devon. 1865. 
1 ft. 


Spx. CONFERTUM (Padley). 


Among the most beautiful of the varieties of angulare, but, 
from the closeness which gives it its chief beauty, difficult to 
represent in a nature print; the varieties of congestum are all 
dark green. 

Mr. Padley, who has been especially fortunate with this variety, 
writes, ‘‘I found two at Littleham, N. Devon, one in S. Devon, 
and half a dozen others scattered through Devonshire, all alike,” 
and lays some stress on the fact that without exception all the 
plants found by himself and that found by Miss Thompson were 
growing in damp places. 

Mr. Jackson, Mr. Wollaston, Mr. Wills, Mr. Moly, and Miss 
Thompson are the only other recorded discoverers of this variety ; 
from a plant, however, in the late Dr. Lyell’s collection (the history 
of which is obscure) a remarkable multifid form has been raised by 
Mr. Sang, of Kirkcaldy, which is in the possession of Mr. E. J. 
Lowe, now of Shirenewton Hall, Monmouthshire. 


LXxX 


PoLysTICHUM ANGULARE, var, CONGESTUM 


404 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXI 


SETOSO-CUNEATUM PHILLIPS (Jones) 
Mr. W. H. Phillips. Co. Antrim. 1877. 


1 ft. 4 in. 


Another of Mr. Phillips’s clever things,—the lustre and delicacy 
of this variety must be seen to be understood,—printer’s ink is 
fatal to the fineness of its setose character ;—Mr. Moly has a 
beautiful plant of this class, from South Devon, sefoso-gracile 
Afoly ; Mr. Wollaston’s pallens, found in Devonshire in 1872, is 
also of the same class, they have all a pale colour almost approach- 
ing variegation. 


b 
aE, 


gill RES 
4 A 
a 


LXXI 
PoLysTICHUM ANGULARE, var. SETOSO-CUNEATUM 
2D 


406 BRITISH FERNS 


LAAXII 


CRISTATO-GRACILE CowPER (ITv//.) 
Mr. Richard Cowper, Squth Kensington. Dorset. 1874. 
1 ft. gin. 


Si. PERCRISTATUM COWPER. 


Did not survive its discovery more than two years ;—the more 
tc be regretted as it gave promise of being the most elegant form 
of this class. 


LXNII 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vi’, CRISTATO-GRACILE COWPER 


408 BRITISH FERNS 


LXANIII 


OstusissimuM (TT 0/7.) 
Mr. G. B. Wollaston. South Devon. 1861. 


1 ft. Gin. 


Needs no description,—one of the first dozen of British Ferns,— 
dark green in colour ;—a remarkable peculiarity about this fern is 
that the spores, which are very abundant, produce only normal 
forms. The finest specimen by far of the imbricate class. 


ah 


\ 


wes 


LXXIII 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. OBTUSISSIMUM 


410 BRITISH FERNS 


LXAIV 


Rorunpatum PHILuies (/ones) 


Mr. W. H. Phillips, Lemonfield, Holywood, Co. Down. 
Co. Down. 1877. 


1 ft. 3 in, 


One of the happiest of recent discoveries. 


Gl 
aibacd ied a 
Dae e | s, 
Bee asia ee 9 BAe RE 
ened. 
atcenct F233 ea 
oo tteagg ee 
ae ipoeeoaw 


BPN hl 


LX¥NITW 


PoLySTICHUM ANGULARE, vay. ROTUNDATUM PHILLIPS 


412 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXV 


CRUCIATO-PINNULUM (J¥o//.) 
Mr. J. Moly. Dorset. 1873. 
1 ft. g in. 


is : 
Sv, CRUCIATA-PINNULA (Fox). 


An unique form to the present time. 


LAAV 


POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var, CRUCIATO-PINNULUM 


414 BRITISH FERNS 


LXAVI 


PROLIFERUM WoLLasTON (IVod/.) 
Mr. G. B. Wollaston. S. Devon. 1852. 


2 ft. 6 in. 


Syn. ACUTILOBUM PROLIFERUM (II 0//.) 


From the original plant. ‘‘ This is a true acutilobe, frond 
elongate, deltoid, tripinnate,—in its best character has only one or 
two pairs of bulbillze seated in the axils of the lowest pair of pinne ; 
pinnules acute.” —Vole by Alr. IWollaston. 


No British Fern exceeds this in beauty, and probably none has 
figured so prominently in exhibitions ; it is not to be wondered at 
therefore that it should have taken more than one person to find it. 
With reference to its discovery Mr. Wollaston relates that himself 
and the late Rev. Wm. Gardiner,—then Curate of Ottery St. 
Mary,—during a ramble in that neighbourhood, being brought 
suddenly by a bend in the lane face to face with it, were at the 
same instant (it was then a large plant and in true character) 
transfixed with astonishment, etc. Mr. Wollaston was, however, 
the first to recover his presence of mind, and the plant will ever 
deservedly bear the name of the first of British Fern-hunters.* 


* The name froliferum was first given to a plant found in S. Devon more 
than thirty vears ago by Choule, one of the Kew Gardeners. Mr. Wollaston 
states that an impression prevailed at one time that it was exotic—probably 
from its difference to other then known British Ferns, Dr. Allchin writes that 
in 1852 this plant was growing in the outdoor fernery at Kew, marked P. a. 
discretum, and afterwards angus/a/um, and it was from spores of this that he 
raised the very beautiful proliferous form that bears his name, which was much 
more proliferous than the original and perhaps more so than any that has since 
been found or raised. Choule’s plant being the first to show its character was 
named by Mr. Moore fro/iferum. Subsequently other proliferous forms were 
found and named proliferum—Wollastoni, Footiz, Crawfordie, Holeane, 
Henleya, Moulet, etc. As all these partook more or less the finely-cut character 
of the original proliferum, and no other proliferous form was then known, it was 


LAXVI 


POLYSTICIIUM ANGULARE, var. PROLIFERUM WOLLASTON 


416 BRITISH FERNS 


It is true that in a general way the finely-cut varieties have a 
greater tendency than others to be proliferous, but itis now known 
that this habit is very general among varieties of angulare, and is 
sometimes seen even inthe normal form. ‘‘I have generally found,” 
writes Mr. Padley, ‘‘that the Ferns having a hard, woody rachis 
are the ones most proliferous, such as acutilobe, multilobe, /zneare, 
etc.” Forms of brachiato-cristatum are nearly all proliferous, and 
in some cases not only near the brachiation. Mr. Wills’s pulcherri- 
mum and some forms of revolvens are regularly proliferous, and a 
variety of cristatum found by the late Dr. Moore in Ireland has 
often bulbs extending half-way up the frond. 

It is also now known that there are many varieties which in 
every important particular are identical in character with the 
proliferous forms,—and yet they are not proliferous at all, or very 
slightly so. 

It would seem, therefore, that the proliferous habit is both too 
general and (even in the class of varieties where it is most common) 
too arbitrary in its appearance, to entitle it to give a name to any 
class of varieties. 

Nor is the name at all descriptive of the very marked character of 
the class to which these, perhaps the most beautiful of all the 
forms of angulare, belong. 

The variations, too, of character among these finely-cut varieties 
are now,—owing to the discoveries of Mr. Padley, Mr. Moly, Mr. 
Wollaston, Mr. Elworthy, Mr. R. Gray, Dr. Allchin, Mr. Wills, 
Mrs. Thompson, and Dadds, Hillman, and Moule,—known to be so 
great that they can no longer be mingled together without con- 
siderable confusion of ideas. Mr. Wollaston was the first to 
meet this difficulty by a subdivision of the class of finely-cut 
varieties into three classes ; with respect to which he has himself 
supplied the following descriptive notes :— 


“* Multtlobum, an excess of decomposztum,—the whole plant 
being more or less tripinnate, but the division of the pinnules or 
pinnulets more or less abnormally rounded, and in this respect 
differing from the two that follow, which have these portions much 
more acute. 


thought by some that the proliferous character was more or less the habit of 
that class, and that it was confined to it; subsequent discoveries, however, 
proved that in neither respect was this the case; the name therefore lost much 
of its appropriateness. 


BRITISH FERNS 417 


** Acutilobum, tripinnate,—all the divisions of the frond acute, the 
anterior and posterior pinnules nearly of the same length. 

“* Devistlobum, tripinnate,—the same as acudézlobum, except that 
the anterior and posterior pinnules are of unequal lengths, the 
latter far longer and the divisions altogether more highly de- 
veloped—a_ well-grown plant, is sub-quadripinnate, or even 
quadripinnate.” 


By the almost general consent of angu/are hunters and culti- 
vators, Mr. Wollaston’s arrangement has been adopted, and the 
name proliferum is no longer used, except as an adjunct to 
denote either such multilobes, acutilobes, etc., as have a marked 
tendency to the proliferous habit, or such as have been long called 
by that name. 

Thus the original pro/zferum,—and Mr. Wollaston’s are proli- 
ferous acutilobes—Miss Crawford's, Mrs. Hole’s, and Mr. Henley’s 
are proliferous divisilobes. 

Mr. Padley, whose experience in this class of varieties is perhaps 
unrivalled, and who has studied the matter with at least as much 
interest and care as anyone, is in favour of Mr. Wollaston’s 
‘arrangement,—-as far as it goes; but he still retains the name 
conspicutlobum as descriptive of the varieties which do not quite 
come up to the multilobes or acutilobes, though evidently partaking 
of the same ‘‘ gentle blood.” 

With reference to these matters Mr. Padley writes: ‘‘ With me 
there are two principal divisions of the varieties whose pinnules are 
much divided. The tripinnate or decompositum class; and the 
acutilobe class (comprehending conspicuzlobum, acutilobum, and 
dtvtstlobum)—the main feature in the former being that the pinnules 
are more frondose, and in the acutilobes more acute and narrower.” 

‘* Wultilobum, or as I prefer to call it egezzlobum, seems to lean 
towards the two divisions, one section to decomposi/um, the other to 
acuttlobum.”’ 

‘““My order (of the more finely-cut varieties) is conspicuilobe, 
multilobe, acutilobe, divisilobe ; some people have thrown doubts 
on conspicutlobum, but I consider it a distinct variety.” 


If to these four classes be added the two classes of decompositum 
—the ordinary, and the higher or more developed class called here 
tripinnatum—it will be found that with a very few exceptions 
(and those probably varieties which combine different characters) 


418 BRITISH FERNS 


the whole of the divided or multilobed varieties will drop into their 
places very naturally. 

It may be said that this arrangement makes no provision for the 
plumose forms, which are certainly divided forms, but Mr. Padley’s 
suggestion that p/umosum is but the plumose form of decompositum 
well deserves consideration—and it will probably be found that 
between A/umosum and the higher forms of decompositum there is 
room for all the forms generally known as sub-plumose and foliose, 
and such as struthio, Parsonsti (Moore), and others. 

No doubt the plumose class have other characters, so distinct as 
to entitle them to a place of their own in any system of classification. 
No more is attempted here than to draw attention to Mr. Padley’s 
views regarding their relationship to the decomposite forms, and to 
point out that if these views be sound (and there is much to recom- 
mend them) the whole of the divided forms may be very easily and 
naturally connected. 

The expression ‘‘ gentle blood’ has been used here more than 
once as expressive of that look of quality which seems to dis- 
tinguish the finely-divided forms of angulare from all others. For 
whoever has once seen a real acutilobe or divisilobe —well grown,— 
half or two-thirds unfolded, with its wealth of feathery foliage 
spreading from a centre,—so finely cut and yet so evenly crowded 
together, the dark green of the unfolded part contrasting charm- 
ingly with the clear white of the curled-up heads of the fronds that 
turn gracefully back, crozierlike,—with the tips of the pinnz still 
folded up, and standing out like rows of little frosted-silver balls 
along the outer edge of the frond,—and the rich, thick, fox-coloured 
scales that cover the stem, running right up the centre of the frond 
like a bit of sable fur,—and the fine, hair-like spines standing out 
from it everywhere, for the dew to rest on or the sun to shine 
upon ;—whoever has once seen this mixture of form, detail, and 
colour can hardly help regarding it ever afterwards as distinct 
from other Polystichums. And it isn’t cultivation only that does it, 
for often has the eye of the fortunate aveu/are hunter been struck 
by a similar contrast,—as, for instance, when Mr. Wollaston came 
face to face with No. LX XVI, or when Mr. Wills (with that magical 
hooked stick of his) uncovered his Sidbury divisilobe from the 
common leaves that hid it ;—there they stood out, distinct among 
their fellows, just like bits of china among earthenware,—clearly 
enough Nature’s gentlemen,—and we may be sure that it takes 


BRITISH FERNS 419 


at least three generations to make !hem such, for it can hardly be 
credited that such forms start from the normal type. 


Mr. Edwin Fox has drawn attention to the strong cedar smell 
which is one of the peculiarities of the acutilobes and divisilobes 
pur sang. 


420 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXVII 


TRIPINNATUM GILLETT (J/o07e) 


Mr. Gillet, Cirencester. Somerset. 1864. 


oft. 3 it 


It is doubtful whether such development, as Mr. Gillet’s plant is 
capable of, can be found in any other variety, and yet when badly 
grown it is scarcely distinguishable from the normal form. 


ILATID WALYNNIdINL 402 ‘AXVINONV WAHOIISATOG 
TIAXXT 


422 BRITISIE FERNS 


LXXVIII 


DIvIsILOBUM LaxumM ( Jones) 
Mr. J. Wills. S. Devon. 1874. 
2 ft. 6 in, 
Believed to be the finest and most beautiful of the lax divisilobes. 


With the exception of Mr. Padley, Mr. Wills has been perhaps the 
most fortunate discoverer in this beautiful class of varieties. 


Va 


LXXVIII 
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, a7. DIVISILOBUM LAxXUM WILLS 


424 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXIX 


MuLtitopum Gray (HWol/.) 
Mr. Robert Gray. S. Devon. 1865. 
2 ft. 6 in. 


May be taken as a typical specimen of a thoroughly good multi- 
lobe of the more robust kind, there are not many so thoroughly 
even in development. 

The multilobes may be said to hold an intermediate place 
between the forms of decomposituim on one side, and the acuti- 
lobes and divisilobes on the other ;—resembling the former in the 
more or less rounded shape of the divisions of the pinnules, and 
partaking to a certain extent of the finer and neater look of the 
latter ; in fact, they may be said to have a dash of that ‘ gentle 
blood” which so distinguishes the latter varieties, and which 
decompositum has not. 

Multilobes vary much, in some cases they are little more than 
very neatly cut decomposttums, and when varying in the other 
direction and much developed, they are often only distinguishable 
from divisilobes by the greater roundness in the divisions of the 
pinnules and by the more equal development of the upper and 
lower pinnze, whereas in divisilobes one of the most marked 
peculiarities is the excessive development of the posterior pinnules. 


f OD Aager 
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Be Agec 


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LXXIX 


PoOLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vay, MULTILOBUM GRAY 


426 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXX 


DELTOIDEO-FOLIOSUM ( /ozes) 
Mr. J. Moly. Devon. 1875. 


2 ft. 


i 
i 


Pacer mores 


LXAX 
PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, var. DELIOIDEO-FOLIOSUM MoLy 


428 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXI 


REVOLVENS (A/oore) 
Mr. Jno. Wills. Somerset. 1872. 
1 ft. 6 in. 


Mr. Lucas, of Balham, was the first to notice this variety in 
Sussex and it was then named arvcfatum. It has since been 
frequently found by Mr. Wills, Mr. Moly, Mr. Padley, and Mr. 
Wollaston in S. Devon, and in the adjoining parts of Somerset 
and Dorset it was also found to a considerable extent and in good 
form in Hampshire by Major Jones. Among the most marked 
forms of this variety are a fine crispate form, found by Mr. Padley, 
a sub-plumose form, by Mr. Moly, and one with reflexed pinnules 
by Mr. Wills, who has also been the discoverer of some of the 
most characteristic of the simpler forms. 

Mr. Wollaston attributes the revolvens habit (as also that of 
reflexum (when in excess), and even that of flexuosum) to ‘‘ the 
natural tendency of all Ferns to protect their fructification from 
too great an exposure to sun and rain.” 

Mr. A. Leipner has supplied the following suggestions towards 
an explanation of the flexuose habit: ‘‘In a leaf the ultimate 
number of cells is already present whilst in a bud, and the develop- 
ment of the leaf consists of a differentiation of these different cells 
into the various forms and sizes as present in the parenchyme and 
fibro-vascular bundles. 

‘‘May not in Ferns the same hold good and the flexuose form be 
produced by an extreme elongation of the wood cells and in the 
rachis?” 

Mr. Wollaston adds, ‘‘ The flexuose habit both in Ferns and trees 
must arise from the unnatural expansion or contraction of one 
part or parcel in excess to the prejudice of the others—and that 
this abnormal growth is caused by the extreme elongation of the 
wood cells in the rachis.” 

Mr. J. Morris writes: ‘‘ 1 am much more disposed myself to 
think cell division is the secret, but what is the cause of cell 
division abnormally copious and how is it inherited?” 

Mr. E. F. Fox supports Mr. Morris’s opinion. 

Whatever doubts there may be on this point, there can be no 
doubt that it will for a long time hold its own among the first 
dozen of the most beautiful of British Ferns. 

The Rev. H. Aubrey has suggested the idea that the flexuose 
character is a preparatory attempt on the part of these varieties to 
adopt the climbing habit. 


LXXXI 
PoLySTICHUM ANGULARE, vay. REVOLVENS 


430 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXII 


WaAKELYANUM (.l/o0re) 
Thomas Russell (a navigator). S. Devon. 1860. 
2 ft. 3 in. 


Sy. CRUCIATO-MULTIFIDUM RUSSELL ( IVod/.) 


By Capt. Jones, from a seedling of the original. The first 
multifid form of cruciation, and named after Miss Wakely, of 
Rose Mount, Axminster. It was found by ‘‘a navvy,” working 
on the line then being constructed between Yeovil and Exeter, 
and was given by him to Miss Wakely, from gratitude for the 
instruction that he and his comrades had derived from the schools 
in which Miss Wakely was interested. 

The original plant was purchased by Messrs. Ivery, by whom 
this variety was distributed. About twelve years afterwards a 
very similar specimen was found by Mr. Wills, about five miles 
more to the east. Mr. Wills’s plant—which was little more thana 
seedling when discovered—is probably the more robust form and 
is more multifid. 


LXXXII 


PoLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, vay, WAKELYANUM 


432 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXIII 


PTERIS AQUILINA, va7. CRISTATA GLOVER (TIT’0//.) 
Mr. T. Glover, 15, Bold-street, Southport. Derbyshire. 1872. 
3 ft. 


LXXXIII 


PTERIS AQUILINA, vay. CRISTATA GLOVER 


434 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXIV 


Concesta (WolZ.) 
Mr. Hindson, Kirkby Lonsdale. Westmoreland. 1872. 
2 ft. 6 in. 


The following information was obtained by Mr. Barnes from 
Mr. Craig: ‘‘ The plant was found in the neighbourhood of Kirkby 
Lonsdale,—Mr. Hindson, a wine and spirit merchant of that 
place, and Mr. Lodge, a barber, being in company; they took 
home both roots and fronds, but the roots never grew ;—when they 
found the plants were dead they went for more, but could not find 
it again;—Craig had a portion of a frond at the time of its 
discovery, butit got laid aside for two or three years,—it was then 
sown and two plants were raised, one worthless, the other you 
have seen.” 

Mr. Craig’s plant is quite a sight, —more like a bush than a fern. 


LXXXIV 


PTERIS AQUILINA, vay. CONGESTA 


436 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXV 


FLexuosa (J}Vol/.) 
The late Jacob J. Jones, Burton, Westmoreland. Westmoreland. 
1864. 2 ft. 
Syn, GLOMERATA (Barnes), 
Svat. INCURVA (AZoore). 
Mr. Barnes writes that he was told by the finder that he discovered 


it growing in great abundance, but he lost his bearings and never 
could hit upon the spot again. 


LXXXV 
PTERIS AQUILINA, var. FLEXUOSA (GLOMERATA) 


438 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXVI 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. RAMO-CRISTATUM (JVol/.) 


Mr. Moly. South Devon 1862. 


LXAXXVI 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. RAMO-CRISTATUM MOLY 


440 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXVII 


CRISTO-GALLI MOUuLE ( Wo.) 


Syn. CRISTATUM 


Robert Moule, Ilfracombe. N. Devon. 


1 ft. 


1864. 


LXXXVII 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. CRISTO-GALLI 


442 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXVIII 


DRUMMONDL# (JZo0re) 
Miss Marion Drummond, Oakfield, Penshurst, Kent. 
Cornwall. 1861. 
1 ft. 10 in. 
Syn. cRispuM Miss DrumMonp (JWoi.) 
By Mr. Barnard Hankey. One of the wayward ones, — it often 
sends up long, narrow, normal fronds,—often, too, the fronds are 
fimbriated as well as frilled,—and it is generally more or less 


flexuose. Miss Drummond states that she found it about a mile 
from Falmouth and that it was then quite a small plant. 


a ae 5 = 


LXXXVIII 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var DRUMMONDLE 


444 BRITISH FERNS 


LXXXIX 


LaceratTum (AZoore) 


The late Mr. J. Young, nurseryman, Taunton. Somerset. 1851. 


10 in. 


Syn. ENDIVIFOLIUM (ITod.) 


Syn, BRACHIATO-CRISTATUM. 


May perhaps be considered the counterpart in Scolopendrium of 
Mr. Grey’s robust form of ?. ang. brachiato-cristalum, 

Mr. Clapham considers that a much-improved form has been 
raised by Glave, of Scarborough, whose cleverness in raising 
varieties of Scolopendrium is well known. 


canara 
ae 


LXXNIX 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. LACERATUM 


446 BRITISH FERNS 


XC 


SAGITTATO-PROJECTUM SCLATER (Woll.) 
Capt. Sclater, Newick Park, Surrey: Co. Sligo. 1860. 
1 ft. 4 in. 


By Mr. Barnard Hankey. The earliest and perhaps finest form 
of its class. 


XC 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. SAGITTATO-PROJECTUM SCLATER 


448 BRITISH FERNS 


XCI 


SAGITTATO-CRISTATUM Hankey (Wo//.) 
Mr. G. B. Hankey. (Raised.) 1873. 
1 ft. 2 in. 


Sy, BRACHIATO-MULTIFIDUM. 


Generally admitted to be the finest of the sagittate class without 
lateral projections. 


XCI 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, va7, SAGITTATO-CRISTATUM 


450 BRITISH FERNS 


XCII 


SAGITTATO-CRISTATUM Dapps (Padley) 
John Dadds, Nurseryman, Ilfracombe. North Devon. 1860. 
8in. 


Varies considerably, some of the smaller fronds being often very 
marked and symmetrical. Hemzonzttordes, stated by Messrs. Stans- 
field to have been raised by them some years since, is not dis- 
tinguishable from this variety. 


XCII 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var. SAGITTATO GRISTATUM DaDDs 


452 BRITISH FERNS 


XCIIl 


CRISPUM FERTILE (Fox) 
R. Moule. Cornwall. 1868. 
1 ft. 6in. 


Under glass by Dr. Charles Fox. ‘‘ The plant had three 
crowns, two of them turned out good specimens of crispum, the 
third only was fertile.” —Vote by the discoverer. 


SaciTTaTo-crispuM (IVoll.) 
Mr. G. B. Wollaston. Hants. 1855. 
1 ft. 6in. 


One of the grandest forms of crzspum. Under favourable con- 
ditions it becomes at times distinctly brachiate, the lobes extend- 
ing four or five inches. An unusually promising form of the 
sagittate class was found in 1876 in Ireland by Mr. Foster, of 
Manchester; and Mr. Tyerman has lately drawn attention to 
another remarkable form (multifid also) which has been found 
near Penzance by Mr. Curnow. 


XCIII 
1, SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, vary. CRISPUM FERTILE 
«. SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, vary. SAGITTATO-CRISPUM 


BRITISH FERNS 


NXNCIV 


Cristatum Mitxett (I¥o//.) 


- Millett, Fern Collector, Bideford. N. Devon. 


1ft. 2in. 


Sve, MILLETTIL 


1865. 


SCIV 


SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, var CRISTATUM MILLETT 


456 BRITISH FERNS 


XCV 


LIMBOSPERMUM CRISTATUM (JT o//.) 
Mr. Elworthy. Somerset. 1858. 
1 ft. 


‘We received /embospermum from Mr. Elworthy at the same time 
as crispum latum, crispum densum, and crispum trregulare in 
1859-60.” —.Vole by Mr. Sim. 


XCV 
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, va7. LIMBOSPERMUM CRISTATUM 


458 BRITISH FERNS 


XCVI 


MULTIFIDO-VARIANS ( /oucs) 
Mrs. Grant, Hillersden House, near Cullompton. Devon. 1870. 


1ft Sin. 


A grand Fern,—a sort of elephant among Scolopendriums. The 
fronds vary a good deal, some are grandly multifid, others are 
supra-lineate or lobed at the base,—a few are dwarfed, but there are 
always sufficient of the larger-growing fronds to give a character 
to the plant,—one has to hunt for the defects. 


XCVI1 
SPRIUM VULGARE, var. MULTIFIDO-VARIANS 


SCOLOPF