What a cover! Every year I try to find a 100% impact picture, but there are SO many constraints that it is hard to choose. Firstly, it has to be an outstanding picture, of good composition and high technical quality (depth, clarity, colour etc.). It must be in portrait orientation, so landscape shots are not much use unless they are amenable to cropping. Next, it must have dark areas against which the text will show up clearly, and it is a BPS rule that the cover should be related to something inside. This year the search was brief annual prize will be your picture on the cover of Preridologist. If you would like to join in, please send me your best fern pictures, preferably digital ones, which will retain their quality better than prints etc. This spring, whilst taking photos of unrolling bracken crosiers, I found I was pointing the camera at an evil creature that was obsessed with ouncing on and eating the blood of the next mammal to pass by - me. It was a male of the common sheep tick Jxodes ricinus (right). After I'd got a few decent pictures I moved my finger towards my pet tick to see whether it might respond. It did. It reared up and shuddered as it tried to work out where I was. As I gradually came closer it got more and more agitated and then suddenly jumped. I snatched my hand away and my little friend tumbled into the vegetation, disappointed. I had witnessed how efficiently a tick can transfer from its elevated lurking perch to an innocent victim. This tick is the vector of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Living in a tick hotspot, I often find them in personal crevices and, since I know more people who have this horrible, debilitating affliction than I do for many better known diseases, I have become more careful. Also, | want to remind others of what is a positive, if low, risk. Pteridologists who venture into the field should be aware of ticks and Lyme disease, but please don’t worry so much that you never again set foot in the countryside. Lyme disease is still rare, but very difficult to diagnose and lasts for life. Many country GPs are clued up, but others never encounter Lyme disease. The bacteria are cryptic, so proving their presence is not always possible. Symptoms are incredibly diverse and often like those of M.S., M.E. or depression, so the wrong diagnosis is a distinct probability. It is a good idea to learn about it yourself, and there is plenty of information on the internet as well as Ticks: a lay guide to a human hazard by George Hendry and Darrel Ho-Yen (Mercat Press, 1998). The best protection is to wear clothing that will help to keep ticks out and, when you get home, check for any that have sneaked in. If you find one on your body, remove it methodically. If you just tug at it, the head might be left behind, and cause trouble. Therefore, use forceps, pressed firmly against the skin around the head end: grip, pull without twisting, extract and disinfect. In the unlikely event that a halo of inflammation appears around the bite, get medical attention immediately and mention ticks to the doctor. I have had surprisingly little feedback in response to last year’s invitation, but one correspondent suggested a bracken moratorium. I don’t want to sideline the world’s top fern entirely, so if you have some red hot bracken news, please do send it. I was so intrigued by the folk lore about bracken ‘root’ (Bracken Lore p. 114) that I had to test it. After several disappointments I learnt where to look (above) and how to cut the rhizome and stipe. My local bracken patch provided some convincing little pictures (opposite). This edition has been brought to you by a team. I have had the assistance of two co-editors who took charge of the major articles, making my task significantly lighter this year. Dealing with every word at every stage of production meant that I eventually got bored with the texts and lost the ability to spot errors. As I write this, I have just formatted the entire magazine, but this time texts have been prepared for me so that I can concentrate on ensuring that pictures make sense and that the pages are pleasant to look at and comfortable to read. I can balance layouts with fresh eyes, making fine adjustments to design with a more openly creative mind, whilst still enjoying the words and correcting remaining typos. My thanks for that to Adrian Dyer and Yvonne Golding, as well as several other back-room volunteers who cast a fresh eye over Preridologist before it went to the printer. james Editor modelling the new BPS fleece as he considers a bracken stipe for sectioning. Ixodes ricinus authors, please read ADVICE FOR AUTHORS Pteridologist welcomes contributions written in English on all aspects of the natural history and horticulture of ferns and related plants, indeed, anything fern-wise that will be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Please refer to past editions for ideas regarding scope and presentation. SCRIPT: Ideally text should be provided in the form of a WORD, RTF or TEXT file on a floppy disc, CD-ROM (PC or MAC) or e-mailed. I can scan typescripts and, if I must, even type spidery manuscripts. However, surely it is not the editor's job ti sort out basic use of English. Authors are expected to use reasonably correct spleIngg, Grammer and punc;tua.tion, and write in such a way that the meaning of the words is conveyed. One space between sentences and (I never thought I'd need to mention this) one space between words, please. 2005: / still need to mention it! CONVENTIONS: Scientific names should be in itali j m ul NS: < é : € in italics thus: Polystichum setiferum, (i in me i ames should be me — sell , (if typed or in manusc srlined). Variety names shou in normal type, capitalised and enclosed in single é = in manuscript, underlined). Variet) inverted commas thus: Polystic/ etife ' ivisi at »5 should be in / oes : : : Stichum setiferum 30-divis yn names shou tise aie Heiee agile AAA ch j if Plumoso-divisilobum'. Comm«c é ILLUSTRATIONS: As JPEG etc., but I have scanners so please which I will return. If supplying are of decent quality. sith SOROS send line art, good photo prints (accompanied by their negatives) or 35 mm slides ide ‘ cuctics ensure they are not of squashed and shrivelled fronds, but actually look like the fern they came from, a? Send files larger than ~500Kb on floppy disc or CD-ROM please, not by e-mail. COPY DEADLINE: 31st December, 005 PLEASE: check your contribution thoroughly for errors and ensure you have adhered to these simple procedures before you send it. lo discuss your ideas: # 01599 566291: &, pteridologist@ebps.org.uk (or write a letter) PTERIDOLOGIST 2004 CONTENTS BRACKEN LORE see page 114 & Editorial Volume 4 Part 4, 2005 Apparently, if you cut the stem or 'root’ of bracken you will ee variously: an oak tree, the initials J.C. EDITORIAL James Merryweather or G.O.D. ora Double- Headed Eagle. Instructions to authors The Editor tried it himseif, NEWS & COMMENT é ar Polystachy in Equisetum - Poly What? Chris Page 98 Ferns of the Isle . oe Mike Taylor 99 Thyrsopteris elega Frank McGavigan 99 Asplenium ecient in Britain? Alastair C. Wardlaw 100 Fern Carving in New Zealand Frank McGavigan 102 Bracken? Just the Ticket Martin Spray 102 IN THE GARDEN 2 in My Garden: Trichomanes speciosum Jack Bouckley 103 <=). Photography for The Plantfinder's Guide Martin Rickard 104 Oblique —— of rhizome JC - but the 'C' is back-to- IDENTIFICATION The rite ag ‘ounte sha ak gio se tilt richardii Split at Last Graham Ackers 106 ich New Zealand Fern Book? Frank McGavigan 109 TREE-FERN NEWSLETTER No. 11 Alastair C. Wardlaw ed. 110 Cyathea dregei Outdoors in the UK Alastair C. Wardlaw 110 Tree Ferns and the RHS Alastair C. Wardlaw 110 Tree-Fern Conservation Patrick Brownsey, John Hawkins 111 Ecological Study of Recolonisation Alastair C. Wardlaw 112 Versatile Dicksonia antarctica Alastair C. Wardlaw 113 BRACKEN LORE J.B. Smith 114 FOCUS ON FERNERIES Oblique section of stipe Fern sage a Australia Nicola Fidler 116 pes frond vain yraniaad ap _— ve Fernery N Jack Bouckley, Geoff represen | 1 8 O See a mature oa eis a ti so @ green fl : Patience is a awit Platycerium Bryan Smith 118 WHO KILLED THE LADY? James Merryweather 119 WHY RECORD FERNS? Chris Page 120 AN EARLY SCOTTISH PTERIDOLOGIST John Mitchell 123 BRITAIN'S NATIVE TREE FERNS Adrian Dyer 124 FERNS in the SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS Dick Hayward 128 BOOK REVIEWS A Natural History of Ferns - Moran Frank McGavigan 131 uP a= Tree Ferns - Large & Braggins Martin Rickard 131 ee = Swaziland Ferns & Fern Allies - Roux Graham Ackers 13] Oblique section of stipe Oaxaca Journal - Sa cks Martin Rickard 132 Cut as above, lower down in the dark region. A tree CD-ROM: All Ferns of the World - Hassler Martin Rickard 132 with two large oak leaves or a spread eagle? Key to Common Ferns - Merryweather Heather HcHaffie 132 GRO Eo iy ep COVER PICTURE: Dicksonia antarctica photographed by Yvonne Golding in Cornwall (see page 110 for Tree-Fern Newsletter No. 11). Unless stated otherwise, photographs were supplied by the authors of the articles in which they appear. DISCLAIMER: Views sre in Pteridologist are not necessarily those of the British Pteridological Society. ore - Laue itish Pteridological Society. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may Transverse sections of stipe be reproduc n any saan form (inclu storing it in any medium by electronic means) Cc fh gd eagle with feathery body, without the pet the of the British Pteridological ‘Socie ety. two wings, two feet... and two heads. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 97 NEWS & COMMENT Polystachy is the term given to a horsetail (Eguisetum) shoot when, instead of producing just a single terminal cone, it has multiple small cones adorning its branch tips. Sometimes cones occur on all branches, or sometimes on just the uppermost ones, normally in addition to the more regular large cone produced on the tip of the main shoot. It is a spectacular phenomenon, and the Editor was right to raise an eyebrow at finding it (Pteridologist, 2002). He challenged any reader “Has anyone found a polystachion?” I reply “yes”, but I should have probably said this long ago, and can’t think why I didn’t. Three thoughts come to mind as a result of this challenge: the occurrence of polystachy, what causes it, and is it significant? OCCURENCE? Polystachy is indeed an unusual phenomenon in Equisetum. It occurs sporadically, here-and-there in wild specimens in widely disjunct localities. It is far from unknown in several species, and past pteridologists, who always had an eye for the curious, not infrequently collected herbarium specimens for several Eguisetum species (right). I have personally encountered it in the field on only three occasions in half a century of horsetail study. In North Wales and Northumberland it occurred in Equisetum palustre and, in the Canary Islands, I saw E. ramosissimum doing the same thing. However, in herbaria I can remember seeing it also in specimens of E. fluviatile and E. sylvaticum, as well as quite frequently in E. palustre. CAUSES? Observation in the field gives some clues to this. The occurrence of polystachy is, I think, basically a genetic trait to which certain colonies of Equisetum are particularly pre- disposed. However, this does not rule 98 POLYSTACHY IN EQUISETUM -POLY WHAT? Chris Page Gillywood Cottage, Trebost Lane, St Stythians, Truro, Cornwall TR3 7DW a Polystachy in Equisetum sylvaticum out that certain environmental conditions may need to occur to bring such growth forms into full expression, suggesting that it is the result of an environmental trigger operating on a rare but already established genotype. Where I have found polystachy, it has not been restricted to just one shoot, but has tended to occur to a greater or lesser degree in multiple shoots of a particular colony, all of which probably belong to a single clone. Further, when I had opportunity to observe one such_ colony (E. palustre) successively over a three- year period in Northumberland. Polystachy there occurred each year in the same site, but the polystachious shoots were more numerous in some years than in others. Whatever this trigger is, it would have to operate in the previous season, when the structure of the following year’s shoot buds are being actively laid down. From field observations, I suspect that unusual degrees of site flooding may be contributary. SIGNIFICANCE? Polystachy may, at first, seem like one of the freak forms of pteridophyte structure which occasionally occur, such as frond forking in ferns, but have no real evolutionary significance. But with polystachy in Equisetum this 1s not so, for it is the re-occurrence of a very ancient trait once present more widely in early Equisetalean ancestors, for example the Carboniferous horsetail Palaeostachya pedunculata (opposite). It is also fundamentally a simpler structure for the plant to achieve than is the more normal form of growth. For in all Equisetum, iteration and reiteration of structure 1S the norm, with the growing apex producing repeated vegetative nodes, then switching (usually suddenly and irrevocably) to production of fertile whorls instead (each whorl of which 1S the exact homologue of a vegetative one - Page 1972). In modern Equisetum, when the main shoot Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) NEWS & COMMENT switches growth modes, a similar switch is normally suppressed in the F | fx: Ary rns on the side shoots, and my inference is that it erns ont is more advanced to be able to instruct Isle of Skye different shoots to behave differently . af : : Mike Taylor than it is to allow them all to follow the : same general pattern. Supporting this Westlea, Kyleakin, i Sean eee : sle of Skye, [V41 8P view is that fossil Equisetaleans exist isle of Skye, IV41 SEE in which multiple cones on all of the Since moving to Skye in 1991 | [ axes (main and lateral) appear to be the have been studying the H norm, and such fossils occur at least as distribution of ferns on the es far back as the Carboniferous, if not Island and have constructed a \ the Devonian! website www.skyeferns.co.uk to record my findings. Today polystachy would seem to : . he an occisional throwback to this Druery, in Book of British Ferns very ancient growth habit, reviving a ( 902) records that a Mr Puller particularly ancient growth pattern. found a variety of lady fern on There may be much we can yet learn the Island in 1864 which was from the careful study of such unusual and exciting occasional individuals. named ‘Pullerii’. It is described as a pinnate form with short rounded pinnules a _ la REFERENCE ‘Frizelliae’, but closer. If any Page C.N. (1972). An interpretation of member has this variety growing the morphology and evoluton of the cone and shoot of Equisetum. J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 65: 359-397. —— aad " Also Clapham, Tutin & Warburg, Flora of the British Isles 2nd edition (1962) states that Cystopteris montana is GT me ant ect es in their garden | would like a photograph to include on my present on Skye. I have not been able to trace the source of this record, so if any reader can throw any light on it I would be most grateful. ‘Palaeostachya —eTee John Ray and his Equisetum pedunculata palustre ‘polystachion' (1724) Thyrsopteris elegans Frank McGavigan Endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands off Chile, this beautiful fern is seriously threatened in the wild. Its frost tolerance and general hardiness are as yet unknown in this country. A number of specimens were recently distributed to interested fern lovers by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and it would be good to know over the next year or two how they are surviving British conditions. Plants apparently grow best in moist but well-drained humus. If you own this fern please keep a track of its progress and send a brief account periodically to me at scotland@ebps.org.uk. In due course I will produce a summary of our experiences. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) NEWS & COMMENT What happened to Asplenium fontanum in Britain? Alastair C. Wardlaw 92 Drymen Road, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 2SY Asplenium fontanum the Smooth Rock Spleenwort raises at least two interesting questions: Why is it not in the British flora today? And, was it formerly a native British species which went extinct - perhaps the first and only British fern species to suffer this fate in the last 150 years? Figure 1. Asplenium fontanum in The Nature Printed British Ferns (Moore, 1859). Records of Asplenium fontanum in Britain The several Victorian fern books which I consulted mostly treat A. fontanum as a sufficiently definite member of the British flora to justify an illustration and several pages of text. Moore, for example, in The Nature Printed British Ferns (1859) includes A. fontanum (Figure 1) as ‘one of our rarest native ferns, and is indeed considered by man botanists as suing an alien’. After some discussion. he concludes ‘we are therefore, as it see retain it in the British flora’. ie tases Also in 1859, evidently a bumper year for fern books Sowerby in The Ferns of Great Britain describes and illustrates it (Figure 2) but notes that ‘most of our botanists doubt its title to admission among British species’. Who these botanists were, and the basis of their opinions, is not stated. The justifications for inclusion are records of 100 occurrences in Amersham, Belfast, Matlock, Stonehaven, Westmoreland and Yorkshire, suggesting that the species although rare was at one time quite widely distributed in Britain. Sowerby’s final citation is The Rev. W.H. Hawker who had found A. fontanum last year (i.e. 1858) ‘growing in some quantity on a very old wall near Petersfield, in Hampshire’. Lowe, a few years later (1867) in Our Native Ferns, expresses no doubts about the native status of A. fontanum, although conceding that it is ‘a very rare British fern’. He found in Britain, including crested and depauperate forms. Several decades later, Druery (1910) in British Ferns and their Varieties includes A. fontanum as a native British species but remarks that ‘none of such finds are of recent date’. In 1940, we find Hyde & Wade in Welsh Ferns describing 4. fontanum as ‘not a native of Britain’, and commenting that a herbarium specimen from Wales 1s probably a dwarfed form of Athyrium filix-femina. However, as recently as 1996, the 7th Edition of Welsh Ferns (Hutchinson & Thomas) retains one-third of a page for A. fontanum and even provides a Welsh name: Duegredynen Lefn y Creigiau. The question of whether it might at one time have been a genuine native British species is not addressed, the authors simply giving the status as ‘not et Nai for the British Isles’ and ‘all records are pre- In other recent monographs, 4. fontanum is not mentioned by either Jermy & Camus (1991) in The Illustrated Field Guide to Ferns and Allied Plants of the British Isles, or by Page (1997) in the 2nd Edition of The Ferns of Britain and Ireland. Nox is it in The New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora (Preston et al., 2002). Figure 2. Asplenium fontanum in Sowerby (1859) 7 he Ferns of Great Britain. This does not look like the same Species as in Figure 1. ee Dicridolodist 4, 4 (2005) NEWS & COMMENT Cultivation of Asplenium fontanum in Britain A, fontanum seems not to present special problems for cultivation outdoors in Britain, except for extreme attractiveness to slugs. I have grown this species, sourced from near Aix en Provence, since 1990 in a limestone rockery (Figure 3) and in close proximity to A. viride, which is not nearly so slug-attractive. This leads me to wonder if the absence of A. fontanum from the British flora today is due to factors other than climatic. Should we, for example, be researching the gametophyte for its growth requirements? aspleniace2e Asplenium fontanum =] ® S€ Europe WN Africa Figure 4. Distribution of A. fontanum in France (Prelli & Boudrie, 1992). Figure 3. Asplenium fontanum growing in limestone chips in the author’s garden (/eft) with extensive slug damage on fronds of lower right crown. In the flora of France, the distributions of A. fontanum and A. viride are remarkably similar (Figs. 4 & 5). Both are ferns of calcareous rocks and are locally abundant, as is A. viride in Britain (Figure 6). By contrast, A. fontanum is Fi 5. Distribut; fA. viride i no longer in the British flora. However, it may have been a British species in 5 Say ee ee ee as Vichwian Ges. rance (Prelli & Boudrie, 1992). Conclusions Asplenium viride Green Spleenwort 1) A. fontanum probably does not exist as a wild species in Britain today. 2) Adult sporophytes of this species have survived for an extended period of a rs oy cultivation in northern Britain, in a climate much cooler and wetter than the Qogcecuma ag gr ¥ South of France. meme 7 fe abel - 3) The common inclusion of A. fontanum in books on British ferns from the Victorian era suggests that this species may indeed have been a British native at mae ie Ad a“ hs : one time, albeit very rare. It is difficult to believe that Moore (for example) mm TT ays OP eset | would have based his nature prints (Figure 1) on specimens of doubtful identity = eA » Wi ta or provenance, or obtained abroad. x ev is ? pp ie ~ 4) With the indiscriminate plundering of wild ferns even rarities, during the ms E iaaabe aes Victorian era, it would not be surprising if an already scarce species was ut Sas ; extirpated to the last plant. Asplenium fontanum may, therefore, be a British fern that became extinct during the Victorian era. 5) Although in France A. fontanum and A. viride are both locally abundant and are similarly restricted to limestone areas, only A. viride is locally abundant and PETE : oye widely distributed on calcareous rocks in Britain. Why the British and French _ Figure 6. Distribution of A. viride in abundances of these two species are so different remains a mystery. Britain (Preston et al., 2002). Acknowledgements | I am grateful to R. Prelli for permission to reproduce the C.D. Preston, D.A. Pearman & T.D. Dines (2002) in New Atlas of distribution maps in France of A. viride and A. fontanum from R. _ the British & Irish Flora, Oxford University Press. Prelli & M. Boudrie (1992): Atlas Ecologique des Fougeres et I am indebted to several colleagues for helpful and detailed Plantes Alliées. Editions Lechevalier, Paris. I thank the Queen’s comments (ranging from supportive to dismissive!), but since Printer and Controller of HMSO for permission to copy the © they cannot be summarised adequately in the space available and distribution map of A. viride in Britain which was published by _ with attribution, I thought it best to withhold names. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 101 NEWS & COMMENT The plctoet lies only the right hand side of a double carving Fern Carving in New Zealand Frank McGavigan This wonderful aie of Cyathea dealbata is in the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, north of Auckland, New Zealand. ole: carver was Harold Vivian Ward (1869-1930), the Head Carver of the Kauri Timber Company, and the wood is kauri itse (Agathis australis), a gigantic tree native to New Zealand. What is remarkable about this life-size piece is the beautiful intricacy of the carving not just of one frond but also ri a overlapping another. Anyone who has ever attempted to draw a fern, let alone carve one, will know just how difficult it 1 to capture the delicacy of the fronds while retaining botanical accuracy. Ward has achieved both magnificently. The Kauri Museum celebrates the lives and toils of the pioneering kauri loggers and gum diggers and is one of the best museums in the world, a must for any visitor to New Zealand. Bracken? Just The Ticket 3248 Martin Spray w The Pludds, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire 2 Further to my Two Cheers for Bracken (Pteridologist 2003) here in the Forest of Dean the third, and loudest, cheer is for another traditional use, which seems still to persist. Bracken, known locally - as in other parts of Britain - just as fern, is abundant ae ‘ . ~ ‘ 7 4) in many clearings and in parts of the woodland, especially where free-range sheep =F ce have kept down woody understorey growth. 3 9 Whereas in some parts of the country greensward was in demand, hereabouts the greater privacy afforded by Preridium was sought. As Chaucer sweetly puts it: Quite as fine as any velvet, on which a man his love could lay as on a featherbed, to play. Couples/lovers who appeared to be about to seek it were teasing ly asked if they had got their Fern Tickets. Were. or are, Forest Tickets valid in other areas? Ed. There is a continental parallel, about 50 et n’y demourez pas”. Let’s disappear into tl years before Chaucer, in a 15th century French song: “Allez a la fougere, ne bracken, and don’t you be shy about it (Pteridologist 1995, p. 256). GRAHAM ACKERS WRITES Grateful thanks to all those members who returned the Members’ Questionnaire distributed with the 2004 Bulletin. The responses are now being analysed, and it is hoped to 8ive feedback to members in the 2005 Bulletin. _ Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) IN THE GARDEN FERNS IN MY GARDEN - Trichomanes speciosum Jack Bouckley 209 Woodfield Road, Harrogate HG1 4JE A few years ago I was given a small plant of Trichomanes speciosum and, after a lot of experimenting, I found a place where it seemed to be happy, if growing very, very slowly. This was in a Wardian case - actually a glorified aquarium - in a shaded part of one of my cold greenhouses. When it was fit to exhibit I thought: “What if I raised the whole lot up a couple of feet where interested people would be able to see, photograph and study it more easily?” This move was almost a catastrophe as in the matter of only a few weeks the whole plant started to wilt alarmingly. Returned to its old position my Killarney soon recovered, though | cracked one side of the tank as I moved it. I was still not happy with this arrangement, but it struck me that the plant needed a situation more in keeping with where it grows in the wild. | wondered if a small grotto might be the answer, but in my dry Harrogate garden? | could try. First I dug a 1 m* hole about 45 cm deep with a sloping channel leading from surface level (the path) : down to the far end. I lined the path with polythene, =f so that all the rain water that fell there would run Lord give me grace to grow a fern i 'o beautiful, that I, down into the grotto, and covered that with gravel. When speaking of it afterwards, The fern went right at the back of grotto. The hole is Will never need to lie : : = & é Jack Bouckley lined with rock and the actual excavation - not the path - is roofed with small pieces of rock supported by steel bars so that any rain or snow melt drips through onto the hallowed ground. It certainly works, as the soil there always seems to be dampish, even after very dry weather. In effect it receives around three times the normal rainfall. Eventually, this rocky roof will be disguised with plants which do not mind arid conditions and so it will look like a natural art of the garden. ; ‘ ‘ P e Trichomanes speciosum in the grotto The Killarney fern has now been in residence in its grotto for a couple of years and is growing, not as fast as I had hoped, but the photographic record shows increase in size. As a matter of interest there is also a very nice specimen of Athyrium filix- femina ‘Frizelliae’ which has established itself from some spore that floated into the grotto. It is better than any that | have elsewhere in the garden. The original plant ; % Zed Fe | Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) PHOTOGRAPHY for The Plantfinder's Guide Martin Rickard Pear Tree Cottage, Kyre, Tenbury Wells WR15 8RN Your editor has received several requests that I might explain how the photographs for my Plantfinder’s Guide! were assembled. I hope the following account answers the questions although, sadly, I do not know any technical details. They might even be trade secrets. This book was published in 2000 and, while its success has exceeded my expectations, I do realise much of the appeal is in the photographs - only a few of which did | take! The publishers employed two professional photographers, Marie O’Hara for the field shots and Karl Adamson for the double page spreads taken indoors. BEGINNINGS I was not the first choice to write this book. Initially John Bond of the Savill Gardens in Berkshire was approached and indeed some photos were taken by Marie at the Savill Gardens under John’s supervision. Two of these were used (see pp. 20, 25). Sadly John’s wife fell ill and so far as I know he never began actually writing the book. I believe he had signed the publisher’s contracts so it was a difficult time for him and eventually he asked David and Charles to be released. This they did and, presumably at John’s suggestion, they contacted me. I was delighted to be asked, if a little daunted. One problem was finding the time while at the same time running my nursery, Rickards Hardy Ferns Limited. (Sadly not long after John’s wife died and John too passed away a year or two later). Inevitably I dragged my feet; there was always something more pressing to do. Photographs were. however, the big problem. I was well aware that years before Jimmy Dyce had written a very good fern book but because he could not gather enough suitable photos no prospective publisher was interested. Through the late summer of 1998, I received phone calls from the publishers to see how things were going, the answer was that they weren't, but I did not exactly phrase it like that! Marie wanted to get on with it, but by late summer most ferns were tired and not photogenic. We did. however, make a start on the polypodies in the garden. When Marie came and eventually started taking pictures I was horrified how long each shot took. I could not spare the time. Therefore. | marked all the polypodies I wanted taken and left her to it. | cannot remember now if it took one or two days. The plants were at their peak but unfortunately I did not see the photos until the following spring, too late to retake any until the following autumn, which would be past the publisher’s deadlines. The resultant pictures were be but in quite a few cases they were autifully composed not diagnostic. Even +PLANTFINDER’S rG UIDE TO GARDEN FERNS | Martin Rickard though they were my plants, I could not identify them all so some had to be discarded, but fortunately enough were fine (see pp. 131-141). From this exercise I learnt that there were no short cuts, it was not fair to expect a photographer, however accomplished, to know the salient points of each fern. In future I would have to be on hand while pictures were being taken. LEARNING CURVE Also in the autumn of 1998 I had to supply fronds of the polypodies to Karl Adamson to take the double page spreads. I selected typical fronds of all the main cultivars, packaged them individually in polythene and sent them down to Karl in London. I heard no more until I was Shown proofs the following spring. They were 4 disappointment. Through no fault of Karl’s the fronds had not travelled well in the post. Virtually all were not flat and many had to be discarded. The resultant plates (numbers X and XI) were not as comprehensive as I had hoped and the fronds were not as fresh as they should have been. By spring 1999, therefore, as a result of my inexperience, progress had been slow. We had photos of the polypodies as outlined above but little else. All the time the editorial staff at David and Charles were chasing me. How was the text coming on? Sad to admit, tt wasn't. I prevaricated with various excuses until late May/June when in desperation, Anna Mumford, the Commissioning Editor, suggested I set a timetable of tw0 sections of text a week. Bear in mind I had signed contracts ‘0 provide copy to a timetable and I was not just late I had Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) IN THE GARDEN not even started. How Anna kept her patience with me I do not know! David and Charles were contracted to Timber Press in the USA to have the book in proof that autumn so they too were potentially in a corner. Not only did I have to find time to write the book in the height of summer when the nursery was at its busiest, but we also needed to take all the photographs. Following the disappointments of the previous autumn I made two decisions: one, I needed to be present when the garden shots were taken and two, Karl would have to bring his studio to Tenbury if we were going to get good quality fresh fronds for the double page spreads. The text was another matter. I couldn’t see a way out until Helen Smith, then working for me on the nursery, told me to forget the nursery for the next two weeks and get on with the book. Helen was worth her weight in gold. I went home and two weeks later the text was virtually finished. I had always been suspicious of E J Lowe’s claim that he wrote British Ferns in the Young Collector series in six weeks - I believe it now! GARDEN SOLUTIONS Both Marie and Karl readily agreed to help sort things out. I eventually spent several days in the garden/nursery with Marie, often starting early in the morning when the wind was minimal. Readers may have noticed some of the cunning little tricks we used. Many of the ferns illustrated are in fact in pots. We covered the pot rim with moss and set it amongst pieces of wood. Hopefully it looked like the ferns were growing in a stumpery. Another ruse was to photograph the tree-ferns, all in pots, in certain convenient spots in the garden near their fern house. They were too heavy to move far! I wonder how many readers noticed that Dicksonia fibrosa, Cyathea australis and C. medullaris were all taken in the same spot? We also needed some ferns in garden shots over and above what was available in the garden at Kyre, so Marie kindly came over to Rita Coughlin’s and Clive and Doreen Brotherton’s gardens in the Birmingham suburbs as well as Burford House garden in Tenbury. Of course in three or four days it proved impossible to get all the photos we needed, so quite a few came out of my slide collection. These are usually recognizable as being in a different style from Marie’s. All in all we ended up with more photos than the publishers could use so everything was fine. STUDIO SOLUTIONS The double page spreads were all produced by Karl Adamson. The day before he was due at Kyre I collected a very good range of Cheilanthes fronds from Clive and Doreen Brotherton, keeping them in polythene overnight. I gathered all the other specimens from my collection fresh on the day. Most could, therefore, be photographed within an hour of picking. Eventually when Karl appeared he had an estate car literally packed to the roof with his equipment, including back seat and front passenger seat - I could now see why he wanted to do the photography in his London studio. One thing in particular caught my attention. Why did he have a roll of fuse wire? The answer was he expected to fuse my lights every time he took an exposure. I was fascinated. There was some concern that my sitting room would not be large enough but Karl just managed to fit his equipment in. He built up a box-like structure about seven feet tall, six feet wide by 5 feet deep. Top bottom and all sides were packed with flash units. The cameras were set near the ceiling looking down onto a frosted glass plate. Under the glass plate were numerous more lights. To take each exposure Karl arranged the given fronds in such a way that the eventual double page spread would look like one photo, not two, but at the same time it was important that the crease between pages did not spoil the clarity of any frond. Once satisfied with the arrangement Karl took the photo. Wow! The flash was incredible, and yes, it did trip my fuses as Karl expected. The end result of this exercise was eleven double page plates which really sold the book. Because of the configuration of the lighting no shadow is visible beneath the fronds, the lighting throughout is even and the clarity of the images perfect. In addition, Karl’s arrangement of the fronds is artistic and perfect to my eyes. SUCCESS | am confident that the illustrations in the book very significantly helped sales. In particular the double page plates. I sold the book at flower shows and I knew once someone asked to see a copy they would almost certainly buy it if they flicked through the pages, catching sight of Karl’s beautiful plates. So there we have it. The book’s sales far exceeded my expectations and this was in no small measure due to the skill of Marie and Karl - and also to Helen for being in the right place at the right time. ; Rickard, MH (2000). The Plantfinder’s Guide to Garden Ferns. David & Charles (UK); Timber Press (USA). £17 incl. p&p from the author. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 105 POLYSTICHUM RICHARDI Fans of New Zealand ferns may like to know that the taxon Polystichum richardii has finally been split. It has long been known to be polymorphic, e.g. “A common and very variable plant, now thought to comprise more than one species” (Brownsey & Smith- Dodsworth, 2000). BPS members visiting New Zealand certainly noticed this variability too - and also remarked on the frequency of the entity (“We also saw our first New Zealand sight”, noted in Wardlaw et al. 2000 reporting on the BPS New Zealand field meeting at our first site near Mt. Cavendish north of Lyttleton Harbour on 12 February 2000). ‘Polystichum richardii’ can be differentiated from other New Zealand polystichums particularly “by the indusia with dark centres, and scales with fringed bases” (Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth, 2000). However, new work has now concluded that four taxa are involved (Perrie e¢ al., 2003). I met Leon Perrie at the RBGE Edinburgh Symposium (“Ferns for the 21" Century”) in 2004, following which he kindly sent me a copy of his paper. The four new taxa are: Polystichum neozelandicum subsp. neozelandicum (Fig. 1), P. neozelandicum subsp. zerophyllum, P. oculatum (Fig. 2) and P. wawranum (Fig. 3). They form the morphological continuum shown from left > right in Table 1. The name neozelandicum pre-dates richardij which is why the latter has disappeared completely. The first and last Species (both tetraploids) are quite distinct, and it is the authors’ contention that had it not been for the existence of the two P. neozelandicum subspecies (octoploids), which are morphologically intermediate, they would have been differentiated as separate species some time ago. PHOTO: LEON PERRIE** In the paper, the four taxa are separated on grounds of: Morphology - scale size and shape, ratios of pinnae distance and width, size of the dark centres of the indusia, number of annulus cells, and spore sizes. Cytological and molecular analyses. split at last Graham Ackers Deersbrook, Horsham Road, Walliswood, Dorking RH5 5RL Figure 1. Polystichum neozelandicum subsp. neozelandicum In the field, the most useful and reliable characters are the size of the indusium dark centre, scale size and shape, and the colour of the mid- vein/leaf. Based on these characters, the ferns that I observed commonly on the Banks Peninsula during my 2004 visit to New Zealand were P. oculatum (I did not observe “P. richardii” anywhere else during that visit). I would like to think that the shape of the secondary pinnae was also a good field character (“the secondary pinnae vary from round-ended and smooth- edged to deeply dissected with sharp points”, Brownsey & Smith- Dodsworth, 2000). My Banks Peninsula plants had very pointed secondary pinnae giving a very ‘spiky’ gizz to the lamina, whereas the photograph on plate 30B in Patrick Brownsey’s book (possibly one of the P. neozelandicum sub-species) has a noticeably less ‘spiky’ lamina. This character is not given as a differentiator in Leon Perrie’s paper, and the frond outlines in the paper are a little too small to see any clear differences in this character. However, Leon tells me that the degree of ‘spikiness’ (as well as the spacing of the lamina segments) can be helpful, although there is considerable overlap between taxa, and variation within taxa. M It would be futile at this late stage to try and guess the identities of the | Most spiky Spacing of lamina segments Closest set Ona ae to> Most widely spaced Geographical distribution North Island —Northern half of North — Scattered throughout - Southern half of North Island both islands Island and northern half of South Island P. wawranum (4) P.n. subsp hyll SCALES A Ay ry ¢. ! H i eon oy Pon. sellin. eiphelhin P. n. subsp. neozelandicum (3) P. oculatum (4) »e Det - ual ec: 2 P. wawranum P. oculatum INDUSIA a P. n. subsp. neozelandicum Figure 2. Polystichum oculatum showing widely spaced lamina segments. FROND CCAN- GRAIL M ACKERS Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 107 IDENTIFICATION ~ by ” PHOTO: LEON PERRIE Figure 3. Polystichum wawranum with characteristically close-set pinnae With thanks to Leon Perrie for commenting on an earlier version of this article. Leon can be contacted at: e-mail: leonp@tepapa.govt.nz , and post: Te Papa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand. Diagrams and maps reproduced from Perrie et al., 2003 by kind permission of the Royal Society of New Zealand, REFERENCES Brownsey P. J. & J. C. Smith-Dodsworth (2000). New Zealand Jerns and allied plants. 2" ed. Auckland, David Bateman Ltd. Perrie L. R., P. J. Brownsey, P. J. Lockhart & M. F. Large (2003). Evidence for an allopolyploid complex in New Zealand Polystichum (Dryopteridaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany. 41, 189-215. The Royal Society of New Zealand. Wardlaw Alastair C. et al. (2000). National Field Meetings 2000, New Zealand - 11-26 February. British Pteridological Society Bulletin. 5: 5. Filmy Ferns in Fiction __ John Buchan’s novel John Macnab begins with middle-aged Sir Edward Leithen in a sorry state of mind: He was so completely fatigued with life that he neglected to be cautious at Crossings, as was his habit, and was all but slain by 2 motor- ompibus. Everything seemed weary and over-familiar - the summer smell of town, the din of traffic, the panorama of faces, pretty women shopping, the occasional sight of a friend. Long ago, he reflected with disgust, there had been a time when he had enjoyed it all. Leithen escaped to the Scottish Highlands in search of inner peace through rest and adventure. but took his depression with him: He had been for — — aol rain, and the scent of wet bracken and birches and bog myrtle, the peaty fragrance of the hills salted with the tang of the sea, had failed to comfort, though not so long ago, it had the power to intoxicate. Scobie in the dell of a burs. he had observed both varieties of filmy fern and what he knew ved dices ania : to be a very fare Cerast, and, though an ardent botanist. he had obser Bracken occurs frequently enough in literature : jie mie tbl vee i 1 the read ; ty th earn but how many authors mention Hymenophyllum, \et alone go to LiIe YUL tO TCrlll © r@aQcel at -re are - iil poe ; - > . a “$ e Ke € it there are two British Species, and then move on to rare mouse-ear chickweeds? — Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) IDENTIFICATION Which New Zealand New Zealand is startlingly rich in ferns and any fern lover would welcome the opportunity to visit this wonderful country. But which fern guide to buy? For a country with only four million inhabitants there is a surprisingly large choice and almost every bookshop stocks a selection. The obvious place to start is Brownsey and Smith-Dodsworth’s New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants (ISBN 1-86953- 003-9). Now in its second edition (always a good a) it is the only fully comprehensive id covering all 194 native and 32 introduced species. Each is given a detailed description and a paragraph on distribution and habitat. Many also have cultivation instructions, useful for « those who wish to try NZ ferns in their own gardens. There are identification keys for both genera and species which appear accurate and clear, coloured photographs for most species, and numerous detailed line drawings, often enlarged, for clarification of identification issues. And yet, on my recent first visit to New Zealand I hardly opened my copy. Thrown into a new environment where none of the ferns was familiar I needed to get my bearings with a quick and easy identification guide, not lose myself in the minutiae of technical detail. Also Brownsey and Smith- Dodsworth is too big to be carried around on a field trip, the distribution information refers to places that require a familiarisation with NZ geography, the photographs are grouped together away from the text, and the keys...well, I contend that most people don’t use keys but rather flick through the illustrations until they find what they’re looking for. Not very scientific I know, and the professional botanists will protest, but it is surprising how quickly one gets there by this method. However, the illustrations need to be clear and with six photos to a page Brownsey and Smith-Dodsworth’s are too small to be helpful Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Fern Book? Frank McGavigan 12 Glenbank Avenue, Lenzie, Glasgow G66 SAA In anticipation of some of these difficulties I had bought on spec Lawrie Metcalf’s A Photographic Guide to the Ferns of New Zealand (ISBN 1-877246-94-8) before leaving the UK. Pocket diary size (perfect for field trips), with a fern per page, it covers 108 species, with a more than adequate description and a distribution map for each. There is a two-page, simplified key. It seemed ideal, but again when I came to consult it I found the photographs too small to be much use in identification except for the most obvious species. A better small guide, only slightly larger, but covering fewer ferns (65) is Brian Parkinson’s Common Ferns and Fern Allies in the Mobil New Zealand Nature Series (ISBN 0-7900-0698-7). The descriptions are shorter and there are no distribution maps, but the photographs are larger (even than Brownsey and Smith-Dodsworth’s) and clearer in that they focus on the distinguishing characteristics of each fern. I did not come across this book in New Zealand (it may now be out of print) so cannot fully judge its practical use in the field. It dispenses with a key altogether. Andrew Crowe is both a naturalist and an educationalist who has written many NZ nature guides from trees to sea shells. He has a real grasp of how to make identification simple and clear. His Which Native Fern? (ISBN 0-14-301801-9) is excellent: a slim paperback, it covers 46 ferns each with a colour photograph, a life- in, size silhouette of a small part 2 2,0 Ms of a frond, a distribution map, a ‘hy ’ p, diagram-matical indication of its altitude range, a line drawing of the plant’s habit with an indication of size, a brief description, cultivation instructions, and a simplified key. Who could ask for more? Well, Andrew Crowe himself obviously felt he could improve on it, and has produced in addition The Life- Size Guide to New Zealand Native Ferns (ISBN 0-14-301924-4) which contains, as its name implies, life-size photographs of single fronds of 41 ferns along with brief descriptions. The photo of Leptopteris superba (Prince of Wales Feathers) is the only one in all the guides that shows the essentially three-dimensional nature of this fern’s fronds, and I found myself turning first to this book when I came across a new fern. Of course it has its limitations: it is an awkward A4 size (though thin enough to slip easily into a ruck-sack), the life-size photos obviously do not work so well with larger ferns though the tree ferns come out well, and there are no distribution maps or any of the other information in Crowe’s earlier book. None of these guides is perfect (and there are others, either not so good or out of print). However, for a short trip to New Zealand, and remember you will need a tree book, a flower book, and a bird book also, I would recommend Andrew Crowe’s Which Native Fern supplemented by his Life- Size Guide, both cheap and readily available in New Zealand. Of course the serious pteridologist could not manage without Brownsey and Smith- Dodsworth as well, but then you would want a longer visit. Tree-Fern Newsletter No. 11 Edited by Alastair C. Wardlaw Convener of BPS Tree-Fern Special Interest Group 92 Drymen Rd, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 2SY, UK. E-mail: a.wardlaw@btinternet.com Cyathea dregei Outdoors in UK f Sen See as ee ea rer 3 Size, } ‘= Cyathea dregei, growing out of doors in Logan Botanic Garden, south of Stranraer in South-West Scotland (July, 2004). This plant is part of a group that was established outside in 2003. Originally grown from spores at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (of which Logan is an out-station), the ferns had been kept under glass for several years until trunks started to form. It is quite exceptional to see trunked plants of this South-African species, planted outside in Britain. Wrapping has been provided for the two winters so far. Tree Ferns and the RHS The increasing prominence of tree ferns in UK horticulture is signalled by their appearance in each of the first three 2005 issues of THE GARDEN, the premier journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. Tree-fern trading. In the January issue, Sir Peter Crane, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ‘weighed up some myths about the international trade in these exotic plants’. He focused mainly on the large-scale importation of Dicksonia trunks from Australia and New Zealand into Britain. In the main, his conclusions were reassuring. Compared with international trade in other plants, the export of tree ferns is apparently well regulated and wel] managed. 110 Nowadays most of the Australian D. antarctica either comes from commercially-managed forests or through salvage from development sites. Thus ‘the regulatory provisions’ (i.e. the tagging system on harvested trunks) should provide ‘a degree of confidence to British gardeners that they are not contributing to the decline of these magnificent plants in the wild.’ Asylum seekers? To me, Sir Peter is saying that the original wild habitats are being lost anyway, through conversion into commercial forests or for human occupation, both activities taking place independently of the conse- quences to tree ferns. If therefore some of the trunks can be salvaged and made available to horticulture, at least the plants themselves have a chance of continued existence, even though their original habitat may be lost. In modern parlance the harvested tree ferns have become asylum seekers, looking for a good home away from their native land! Vehicle for pests. Asylum seekers, human and pteridological, may bring not only themselves but also unwanted parasites. The February issue of THE GARDEN reported DEFRA’s (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) concern that tree-fern trunks are the vehicles for alien pests. The list of these intruders hoping to crawl and slither uninvited into the UK includes spiders, slugs and snails, flatworms and millipedes. Be vigilant! Winter protection. The March issue of THE GARDEN endorses the advice previously given in these Newsletters that D. antarctica generally needs winter protection in U gardens, except near southern and western coasts or where a mild microclimate 15 provided by surrounding buildings. The RHS article emphasises the importance of trunk watering (but not into the crown) and describes the chicken-wire-and-straw winter-insulation system. Next TF Newsletter. Pictures, notes and articles on tree ferns should be sent to me as soon as possible. | am generally short of copy! [ditto - ed.] Disclaimer: Views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the British Pteridological Society. ACW Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Tree-fern Conservation? - New Zealand replies Peter Lynch in the last issue of this Newsletter [Pteridologist 4 (3): 81, 2004] wrote: ‘visiting New Zealand in March 2003, I was horrified to see the scale of destruction of native tree-fern forests’. His article was illustrated with pictures of tree- fern trunks being used as fencing material and for the edging of bunkers on golf courses. He went on to report his correspondence with the New Zealand Government and the apparent indifference of the authorities to what was happening to tree ferns in that country. Two New Zealanders wrote to me in response to Peter’s article. Patrick Brownsey is co-author of the standard book on New Zealand ferns, and John Hawkins worked in the forestry industry in the North Island of New Zealand before going to live in Sweden. It was John who put me on to the highly relevant paper by Ogden et al. (1997) which is summarised briefly at the end of this article. Patrick Brownsey writes As you will know from your visit to New Zealand a few years ago, Dicksonia squarrosa is widely used here for fences and retaining walls. It is a common and widely distributed species in New Zealand, and not at all threatened. The species frequently grows in groves because of its stoloniferous habit. It also has a remarkable ability to sprout new trunks if the main one is damaged, due to the presence of buds on the main trunk (see Fig. 100B in Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth, New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants). Trunks of Dicksonia are commonly sold in garden centres and elsewhere for use in fences and retaining walls. It is undoubtedly true that the less scrupulous dealers illegally strip trunks out of native forest for this purpose. I can remember visiting an area of bush near Wellington shortly after this had happened on one occasion and was appalled at the destruction. However, I can report that many years later, a lot of those tree ferns have regenerated as a result of the growth habit of the plant described above. This, of course, in no way detracts from the seriousness of removing the plants in the first place. More enlightened traders do what Peter Lynch describes in his article. Dicksonia grows extraordinarily well under the vast tracts of introduced Pinus radiata forest that have been planted in New Zealand. The tree ferns grow especially well in the central North Island around Taupo and Rotorua where much of the ground has a thick layer of ash from the historical Lake Taupo eruptions (Lake Taupo itself is a huge collapsed volcanic crater). They grow quickly and can be harvested regularly without causing any destruction to native forests. They will not survive once the Pine forests themselves have been harvested. I cannot comment on their ability to grow eight-foot trunks within the harvesting cycle of 25-30 years of the pine. I simply don’t have any statistics on that point, but it wouldn't surprise me if they could grow that quickly in favourable situations. | think it also needs to be remembered that they will continue to grow quickly once transplanted. The specimens with eight-foot trunks illustrated by Peter may have been growing for some time since they were harvested. It also needs to be appreciated that the trunks of D. squarrosa can continue growing when used as fencing, even if they have been cut at the base and at the crown. Their growth habit enables them to do this quite readily. | suspect that some of the ferns in Peter’s illustration are doing precisely that, although the article itself makes no mention of it. I have often seen fences of cut trunks that have quite literally become living fences of tree ferns. So, in summary, it is perfectly possible to maintain a sustainable harvest of Dicksonia trunks in New Zealand without doing any damage to native forest. However, having said that, there is no doubt that illegal felling of tree ferns does take place, causing significant impact on native forest. The tree fern trade encourages bad habits, but the damage is probably not as great or as long-lasting as might be imagined at first sight. Certainly, in my view, there are much more pressing conservation issues in New Zealand than this particular one, although every effort needs to be made to stamp out bad practice. Patrick Brownsey Museum of New Zealand P.O. Box 467 Wellington, New Zealand John Hawkins writes I grew up in the backblocks of New Zealand and worked as a forester in the Central North Island pine plantations, after graduating from University and before coming to Sweden to work in the forestry here. I'm probably therefore in a position to make a few comments. Tree fern stems, dicksonias in particular, make good construction material, especially for fences. The Only disadvantage is that the stems must be allowed to dry out thoroughly before use so that they do not Start growing. Tree ferns are plants of the bush edge and of clearings, So there are plenty of them about on marginal farmland and along logging roads in pine plantations. Virgin bush in New Zealand is well protected. The only cutting in such bush, of which I was aware, was along the West Coast of the South Island, which I gather has now ceased. It may also happen Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 111 on Maori tribal land, which is outside normal laws as it is regarded as a customary right. I don't think the Maori would be harvesting tree ferns though, as tree ferns are generally fairly sparse under virgin bush and probably not worth the bother. I've no statistics on growth rates, but I do remember in my late teens cutting down large numbers of D. squarrosa in regrowth scrub that had been burnt over when I was a child. I also recall a D. fibrosa branch (D. fibrosa does branch like D. squarrosa, but not very often ) that I planted outside my bedroom window when I was about 13 years old, and which was at head height when I left NZ ten years later. So a growth rate of 10-15 cm per year would be a conservative estimate, and would give a reasonable sized stem over a 25-30 year forestry rotation. We often sprayed with herbicide before replanting with pine. Despite this, there were numerous tree ferns sprouting from broken-off stems. Regeneration additionally occurs from surrounding stands with mature ferns, and presumably from spores left in the soil. Pine forestry in New Zealand cannot really be compared to conifer forestry in the Northern Hemisphere. Depending on the locality, it should perhaps be compared with forests in sub-tropical regions. In combination with the low density of planting (200-400 pine stems per hectare), the undergrowth can become very thick, particularly during the early stages before canopy closure. At this point the tree ferns have better survival than most other undergrowth. Finally, the prices paid for tree ferns in the UK are occasionally reported in New Zealand newspapers, with a great deal of amusement and a certain amount of antipodean smugness. A good parallel might perhaps be if hawthorn bushes were to be dug up in waste areas in the UK and exported to New Zealand! ed Tree ferns colonising the understorey of a commercial forest in the North Island of New Zealand. Photo: Carter Holt Harvey Forests. John Hawkins Gamla Dalbyv, S-245 92 Staffanstorp, Sweden. Ecological Study of Recolonisation . set Donny on . se In a detailed |2-page article W ith 5 tables, 7 figures and 23 references, Ogden ef al. (1997) describe the recolonisation of the understory of commercial Pinus radiata forests in the North Island of New Zealand. They report that mature forests contained a total of 5 species of tree ferns, 3] species of other ferns and 12 native shrub species. The entire article in original format can be downloaded from the web (WWw.nzes.org.nz/) The tree ferns, which appeared spontaneously in the understorey, were in decreasing order of abundance: Dicksonia squarrosa, D. fibrosa, Cyathea dealbata, C. med ullaris and C. smithii. Densities of 2,000-2,500 tree ferns per hectare (including small plants) were reached. with D. squarrosa comprising 84% of the Saat Anate overall. The authors concluded that tree-fern regeneration occurred through a combination of vegetative growth from trunks not killed by the logging and treatments preparatory to planting the pine, and from gametophytes. There was no specific mention of possible soil spore banks, or spores being blown in from outside areas. In 20-year old forests, the maximum trunk height C. dealbata, C. medullaris, C. smithii. D. fibrosa an 9.2, 8.2, 2.8 and 7.8 metres. The authors point out that commercial pine plant species and that important factors are the stands nearby. S of the tree ferns were 1.3, 1.9, 0.2. 0.8 and 1.8 metres respectively for d D. squarrosa. The corresponding heights in 67-year forests were 2.6, plantations may have significant conservation value for maintaining native mean rotation time and maintaining pockets of native forest or mature pine Reference Ogden J., Braggins J., Stretton K. & Anderson § (1997). P| ids ot : - Plant : anon : on the central North Island volcanic plateau, New Zealand. NZ. J. Ecol a Henness smder: Pinus radiata snes 112 Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Versatile Dicksonia antarctica a a A ra —: c ck Fr, - asa on of 4 Trackway of salvaged D. antarctica trunks over a wet patch in a Tasmanian forest. Salvaged trunks of D. antarctica being grown to a saleable size, in a former potato field, under the blazing Australian sun, on a farm south of Melbourne, kept moist by overhead sprinklers and protected from wind by ragwort (?), which they eventually shade out. With sun and fertilizer these tree ferns grow much faster than they would in the forest. D. antarctica in Edinburgh, in the sunken courtyard of a cafe on Rose Street (behind Jenners store), exposed to the sky, without winter 7 wrapping and without frost damage to fronds, post-winter. Plant pots from D. antarctica trunks. SLE SAS al 5 ATEN TSN BIG ce Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 113 BRACKEN LORE Bracken and Oaks A voracious reader with an ear for oral tradition in Devon and farther afield, the Victorian botanist and folklorist, the Reverend Hilderic Friend, recorded much that still invites attention. Some of his notes on the bracken, Pteridium aquilinum L., are for instance worth pursuing, in particular the one which has it that the “root” of that plant, cut across, reveals the image of a minuscule oak (Friend, 1886). It is easy enough to match this note. Thus, an informant tells me that, as a child in the 1950s at Cudworth, near Ilminster in south-west Somerset, he was taught to pull a bracken root out of the ground and then, for the clearest image of an oak-tree, to slice diagonally across the root (Patten, 2002). My own variant of this practice, learnt in the early 1940s in north Staffordshire, involved rather cutting across the stem, to reveal an image of the oak in which Charles II hid.' Writing in 1989, a Londoner even recalls being told as a boy that he would see Charles himself in the oak, and wondering as a result, what those would have seen who split bracken stems before 1651 (Vickery, 1995). There is an answer to this question, as we shall see. For the moment, however, our concern continues to be with the version of the tradition that even led, in West Somerset, to Pteridium aqui- linum being called the oak-fern. On this the dialectologist and folklorist Frederic Elworthy comments: “If the stalk is cut across near the root there are dark markings on the section which oak tree” (Elworthy, 1888). The identical Norfolk name, recorded in 1878, is rather similarly explained. It comes “from the appearance of the vascular bundles in the rhizome” (Britten and Holland, 1878-86). To these rather detached accounts another must be added in which superstition plays a part. Dating back to 1853 and relating to “Croydon and elsewhere”, it reads, “Cut a fern-root slantwise, and you'll see a picture of an oak-tree: the more perfect, the luckier chance for you” (Gibson, 1853). Bracken and Initials All this suggests a widespread and uniform tradition. In fact, there are 114 J.B. Smith Uplands Cottage, North Road, Bath, Somerset BA2 6HD Sa che quando si taglia a sghembo lo stelo di una felce, ci si vede la figura ll dell’ Aquila bicipite? variations. A west Sussex note of 1878 refers to the custom “of cutting the common brake or fern just above the root to ascertain the initial letters of a future wife’s or husband’s name” (Vickery, 1995). About 1830, the sam custom was known in East Anglia west as Cornwall. By contrast, an Irish belief of much the same period has it that the root of a fern cut transversely reveals the initial of a chief, “and to him it is thought the land on which this plant grew formerly belonged”, Yet another strand of the tradition can be followed as far back as 1816, to Thomas Wilkie, a native of the village of Bowden near Melrose in southern Scotland. He wrote that the witches there detested the bracken, “because it bears on its root the letter C, the initial of the holy name Christ, which may plainly be seen on cutting the root horizontally”. The theme is taken up as late as 1979, when a correspondent, writing to a newspaper about a childish game called “Holy Bracken” and played in Scotland some seventy years before, spoke of the initials JC example of this sacred signature was considered very lucky (Opie and Tatem, 1989: Roud, 2003). i eh cm Looking farther afield, we find that in Germany, from the second half of the seventeenth century onwards, there were names for Preridium aquilinum along the lines of Jesus-Christus- Wurzel (“Jesus Christ root”), and these lead us back, not to Scotland, but now to Ireland, where our plant was called fern of God, “from an old belief that if the stem is cut into three pieces there will be seen on the first slice the letter G, on the second O, and on the third D” (Marzell, 1943-79). Bracken and Eagles It will already be clear that the scrying of shapes and letters in bracken stalks or rhizomes was not merely British 1745 had noted: “Cut across obliquely, the root contains a fair likeness of the Imperial Eagle”. The reference here is to the Two-headed or Double Eagle that from the twelfth century had formed the German Emperor’s coat of arms and was, in 1806, to become the emblem of the Austrian Empire. Whether or not Linnaeus was here recording his own observations, they were not without precedent. As early as 1551, the Protestant priest, physician and botanist Hieronymus Bock had written: “One other thing I must mention, that seems to me quite miraculous. It is that, as soon as the rhizome is cut through, each side of the section reveals a black bird with Outspread wings, the whole representing an eagle with two heads against a white background.” After explaining that this is in reality made up of tiny black veins in the rhizome, he goes on: “Have I not often wagered that with a single cut or stroke I would produce a clear-cut image of the Emperor’s coat of arms?” Later, in 1625, another authority wrote: “If in Germany you cut the rhizome of the Great Fern across, you find an eagle in it. If you uproot it in France, you find a lily in it.” Certainly there turns out to be 4 well-established link between bracken and heraldic eagles. The German common name is in fact Adlerfarn, “eagle fern”, and dialects of the language echo this in various ways. a ed Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) No doubt similarly influenced by Italy. Even in France, despite the contention that a lily is the plant one might expect to see, Pteridium aquilinum is fougére a l’aigle or fougéere impériale, the first of which Italian matches with felce aquilina (Marzell, 1943-79),? a name we may associate with a question put by the Italian writer Gabriele d’Annunzio (1863-1938): “Do you know that when a fern stalk is cut across obliquely, an image of the Two-headed Eagle is revealed?” (Battaglia, 1972). Compare here an anecdote recounted by the Viennese geologist and politician Eduard Suess (1831-1914). When, in the autumn of 1868, he was travelling in the Bergamasque Alps, he was held up by torrential rain, and had to spend two days in the hut of an ancient goatherd. Here he was fed on goat’s milk and celery, and questioned much about his native land. Inspired by their lively talk, on the second day the goatherd took his guest by the hand and led him through pouring rain to where a large specimen of Pteridium grew. Cutting through its stem, he said portentously: “Do you see? Here God the Father has left the Emperor’s imprint on our land. Here in the mountains we now know that it will again be his” (Marzell, 1943-79). From Bracken to Bananas The material so far presented must now be viewed in its wider context. With this in mind, consider first the following account from the Cotswolds, In which a pious man, employed in a Says: “‘I ood as soon believe in thuk thur Cross as thee doost zeng about as I ood believe as thur’s a cross in this yur bit 0’ ood!’” Lo and behold! As the saw cuts through the wood, the Perfect form of a cross is revealed at Its centre. From that day on, the atheist is a different man (Hall, 1991). _ This legend, which has a medieval ring about it, matches the accounts of sacred symbols to be found in bracken. These thus turn out not only, as we have seen, to have close counterparts In Europe, but also to be part of a wider tradition, according to which plants, and even some creatures, carry Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) BRACKEN LORE within them evidence of divine truths. Here again, Hilderic Friend is a useful source of information. In the garden of a Cistercian convent in Rome there was, he tells us, a zucca, or gourd, which, when cut through, showed a green cross inlaid on the white pulp, and having at its angles five seeds, representing the five wounds (Friend, 886). Perhaps, though, the most elaborate representation of the Crucifixion is to found in the passion flower Passiflora caerulea, which gets its very name from what Spanish friars saw in it on first coming across it in America. For them, it mysteriously displayed all aspects of Christ’s passion, from the five wounds to the crown of thorns (Friend 1886; Marzell, 1943-79; Vickery, 1995). As for creatures, rather than plants, that testify to Christ’s sufferings, there is the pike, which bears the instruments of the Passion in its head, while in the bones of a cod you may see a cross (Hoffmann-Krayer and Bachtold-Staubli, 1927-42). Compare also the cross on the back of the ass, a sign of its services to Christ, and the stag with a cross in its antlers, the sight of which converted the huntsman given to pursuing game when he should have been at church on red- letter days (Schneider, 1994). For present purposes, however, the closest match to the bracken is, improbably perhaps, the banana. Of this Friend says that, in places as far apart as China and the Canaries, people shied away from cutting it through with a knife, because to do so would reveal an image of the Crucifixion (Friend, 1886). A more recent account reflects rather less sacred concerns. According to this, a girl can “ask” a banana whether her boyfriend is being faithful. “When the question has been put, the lower tip of the fruit is cut off with a sharp knife, and the answer is found in the centre of the flesh, either a Y meaning Yes or a dark blob @ meaning No” (Opie and Opie, 1959). Not surprisingly, perhaps, the same method could be used to solve other kinds of personal problem (Vickery, 1995). As with the bracken, a single aspect of one and the same plant is the focus of religious or quasi- religious belief on the one hand, and self-interested superstitious practice on the other. Notes 1. Vickery’s fourth account of how to find an oak in a fern is based on this information under the headword bracken. The attribution, given there as “Bath, Avon, January 1991” (Vickery, 1995), would benefit from amendment in the light of what I have said above. 2. Although its Italian name might lead one to believe otherwise, the fe/ce quercina (Battaglia, 1972) does not image of an oak It is the Polypody, parallel name of oak fern, that species is frequently seen perched on the stems and branches of oak trees” (Britten and Holland, 1878-86; and see page 124 ef seq.). References Battaglia S. (1972). Grande dizionario della lingua italiana. Turin: Unione Tipographica-Editrice. 5: 791. Britten J. & Holland R. (1878-86). A Dictionary of English Plant-Names. London: Triibner. 1: 180. Elworthy F.T. (1888). The West Somerset Word-Book. London: Triibner. 529. Friend H. (1886). Flowers and Flower Lore. London: Swan Sonnenschein. 189- 90; 192; 279. Gibson J.W. (1853). “Seven Score Superstitious Sayings.” Notes and Queries, Ist series (February 1853), 7: 152-53. Hall G.E. (1991). Willum Wurkman’s Wit and Wisdom. 1914; reprint in Cotswold Tales, ed. Alan Sutton: Stroud: Alan Sutton. ; Hoffmann-Krayer E. and Biachtold- Staubli H. eds. (1927-42). Hana- worterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens. Berlin and Leipzig: de Gruyter. 5: 1706; 2: 61 361. Marzell H. (1943-79). Worterbuch der deutschen Pflanzennamen. Leipzig: Hirzel. 3: 587-8; 1168-9. Opie I. and Opie P. (1959). The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. London: Oxford University Press. 336. Opie I. and Tatem M. (1989). A Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 148 Patten R. (2002). Personal communi- cation. Roud S. (2003). The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. London: Penguin. 183. Schneider W. (1994). ‘Kreuz, Kreuzzeichen.” Enzyklopddie des Marchens, ed. Kurt Ranke. Berlin: de Gruyter. 8: 387-98. Vickery R. (1995). A Dictionary of Plant- Lore. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 24; 44; 276-7. 115 FOCUS ON FERNERIES Mount Lofty Botanic Garden was opened to the public in 1977, about twenty-five years after the first parcel of land had been purchased. It is in the high-rainfall region of the Mount Lofty Ranges, about 15 km east of South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide. The Garden was established to display plant FERN GULLY South Australia Nicola Fidler Mt Lofty Botanic Garden, 16 Lampert Road, Piccadilly 5151, South Australia collections from temperate and cool-temperate regions of the world, to complement the subtropical, warm temperate and Mediterranean climate plants grown in Adelaide Botanic Garden (18.5 Ha) situated on the Adelaide Plain, and the South African and southern Australian collections at Wittunga Botanic Garden (15 Ha) in the upper foothills’. Mt Lofty Botanic Garden Statistics Geographical location Height above sea level Temperature Mean daily minimum Mean daily maximum Lowest recorded minimum (12 January 1939 Mean annual precipitation (24 June 1944, 9 July 1944) Highest recorded maximum ) 34°58’ S, 138°42' E 670m 41.3°C 1191 mm (47 inches) General view of upper Fern Gully: In the left foreground is Cyathea muelleri and in the right foreground, Cyathea medullaris with its characteristic dark skirt of dead fronds. In the middle distance is the tall thin-trunked Cyathea cunninghamii amongst Dicksonia antarctica. The head of the micro-sprinkler in the left foreground is approximately 3 m above the ground. Covering approximately 100 Ha, the Garden has a wide range of taxonomic, geographic, ecological and _ horti- cultural thematic plantings, aided by the complex topographic relief of the site with north and south facing slopes and sheltered gullies. Soils on the hillsides are very shallow, infertile acid grey podsol, with deeper, more fertile grey-brown podsol in the valleys. The cultivated fern collection in Fern Gully comprises 91 genera in 27 families. In addition, eight native fern species: Adiantum aethiopicum, Asplenium flabellifolium, Blechnum minus, B. nudum, B. wattsii, Cheil- anthes austrotenuifolia, Pteridium esculentum and Gleichenia micro- phylla occur in natural bushland on other parts of the property. Fern Gully was established during the mid-1970s, in response to the growing public interest in ornamental horticulture. Also the increasing knowledge and horticultural skills to propagate ferns from spores contri- buted to the initial momentum of the project. It then became possible to obtain spores from overseas and to display compre-hensive collections of exotic species and cultivars in the open garden, most of which were new to Australian gardeners. The environment to grow ferns is created by Australian rainforest and rainforest margin species of trees, shrubs, climbers and other plants, principally the components of the Great Dividing Range and coastal brush forests of the eastern mainland states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria from as far west as the Grampians (Victoria). The plantings reflect the natural transition of these areas, from the wetter gully bottoms where ferns dominate, through the rainforest trees and shrubs on the slopes, to the drier outer edges and open heath areas. Tasmanian species are represented in a spur gully to the west of Fern Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) FOCUS ON FERNERIES Gully and the gully to the east is devoted to New Zealand species, tying to the Australian plantings at the confluences of the creeks, which mark the boundaries of the sections. The adjacent gully to the west is planted with South American species. This deliberate juxtaposition also allows interpretation of the Gondwanan theme. Fern Gully now displays a collection of ferns, both species and cultivars, drawn from worldwide sources. This is the only area of the Garden where ferns are the priority and the sprinkler system and watering regime have been designed for their needs. Water is delivered by microsprinklers set 3m high, supplemented by large-volume ‘Monsoon’ sprinklers used on heatwave days to raise the humidity. The length of time and frequency of watering is at the judgment of the gardener in charge. Inappropriate watering causes damage in two ways: not enough in hot weather results in visible wilting due to low relative humidity and ==> ultimately to reduced growth rates; too much leads to excessive leaching of nutrients and the soil conditions becoming anaerobic. Seasonal horticultural activities include light applications in spring and autumn of 50/50 agricultural lime/crushed dolomite limestone, spring applications of Rapid Raiser™ (Neutrog Australia Pty Ltd)’, an organic, pelletised fertilizer (N:P:K 4:3:1.5) and light applications of well-aged wood chips in spring and autumn. Weeds are controlled by hand-weeding and judicious herbicide use: fluziafop-butyl (systemic) for grasses and paraquat (contact) for broadleaf plants. Under an evergreen canopy of mainly Eucalyptus obliqua (Messmate Stringybark), there is a continuous ‘rain’ of leaf and twig litter which requires constant housekeeping to keep the fern crowns and pathways clear. The frequent attention also reduces the likelihood of feral blackbirds nesting in tree fern crowns, which can lead to rotting. The most obvious fern components of the Gully are members of the Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae. All Australian and New Zealand species are represented, plus many of those from other parts of the world. Based on the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants*’, there are 210 (33.7%) and four (9.8%) members of Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae respectively classified as threatened. Of the subsets Endangered and Vulnerable, Cyathea kermadecensis, C. australis subsp. norfolkensis, C. brownii, and C. howeana are in the collection. Additionally, there are several accessions from South America, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Islands grown from wild-collected spores which are yet to be identified to species level. Within the wider interpretation of the term ‘tree fern’’, members of the genera Leptopteris, Osmunda and Todea (Osmundaceae) and Sadleria (Blechnaceae) are also displayed. All other fern plantings are also conservation prioritised. For example, a species classified as Endangered, Vulnerable or Rare in the aforementioned IUCN Red List, where suitable, takes priority over the representation of others with little or no conservation value. However, this Principle may be moderated, as some common and vigorous species help to create conditions to allow the growing of rarer species. Also it may be counter-productive to remove established 20-year old plants to make way for a rare plant which may not meet aesthetic expectations. In our experience ferns display a great deal of horticultural ‘flexibility’, often thriving in conditions quite different from that of their native climatic range, which encourages us to trial species from anywhere in the world. In practice there are losses but, given that there is little or no Cultural information for many species, I believe it is a tribute to the skill of our horticultural staff that we are able to grow such a wide range of ferns from so many different regions. One of the challenges faced by a large public garden, insignificant to most private garden owners, is the potential for loss of specialist knowledge due to staff promotions, retirements, transfers and the like. Within the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, mechanisms and routines have been established so that detailed knowledge is recorded and does not exist exclusively in the heads of individual staff members. - We Spore pots and sporelings in the dedicated glasshouse. Ferns grown from wild-collected spores are a significant asset in terms of the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide’s world-wide role in ex situ conservation. Fern fertilization takes place after spore release and spores are therefore genetically uncontaminated, despite similar species growing in close proximity. This contrasts with the situation in flowering plants where seed from wild-collected plants in cultivation may be the result of hybridization. Furthermore, as the ferns in the collection are named and their history well-documented, their value as a source of spores for revegetation projects is very high. The interest generated among garden visitors by a memorable, botanically-significant fern collection displayed in a beautiful setting can also aid conservation programmes by raising awareness. At the pure sensory level, it is difficult to be unaffected by a walk through Fern Gully, whatever the season. It is a cool lush green haven on a hot summer’s day and in winter, the effect of misty rain is truly magical. Come and visit us if you are ever in Adelaide. FOOTNOTES 1 www.botanicgardens.sa.gov.au 2 www.neutrog.com.au/index/home 3 Wardlaw A.C. (2002). Conservation of tree ferns ex situ. Fern Gaz. 16: 393-397. 4 www.redlist.org 5 Large M.F. & Braggins J.E. (2004). Tree Ferns. CSIRO Publishing, Australia. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) 117 FERNERY NEWS INDOOR FERNS AROUND YORKSHIRE Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster Most of the ferns in the Baker collection are doing well and are a real picture. Another 300 plants have been planted, not in the quarry but nearby, and a further 300 will be added soon. Askham Bryan College, York ae The college is planning to plant three ferneries in woodland, a wet area and on limestone. Askham Bryan specialises in horticulture and already some of the students and staff are showing quite an interest in the world of the pteridophytes. So far there has not been any mention of horsetails etc. but who knows, given time. York Cemetery This planting continues to expand slowly. It was a very pleasant surprise when I had a letter from a BPS member from Leeds telling me that he had a number of good plants which he was willing to donate. They were duly delivered and we planted around twenty more ferns in an area which the cemetery staff had prepared. If members have any rare or unusual ferns they are willing to Jack Bouckley donate to any of these projects will they please contact Jack. 209 Woodfield Road, Harrogate HG1 4JE ATTADALE GARDENS Two large beds by the paths leading to the fern house have been landscaped and planted with ferns which had been temporarily planted in the storage area (see Pteridologist 4: 3, 2004 88-9). Last year we collected spores for propagation from most of Peter Hainsworth’s collection (and others) and I can say that the process was kind to us. At the time of writing we are about to start transplanting our sporelings into 3" pots from plug trays and hope that we shall be able to have examples of some 100 different varieties next year. Geoffrey Stephenson, Head Gardener Attadale Gardens, Strathcarron [V54 8YX PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE Bryan Smith Rookwood, | Prospect Road, Lowestoft NR32 3PT Some of the first advice I was given (and pass on) about growing ferns is that they require lots of patience. How true that is! A few years ago, in a garden centre, I saw a “platycerium pole” - platycerium growing out of holes cut in the side of length of plastic drainpipe. Inspired by this, I made something similar by wrapping cork tiles (softened with steam) around an 18-inch length of 4 inch diameter oe drain pipe, then cutting two 3 inch diameter holes in the # 4 side. I glued a drip tray to the bottom and planted a P. bifurcatum in each W hole, attached with some ribbon around * the pole. I used orchid | compost to fill the pole. All was fine until early 2002 when one of the platyceriums snapped off under its own weight, despite the supporting ribbon. Try as I may, I never did manage to revive the bit which fell off and I never got round to plugging the gap in my pole, either with another platycerium or a piece of cork. The remaining platycerium continued to flourish. Imagine my pleasure when some two years after the disaster a baby platycerium started to grow out of the hole - presumably from the root mass which had been left behind. A year on it is still growing, having put out both the “shield” fronds and “stag horns”. As they say, sometimes it does pay to wait. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) WHO KILLED THE LADY? Ecological disciplines are combined to solve a puzzle James Merryweather When I visited the gorge of Al/t a Ghiubhais (Mountain stream with Scots pine) in north-west Scotland in the company of a zoologist friend we, as it were, went our separate ways together, one searching for interesting plants, the other for mammal tracks and signs. High above our heads the native pines after which the gorge is named clung to the cliff sides and the trees dominating the steep, mossy slopes were mostly birch with a ines, some achieving magnificent stature where they rooted here in richer soil. The rocks of the gorge are base poor and free draining, and do not Support a particularly rich flora. Even in late March it is relatively easy to identify most ferns from their dead fronds and the expected abounded: Athyrium filix-femina, Dryopteris filix-mas, D. affinis subsp. borreri, D. dilatata, D. aemula, Oreopteris limbosperma, Blechnum spicant and Hymenophyllum wilsonii. Oak and beech fern were almost certainly there too, but not detectable unless you knew exactly where to look for withered frond remains. When we began the scramble into the gorge the zoologist soon discovered signs left by the otters as they climb the rocky streambed on their way all the way from the sea to lochans high in the hills. They deposit “spraints”, she explained, characteristic cylindrical faeces or oily blobs and smears, placed on prominent rocks and elevated turfs to mark their territorial boundaries, routes of passage and activity sites. Sprainting stations are easily seen, once you get your eye in, for regularly used grassy sites are domed humps which are greener and denser than their Surroundings due to the fertilising effect of the droppings. The vegetation on marked rocks may be urine scorched so they are bald on top, their sides colonised by What seem to be specialists; tolerant micro-algae and mosses. A close look soon Confirms the presence of spraints and the bold may care to take a confirmatory sniff, for the odour is not unpleasant and there is hone other like that of otter: musky and Sometimes quite fishy. The spraints here Contained bone fragments that had belonged to no fish, and were probably evidence of a frog feast. Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) My friend was cautious, however, not to presume otter, for other mustelids (marten, weasel, stoat etc.) leave deposits like these, the most notorious being the increasingly common alien, mink. I understand that, unlike otter spraint, mink scat (faeces) smells vile, but here the odour was quite pleasant, indeed distinctly ottery. There was similar evidence of animal activity a few metres above the streambed, a recess in the rocks that was obviously a recently occupied den. Within the den there was plenty to show that it had seen decades of use, for the floor was devoid of vegetation; just a deep layer of dry dung. The entrance was a maze of tracks worn through the vegetation. At first we assumed it was an otter’s “holt”. In relative safety, well to the left of the entrance, there was a lady fern with crosiers just beginning to unfurl. Right in front, was another with several crowns, but it was stone dead. It had been mercilessly trampled, and something had defecated on it innumerable times. Right on top of the uppermost crown was a fresh slimy deposit, which at first looked like an otter spraint of the liquid sort, but when checked for that familiar odour there was none. On reflection, it did look too pallid and gooey. If not otter or mink, for the smell was not at all revolting, then it seemed likely that pine martens must be the den’s occupants and it was they that deposited the corrosive markers and killed the fern. However, there must have been a period when the den was unoccupied, for the fern had had the chance to grow to maturity before being heartlessly murdered by a family of inconsiderate animals. There is rather more mammalian dung here than pteridology. I am grateful to ’e received some ; Adrian Dyer which redress the balance and might provoke further discussion: When we talk about the potentially lethal effects of mammals on ferns, we speak of e.g. grazing damage and treading- disturbance. I can recall no talk of pteridocide by dunging and it is an interesting addition to the list of hazards in the life of a fern. It is maybe too localised to be significant for survival of a common species but perhaps potentially important for small populations of rare species. However, this introduces the broader issue of the interaction between ferns and vertebrates, about which we know little. Perhaps there is little to know. There are some observations on insects and bracken, and bracken is no doubt cover for some birds and mammals, but what about other fern species? Could, for instance, a large stand of Drvopteris dilatata form a habitat with particular characteristics that are favoured by animals? In the reverse direction, some animals benefit ferns, at is probably important in providing micro- habitats for gametophyte establishment. Signs wees [Se ee fern: 3 Grey blob of faeces (Pine Marten?) on top of faecal heap & fern. 119 FERN RECORDING WHY PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF FERN RECORDING Change is almost always both a vital and an integral RECORD component of the dynamics of pteridophyte occurrence 9 (Page 2001; 2002a, b). But the collection of records of the F ERNS Py occurrences and distributions of ferns and fern allies, and of changes in their patterns of ranges, has for all too long been Chris P age regarded as the sphere more of ‘vicars in dog-collars and Gillywood Cottage, elderly ladies in tweeds’, than of scientists. However, such Trebost Lane, recording is a collective exercise, and pteridology owes St. Stythians, Truro, : Cornwall TR3 7DW much to generations past for the achievements to date, laying clear foundations for today’s comparisons, in which BIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF FERNS Britain and Ireland have particularly excelled (Jermy et al, AS ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORS 1978). Ferns have never been so important, for they are of New information may be as simple as filling perceived potentially high indicator value, especially of change. Six geographic ‘gaps’ to find locations for species not hitherto main innate properties of ferns combine to provide their known. Such ‘fern hunting’ has always been one of the aims species with particularly high monitoring strengths: of fieldwork. But such fieldwork also stimulates us to look more closely at what we have (and have not) in any one | Most ferns, as species, are highly mobile with time, for, area, and also to examine critically taxa encountered that in contrast to flowering plants, ferns spread by minute ‘look different’. Such recorders provide many separate airborne spores. At least some of these are likely to ‘eyes’ with which not only to spot the unusual, but also to become blown for appreciable distances. observe change. This high dispersability combines with often quite short QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF DATA generational intervals, and thus potentially short Aq] pteridological information is only as good as the quality, minimum life-cycle turnover times. rather than just the quantity, of the data collected. 3 Most ferns then become long-lived perennials, with Information on unusual finds, such as of the occurrence of spores produced annually in prodigious numbers. Many taxa out of their usual range, or of questionable taxa, needs can additionally bank spores in soils (Dyer & Lindsay, to be competently checked and authenticated as necessary. 1992), adding to the potential sources from which new /” Britain and Ireland at least, but increasingly too in plants may appear, even from beyond the range of present Europe and further afield, we are fortunate to have a number plants, if environments change. of dedicated biological recorders, widely scattered but each expert on their regions, while BSBI has also taxonomic referees. bho 4 It seems characteristic of moisture-loving plant and animal groups in general, that they have particularly high environmental sensitivities (Page, 2001), while specific conditions may be especially important at critical life- ~ cycle stages. Zz. : Many pteridophytes are tolerant of a wide range of [© edaphic (rock and soil) types, which include a range of . nutrient-poor terrains, bare rock surfaces, and of a great variety of disturbance surfaces, both natural and man- made. Sites for fern establishment are then overridingly microclimatically prescribed (Page, 2004: 2005b) Nn 6 Ferns are relatively large vascular plants, for which the presence in the field is thus easily detected, and unusual changes can rapidly come to notice. Many can also be recorded on a year-round basis. In combining the many biological elements of these ecological assets, fern ranges thus have great potentials to adjust rapidly with time to detailed changes in a wide range of terrestrial environments (Page, 2001; 2002b). Rather few Field ie cgieiss ore : i. ss other biological groups possess all of these abilities. author with Ian Benaliick & Rose Marghy. rs Cornwall. The PHOTO: IRINA GUREYEVA 120 Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) FERN RECORDING Provided that adequate field data are collected initially, the ultimate deposition of record vouchers and of novel materials in herbaria is especially important. These serve to permanently authenticate species occurrence in both place and time, and provide a firm basis if future taxonomic challenges (and taxonomy is always evolving) should require retro-authentication of earlier records. Fortunately, shoots of horsetails or fronds of ferns can usually be collected and preserved with minimal damage to persistence of the plants in the field, and sent for refereeing as necessary. SCALES AND MEASURES OF CHANGE There is a very great need in pteridology, worldwide, for accurate recording of changing patterns of fern distributions Which can throw light on overall environmental changes and trends at a great variety of scales (Page, 2001; 2005b). An important element of this is that, especially with the aid of modern computing programmes, data can be accurately presented in a wide variety of forms and can be constantly updated in ways at which our Victorian forbears would have marvelled (and some of us still do!). In assimilating and Presenting this information, pteridophyte atlases vary in range from the continental (Jalas & Suominen, 1972) to the national (eg. Jermy et al., 1978) and to the county scale (e.g. Murphy, Page & Parslow, 2005). There is something to be learned from every scale: the larger the scale, the wider are the generalisations which can be drawn on the basis of critically-checked distributions; the smaller the scale, the more detailed is the level at which data can be handled and trends first perceived and identified. But, importantly, there are also observations to be made at scales varying from the local down to population level and to the minute. All are scales at which individuals can Most closely observe local change. Recurring factors of the habitat itself, including disturbance regimes, also vary in scale, usually from the small to the minute, yet can be vital lM Opening new situations for prothallial establishment (Page, 2002a, b; 2005a). In this, the sheer dynamism of Pteridophytes in the field needs to be recognised, and direct Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Tunbridge filmy fern (Hymenophyllum tunbrigense) in West Argyll, Scotland. PHOTO; CHRIS PAGI application of simple, low-tech, low-cost field experimen- tation is clearly possible. Critically recording such details is an important forward role to be achieved by pteridologists, with information derived from the local picture ultimately providing the fundamental basis of the interpretation of the wider view. WHAT WE NEED TO RECORD What we need to know most on smaller scales is how populations and their component species change with time, and how such changes link to shifts in their habitats. Is there a steady population turnover of ferns with time? How static or mobile are the habitat changes themselves? Are elements of pattern-and-process involved and are these cyclical? Or are changes seral, and if so how does the pteridophyte component respond to changes in relation to the habitats around them? What stimulates the suitability of the microsite origin of establishing gametophytes, and where do these arise? How many plants succeed and how many fail, and what time-scales are involved? Is species diversity habitat-prescribed, and if so, at what stage in their establishment? What conditions prescribe greater suitability for one species than another? On these scales, probably little is stationary, and complex patterns are often likely to be subtly involved. Deducing cause and effect is the challenge. Important beginnings in such studies were made particularly by Bob Lloyd and Michael Cousens in America from the 1980s, and more recently, they have been independently taken forward in exquisite detail by Irina Gureyeva in Russia (e.g. Gureyeva, 2004). I am fortunate to have spent time in the field with each. Their first-hand observations add substantially to our understanding of the wider picture of change, and in these days of high-pressure research targets and costly gadgetry, such quiet but enquiring observation of ferns shows well what can be achieved by pteridologists armed with little more than what the military would call the Mk.1 eyeball, and deductive reasoning to go with it. 121 FERN RECORDING CONCLUSIONS: THE CONTINUING RECORDING ROLE FOR PTERIDOLOGISTS Pteridology has for too long preached mainly to the ‘converted’. Yet ferns and fern-allies are potentially valuable, in the short-term as well as the long-term, as sensitive bio-monitors of terrestrial change. This alone is a conspicuous reason why we should continue to apply such strengths critically and more widely. Meanwhile, our fern habitats provide valuable field-laboratories in which to discern incipient stages of change and relate these to the environment, while the innate biological potentials of ferns enable them to act recurringly as rapid-response agents. What we have to do is to read them. Further, if information on change is to be current, it also needs to be re-checked in the field at intervals as necessary, and thus constantly updated. Such recording will, of course, also inevitably establish further new information about the field biology of the plants themselves. This has certainly proved to be the consequence with applied-science interest in Pteridium. But to have such a clear use for data from ferns in wide and immediate issues is also an important plank in helping to ensure their forward conservation. It is therefore up to pteridologists, both amateur and professional, in close co-ordination, to set this importance of recording pteridological data against the wider evolving picture of change, and show that data from ferns has a distinctive, and especially sensitive, recurring role to contribute. The recording of ferns achieved to date, the data emanating from it and the atlases based upon this work, are thus not the end of the story for pteridology. Instead, we should see them as vitally important foundations upon which now to build a sound future. All it needs are pteridologists with time to spend in the field, and the eyes and brains to do this. REFERENCES Dyer A.F. & Lindsay S. (1992). Soil spore banks of temperate ferns. American Fern Journal 82: 89-122 Gureyeva I.I. (2004). Demographic studies of homosporous fern populations in South Siberia. Pp.341-364 in Chandra, S. & Srivastava, M. (eds.). Pteridology in the New Millenium. Amsterdam: Kluwer. Jalas J. & Suominen J. (1972). Atlas Florae Europaeae. Volume 1, Pteridophyta. Helsinki: Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe. Jermy A.C., Arnold H.R., Farrell L. & Perring F.H. (1978). Atlas of Ferns of the British Isles. London: BSBI & BPS Murphy R.M., Page C.N. & Parslow R. (2005). Atlas of the Ferns of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Truro: CISFBR & ERCCIS (in press). Page C.N. (2001). Ferns and allied plants. Chapter 3, pp. 50-77 in Hawksworth, D.L. (Ed.). The Changing Wildlife of Great Britian and Ireland. Systematics Asociation, London & New York: Taylor & Francis. Page C.N. (2002a). The role of natural disturbance regimes in pteridophyte conservation management. Fern Gazette 16: 4-289, Page C.N. (2002b). Ecological strategies in fern evolution: a neobotanical overview. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 119: 1-33. Page C.N. (2004). Adaptive ancientness of vascular plants to exploitation of low-nutrient substrates. Pp 447-466 in Hemsley A.R. & Poole I. The Evolution of Plant Physiology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Page C.N. (2005a). Celtic hedges as refuges for fern diversity in predominantly agriculturalised landscapes. In Leach S.J., Page C.N., Peytoureau Y. & Sandford M.N. (eds.). Botanical Links in the Atlantic Arc. London: BSBI (in press). Page C.N. (2005b). Fern range determination within the Atlantic Arc by an environment of complex and inter- -acting factors. As Page, 2005a above. Pinewood bracken oe traced es clone in oe acofoae 1983. . "<2 ‘7 pa” Sa PHOTO: CHRIS PAGE Pteridologist 4, 4 ( An ingenious gentleman and an accurate botanist. So wrote naturalist and diarist James Robertson in August 1771 after meeting John Stuart, a newly qualified theological student who had yet to be appointed to a charge. In the mid 18" century this young man’s knowledge of the Scottish mountain flora was indeed almost without equal, posterity having since credited him with a dozen ‘first records’ of montane flowering plants in Britain, either solely or in company with others. Although Stuart published extremely little on natural history, a surviving hand- written account of the flora of Schiehallion in Perthshire - which he compiled after a field visit in September 1776 - confirms that ferns were not neglected. When one considers the inadequacy of the plant identification books of the period, the twelve ferns and allies he named was a reasonable total for this not exceptionally productive hill. The publication of Flora Scotica by the Reverend Lightfoot in the following year undoubtedly did much to reinforce John Stuart’s LUSS CHURCH Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) —_— Rev. John Stuart D.D., F.R.S. of Luss (1743-1821) John Mitchell 22 Muirpark Way, Drymen, by Glasgow G63 0DX botanical reputation. Understand- ably, the majority of the records directly attributed to Stuart in this work are of flowering plants, but a number of his cryptogamic finds are also listed, including holly fern Polystichum lonchitis from near his home at Killin amongst the Bread- albane Mountains. After serving briefly at Arrochar and Weem, in July 1777 the now Reverend Stuart moved to what proved to be a permanent post for the rest of his life at Luss Church in Dunbartonshire (the picture is of the old church, demolished in 1874). A conducted tour of the manse garden, which contained a variety of Scottish Y SCOTTISH PTERIDOLOGIST arctic-alpines gathered together by the new incumbent, became a must for every scientifically-minded traveller using the military road up the west side of Loch Lomond. From the correspondence of James Edward Smith (Founder and first President of the Linnean Society) it is evident that ferns too were on show, woodsia (W. alpina?) and marsh clubmoss’ Lycopodiella inundata being of particular note. Stuart’s eldest daughter Elizabeth - who shared her father’s passion for botany - would also take those interested to where royal fern Osmunda regalis grew wild nearby. Regrettably, no trace of the Reverend John Stuart’s plant coilection can be found in the manse garden today, but for those who wish to pay their respects to this early fern enthusiast, his burial spot marked by a monumental pillar can be visited in Luss kirkyard to the east of the church. POSTSCRIPT After entering Luss kirkyard through its attractive lych gate, the first memorial at which many visitors pause to read its inscription is dedicated to Sir James Colquhoun. In December 1873 the local laird lost his life when the boat in which a deer hunting party was returning from one of the Loch Lomond islands was overwhelmed in a storm. Pterido- logists are likely to be more drawn by the same stone’s basal decoration, but it is far from certain they will come to a firm conclusion as to which species of fern the carvings are meant to represent. being those that live on trees rather than astrees rian Dyer 499 Lanark Road West, Balerno, Midlothian, EH14 7AL INTRODUCTION The sight of a well-grown plant of Dryopteris dilatata half-way up an oak tree prompted me to think about ferns as epiphytes (Fig. 1). Epiphytes are plants which have no roots in the soil and live above the ground surface, supported by another living plant (Tootill, 1984) but not parasitic upon it. About 30% of pteridophyte species are epiphytic (Ingrouille, 1992; Wilson's filmy fern Camus, Jermy & Thomas, 1991) and most fern families are represented. Figure 1. Broad buckler fern (Dryopteris dilatata) as an epiphyte 0 : i oo - ae ss ms « : VARY ok 4 77.8 Z ° ¥ % a 4 ) 4 pia “St te aD — Figure 2. (Hymenophyllum Most species in the Hymenophyllaceae, Grammitidaceae, Vittariaceae, Polypodiaceae and Elaphoglossaceae are epiphytic, accounting for more than 80% of all fern epiphytes; almost half the remaining epiphytic species are in the genus Asplenium (Dassler & Farrar, 2001). The Polypodiaceae alone contain more than one quarter of all epiphytic fern species with some genera, such as Microsorum and Polypodiopteris, consisting entirely of epiphytes (Kramer & Green, 1990). Although rarely stated explicitly, many epiphytic species are obligate epiphytes, not found on any other substrate: for example Asplenium hypomelas grows only on tree ferns, and Hymenophyllum malingii is almost entirely confined to the New Zealand cedar Libocedrus bidwillii. With no access 10 the nutrient reservoir in the soil, an epiphyte has to obtain its nutrients from the air, rainwater, decaying organic debris trapped on the surface of the supporting plant, and wind- blown dust. It is therefore no surprise that they are typically found in wet forests, particularly in tropical areas (Page, 1979). Some epiphytic species can also be epilithic, growing on rocks; these species are facultative or opportunistic epiphytes. BRITISH FERN EPIPHYTES There are at least six species in the British fern flora that are opportunistic epiphytes. The two Hymenophyllum spec's grow on freely draining rock surfaces and lower parts ici boles in humid locations, particularly in the west of Brita (Fig. 2 left and 4 opposite). H. wilsonii is more often epiphytic than H. tunbrigense (Page, 1997). The three Polypodium species spread over well-drained rocks and walls and also grow epiphytically on rough-barked trees such a Co ae Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) oak. The calcicolous P. cambricum is epiphytic more rarely and locally than is P. interjectum (Fig. 3) and the calcifuge P. vulgare (Fig. 5 overleaf). Polypodium species tolerate drier conditions than Hymenophyllum but only grow as epiphytes where moisture is readily available, notably in western Britain. In the wettest habitats, P. vulgare is predominantly epiphytic. In drier areas, including south-east Scotland, it is only epiphytic on trees close to water. All five species share the characteristics that they have creeping rhizomes that spread over well-drained surfaces, whether rocks or trees, producing single fronds at intervals along their length. The only other British species that I have seen growing epiphytically is Dryopteris dilatata (but see post- script). It is typically a terrestrial fern in moist but well-drained, more or less acidic, woodland. In moist areas, young plants will develop on porous tock surfaces and hummocks around tree boles, and will reach maturity in pockets of humus in rock-faces, including walls, and on rotting logs and stumps. “In old, undisturbed woodland in areas of high humidity...” it“....frequently becomes epiphytic on tough-barked trees, especially where humus collects at the bases of their branches,” (Page, 1997). Even in the relatively dry climate o South-east Scotland, epiphytic individuals of D. dilatata can be found, usually in trees overhanging rivers in ravines. An example of such a location is Roslin Glen (Landranger map 66; NGR 36/276 628), where annual Preci-pitation is typically about 50 mm. Except where there are Steep cliffs, both sides of this ‘avine have been covered in Native deciduous woodland for en 250 years and have many vo Plant species characteristic : Acient woodland. Polypo- “m vulgare occurs up to 12 m ‘eel the ground, usually bis On forks of large ea, €s of old oak trees that are is ng Over the = river. - dilatata is more common than Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Figure 4. Epiphytic Hymenophyllu Pty 4 > 7 ae es Figure 3. Western polypody (Polypodium interjectum) on an oak tree in Cornwall. BRITISH 'TREE FERNS' fy « Polypodium as an epiphyte at this location. It occurs on three times as many trees, all oaks, and there are up to four plants on each tree. The epiphytes occur at 2-12 m above ground level, usually in old wounds created by the loss of large limbs. In one case, a large plant of D. dilatata is accompanied by Vaccinium myrtillis, confirming the acidic nature of the accumulated humus. In the same area, D. dilatata is a prominent component of the ground flora, providing a source of abundant spores, but it is not the only fern species nearby. Of the 15 other species recorded locally, Athyrium _filix-femina, Blechnum spicant, Dryopteris affinis, D. filix-mas and Pteridium aquilinum are also common, but only P. vulgare and D. dilatata occur as epiphytes. | PHOTO: JAMES MERRYWEATHER m wilsonii ay 4 : ? 3 > D. dilatata occurs on trees further up the ravine slope than those with Polypodium, up to 100 m from the river and level with the top of the ravine. This indicates that when growing as an epiphyte, D. dilatata can establish in less humid conditions than can Polypodium. This idea is reinforced at another site, at Muir O’Dean Wood on the Dalmahoy Estate, (Landranger map 65; NGR 35/152 685) about 15 km NW of Roslin and at the same altitude (115 m asl). Precipitation has been about 1000 mm in recent, unusually wet, years. The wood consists of some 0-15 hectares of mixed, largely deciduous, woodland on a generally level site. Of about 100 oak trees examined, only two had epiphytic plants of D. dilatata. One is growing in a very open situation about two metres above ground level on the western edge of the wood (Fig. 1). Although there is a pond ringed with alders within the wood, there is nothing to suggest that this fern is in an unusually humid place; on the contrary, it is on the south side of the trunk, facing away from the wood and often exposed to direct sunlight. The fern is well established in the hollow base of a lost branch and has multiple crowns and is fertile. D. dilatata 125 BRITISH 'TREE FERNS' dominates the floor of the wood over an area of more than a hectare, the nearest plant being 50 m from the tree; scattered individuals of A. filix-femina and D. affinis also occur but P. vulgare is not present. THE ECOLOGY OF FERN EPIPHYTES The successful establishment of plants of D. dilatata in these two locations raises interesting questions about the ecology of this species, of other British facultative epiphytes, and of epiphytes in general. It could be argued that there is nothing remarkable about these occurrences. Large numbers of D. dilatata spores are in the air around these trees every summer, and if some land on organic detritus caught in crevices, then it is not surprising if some develop. However, the resulting ferns then have to survive the same conditions as an obligate epiphyte, depending on rain water, either directly or running down the trunk, and the accumulation of decaying leaves for most of their mineral nutrition. Moreover, none of the other ferns common in the immediate neighbourhood of the _ trees are successful at establishing epiphytically, and this is apparently generally true throughout Britain for all other native species apart from Hymenophyllum spp. and Polypodium spp. (but see Postscript). True epiphytes are either humus epiphytes or bark epiphytes (Ingrouille, 1992). Humus epiphytes establish in pockets of humus trapped on trees; many of them are opportunistic epiphytes growing equally well in humus trapped among rocks. Bark epiphytes spread over the surface of the tree by means of creeping rhizomes with clinging roots; they have to tolerate even more limited access to water and minerals, having access only to what is trapped in crevices in the bark or among their own fronds. Many of these are highly adapted obligate epiphytes with xeromorphic features such as reduced, leathery or succulent leaves and modified (CAM) photosynthesis to reduce water loss. Others, like Asplenium nidus and Platycerium spp., have overlapping upright fronds to trap water and humus. THE ECOLOGY OF Dryopteris dilatata AS AN EPIPHYTE Dryopteris dilatata is clearly an opportunistic humus epiphyte. Unlike Polypodium and Hymenophyllum, it rarely establishes in the small crevices of rough bark, except occasionally in a large fork. It seems to need larger amounts of humus, such as can accumulate in hollow branch stumps Tote i PHOTO: mai MERRY WEATHER Figure 5. Common polypody (Polypodium vulgare) on oak. and wounds left by fallen limbs in the ower parts of older, larger trees. This may be because, unlike the other British epiphytes, it does not have an extended branching rhizome but a Short stout near-vertical stem or caudex with a crown of fronds at the top and roots towards the base. It requires a deeper substrate for the anchorage necessary to support the shuttlecock of fronds and resist disturbance by wind, although this does not explain why it is epiphytic on oak but not so on adjacent alder, beech and birch trees with similar damage. The humus accumulation then provides a reservoir for water which better enables the fern to withstand short periods without rain. The humus probably creates acidic conditions, which will be suitable for D. dilatata 126 inner al but this does not explain why Athyrium filix-femina or Blechnum spicant, also present on the adjacent woodland floor, do not establish alongside D. dilatata. The ecological require- ments of all three species have something in common as indicated by the fact that they are all placed in the ‘Sub-Atlantic’ group and all are more abundant and more capable of spreading into open habitats in areas of high humidity (Page, 1988). However, it appears that D. dilatata possesses some unknown quality lacking in the other terrestrial species that makes an epiphytic existence possible. The sporophyte has no obvious adaptations to an epiphytic existence but little is known of the ecology of the gametophyte. It is known that most of the variation in fern gametophyte mor- phology occurs among epiphytes and most epiphytes have long-lived and clone-forming gametophytes (Chiou & Farrar, 1997; Dassler & Farrar, 2001). In the Hymenophyllaceae, Gram- mitidaceae, Vittariaceae and Elaphoglossaceae, the gametophytes are elongated (ribbon-like, strap- shaped or filamentous), and usually branched. This would probably be an advantage for establishment in a mat of intertwined bryophyte protonemata. The species that have been cultured proved to be unusually slow-growing; this may be a general characteristic. The Hymenophyllaceae and Grammit- daceae produce green spores and together with the Vittariaceae produce dispersible gemmae, but it is not clear whether these are in any way linked to success as an epiphyte. Some members of the Polypodiaceae (such 4 Lepisorus thunbergianus) also have persistent, strap-shaped or ribbon-like clonal gametophytes but most form cordate (heart-shaped) prothalll. However, these may eventually produce more-or-less cordate proliferations from the margin Of surface, and “persistent growth an clone formation may be character! of the family” (Chiou && Farral, 1997). It is tempting to conclude that persistent growth and clone formation. if not always elongated growth, of the stic opis go Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) BRITISH "TREE FERNS' gametophyte are associated with success as an epiphyte. connectilis and Gymnocarpium dryopteris can occur in However, in some terrestrial species, senescent cordate woodland with D. dilatata and Polypodium and they have a prothalli sometimes regenerate new prothalli along the creeping branched rhizome which would seem to make margin. Indeed, Chiou & Farrar (1997) claim that them potential epiphytes, but do they ever establish on gametophytes of most, perhaps all, fern species are capable _ living trees? of regenerating new prothalli from older ones. Furthermore, Investigations of gametophyte development in there is no evidence that the prothalli of the epiphytic Polypodium spp. and Dryopteris dilatata, and comparisons species of Asplenium differ significantly from the cordate, with non-epiphytic species present in the same woodlands relatively short-lived, ones described for terrestrial such as D. affinis, D. filix-mas and Athyrium filix-femina, Asplenium species. Clearly, the formation of cordate might reveal why D. dilatata is capable of an epiphytic gametophytes neither precludes nor ensures establishment existence. This in turn might indicate the factors which as an epiphyte. prevent exclusively terrestrial species from establishing as The gametophytes of the British species of an epiphyte and even suggest what it is that prevents the Hymenophyllum are typical of the family; they form obligate epiphytes found in other climates from establishing branching elongate filaments. The gametophytes of British on the forest floor. Polypodium species are cordate but little other information is available about them; they develop from spores that are the largest in the British fern flora. The cordate Camus J.M., A.C. Jermy & B.A. Thomas (1991). 4 gametophytes of D. dilatata develop relatively rapidly, World of Ferns. Natural History Museum, London. ; : Chiou W-L. & D.R. Farrar (1997). Comparative producing sporelings in about four months in the oe eer ; : gametophyte morphology of selected species of the family Ber pouse, and — relatively short-lived, though Polypodiaceae. American Fern Journal 87(3), 77-86. unfertilised prothalli may live for one to two years. In these passler C.L. & D.R. Farrar (2001). Significance of respects, D.dilatata is not obviously different from other gametophyte form in long-distance colonization by tropical, common terrestrial woodland ferns. Nothing that is known — epiphytic ferns. Brittonia 53 (2), 352-369. about the gametophytes would explain why D. dilatata is Ingrouille M. (1992). Diversity and Evolution of Land regularly found as an epiphyte, and the others are not. Plants. Chapman & Hall, London. Kramer K.U. & P.S. Green (1990). The Families and THE NEED FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol.1. Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. A better understanding requires more observations on the © ne P occurrence of D. dilatata as an epiphyte throughout Britain, Page CN. (1979). The Diversity of a An Ecological its hosts, its location on the host, and its surrounding habitat, poe - oo. ae Biology includi 3 i : of Ferns, pp. 9-50. : : Of on _ eager peng see - oe Page C.N. Pi A Natural History of Britain's Ferns. terrestrial British spec; ac ee Collins, London. ie Me “aaa pecies occurring as epiphy AES - Page C.N. (1997). The Ferns of Britain and Ireland. € is one report (see postscript) of Polystichum Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. aculeatum growing epiphytically, despite being known asa_Tootill E. (1984). The Penguin Dictionary of Botany. species of calcium-rich mineral soils. Phegopteris Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth. REFERENCES EPIPHYTIC FERNS agi Wa James Merryweather aN ae of Adrian’s article increased my awareness a Y epiphytic ferns, as opposed to those that aa a. rotting logs and stumps. I have been able to his short list of British ‘tree ferns’. oe ood the last house in the hamlet of 3 oe (high above the north shore of Loch NGBs04s the Western Highlands of Scotland, Plants eae there are half a dozen mature a Polystvchum aculeatum thriving at an ang| aot a couple of metres in the branch § 8les of a horizontal ash tree. ST : WN ’ og PRESS Adrian reports that he has recently Rap Sasaass Glen epiphytic Athyrium filix-femina in Puck's - > F hear Dunoon, Argyll & Bute (NS151841). eee Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) “ WORLD FERNS Los Angeles and its environs are not likely to raise the expectations of a fern lover. Palms, especially the Skyduster (Washingtonia filifera), sculpturesque agaves, eucalypts, and many other near-naturalised exotics are there in plenty, but it does not look like fern country. There are, of course, some oases for the pteridologist. The Mildred Matthias Botanical Garden, close to the UCLA campus at Westwood, has an interesting array of (non-indigenous) ferns in its shadier and damper spots; and a wonderful experience is in store at Barbara Joe Hoshizaki’s garden near Hollywood. However, it may come as a surprise to learn how easy it is to find a number of beautiful native species within a not- too-distant view of the Paul Getty Museum and the Pacific Coast Highway. Santa Monica, bounded to the west only by Pacific Ocean beaches and lying slightly out of Los Angeles proper, is an area of ‘very desirable properties’. All the gardens are eye- catching, and the juxtaposition of Mexican Spanish, Japanese, East Coast American, and English styles, means that a walk around the immaculately lawned streets offers up-lift for the visiting plantsman. The streets were long-ago planted with a rich variety of very beautiful trees: Magnolia grandiflora, Jacarandas, Coral trees, Carob trees, and Canary Island Pines provide a coolness and verdure that is far from native to Southern California and sustained only by a prodigal use of sprinklers. Ferns feature in many gardens, but the range of species grown is boringly pre-dictable, and generally consists only of Nephrolepis cordifolia, Asplenium bulb- iferum, and the ubiquitous, though always impressive, Cyathea cooperi. It seems a pity that, given the climate and the apparent lack of 3 serious restrictions on water usage, more exciting fern gardening is not in evidence. Rising from the Pacific coast and creating an inviting backdrop to the north of the city are the Se SOME FERNS OF THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS Dick Hayward Rickards Hardy Ferns Ltd. Carreg-y-Fedwen, Sling, Tregarth, Gwynedd LL57 4RP Figure 1. Pellaea andromedifolia (above, left) with Pentagramma triangularis Santa Monica Mountains. These hills only get above 1,500 feet in a few places. Here, however, we see a truer Southern California landscape, for, unaided by sprinklers, these semi-arid hills present a unique eco-system. Rolling dry hilltops and steep canyons of friable, pock-marked sedimentary rocks support a decidedly xerophytic vegetation known as chaparral. The dominant shrubs of the hills and ridges are Ceanothus spp., Rhus (laurina and integrifolia), and an unidentified 4 Figure 2. Selaginella bigelovii species of Arctostaphylos. This genus is generously represented in Southern California and the species hybridize freely (Munz, 1974). On the more gentle upper slopes of the canyons a frequent and unmistakable plant is Yucca whipplei subsp. intermedia. It has rosettes of needle-sharp leaves which, when mature, support one absolutely enormous flower spike. Alas, I have never been in these hills at the time of flowering but the dead flower-spikes remain aloft long after the mother plant has withered away, and often top nine feet in height. A variety of smaller plants cling on the rocky canyon walls lower down, but most dramatic among these is the Chalk Lettuce (Dudleya pulverulenta), a Sempervivum-like succulent the size of cabbage covered with a vivid white bloom. On the dry undulating ridges ferns are almost non-existent, and it is only on the way down the canyon slopes that they begin to appear. The first to be noticed, growing well out into the sun, is Pellaea andromedifolia (Fig. I). The common name of this species 1s Coffee Fern on account of the coffee bean-shaped pinnule segments. Some clumps of this plant are quite dense and may be a yard across. With tripinnate fronds on which all the segments are stalked P. andromedifolia rathet resembles a miniature acacia thicket. It almost always grows in among other low scrub, and one assumes that in this way its slender stipes receive support and its rhizome some shade. In moiste! and shadier conditions I have found plants of this fern with much larger pinnule segments; S° much larger, in fact, that for some time I believed | ha found some other Pellaea species. Pellaea mucronata is also said to om commonly in these hills, but only saw it on one occasion. The other _ surprise encountered fully in the a on earthy banks, and very i earth at that, is 7 bigelovii (Fig. peli to find a Selaginé ila i such a_ situation, in ne consistently ignored this 0 Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) WORLD FERNS Figure 3. Dryopteris arguta throughout several hikes in the Santa Monicas. It looks for all the world like a tiny half dried-up heather, and its wiry, grey-brown dead growth certainly lends credence to this impression. Climbing lower down into the canyons, but avoiding the cliffs, in areas where the soil is a bit damper under overhanging rocks, at the base of boulders, or tucked away among low growing shrubs such as wild Ribes americana is Pentagramma triangularis (syn. Pityrogramma triangularis Fig. 1). In places, this fern is quite abundant. Depending on the time of year, its geranium-like (pentagonal) frond is curled up in desiccation, and at such times involuntarily reveals the beautiful yellowy-silver underside - though this is usually obscured by dehisced brown sporangia on the old fertile fronds. Some plants are much more robust, and the upper surface of the frond can be a chocolate-brown colour. Such fronds so resemble the photograph in Lellinger (1985: Plate 181) of Notholaena californica that | thought for a short while that I had come upon that species. However, the Positioning of the sporangia is a total give-away, for in Notholaena there is a marginal false indusium tracing the Periphery of the frond, while in Pentagramma the sporangia are scattered over the entire underside of the frond. Wherever mature plants of P. triangularis are found, spection usually reveals dozens of minute sporelings Scattered about. The canyon floors are usually flat and there is generally shes Moisture in evidence. There may even be a streambed Page Occasional pools of muddy water. One assumes a are residues of those somewhat rare times when it Nu Y rains and the canyon bottom carries a flash flood. sili (natural) ditches lead into the main stream beds cour ese too must sometimes serve as emergency water- at On the canyon floors there are trees as well = Ma "i the largest and most attractive being the Big-Lea a (Acer macrophyllum). A tall and doubtless very tide grass, the so-called Giant Wildrye (Elymus men” is abundant here. On the banks, well out of on argut = of the torrents when they come, is Dryoptet is ionds th ig. 3). This is a relatively large fern with inant first at often reach three feet in length. When the fronds unroll, they have the golden-green colour of young Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) Lime leaves, but later the brightness is muted and the fronds have a decidedly dull hue - just like the colour shifts seen in our own Athyrium filix-femina. D. arguta is unlike any Dryopteris | am familiar with in Britain in that the rhizome is seldom fully erect and tends to grow at an angle, giving the plant a slightly lop-sided appearance. The rhizome also spreads underground so that where this fern grows well it can give rise to a colony of quite widely separated crowns; each crown however supports only three to five fronds. Adiantum jordanii (Fig. 4) is occasionally found on the banks of the ditches referred to earlier. It also grows among boulders in fairly deep shade. This beautiful fern greatly resembles A. capillus-veneris, though the frond segments are more rounded, i.e., they are less cut into than in that species. The stalks of the ultimate segments are also longer in A. jordanii. I only encountered one place, a gully, where this was the dominant fern. This particular habitat seemed to be permanently very moist - as was evidenced by the dense growth of mosses. Here, Adiantum jordanii was really quite luxuriant with fronds up to 15 inches in length. It was in this same niche that the larger-leaved form of Pellaea andromedifolia mentioned earlier was growing. The tops of the steep banks, where roots of trees and boulders are exposed, seems to be a niche especially favoured by the Californian Polypody (Polypodium californicum Fig. 5 overleaf), though I have also found it growing on flat ledges on the canyon walls, where it is sometimes almost buried in the fallen leaves that get trapped there. Like British polypodies, this one also forms extensive and dense colonies. Polypodium californicum is generally rather similar to P. cambricum. Thus, the frond is relatively wide, pinnatifid, and the pinnae are quite widely separated with the lowest ones inturned. On larger fronds the edges of the pinnae are serrated and often have a gently undulating profile. With their relatively thin, delicate texture and matt finish there could never be any confusion with the leathery, somewhat glossy fronds of P. scouleri, the other common polypody of California. But the range of the latter stops further north and it doesn’t seem to occur in the Santa Monicas. WORLD FERNS There is at least one other charming little fern that grows in | these hills, and I was fortunate enough to find a site where it Bia" was very abundant. I say fortunate because the Californian Lace Fern (Aspidotis californicum Fig. 6) seems to be rather restricted in its distribution. Lellinger (1985: 148) says of the genus Aspidotis: “The Lace Ferns grow in rock crevices or on talus slopes from British Columbia to Southern California. The plants, which are restricted to selenium- bearing (ultramafic) rocks and soils, are difficult to maintain”. The broad and shallow gully where I found it was certainly cut into a quite distinct type of rock, a pinkish conglomerate with a coarse, gritty matrix, though whether selenium was present in it I could not say. Certainly this site suited Aspidotis, for I had only seen small isolated individual plants on other occasions. However, it was a site that obviously also suited a number of the other species | have tioned, namely Pentagramma triangularis, Pellaea andromedifolia, and Polypodium californicum, for they were all flourishing there. At a superficial glance Aspidotis californicum looks something like Cryptogramma crispa and something like a small-fronded Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, but this has to be qualified by adding that it is really very distinct from both. The similarity to Cryptogramma is that most mature plants consist of many short fronds thrusting up through a tangle of dead stipes of previous growth. Old fronds are quite dark-coloured, and the undersides are covered with sporangia, but the continuously produced emerging new fronds are a very bright green indeed. The only other fern met with - and that only infrequently - was the Western Bracken, the Californian variety of an all- too-familiar fern that is virtually pan-global in its a Sy , es occurrence. Preridium aquilinum var. pubescens is indeed, * Ne. as > aes as its name suggests, a hairy form of bracken; the rachis is Figure 5a, b. covered with hairs that are quite soft to the touch. Polypodium californicum The Santa Monica Mountains provide a popular and easily accessed recreational area. The ferns discussed in this article can be seen on three shortish hikes centred on Trippett Ranch, above Topanga Canyon. For the hiker there is an excellent guide to the range (McCauly, 1984), written by a keen naturalist who in his descriptions of the various hikes and trails often tells the reader where ferns (species not stated) and other plants and animals are likely to be found. At the back of the book one of the appendices lists fern species that might be encountered. Among those listed is Woodwardia fimbriata. It would have been very exciting to discover this one too, but so far I have not been lucky. REFERENCES Lellinger D. B. (1985). A Field Manual of the Ferns and Fern- Allies of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institute. 148. McCauly M. (1984). Hiking Trails of the Santa Monica Mountains. 3rd edition jAis f nF = a, a NG Munz P. A. (1974). A Flora of Southern California. University of : ree : : California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London. Figure 6. Aspidotis californicum een COMING SOON FROM BPS SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS: New Atlas of Ferns and Allied Plants of Britain & Ireland, eds. A.C. Wardlaw & A. Leonard, 100 pp, due Ist October 2005 [contact: mail@andrew-leonard.co.uk for pre-publication offer at £8.00 inc. p&p, overseas extra] Also soon: the late Jimmy Dyce’s Polystichum book, completed by Robert Sykes et al —$——————— Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) BOOK REVIEWS A Natural History of Ferns by Robbin C. Moran (2004). (Foreword by Oliver Sacks). Timber Press, Portland at New York Botanical Garden. Robbin Moran is one of those rarities in the scientific world the enjoyment o e and the Boiessional Eldbiogiet no me achievement in itself. not give a guide to fern identification nor des he oly cover British ferns. His aim , as he as | in his ae to Maine tie bi ology of ferns, “..how they grow _ elop, reproduce and g Micah adapt and volve...how they interact wit eir environment” [and] “how they affect the dines of a pak as as ‘The Life i ran devotes a chapter to the ate arge number of ferns (many endemic) of c = n Crusoe islands (more correctly S Me gad Juan supose nue Pie gine elkirk, wh sanded for for four ail] et ge Spi beens ; 2 eae in Australia, i seiibees and New tic and, a quite emai story of spare lal Native to Juan Fernandez a elegans, ria guar pinnata and 7h Pe » are among Planet. Incidentally the Lophosoria survives sad " abd the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh i. ar S trials are beginning on the opteris. abe page 99) chapter explores the mechanism that Other Thies the spiral of fern fiddleheads or ~— isaC ‘piral, b . rather than an Archimedean i ins nN one fern, Azol/ ly destroyed the economies of ral trop = countries. But I must not give = 4, 4 (2005) The foo hes are self-contained but nig could be rder. The book is lavishly iliuateated with colour ‘plates, black and w photographs, and lots of line drawings and Woodsia, orientalis, Loch heed not Loch Tyn nis shoots are not enh only, if ever, sae ritain, occasions a word, luckily seat ‘acceenonntiae is missing oh the text. The quirkiest example of this appears on the dust jacket where x Sack’s praise for the book is misquoted as “...stim — a a beautiful Siinrilasios for any — ” So give this book to your favourite fern companion — but read and enjoy it for vourade first. Frank McGavigan Tree ferns including i col. Plates on 60 pp. Pric Of the nme a scp ms I cann olume ia on tree ms. The ve been local accounts published as separates, ¢.g. Holttum’s davis Malesiana 1963 and Scott's Tree fe e Himalaya 1874, but no orldwide past aphs. Now, long last this with the current popularity of t ems ae ms will guarantee a lot of interest in this For the acai there is much valuable rte on all manner of cultural issues. particularly eas sed to see watering into “the sii bee raged by at least three mentions in the opinion with which | wholeheartedly ae Advice on pests and diseases is sound, as are the notes on feeding and propagation. folie on ne protection is brief, but Paages no nS oblem commonly splittin r relings becoming aan 8 ‘he sides af “the trunks. co & - a=) S. a o n p ar ° rious oo & "oO wn 3 a 2 Oo ~ io) ° =! 3 5 Cyathea c he — et. it . e not 1 aoe ee are included in the C oblongata. "M as are quite a lot of hybrids, but ntioned e classic Dicksonia x lathamii in surprisingly th Sirni iva know one pl a ia. I jusions in the huge species list are oie Spey QOsmunda regalis, admittedly with a stout rootstock, is there, as is Culcita dubia from Australia which has a creeping rhizome. Exclusion also seems a little erratic. For example the wonderful Dice memrianic um ’ apreepn with two — photographs, not merit more than passing reference in the Blec hnum Se atic as “having a 1 am a little — that ia two forms of Dicksonia lanata tas one species. If molecular ary ig aos ny two forms are marginally isolated, they are therefore different on the molecular level. They are certainly as different as chalk and cheese on the morphological level. I will always we some pie cng that 0 two are the same rather than D. Janata (prostrate) and D. hispid rel Both are asco’ on page 212 The photographs are superb. Tree ferns are notoriously difficult mblects yet here we have ful yet beautiful 0 the dust wrapper was well c . What fantastic specimen! Overall this book has many good features. However, I find myself asking who are the target readers? As a scientific dhl it is "or example synonyms — this nus like Cyathea with 400-600 species, and Cinical data are rarely given. As a gardener’s reference book the information on cultivation is species or cultivars. The answer is agent = this book will appeal to interest in tree ferns, largely end > the ee It is a useful and inexpensive start along the road to a much-needed worldwide botanical diboars raph. Martin Rickard Swaziland Ferns and Fern Allies Swasiland ferns and by JP Roux, 2003. Southern fern allie African Botanical Diversity shone Network Report No. 19. ' SABONET, Pretoria. It seems hard to believe that the fine publication by John nd urrows (Southern African ferns and fern allies) was published 14 s ago. Although it is a arge tome, accompanied me to both Mauritius and South a and I refer to it frequently. The Burr work covers a large area (including comely and is hardly a field guide, s more focused and smaller —— work for this sent work has species et e The present mer contains similar excellent drawings, accompanied by highly detailed 131 descriptions - each species. These descriptions are lengthy technical, perhaps thereby ps a ac daunting to the servis Sor For mple, ows takes 120+ C st ait whilst Ros uses 350+. The aaa authors describe the sori of this species thus “Sori eek cup-shaped, with the seta rather like end little eggs in an egg-cup, born in two rows along — side of the costule, up ni 10 sori per lobe” (Burrows). “Sori up to 9 pairs = seament circular, pres confluent at matu vein fork o inframedially on oe sf Alt vein nla e raised, paraphysate, paraphyses cellular, uniseriate, apical cell not differentiated: sporangium short-stalked, simple, aaa attached, capsule obtriangular in lateral view, annulus mgs with (17- )19(- 20) ‘iibeeatend annulus inferior, cupiliform, qurrounding ee ase. Spores 16 per sporan ium, brow tee pia trilete, papillate, exospore Gs. )40. ai Gounod! diameter.” (Roux The book runs to 241 es, and is ve eed produced in laminated paper covers y a be eran ae 4 sparta ph of Cheilanthes eckloni ntroduction describes the Stwikdlend “topography, geology, climate, vegetation, and conservation issues. The taxon pre wit families er their own omprehensive synonymies, nn ogy, coreg? (with distribution maps within Swaziland), and uses, and are supported at the end of the book by a key to abbreviations ised and a glossary My only criticism of the book is the way the ace for bibdate: within the species y amge Boca I imagine this work will be highly valuable to professional taxonomists and ecologists, and fern enthusiasts oe in the area would not wish to be without a copy. The work can be probe from Sabonet Co- ordinator, c/o National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria 001, South A e aims Southern Bese Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET) programme are to strengthen the level of botan ce Pipe ag expand and improve herbari and botanic garden collections, and foster closer collaborative tikes Pteridophyta. aces No. 13. J P Roux. 2001). Graham Ackers Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks, 2002. Ls National Geographic, oriver s*° Washington D.C. Pp. xv, ] 1 x 14.5 cm. ISBN 0- 7922- 6521-1. Hardback £12.99 Oliver Sacks, the world famous professor of clinical a) a of the New York Chances of BOOK REVIEWS the American Fern Society as well as a member of the BPS. An nyone who has seen his film “Awakenings” or read will know that he is a true gentle wonderful skill with ieee ta this — he describes his time spen a fern of Oaxaca in Mexico under tis leadership of. Toki Mickel, the authority on Mexican fern To be honest, ferns do not ae ae book. It is a ati interspersed with numerous In particular I had to chuckle at the description of Robbin Moran, Curator Ag ferns oe the New York Botanical Garden: “a shy unassuming man with horn-rimmed glasses who yin like a post-doc in his late ee or thirties”. | have the pleasure of knowing Robbin and I think y uld know srietiel e, from that! artic ba ba oe Hoshizaki and her husband T also in the of 30. What a € group 0 gathering It al adds to the frustration | feel at ot being ther ane seen ne discussed are numerous, and there are quite a few illustrated by the pes S sketches. There is also a map of the area visited. noel: ing I ares do the text justice in a short e. This is a book for oan. I think vitoally: “all me se Bt of our society woul enjoy it, especially those who have attended BPS field eta! and recognize all the little nuances that go to make field meetings, be they in England or Aten so enjoyable. Martin Rickard All Ferns of the World ALL FERNS OF THE WORLD welders ted by Dr Michael Hassler and Brian Swale hectan Available — Brian Swale, 140, Panorama Road, por ign a Price NZ$70 p 0 g. You ie conta ae author by emai ‘otgnaline ne A CD-ROM does not automatically attract my attention, indee Pp en it was given to me. Eventually I decided to open it and had a surprise! It is one of the most enone documents I can ever remember ing. yD 8 Alms every fern species and hybrid in the orld is listed (a total of 12,838 and 501 respectively) Each entry includes the author of ach n with details = its first publication, all fssytt mous nam again with full publication details, and ears ison 4 y my rough reckoning - | did not count hem. As well as being a fascinating reference I have already found the CD-RO useful. I found a dwarf ophioglossum in the Can olyphyllum. Just to oh epee matters dis name i to be hy Se ricum. World of ferns came to the rescue. apie under O. nas were all the countries where it grows. One was South Africa and there in John Burro b S Azores was quite rane and therefore pal medas O. lusitan Some of the Pa on the CD-ROM is TAN free of charge on the internet (www.homepages. C's net.nz/~bj/fern) but the main species list is not included. In correspondence, Brian Swale has informed me there are, ni surprisingly, some errors. The ost impor mission is a block of American chellanthoids Why they were left out uthors but it will be put right in the se saitioe: Appended after the main lists is a lengthy set . data from Barbara arris, correcting and ste g data, mainly on Grammitis and related gen In conclusion I think knoe eridolgi would value this CD-ROM, e gardeners who like NZ$74 is abo “ty bana ae classic reference Pre des Fi ea Rickard AIDGAP Key to Common Ferns by James Merryweather, 2005. Illustrated by Carol Roberts. Field Studies Council. ISBN | 85153 290 0. £2.50 incl. p&p (special offer: £2 from BPS merchandise) This key consists of eight fold-out gi ar 0 fronds of all the ferns that are des The keys are similar to the more expand omission of the least common a inaccessible ferns makes e manageable number although = Bargries _ A distinct of an attractive Lpouespe een which e its purpose of make an attempt ey ident A friend who was pre pos cit I eee my copy zed it off me and was 0 a up on the wall (and hopefully take og in the field). I suggested two copies would be moderate it sta be a good copy that could be replaced if necessary. Some of the oe are more instantly recognisable than others, and the sc ac . s in t A few useful references refer to other ies" and the Boar icati AIDGAP key (this car does not cover sete or fern allies - nex! project phe one - ed.). The BPS benefits by the inclusion of a small thle with the aims of the Society and contact details. This card will be a very attractive introduction to ferns and We should all buy some to give to our friends. Heather McHaffie easel ioameinirraae Pteridologist 4, 4 (2005) TATOO 1753 00327 1274 THE BRITISH PTERIDOLOGICAL SOvuir 1 y Registered Charity No. 1092399 Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales Officers and Committee from March 2005 President: Dr A.F. Dyer, 499 Lanark Road West, Balerno, Edinburgh EH14 7AL E-mail: President@eBPS.org.uk Vice-Presidents: M.H. Rickard, Prof. B.A. Thomas Honorary General Secretary: Miss J.M. Ide, 42 Crown Woods Way, Eltham, London SE9 2NN Tel./Fax: 020 8850 3218; E-mail: Secretary@eBPS.org.uk Treasurer: A. Leonard, 11 Victory Road, Portsmouth, Hants. PO] 3DR; E-mail: Treasurer@eBPS.org.uk Membership Secretary: M.S. Porter, 5 West Avenue, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 9LG Tel. 016973 43086; E-mail: Membership@eBPS.org.uk Meetings Secretary: P.J. Acock, 13 Star Lane, St Mary Cray, Kent BRS 3LJ; E-mail: Meetings@eBPS.org.uk Conservation Officer Dr H.S. McHaffie, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR; E-mail: Conservation@eBPS.org.uk Conservation Officer/Recorder: Dr R.J. Rumsey, Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD; E-mail: Conservation@eBPS.org.uk; Recorder@eBPS.org.uk Editor of the Bulletin: Miss A.M. Paul, Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, C romwell Road, London SW7 5BD; E-mail: Bulletin@eBPS.org.uk Editor of the Fern Gazette: Dr M. Gibby, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR; E-mail: FernGazette@eBPS.org.uk Editor of Pteridologist: Dr J.W. Merryweather, 'The Whins', Auchtertyre, by Kyle of Lochalsh I1V40 8EG; E-mail: Pteridologist@eBPs.org.uk Editor of BPS Website - www.eBPS.org.uk: A.C. Pigott, Kersey's Farm, Mendlesham, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP 14 5RB; E-mail: Webmaster@eBPS.org.uk Committee: R.G. Ackers, A.R. Busby, Dr Y.C. Golding, Dr M. Hayward, F. McGavigan, Dr F.J. Rumsey, B.D. Smith Booksales Organiser: S.J. Munyard, 234 Harold Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN35 5NG; E-mail: Booksales@eBPS.org.uk Aorticultural Information Officer and Archivist: A.R. Busby, 16 Kirby Corner Road, Canley, Coventry CV4 8GD; E-mail: Horticulturallnformation@eBPS.org.uk; Archives@eBPS.org.uk Merchandise Organisers: Mr B.D. & Mrs G. Smith, Rookwood, | Prospect Rd, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 3PT; E-mail: Merchandise@eBPS.org.uk R.G. Ackers, Deersbrook, Horsham Road, Walliswood, Surrey RH5 SRL; E-mail: PlantExchange@eBPS.org.uk Mr B. & Mrs A. Wright, 130 Prince Rupert Drive, Tockwith, York YO26 7PU; E-mail: Spores@eBPS.org.uk Dr A.F. Dyer, Miss J.M. Ide, A. Leonard Plant Exchange Organiser: Spore Exchange Organisers: Trustees of Greenfield & Centenary Funds: nd today continues as a focus for fern enthusiasts. It provides lications and other literature. It also organises formal talks, a Wide membership which includes gardeners, nurserymen and botanists, both amateur and professional. The Society's journals, the Fern Gazette, Preridologist and Bulletin, are published annually. The Fern Gazette publishes matter chiefly of specialist interest on eral appeal, and the Bulletin, Society business and meetings reports. Site: http://www.eBPS.org.uk. Membership is open to a SUBSCRIPTION RATES (due on Ist January each year) are Full Personal Members £20, Personal Members not receiving the Fern Gazette £16, Student Members £10, Subscribing Institutions £33. Family membership in any category 1s an additional Sass Applications for membership should be sent to the Membership Secretary (address above) from whom further details can be obtained. (Remittances made in currencies other than Sterling are £5 extra to cover bank conversion charges). Airmail postage for all journals is an extra £4, or for those not receiving the Fern Gazette £2.50. Standing Order forms are available from the Membership Secretary and the BPS web site. Se ette, Pteridologist and Bulletin are available for purchase from J: E-mail: BackNumbers@eBPS.org.uk. Back numbers of the Fern G« P.J. Acock, 13 Star Lane, St Mary Cray, Kent BRS 3L