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