The Pteridologist was launched in 1984 as a spin off from the Bulletin. |t was planned as a non-technical annual publication for articles and notes concerning fern growing, fern distribution, fern books etc., with the Bulletin continuing to report Society business, and The Fern Gazette covering more technical pteridology. Our previous editor, James Merryweather took over in 1994 until 2007 apart from a four year period (1998 to 2001) when Barry Thomas stepped in. Illustrations, in the early days, were few in number and black and white on non-glossy paper. Under James's stewardship things moved on. What a contrast today! Now the paper is glossy and coloured illustrations abound. We must thank James Merryweather for overseeing these changes. For the future the new editorial team will try to stick to James's formula in the short term but no doubt the Pteridologist will continue to evolve, hopefully into an even better periodical. The changes introduced by James have made the job of Editor more technical, way beyond my very limited computing skills, but fortunately | have been able to team up with Alec Greening who has done all the style and design work and set out the articles and much more besides. | hope you agree he has done a fabulous job. Finally | must mention our contributors this year. | took over the editorship and asked for contributions around the end of November 2007, with a deadline for getting material to me by the end of January 2008. All the material in this issue met that deadline, truly incredible! | hope you agree with me that all the offerings are top class. Because the response was so wonderful the Committee felt obliged to increase the size of this issue to accommodate everything received before the deadline — hence you have an issue about 30 pages longer than average. | do not promise to repeat a 64 page issue in the future but if the material is forthcoming it should be possible. Using this issue as a guide to the type of material we seek, please consider sending me material. For inclusion in the 2009 issue the deadline for copy is the end of January 2009, so you have plenty of time. Martin Rickard e-mail: h.m.rickard@btinternet.com Never having designed a magazine before, this issue has been a very steep learning curve for me! None of it would have possible without the help of James Merryweather, the previous editor, to & whom | owe a huge debt of gratitude. | have used his existing fig ‘house style’ to a great extent and concentrated on the images. | § hope the finished product is pleasing to the eye and the quality of the images high. The printer is based in the Lake District, which seems fitting when one considers the history of the Society, and it is almost as though this issue has come back to its roots. Of course there have been changes, hopefully for the better, and they will continue as | develop my own style. | would welcome any constructive feedback from readers, but above all, | would urge you to contribute to the next issue. There are articles out there just waiting to be written! Alec Greening e-mail: alec.greening@virgin.net Notes for contributors Ideally we would like contributions on disc or by e-mail, with high resolution images. If this is not possible we will not rule out typed or hand-written copy. In general please follow the style of material in this issue. PTERIDOLOGIST 2008 Contents Volume 5 Part 1, 2008 Oak Fern found in Surrey Fred Rumsey Book review: Tristan Da Cunha Graham Ackers The rare wee bog fern Heather McHaffie Urban ferns John Edgington Who is Casa Flora and what do they do? Naud Burnett Evolution of a website Roger Golding Soil spore banks and illegal immigrants - an update Adrian Dyer Equisetum x willmotii Pat Acock Tree-Fern Newsletter No. 14 Edited by Alastair C. Wardlaw Editorial: Genus Dicksonia Alastair C. Wardlaw Crested varieties of Cyathea cooperi Nicola Fidler Tree Ferns in San Francisco Darren Lloyd Tree Ferns at Brodick Castle Gardens Christine Nicholson Bulbils on Tree Ferns Martin Rickard And the winner is ......... Alec Greening Death by a thousand diatoms Richard Marriott Brake out! Pteris go wild in the British Isles Fred Rumsey RHS Watercolours of Award of Merit Ferns Graham Ackers Two Passions: Glass and Ferns LaESTHERT MERTZ Walt Riehl Stalking the wild clubmoss fe Roger Golding The way that we went ! Jim Dennison Fern tables JUN 0 3 2008 Pat Richi “The Fern Gathererers” once more EW YORK Adrian Dyer Flexuosum refound! BOTANICAL GARDEN Martin Rickard The first BPS, then and now. Michael Hayward The British Pteridological Society’s Herbarium Graham Ackers A suburban stumpery Richard Treganowan 62 ee oe Trichomanes speciosum in abundance! Martin Rickard 64 Photo: Roger Golding Cover Picture: Back he back cover is based on the adjacent picture of Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Crispum Bolton’ Nobile’. Photo: Martin Rickard Views expressed in the Pteridologist are not necessarily those of the British Pteridological Society. Copyright © 2008 British Pteridological Society. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means) without the permission of the British Pteridological Society. Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 1 Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris (L.) Newman) found in Surrey Fred Rumsey Dept. of Botany, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD. During early May 2007, BSBI member Robert Skipper was botanising in a Surrey woodland when his attention was drawn to a particularly fine stand of Dryopteris species on a ditch-bank by a broad woodland ride. On closer examination of the most striking of these, a rather nice Dryopteris affinis (Fig.1), he saw at its base J the unmistakeable fronds of Gymnocarpium dryopteris. Fi (Fig 2) He knew this to be a significant discovery and immediately reported his find to Ann Sankey @ (BSBI recorder for VC. 17- Surrey). She contacted me to confirm the record from faaMIyE his photographs, which | 1 Si was happy to do. fy y Oak fern had never 9 previously been found in # Surrey and the only recent fi records for the plant in the & south-east is of a colony Pigiaam recorded in Lyminge Forest, E. Kent in 1971, where it was thought to have been introduced following forestry activities; another is extant § near Ascot, Berks. where it is thought to have been originally planted. In view of the interest of this discovery the finder, Ann, % Barry Phillips (the previous VC. 17 recorder) and | met up at the site to ascertain the _ fern’s abundance and to look elsewhere for it, and other interesting pteridophytes, in the large area of managed woodland in which it occurs. Much of the area close by shows distinct influences of the underlying chalk, but more acidic substrates overlie this and the area immediately around the plant and above it is clearly less basic in nature. The area occupied by the Oak fern is small (<0.5m)and being on the brink of a friable ditch-bank it is somewhat 2 x Fig.1 The ditch bank site of Dryopteris affinis that hid the oak b fern Gymnocarpium dryopteris. Fig.2 The recently discovered Gymnocarpium dryopteris in its secret location in Surrey § vulnerable, although the = Forestry Commission have been alerted to its presence and will refrain from felling large conifers close to the site which may be according it shelter. It is apparently thriving in its sheltered spot, ® shielded by the Dryopteris above, and around which a diffuse patch is developing. Because of the _ plant's s) vulnerability | have been m asked to keep the location secret, at least for the time eing. How do we account for the presence of this fern, here, now? From the site there is nothing to suggest that the plant is anything but native, with no evidence of planting, or indeed recent disturbance of the immediate s area by forestry activities, f although tree fall and clearance nearby may have subtly altered light levels in the recent past. Spores may mm have blown from cultivated fe plants; the nearest garden is m less than 1/4 of a mile away, g althoughitwas not possible to § discover if this or other exotic ferns were grown there. The nearest known population is at Virginia Water in Berks, § where it has been spreading since planted in 1984. More plausibly spores may § have blown in from native populations further afield, but it is not impossible that it has arisen from disturbance of a rich local spore bank, even if in historical times Oak Fern has never been found in this area. Interestingly, the ride by which the plant occurs briefly supported a colony of Lycopodium clavatum in the late 1960’s and Oreopteris limbosperma, usually an ancient woodland species in the South East, has also been reported nearby, although its continued presence could regrettably not be confirmed in spite of an extensive search. O Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 Book Review Field Guide ne “ee Animals and Plants of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. Editor Peter G Ryan. Pisces Publications, Newbury. 2007. Price not stated. ~~ This handsomely produced paperback covers the whole spectrum of Tristan da Cunha § the flora and fauna of these islands, both terrestrial and marine. The and Gough Island reason for noting such a book here is that it includes 12 pages of ferns ® and lycophytes covering some 38 species, authored by South African pteridologist Koos Roux. Most of the species are depicted very clearly with excellent colour photographs, and to my knowledge this is the first time that the ferns of this interesting region have been treated in a popular work. | think that the only species in cultivation out of doors here is Blechnum penna-marina which has a wide _ circum-Antarctic distribution. Many of the others look most tempting horticulturally, too many to list here, but perhaps | can make an exception for the endemic Blechnum palmiforme which features in no fewer than 3 photographs. It is a small chunky tree fern, very reminiscent of B. cycadifolium from Juan Fernandez and f{ Es. is a significant component of some of [Rig” eas the terrestrial habitats. Indeed, one of |. ogame the photographs show some sheep being driven down a mountain path, [i janes evocatively flanked by swathes of this species seemingly behaving just R &«: like bracken on our hills! uS The “sub-Antarctic” is defined by the marine isotherm known as the —a Antarctic Convergence. Tristan and its two satellite islands lie just north of § this, Gough just south (thus Gough Island is technically a “sub-Antarctic island”). Being characterised by high rainfall, low temperature ranges 4 and low light levels, these regions are well suited to ferns. However, although they frequently experience low temperatures, frost is rare in |@gguaumame these oceanic climates, which makes for a horticultural challenge in our [fggemeae region. | would guess that sheltered sites on the west coast of Scotland, GiSSmMSsssissssSess see Orkney or Shetland would prove the most promising. Would anyone like Blechnum palmiforme to volunteer to collect some spores?! © (alsoknown'as the:.Beg Fem! -ed) Graham Ackers January 2008 Birthif OTEP oe 23 Barnbarroch Pottery, Dalbeattie A plate from the Barnbarroch Pottery, Kippford, Dalbeattie, SW Scotland, produced for the 1983 BPS/ RSE International Fern Conference. The midges shown following the intrepid pteridologist through the bracken indicate a design based on personal experience of the local countryside. (We will be close to this pottery, still active, when we are on the Dumfriesshire national meeting in the summer of 2008 on the 26th and 27th of July, and can visit, but apparently they don’t do ‘ferny’ pots any more; the ones they did for our meeting were specially for us.) Adrian Dyer Special edition ene from Barnbarroch Pottery Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 3 The rare wee bog fern! Heather McHaffie RGBE, 20A Inverleigh Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR e-mail: h.mchaffie@rbge.ac.uk Gentlemen using the facilities at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh kept coming back with persistent reports of a fern in there and as its fame grew | was eventually escorted in to see it. There is an open-topped cistern high on the wall with a ball-cock that lets the cistern fill and then automatically discharges to the urinal below. Standing on the window-sill | had a good view of the fern with its roots wrapped around the ball-cock. Chris Page identified it (by e-mail) as Christella dentata and we assume it came in as a spore and found this site with a fluctuating water table suitable for colonisation. It is still less than 30 cm tall and infertile, presumably receiving low amounts of nutrient from its water supply. te Dn ' Poe ot Christella dentata "} A press release brought a photographer from the Edinburgh Evening News who perched on the cubicle | to photograph it. The account had the usual miss- information but caused a certain amount of amusement | and people added comments on the newspaper website. When asked of its future | assumed its days on the ball-cock would be numbered as it would eventually outgrow the cistern. In response to this, one | of the website comments was ‘If it ain't bracken, don't fix it’. Another newspaper pinched the story and had | the heading which was used for this title. U ise The photographer precariously perching. A trailing fern! A green metal trailer sat near the gate of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and was used to sell ices, until it was pensioned off into the nursery. Meanwhile, a spore landed in a groove on the outside and nurtured by dust off the street grew into a respectable-sized Polypodium vulgare. Presumably ice- cream vans are acidic, unless this fern particularly likes the heavy metal. If ferns growing on rocks are epilithic, what would this one be called? Episteelic? Urban ferns John Edgington. 19 Mecklenburgh Square. London WC1N 2AD e-mail: ugap136@aol.com A grand morning for a walk. Tick off Dryopteris filix-mas, Pteridium aquilinum and Asplenium scolopendrium in quick succession, then a colony of A. trichomanes intermixed with A. adiantum-nigrum. Here’s a fine stand of A. ceterach, and nearby some Polypodium — looks as though we have both interfectum and vulgare here. Oh, a solitary D. dilatata, and A. ruta-muraria too. A Cornish combe or Derby- shire dale? No, I’m _ tramping the streets of inner London, attracting suspicious glances as | peer into basements and photograph strangers’ doorsteps. ; A good street for ferns in M en ERE TT OI Not every walk will be graced popper by all these species but the first i five will surely appear within 30 minutes. And this is only a partial J list of ferns growing on walls from Hammersmith to Hackney. In a decade of urban pteridology |, and a few fellow enthusiasts (Nick i Bertrand, Howard Matthews, Tim Pyner, Richard Robinson, § Fred Rumsey ...), have recorded fifteen British natives (the others are Adiantum capillus-veneris, Asplenium viride, Athyrium filix- femina, Dryopteris affinis s.l. and Polystichum setiferum) and the same number of aliens, many of them seen “in the wild” for the first time. With 30 species in 128 km? this part of London (the so-called “Metropolitan” district of Middlesex, centred on Westminster and the City of London) is perhaps as rich in ferns as any comparable area of Britain. It was not always thus. Trimen & Dyer’s’ Flora. of Middlesex (1869) cited fewer than half-a-dozen records of ferns on the district's walls. The only report of Asplenium trichomanes dated from 1746 while neither A. adiantum- nigrum nor A. scolopendrium had ever been seen. A century Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 Photo: Nick Bertra = NEGRI RN tT lebone! on, Kent’s Historical Flora of Middlesex (1975) showed little had changed; neither A. adiantum-nigrum (“very rare” in the county) nor A. trichomanes (“rare and decreasing”) had penetrated the metropolis, and though there were some recent records of A. scolopendrium, “mature plants are rare”. Now, there are many thousand robust, fertile plants of hart’s-tongue in hundreds of localities, second only to male- fern and probably commoner than bracken, while the two spleenworts occur in more than a quarter of the district's 1 km squares. | have argued elsewhere (Edgington, 2003) that a major factor in this eruption was the dramatic decline in atmospheric sulphur dioxide following the ban on domestic coal fires and the § ~switch to low-sulphur fuels. With declining acidity, mortared walls lining London’s damp and shady front areas began to behave as surrogate limestone grikes. Asplenium — adiantum-nigrum arrived in 1980, A. trichomanes in 1995, A. ceterach in 1997, A. viride and Adiantum capillus- veneris (presumably both from pot plants as they are not native in the south-east) in 1982 and 1995. Male-fern and bracken, which had briefly colonised the calcareous rubble of the City’s bombed sites in the 1940s, are now ubiquitous. The calcicole Polypodium interjectum, first recorded by Howard Matthews in 1992 at the western edge of London, is steadily moving east, displacing P. vulgare as the East End’s sulphurous industrial past recedes. Itis interesting to compare the wall-ferns of London with those of Belfast and the Isle of Ely over roughly the same period. In 86 km2 of Belfast Beesley & Wilde (1997) recorded twelve species 5 Urban ferns | (they lacked Adiantum capillus- veneris, Asplenium viride and (im Dryopteris affinis s.l.), one more | than Payne (2005) found on walls | a in the Isle of Ely. In each case | the list was headed by male-fern and hart’s-tongue. In warm wet i wooded Belfast Athyrium filix- [ae femina and Dryopteris dilatata were much commoner than in London, while in cold dry arable fie% As Ely the rarest was bracken, found on only one site (out of 750) in » the whole area. The _ principal though, is the number of alien ferns — Belfast nil, the Isle of Ely one (Pteris cretica), inner London § fifteen. Here they are, with the number of separate localities in brackets: Adiantum raddianum } (7), Cyrtomium cf. caryotideum (1), C. falcatum (4), C. fortunei (1), C. cf. macrophyllum (2), Doodia australis (1), Dryopteris ' cycadina (1), Pellaea falcata (1), P. rotundifolia (1), polyblepharum (2), P._ tsus- simense (2), Pteris cretica (3), P. multifida (1), P. nipponica (3), P. tremula (1). In the case of Cyrtomium, positive identification to species relies on_ indusial characters so some inaccessible ' plants are named with hesitation. Nor can | guarantee every plant | is still there — civic tidiness tends to limit the life-span of wall-ferns. The two un-specific Cyrtomia, | and Pteris tremula, have certainly gone, along with Doodia australis which was one of many ferns lost when the Russell Hotel was refurbished after Alison Paul. So what’s efficient dispersal mechanism, (iii) a receptive habitat and (iv) a \_ suitable breeding system. Many ferns on this list are xerophytes, 6 Polystichum the terrorist | bombings nearby in July 2005. | But each record is supported by | photographs and/orvouchersand | many have been independently | determined by Fred Rumsey or | happening? | Successful colonisation needs (i) | a supply of fertile parents, (ii) an | p difference lenium ceterach on a City AWA. Hart's-tongue, male fern and bracken nyt et ol no > is C 4 of London wall. so make good house plants and are widely available in the | horticultural trade. In cultivation | most are highly fertile and their spores can of course travel | great distances (see Edgington (2007) for quantitative evidence from London). Quite likely, only | one spore will land in a suitably | moist crevice in rotten mortar. It is no coincidence, then, that nearly all these alien ferns are | apogamous, the sporophyte growing directly from _ the prothallus. Others, including most of the native wall ferns, are capable of selfing (intra- gametophyte fertilisation), a useful capability in dry habitats. All this is futile if the sporo- phyte freezes to death. Most of these aliens are semi-tender species. Besides the general warming associated with climate change, London benefits from the “heat island” effect which renders the centre typically 3°C -5°C warmer than the outer suburbs. Where | live, air frost (and fog) are virtually unknown — lying snow is a memory of the 1980s. | grow ferns such as Asplenium bulbiferum, Davallia canariensis, Histiopteris incisa and Woodwardia radicans out- doors with no protection; they all seem to flourish and Histiopteris is becoming invasive — so would | Woodwardia if | let it. Higher m7 temperatures also suit some native ferns such as Asplenium | scolopendrium; behind Kent's finding that “mature plants are | rare” may lie the bitter winters of the 1940s and 1960s. London is not unique. The criteria for success can | be satisfied in any large city | where the same plants are | cultivated and similar habitats and microclimates exist. So it's not surprising that this is : -| happening in Belgium, where | eight of the fifteen aliens listed ‘| above (including unusual ones ‘4 such as Dryopteris cycadina off Tottenham Court. and Polystichum tsus-simense) ! have been recorded in the last few years, in Antwerp, Brussels, Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 LL Ee Urban fern x mam ©=Ghent and elsewhere. Another frost-sensitive . escape (it is not a native plant in Belgium) is Adiantum capillus-veneris, recently found in a drainage gully in Antwerp. What next? A useful book about popular houseplants (McHoy, 2000) lists 15 alien ferns including many of those I’ve mentioned. The most widely grown is probably Nephrolepis exaltata, the Boston fern, butas mostare sterile cultivars this is a non-starter for colonisation. Of the rest, perhaps the most likely to escape are Adiantum hispidulum and Pellaea viridis, both apogamous, and reasonably hardy — the Adiantum, which is known to have escaped in the north-eastern United States, does very well ; perl ‘ 4 in my outdoor patch. A really splendid addition eho ot & ry = ‘ to our flora would be Asplenium nidus. A large Ser “Gee. a Dyer Syed (cultivated) plant is already living happily out- Pellaea rotundifolia in Mayfair. releasing spores Photo: Fred Rumsey of-doors in a street near me. If only a spore would land on a suitable wall .... References: Beesley, S. & Wilde J. (1997). Urban flora of Belfast. The Queen's University of Belfast. Edgington, J.A. (2003). Ferns of the metropolis — a status report. The London Naturalist, 82: 59-73. Edgington, J.A. (2007). Dynamics of long-distance dispersal: the spread of Asplenium adiantum-nigrum and Asplenium trichomanes (Aspleniaceae: Pteridophyta) on London walls. The Fern Gazette, 18 (1): 31-38. McHoy, P. (2000). Houseplant identifier. Anness Publishing, London. Payne, R.M. (2005). The flora of walls and buildings in the Isle of Ely. Nature in Cambridgeshire, 47: 43-58. My thanks to Filip Verloove of the National Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium, for information about his country’s adventitious wall-ferns. Fern mirror A mirror seen in an auction room. It appears to be antique but has been spoilt by rather garish re-guilding. However the image in the mirror is of a BPS member as he takes the photograph. Who is it? Can you identify the mystery man? Better still: can you provide a suitable caption? A fern of your choice from my collection of 2 year old sporelings for the correct identity and the most origional caption. e-mail: alec.greening@virgin.net Who is Casa Flora and what do they do? Naud Burnett and Shanti Claycamp Casa Flora Inc. RO. Box 41140, Dallas, Texas. 75241-1140 USA Based primarily in Texas, Casa Flora is a producer of fern liners, or young plants. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas they have additional greenhouses in Apopka, Florida. Casa Flora’s primary customers are wholesale growers who finish the product for retail sales. Now one of the largest producers of tissue culture ferns in the United States, Casa Flora products are shipped worldwide. Specializing in ferns for 39 of the 41 years it’s been in operation Casa Flora has grown to four acres of greenhouses and 48 acres of unused land for long-term expansion. Shipping products 52 weeks a year makes Casa Flora a year round operation. Ninety five percent of production originates in its four tissue culture laboratories in Texas and Florida. Elite clones are selected for Casa Flora’s tissue culture program because of their superior growth habits and appearance, whereas spore-grown material seldom exhibits the special admirable qualities of the elite clones.(Fig.1) By having locations in both Texas and Florida, Casa Flora is better able to serve customers from different locations. The Florida location grows only tropical fern liners for Florida and the Eastern seaboard, while the Dallas facility grows both hardy garden ferns and tropical ferns for the United States and worldwide market. Greenhouses in both locations need to be cooled in summer for optimal growth. Summer temperatures range from 95 to 105°F with a 20- 30 percent humidity. Evaporative pad coolers are able to lower the air temperature inside the greenhouses by 20°F, and a 70-85°F average growing temperature is obtained. As Casa Flora has continued to grow, it has been necessary to update all of the ECSU | in both rns, ferns, and more ferns! ‘bs a Ae 4: ey : 2 SBS \Y slag __ Fig.1 Tissue cultured ferns locations with rolling benches and water mat or ebb and flow technology with bottom heat (Figs.2 & 3). Priva computer control of the environment, recirculation of water and overhead lighting have all increased the productivity of Casa Flora’s facilities. In the last three years a new state of the art tissue culture lab, automatic potting machine, and a new spore germinating room have also been added. Shipments from Florida are primarily by truck lines that go up and down the Atlantic seaboard as compared to Dallas, where shipments are by air or Fed Ex. Dallas is blessed with the largest airport in the United States and has seven runways with direct shipping to Asia, Europe and South America. The delivery time for these shipments is only eight to 12 hours. Casa Flora has 80 full-time employees with little seasonal change as they ship 52 weeks a year. Due to a wide range of customers in different markets and climatic conditions, the shipping peaks that some growers experience are more evenly distributed throughout the year.Casa Flora is currently mass-producing 126 fern species and cultivars. Some new varieties are still in the buildup phase and 300 others are undergoing observation and ws pale to analyze them for TEFEN SS Pes “Ze VA, aa aN rae wil, wer ONS NS —s = “S SS Ss a i Fig.3 A view of less than half of one of the greenhouses! Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 1 | Who is Casa Flora and what do they do? speed of growth, quality of the plant, and consumer appeal. Many of our new products come to us as spore from individual collectors. We go through a process of growing and selecting the best plants before they are put into tissue culture. During the selection process Casa Flora looks for new plants with enough qualities to stand out as being unique. The Casa Flora catalogue is available at www. casaflora.com. It is full of information, photographs, descriptions, hardiness zones, size and winter leaf characteristics. It also contains growing tips for tropical and hardy garden ferns. In the back of the catalogue are suggested-use lists which include: hardy ferns with unusual textures and colours; ferns used for groundcover; hardy ferns used as house plants, fast growing ferns used as annuals; ferns popular on the west coast, and ferns for dry areas. Casa Flora has five in-house customer service representatives who can help customers make decisions, so that ordering is a pleasure. They are very attentive to customers needs and keep them informed throughout the shipping process. Customers are notified a week before shipment so pots and soil can be ready when plants arrive. All shipments are made on Monday so they arrive by Wednesday or Thursday. Customers are again contacted after shipments have been made to give them a tracking number, and once more to confirm the receipt of plants and make sure the customer is happy. All the plants are checked for | quality and size before they are safely packed in a _ way that keeps the plants from dislodging during shipping.(Fig.4) Quality and customer service are important to retain customers and to increase _ fern acceptance as an important niche crop to the _ wholesale growing. Casa Flora feels that ferns are increasing in popularity and acceptance by both the grower and the consumer. Garden magazines have featured i i i a ae Re . 7% LAF FT ae eae oa oF gle Oy z FS Se Fig.4 Ferns ready for shipping Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 multi-page coloured pictures of ferns in the home and garden. Articles have also featured ferns used in flowers arrangements or even a single frond in a simple vase. Casa Flora uses many different venues to spread the word about ferns. Customer service representatives attend eight plant and landscape conventions where they exhibit specimen ferns for sale, answer customers’ questions, and take orders. Casa Flora presently advertises in six trade magazines with colour advertisements from a quarter page to full page. Consistent advertising is important so when anyone thinks of ferns, they will immediately think “Casa Flora”. In 2008 Casa Flora’s advertising is going to stress the uses of ferns as a ground cover in the older gardens that are becoming shadier where grass is difficult to grow. Ferns are also deer-resistant (deer are a big problem in the United States), and native ferns are emphasized for hardiness and drought resistance in many parts of the USA. Casa Flora’s production is based on speculation calculated from previous year’s sales. Due to this, customers are encouraged to pre-order plants as early as possible to ensure plants will be available on the date requested. Best Sellers: The most popular ferns in the tropical market are the Nephrolepis cultivars. The best selling hardy garden ferns include: Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’, Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’, D. x australis, D. ludoviciana, Adiantum pedatum, Adiantum x mairisii, D. pseudo-filix-mas, Cyrtomium falcatum ‘Rochfordianum’, Microlepia strigosa, Osmunda cinnamomea, Osmunda_ regalis, Polystichum acrostichoides, P. munitum, P. polyblepharum, Selaginella erythropus ‘ Sanguinea’, Thelypteris decursive-pinnata, and Thelypteris kunthii. Casa Flora donates many ferns to botanical gardens in order to demonstrate the use of ferns in gardens. When the public sees ferns in a magazine in an attractive home or garden setting, they will get the idea to use ferns in their homes and gardens. Ferns are definitely becoming a more important plant for the future and ferns organizations like BPS can help spread the word to the public. O Roger Golding, 2 5 T e-mail: rg@rogergolding.co Part 1: Ferns as a treatment for depression Botany was a strong interest from my early teens; my main focus was mountain flora, probably the result of growing up first on the edge of the Lake District, and later in Teesdale. For many years, however, this interest took a back seat to other concerns. About five years ago a variety of personal problems culminated in a period of several months’ leave from work due to depression. Casting around for things to keep me going | worked in the garden, and began running every day. Stopping for breath | often found myself looking at the plants growing around and found my interest in botany being rekindled. | realized | had forgotten most of what | knew about wild plants in Britain; the task of learning to recognise species in the wild seemed slightly overwhelming. Where to start? | was growing a few types of ferns by then, and being arelatively small group it seemed that | could perhaps learn to identify all of the British ones relatively easily, and then move on to other groups. Five years on, I’m still mystified by some of them, and rather than nnn” Ferns in Britain and Ireland - Introduction aes moving on to other groups Gn 6S 6 6 Ce “core so 6Of ~=oplants, find myself ea) OSmaps The Fern Site Madasafish Google Apple Mac Amazon eBay Yahoo!_Newsv Met Office: UK weather “ome = becoming more deeply a, mi aia Fees rete pesoceguag | Involved in ferns. - maa B t as dire ig z a ae Looking for ferns in erns in ritain an retan the wild, | quickly came A guide to ferns, horsetails, clubmosses and quillworts up against a problem. Raa an | ilustrations in the standard Links to genus sections ; ; MENON wild flower guides were Fems and Horsetalis sy 4 be eoora soy im ; é tlt A id 7) nchoteaite, eg keith uninformative; short nie : via the tw descriptions in the more pra! rts) al order by genus via the left par, oF V a 2) technical botany reference aroha al re ‘available in es Bay books without illustrations Opera and species _ mats a9 were equally of little use Sybille es there | ron ee to the beginner. Specialist Dryopters LF ave genus guides to ferns were either Gyrmocarpiam bicatond ofa) bar of 90 ‘ unavailable or too big to Hate nt ames from oth m : d carry in the field. Over Dnocioail ion of fems and so-called fer Se" the next couple of years | hiog! COE Youre wr nos C a Se Oreopteis } ‘issue entirely at this stag “a seg | found more books, but at “ that stage | was frustrated, The home page of the website at http://www.rogergolding.co.uk/ferns unable to identify with confidence many of the ferns | was finding.Not knowing where to find some of the rarer and more unusual species, | came across the British Pteridological Society while searching the web. Field meetings? Growing ferns from spore? This sounded more like it. | joined, and rapidly started to make a nuisance of myself. An idea was taking shape. It was obvious (to me) that what was needed was a comprehensive detailed guide to British ferns, small enough to use in the field, but with good clear illustrations and lots of photographs. | could visualize it quite clearly, even down to the weight and feel of it in my backpack. Small problem: there’s no way a beginner like me could do such a thing, and even if | could, no-one would publish it. So, | clearly couldn’t do a book, but | did know a bit about websites. | thought (optimistically) that it would be relatively easy for someone with the knowledge of ferns to do it as a web guide. Find someone who knows about ferns to collaborate with and we’re away. Diffidently, | broached the idea, not certain of the response. | found myself talking about this rather a lot, and people would listen politely, sometimes with interest, occasionally with enthusiasm, but | eventually came to understand that if it was going to hep en | was actually going to have to do something about it myself. At that p as back at work, commuting between Oxford and London on the coach, a journey of 10 Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 two hours each way (on a good day). Lots of time to read, sleep, and oh, work on a laptop. | began plotting out ideas. Design: colours — neutral, as a background for showing shades of green; sections — how to divide it up; classification — what's the latest thinking? And so it went. Lists of ferns — botanical names, English names, what's the most up-to-date name? Research, and teaching myself the bones of how to put together a website. | knew a bit, but more about managing sites than building them. Money was short and didn’t run to buying up-to-date versions of web—building packages, so | taught myself the basic coding skills from books. | put together a pilot version —a few pages Photographing Cryptogramma crispa in the field with sample photographs. The response was very positive. | still had not found anyone to collaborate with, although ideas of linking with other sites and possible future projects were suggested; these remain possibilities for the future. | might be doing this on my own but one thing | was determined to do was get some input from others in the form of photographs. | was already using virtually every day of holiday | had photographing ferns, but | could see it was going to take years at this rate. | put forward an appeal at the AGM in 2006, asking for photographs. Over the next few months contributions began coming in, and a result | was able to fill in a number of species. In late summer of that year the web site finally went live, with a new Internet Service Provider — | had been using my old free service for the test site, but the limited web space available was not enough so | moved the whole thing to a commercial service. The next year | invested in a new digital camera and some other equipment to try to improve the quality of my photographs. In late summer 2007 | finally achieved my first major goal — to get at least one image of every full species native in the British Isles (or so | thought). So what now? Well, I’ve been writing descriptions for months now, and have finished only a handful. This is proving very hard, and is one of the reasons | initially hoped to get collaboration with an expert. | currently have no timescale for this, but just hope to complete it eventually. Subspecies and hybrids of course — hybrids in particular present a challenge as there are some that have occurred historically but are not currently known in the British Isles; more and better images, especially of identification details (contributions welcome); some redesign, perhaps changing the way the images work; larger images, probably including larger thumbnails; distribution maps; and perhaps eventually extend coverage to Europe? You never know. What | initially conceived of as a project lasting maybe 2-3 years now extends seemingly forever into the future. The difficulty of photographing large fronds So, a treatment for depression? Well, all | can say is in my case the interest in ferns coincided with the start of my recovery. | still have relapses, but working with ferns always helps! 0 Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 11 Soil spore banks and illegal immigrants - an update Adrian Dyer 499 Lanark Road West. Balerno, Edinburgh. EH14 7AL e-mail: adrian@dyer499.freeserve.co.uk In 1995 | wrote about the ferns | had raised from soil scraped off my walking boots after holidays abroad (Pteridologist 2 (6), 240-241). | drew attention to the possibility that soil from abroad brought in to the UK on boots, and probably also birds’ feet and vehicles, could result in the introduction of foreign ferns. @ This is a post-script to that article. One of the ferns | reported on was the Fancy Fern, Dryopteris intermedia, which | grew from soil ** PAN : a es Se +4 EA Fig.1 Dryopteris intermedia off my boots after a week-long field trip looking at ferns in north Michigan, USA, in 1990. These plants have now been growing in my garden near Edinburgh for about 15 years. With its semi-wintergreen lacy fronds and fresh green colour, it has proved an asset in a fern border (Fig.1). As a bonus, when young fronds are rubbed, the pleasant scent produced by the many small glandular hairs is reminiscent of pine-woods. As also reported in 1995, | raised plants of Adiantum raddianum, Athyrium filix-femina and Dryopteris spp. after a holiday in Madeira, and Asp/enium onopteris and Dryopteris sp. after a visit to La Gomera. However, in the absence of a glasshouse, they all succumbed during the winter in the open in my garden. The failure of A. filix-femina, a British native species, is potentially interesting. Although it is not certain that its demise was due to winter weather, it might be an indication that not only the species but also the provenance is important in determining survival in a different climate. Since my last article on this subject, a visit to Brazil in 1996, which finished with walks in the rainforest beside the Rio Negro, yielded plants of Christella sp. (Figs.2 & 3) and Nephrolepis sp., now in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. More recently | again cultured the soil from my boots after a second visit to Madeira in April, 2007. Less than a teaspoon of soil remained on my boots when | 12 Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 Be: e=| += : | Soil spore banks and illegal immigrants returned but this was enough to spread thinly over sand in 5 small Petri dishes. In each dish, many fern gametophytes grew along with a few seedlings and some mosses. Nine months after starting the cultures, no sporophytes have yet appeared but it will be interesting to see which species eventually develop. = Fig. 2 Christella sp. The small list of species recovered from each sample is probably not an accurate reflection of the range of spores in the soil. It is likely that gametophytes of other species were present but failed to develop into identifiable sporophytes. It is also unlikely that these five instances of boots picking up soil containing fern spores are exceptional; none of the soil samples | have tried | failed to yield gametophytes. This emphasises the potential for spores to enter the UK from abroad in soil. The potential is probably even greater now _ than 13 years ago because of increasing travel _ abroad, and particularly the increase in vehicular traffic from mainland Europe through the Channel _ Tunnel. It seems increasingly likely that ferns from _ mainland Europe will enter Britain in this way as illegal immigrants. When it is a species also native in the UK, which many European species are, an alien individual will be undetectable, except possibly by detailed molecular studies. It is thus quite possible that ferns have already entered in this way and become established without being recognised. Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 If an alien species was brought into the UK by this route, whether from mainland Europe or from further afield, it would be noticed, but up to now it would have been assumed that it was a garden escape. | would suggest that it is now increasingly unsafe to assume that such a fern is a garden escape if there is no independent confirmation, especially if it is beside a road or footpath. Temperate species from anywhere in the world might be inadvertently brought into the UK in soil in this way. With climate warming, some species previously restricted to southern Europe and similar climates elsewhere, having entered the UK in soil, might also establish, at least in the south of England. Finally, afurtherimplication ofthese observations is that it is entirely possible that fern spores could enter the UK from abroad in the soil of foreign- grown plants, such as some of those in garden centres. It is of course equally likely that soil with plants grown in British nurseries will also contain spores of other species which have entered the initially sterile compost during cultivation. While it is likely that all these would be of other commonly cultivated ferns, if the soil was cultured and the gametophytes and subsequent sporelings raised, plants could be obtained for free, something gardeners always welcome. | would be interested to hear from anyone else who has obtained ferns in this way, whether as souvenirs of a walking holiday or as two-for-the- price-of-one from nurseries. © 135 Equisetum x willmotii Pat Acock, 13 Star Lane, St Mary Cray, Kent. BR5 3LJ e.mail pat.acock@btinternet.com In 1994 Dr Alan Willmot discovered an unusual Equisetum near the Black River north of Dowra, Co. Cavan, Ireland. This was sent to Chris Page the BSBI recorder who duly confirmed it as Equisetum telmateia x E. fluviatile and named it after the discoverer as Equisetum x willmotii. This was the first discovery of this hybrid. Nothing much was heard of this plant after it was described in Glasra 2: 135-8 and added to The Ferns of Britain and Ireland 2nd edition in 1997. A few people went across the water to see it, some found it and others did not. Then out of the blue a new locality was found by the Lancaster Canal. It was recorded in a throw away comment of three lines in the February 2005 issue of Watsonia (Vol.25, Pt 3, p 241). Incidentally another newly-identified horsetail, Equisetum x robertsii, was also recorded by the Lancaster Canal in this article. Since these are only the second records of both these plants | am surprised their discovery did not generate more interest. + ete i ACD, ai Pe BAS ) on mf ig 4S, ye, be a Te 2 pve Bs Sites By) xs in The colony of Equisetum x willmotii on the Isle of Wight 14 In 2005 Paul Stanley sent me an_ unusual Equisetum from the Isle of Wight for identification. Paul is a botanist with an incredible ability to note small differences in horsetails, and | was at a total loss as to what it was. | was about to write back to him to confess this when | thought | would read his letter through again to make sure that | had answered all his queries. | obviously had only skip read it before because the words that this hybrid looked liked one he had seen a year earlier on the Lancaster Canalhitme like a brick. | immediately put the sections back on the microscope and realised that Paul had stumbled on the third colony of this elusive plant. Key give away characters include its similarity to E. te/mateia but with fewer side branches, its large central hollow and a character that Chris Page noted years ago and has been true of all E. fluviatile hybrids to date ie. that the endodermis goes around each of the individual carinal canals and not in a ring around the lot. EP ein -~] wer 2 Equisetum x willmotii stem My daughter wanted to take the children on a day trip so | decided to go to the Isle of Wight where we duly passed by the site; a dry dew pond by the side of the road at Beacon Alley. The colony was quite large and full of statuesque stems. A little later we went on a family holiday to SW Scotland taking in the Lancaster Canal en route and with an exact map provided by Paul Stanley. The colony had been heavily grazed by horses and was difficult to get to directly but sufficient was found to confirm the plant. When we arrived back from Scotland there was Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 Equisetum x willmotii x ‘Wall another Equisetum to identify from Paul Stanley, horsetail hunter A.) a ; extraordinaire. He had been in SW Scotland as well and had found ? 4 wi) yet another colony of Equisetum x willmotii. And what is really galling, ) | had turned the car around not 20 feet from his new site. Fortunately fy Ne Martin Rickard, my son John and | were on our way up to Scotland je the following year and managed to call in on the site although by the time we reached it, it was twilight. As a post script, Paul Stanley has also found Equisetum x font- i querion the Isle of Wight and the BPS was able to visit both sites as [j 4 well as find Equisetum x litorale on its 2006 meeting. 0 | ae pi Left: Equisetum x litorale Right: Equisetum x font-queri = COLLECTION AND PREPARATION OF HERBARIUM FERN SPECIMENS FOR THE WISLEY HERBARIUM A challenge to all BPS members and fern enthusiasts worldwide! Elsewhere in this issue, on page 53, Graham Ackers describes the background to and the integration of the British Pteridological Society's herbarium with that of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley, in Surrey. The addition of the BPS herbarium has greatly increased the number of taxa represented in the Wisley collection, the aim of which is to become the world’s premier herbarium resource for cultivated fern research. For this to be realised there is a need to continue adding specimens to all the fern groups. The challenge to members of the BPS and fern enthusiasts worldwide is to help in the realisation of this ambition. To this end, therefore, the BPS website (www.ebps.org.uk) will publish guidance notes on the collection and preparation of specimens for donation to the RHS Herbarium. A list of taxa required by the herbarium is currently being prepared and will eventually be published on the BPS website but this doesn’t prevent fern enthusiasts everywhere taking up the challenge NOW! In the present absence of a list of desiderata, you are invited to send to the herbarium any fern cultivar and cultivated fern species you feel to be unusual. Ferns cultivated in other countries as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland are welcome. Jennifer M. Ide [N.B. The guidance notes and proforma will also be on the RHS website later this year. For non- computer users, they will also be available from the BPS General Secretary] Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 15 ree-Fern Newsletter No. 14 Edited by Alastair C. Wardlaw onvener of BPS Tree-Fern Special Interest Group (until AGM 2009) 92 Drymen Rd, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 2SY, UK. e-mail: a.wardlaw@tiscali.co.uk Editorial: Genus Dicksonia Most readers of this page have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a tree fern. Like me, you probably think of an ‘architectural’ plant, such as Dicksonia antarctica, with a fibrous trunk and long, graceful and highly-divided fronds. They spread like an umbrella from the top of a stout stem, and the whole thing would be much too big to take in a taxi or press onto a herbarium sheet. One of the most luxuriant specimens | have seen recently is that pictured below at Ascog Victorian Fernery on the Island of Bute. rN Dicksonia so Seams antarctica at ecoG on Bute. However it is one thing to have a general idea of a tree fern, but quite another to offer a precise definition. It can be much harder still to give a name confidently to an unlabelled specimen. The New Zealand authors Mark Large and John Braggins in their 2004 monograph Tree Ferns included trunked species of Blechnum, Osmunda and Todea as ‘tree ferns’. A different issue is that some taxa such as Dicksonia lanata could be accused of ‘having been careless with their genes’, through losing an earlier ability to make an upright trunk. For horticulturalists, a major problem is the lack of a World Flora with a World Key. For example the approx. 22 species of Dicksonia, are described in various regional floras. But there is no coordinated World Flora for the horticulturist confronted with plants from unknown sources. The problem is, of course, much worse with Cyathea and its 600-odd species. Away from the sordid tasks of helping to solve human rapes, murders and paternities, DNA is now providing a scheme for fern taxonomy based on genetic relationships. The important paper on tree-fern taxonol. y Petra Korall and her co-workers (2006), referenced «i the end, revealed that: |) Dicksonia and Cyathea have a common evolutionary ancestor. Therefore it is legitimate to regard these and 16 some related genera as ‘core’ tree ferns. This ‘core’ excludes Blechnum, Osmunda and Todea, some of which may happen to have trunks, but are not ‘core’ tree ferns from an evolutionary-genetical standpoint. With Dicksonia, only 7 species have had their DNA analysed so far, but with the satisfactory outcome that the genus appears to be monophyletic. This means it is not an ‘artificial’ or ‘rag-bag’ genus. The evidence suggests that these 7 species all ‘radiated’ from a common ‘Ancestral’ Dicksonia — like Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands. Of the 7 species studied so far, D. antarctica and D. fibrosa are DNA-wise close to each other, while D. sellowiana is their nearest neighbour; and D. arborescens is further away. D. squarrosa and D. lanata form a close pair, despite the latter lacking an upright trunk. Most distantly related to any of these in the chart below is D. thyrsopteroides. thyrsopteroides ‘Ancestral’ lanata Dicksonia Squarrosa arborescens sellowiana fibrosa antarctica Phylogenetic tree of 7 species of Dicksonia, showing a common ancestry, based on the DNA base sequences of 4 plastid genes (Korall, P., et a/., 2006). Although the genus Dicksonia seems (based on 7 species) to be monophyletic, the family Dicksoniaceae was found by Korall et a/. to be paraphyletic, i.e. not an evolutionarily-coherent group. Apractical spin-off from this work is that DNA analysis is likely, in the not too distant future, to allow Dicksonia and Cyathea tree ferns to be identified unambiguously to species level, even with immature plants. Eventually this might be done by specialist labs and mail order at a price affordable by field botanists and fern growers. For further insights, see the article ‘Barcodes for Botanists’ in Pteridologist (2006) 4:5, 137. O Reference Korall, P. et a/. (2006). Tree ferns: Monophyletic groups and their relationships as revealed by four protein-coding plastid loci. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 830-845. Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 Crested varieties of Cyathea cooperi icola Fidler t Lofty Botanic Garden, 16 Lampert Road, Piccadilly 5151, South Australia e-mail: fidler.nicky@saugov.sa.gov.au Tree ferns show remarkably little tendency to produce crested Botanic Garden, near Adelaide, while the varieties, with two notable exceptions, both originating from the ‘Allyn Krest’ is still being grown-on in the Australian species Cyathea cooperi, (Fig. 1 or Cooper’s tree propagation house. A general account of fern. the extensive collection of ferns in the Fern . — Gully at Mt Lofty appeared in a previous issue of this journal (Pteridologist 4: 4, 116- 117, 2005). Although not specifically identified as ‘Allyn Krest’ at the time, the crested cultivar of C. cooperi reported briefly and illustrated in Tree-Fern Newsletter No. 8, would appear now, from its corymbose fronds, to be this variety (see Pteridologist 4:1, 16, 2002). 0 The two cultivars of C. cooper illustrated here, ‘Allyn Lace’ (Fig. Cre sting\Of pinnde- 2) and ‘Allyn Krest’ (Fig. 3) were discovered as spontaneous mutants by plant-breeder Noel C. Jupp of Riverdene Nurseries, East Gresford, New South Wales, Australia. The variety ‘Allyn Lace’, described as ‘cristate’ was discovered in 1988, while the ‘corymbose’ cultivar ‘Allyn Krest’ originated as a mutant from ‘Allyn Lace’ in 1995. Both were propagated by tissue culture. Subsequently, when 4 years old, ‘Allyn Lace’ produced spores ‘moderately profusely’, but Allyn Krest has only sterile fronds. To obtain plant-breeders rights, the two new varieties were Officially registered in 1996, and recorded in the Australian Government publication Plant Varieties Journal (9:4, 24-25, 1996). This can be accessed on the web and is the source of the above information. Fig. 3 Small plant of C. cooperi ‘Allyn Krest’ in The ‘Allyn Lace’ illustrated here is in the Fern Gully at Mt Lofty the propagation house. Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 17 Tree Ferns in San Francisco Darren Lloyd E-mail: darren@ferntastic.com One of the numerous and very agreeable aspects of living in the San Francisco Bay area is the sight of tree ferns growing outside in relatively large numbers. One notices them during walks through the downtown streets and in suburban gardens. Any reasonably-sized nursery here will certainly have some for sale. r” é te! ee = i 1) i /y ; Fig.1 Primitive Plant Garden in Strybing Arboretum; left: Cyathea cooper; right: Dicksonia antarctica? Climate Situated in the middle latitudes of the Pacific west coast of the United States, the San Francisco Bay offers a Mediterranean type of climate not found elsewhere in this country. The interaction of the topography with the climate in turn generates various microclimates. The Pacific Ocean regulates the temperature and reduces the extremes that occur further inland. As a result, we have only small seasonal variations in temperature. There is often dense fog. Winters are moist, mild and largely free of frost, with temperatures averaging 10-16°C (55-60°F), and lows in the range of 7-10°C (45-50°F). Snow is extremely rare and only occurs in small amounts at the highest elevations. Most of the rainfall (annual average: 500mm or 20 inches) occurs between November and March. Summers are dry, with very little rain during June through August. Due to the cool maritime air, and the coastal fog for which the city is well known, the average 18 RO. Box 952, El Cerrito, California CA 94530-0952, U.S.A. summer temperature for San Francisco is only 16-21°C (60-70°F), with lows in the range 10-13°C (50-55°F). USDA plant hardiness zones for the San Francisco Bay area are 9b to 10a. Aside from the numerous privately-owned tree ferns, two major botanical gardens have collections of these ‘architectural’ plants growing outdoors. i eT oR . _ WF. Fig. 2 Well-trunked Cyathea medullaris in Strybing Arboretum San Francisco Botanical Garden Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the San Francisco Botanical Garden is a 55-acre public garden featuring some 7,000 species of plants from around the world. Together with the Strybing Arboretum, it was established in 1940 through a generous bequest made by Mrs. Helene Strybing. The gardens (Figs 1 & 2) are open to the public, free of charge, for 365 days in the year. At present they contain 7 species of tree fern, some long-established and very tall. Upon entering the Main Gate, you will immediately see four species: Dicksonia blumei from Indonesia, Dicksonia squarrosa from New Zealand, Cyathea atrox from New Guinea, and another New Zealand endemic, Cyathea medullaris. The D. blumei was grown from spore obtained from Bali Botanic Garden in 1999. Proceeding further into the garden, past the Main Lawn and fountain, one reaches the Wildfowl Pond. Just to the east of the bridge across the pond is a magnificent stand of large C. medullaris (Fig. 2). Nearby are two specimens of Cibotium glaucum, or Hapu'u Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 | | ree Ferns in San Francisco j pulu, a species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Both of these specimens were acquired as bare-rooted trunks from a nursery in Hawaii about ten years ago. To the west of the Pond is the Primitive Plant Garden containing numerous Dicksonia antarctica, along with Cyathea cooperi, both species being Australian natives (Fig. 1). Many of the C. cooperi, along with some of the C. medullaris, were planted before 1960. Some of the other C. medullaris were grown from spore and planted about ten years ago. There are further tree- fern species currently being cultivated and waiting to be planted out. The Garden’s website is: http://www. sfbotanicalgarden.org/ City gardens Golden Gate Park is also home to two other collections of tree ferns. Northeast of the San Francisco Botanical Garden is the M.H. de Young Museum. This fine arts museum is surprisingly home to a collection of thirty- three tree ferns housed in an open air atrium within the building. The atrium is behind glass, but is open to the air at the top. The species here seem to be D. antarctica and C. cooperi, with at least one D. squarrosa. The Museum's website is: www.famsf.org/deyoung/index. asp Further east on John F. Kennedy Drive and located opposite The Conservatory of Flowers is Tree-Fern Dell (Fig. 3), a forest of well established tree ferns growing within the park. The predominant species found here would seem to be D. antarctica, with some C. cooperi and C. medullaris. An article in the American Fern Journal published in 1959 states that there were eight species within Golden Gate Park. The Park’s website address is: http://www.golden-gate-park.com/ >. : f. yal . Bae “sy - a ys or « r= - i ZX a * “ay 5 Fig. 3 Tree-Fern Dell on John F. Kennedy Drive Amongst the privately-owned tree fern collections in the city of San Francisco, my favourite is the group of seven C. cooperi (Fig. 4) located at 1160 Battery Street (opposite Pier 19 on the Embarcadero). They were planted in 2000 and include a magnificent large specimen 3.3 meters high, with a crown spanning Pteridologist 5.1. 2008 some 4.9 meters. If you plan to visit them, please be mindful that they are on private property and stay on the paved areas. Fig. 4 Cyathea cooperi at 1160 Battery Street University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley Across San Francisco Bay, at 200 Centennial Drive in Berkeley, is another botanical treasure-house, the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. It is open to the public (excluding major holidays) from 9:00am-5:00pm daily. Website: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/ The garden covers 34 acres and is home to over 9,600 plant species, the majority growing outdoors in areas arranged geographically by continent or region. There are also special collections of epiphytes, ferns, Carnivorous, and tropical plants in greenhouses. At present, there are 5 species of tree ferns growing outside in this garden. The outdoor tree ferns are primarily located in the Australasia section. Here are many D. antarctica (Fig 5), along with a D. blumei, D. squarrosa, and a mature Dicksonia fibrosa, or Wheki Ponga, from New Zealand, complete with the distinctive ‘skirt’ of dead fronds which protect the plant. Some of the larger tree ferns have the epiphyte Platycerium planted on their trunks. Also in the Australasia section there are several specimens of the “dwarf tree fern” Blechnum gibbum (Fig. 6), a species endemic to New Caledonia and other islands of the South Pacific. Whilst not a true tree fern, this species along with other blechnums develops a small trunk with a crown of fronds on top. Two larger species of trunk-forming fern are also to be found here, Sadleria cyatheoides, or ‘Ama’u, endemic to Hawai'i, and Jodea barbara, a species that occurs in Southern Africa, Australia, and the North Island of New Zealand. 19 Tree Ferns in San Francisco | Continuing east into the garden leads to the Mexico/ Central America section, which is home to several young specimens of Dicksonia sellowiana, endemic to Mexico, central and southern America. This section of the garden is home to several specimens of Lophosoria quadripinnata, a trunk-forming species which is also endemic to Mexico, central and southern America. Toward the middle of the garden, adjacent to the Conference Centre in the Cycad and Palm Garden, there is also a large stand of D. antarctica. pe,