EDITED BY A.E. GREENING
ISSN 0266-1640
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Editorial
Preview
It would appear that if you want to grow ferns from spores
successfully, then you need to drink plenty of milk! Not only that, the
milk should be bought in plastic 4 pint bottles and from the same
retail outlet each time so that they are all the same size and shape.
You don’t believe me? Check out page 10 and see what Fiona
Layton manages to do with hers.
There are some amazing articles in this issue. They range from
ferns in far flung places to those nearer home. The Carribean islands
of Antigua and Barbuda have had an incredible resurgance amongst the fern world,
thanks to Kevel Lindsay. He has managed to find 109 species since the last major
survey in 1993 which only listed 45. That’s an increase of nearly 250%! His work
continues and there is a book about to be published later this year. Please read
his article starting on page 14. We had hoped to review his book in this issue but it
has been slightly delayed and will hopefully be published very soon.
A little bit nearer home, the island of Madeira has prompted 2 articles from Neil
Timm that tell of the local tradition of using ferns in Christmas decorations (Page
20) as well as those that survive underground. (Page 33)
We also have a very interesting article about a fern raised from detritus from
an Antarctic glacier. Have a look at Page 58 and see what Ron Lewis-Smith has
done.
Our very own Martin Rickard has visited Ecuador for the second time. This trip
was with fellow fern enthusiasts and they managed to cover a lot of ground. (See
page 24)
Furthest away in Australia, Mark Longley takes us through the Blue Mountains
as well as reviewing his Ebook about Tree Ferns (Pages 55 and 76). He has also
agreed to restart the Tree Fern Newsletter section of the Pteridologist so watch
this space.
Nearer home, the amazing Bryan Yorke tells of his epic 2 year search for
Polystichum lonchitis on Hutton Roof which hadn’t been seen there since 1957.
He eventually found not one, but two, plants of this species and also rediscovered
Asplenium viride which hadn’t been seen for at least 15 years and located a new
record of Asplenium adiantum-nigrum for that area. Please turn to page 38 and
marvel at his determination and diligence.
There are several major articles in this edition. On page 1 we see how complex
hardiness in ferns can be. Adrian Dyer has been very busy and has produced,
firstly, an article about Patrick Neill Fraser, a Victorian fern enthusiast (Page 48)
and secondly a very detailed study of Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’ (Page 64).
It would appear that it is a strong possibility that I have an origional clone in my
garden, thanks to Robert Crawford.
My proof reading team has now been joined by Chris Evans which was very
fortunate when my main proof reader had to go into hospital for an operation.
Thank you Chris. Are there any more volunteers out there?
For the next edition of the Pteridologist the deadline for copy has been moved
forward to 31st December. I have a long trip ‘down-under’ in March/April and would
like to have the magazine nearly finished before I go.
Alec Greening
e-mail: alec.greening@virgin.net
Notes for contributors
Ideally I would like contributions by e-mail or on disc or USB stick (which will be returned),
with high resolution images. If this is not possible I will not rule out typed or hand-written
copy. In general please follow the style of material in this issue.
Printed by: MTP Media(2008) Ltd. Kendal. Cumbria
PTERIDOLOGIST 2014
Contents: Volume 6 Part 1, 2014
Hardiness as a component of both horticultural success and
wild-plant range-determination in pteridophyta. Chris Page and Irena Gureyeva 1
The Fern Gazette is Evolving Adrian Dyer and Bridget Laue 8
Raising Ferns From Spores Using Plastic Milk Bottles.
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda:
A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
A fan of Jamaican ferns
Davallia as traditional decorations.
Ticks, Borrelia and Lyme disease.
Fern exploration in the High Andes
Underneath the arches - an urban fern odyssey
Cave ferns of Madeira
Starting in Ferns
A gemmiferous form of Asplenium lobatum Pappe & Rawson
found in South Africa.
Finding the Holly Fern ( Polystichum lonchitis) on Hutton Roof.
Artificial Hybrids of Asplenium.
The Dead of Winter? Keeping Tree Ferns Alive in the U.K. Pt 3.
Patrick Neill Fraser- Victorian fern enthusiast
A Trip to the Blue Mountains near Sydney, NSW, Australia
Afern cultured from Antarctic glacier detritus.
Dryopteris Labordei 'Golden Mist'
Book Review: Flora of Birmingham and the Black Country
The Buchanan Fern, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’-
West Dean Gardens.
Book Review: Tree Ferns For Your Garden.
A frond in read is a frond indeed!
The BPS Photographic Competition 2014
Book Review: Fougeres Rustiques
Fiona Lanyon 10
Kevel C. Lindsay 14
Michael Hayward 19
Neil Timm 20
Peter Blake 22
Martin Rickard 24
Fred Rumsey 31
Neil Timm 33
Patrick Acock 34
Tim Pyner 36
Bryan Yorke 38
Rolf Thiemann 42
Mike Fletcher 46
Adrian Dyer 48
Mark Longley 55
R.l. Lewis-Smith 58
Tim Pyner 61
Martin Rickard 63
Adrian Dyer 64
Julian Reed 74
Mark Longley 76
Jeremy Pellatt 77
79
Alastair Wardlaw 80
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Sticheris simplex
found in the Andes
near Lago Llaviucu.
Photo: Martin Rickard.
(Left) Cover Picture: Front.
This magnificant British cultivar is a member of
the Athyrium filix-femina "Percristatum Group"
as denoted by the cresting on the pinnule tips.
Photo: Julian Reed.
(Right) Cover Picture: Back.
The back cover is based on this image
of a Polystyichum setiferum 'Plumoso-
divisilobum Group' recently found by BPS
member Peter Clare in a lane in Kent.
Photo: Julian Reed
Unless stated otherwise, photographs were supplied by the author of the articles in which they appear
DISCLAIMER:
Views expressed in the Pteridologist are not necessarily those of the British Pteridological Society.
Copyright © 2014 British Pteridological Society. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form
[ (inc ludin g photocopying or storing i n any medium by elect ronic m ean s) w itho ut the permis s ion of the Br itish Pt eridolo gic al Society .
Pteridologist 6.1 2014 1
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND
WILD-PLANT RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
Christopher N. Page
Geobiology and Environment
Camborme School of Mines,
University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK
e-mail: pterido@hotmail.co.uk
Irina I. Gureyeva
Krylov Herbarium,
Tomsk State University, Siberia,
Russia
e-mail: gureyeva@yandex.ru
Hardiness in ferns is an important
issue often regarded as of particular
significance to horticulture. The hardiness
of a species is also a critical component
in the establishment of natural range
distributions of species in the wild. This
brief overview shows some of the links
between these two aspects, and how
in many ways those in one area can
learn from the other. It also shows how
complex a field such study can actually
be, and how much yet we have to learn.
Fern hardiness - the issue
Hardiness, whether of horticultural
plants or to its impact on wild ones, is a
field which is always difficult to quantify
in total, because it is a response to so
many separate factors, most of which
are largely ‘unseen’. Some are also
experienced not necessarily just at one
moment, but over time.
The study of hardiness is, however,
of immense importance in understanding
the inter-related issues of the ecology
of species conservation, wild plant
ranges, and the use of ferns as terrestrial
biomonitors of climate change, (eg. Page
1979-2006, Gureyeva 1990-2002, Page
& McHaffie 1991, Murphy et al 2012).
The facility to use ferns as biomonitors
results from the combined high general
ecological sensitivity of fern species
to climatic subtleties, plus the innate
great dispersal-capabilities shown by
ferns as a whole, which enables them
to appear rapidly, sometimes distantly,
as environments change. Information
gathered then feeds back into wider fields
of fern ecology and fern conservation
issues. The relative hardiness of different
ferns is thus a topic important to both
horticulture and science, on both a
regional and a global basis.
Considering its significance, there
is a remarkably scant fern literature
basis for studies on fern hardiness.
Instead much information resides in the
accumulated experience and memories
of those who have attempted to grow
and maintain species, often from distant
parts of the world, in cultivation across
years and sometimes lifetimes. Such
horticultural results often display varying
and sometimes contrasting degrees
of success, and at least allow certain
comparisons to be cautiously drawn.
We have assembled here some
relevant information, largely as a
consequence of discussions developed
with one of the authors (CA/P) during a
Multi-decadal hardiness monitor: Dicksonia
antarctica. A planted 6-year old specimen,
repositioned from self-set spores.
This species of tree-fern also now successfully
self-sets by spores in appropriately sheltered
habitats in West Cornwall. It is one of our best
biomonitors for future climate change. Leaves
naturally-fallen into the crown help to add extra
winter-protection.
Local microsite monitor: Woodwardia radicalis-
ms provenance from La Palma, Canary Islands,
is thriving on banks adjacent to upwelling warm
springwater. Photo taken 20th December 2013,
when ground all around was covered with a
white frost.
Life-cycle turnover monitor: Polystichum
polyblepharum - a self-set specimen, now 4
years old, West Cornwall. One of the most
successful self-setting introduced species.
recent (October 2013) visit by a large
contingent of BPS members to Cornwall.
Our observations also including ones
made by the other author (IIG) of wild
fern-species survival in Siberia, under
what must clearly be some of the
most temperature-challenging climatic
conditions for fern growth anywhere on
this planet (Gureyeva 2001, 2002).
Long-term averages and accumulated
temperature influence
Fern hardiness is not always just the
experience on the part of the plant at
just one moment. Temperature influence
on ferns can be both the existence of
extremes and (especially often) the
experience of sustained conditions over a
long period of time. For example, survival
by ferns of a temperature-low may well
be possible for a species if average, or
better-still, accumulated temperatures
surround a particular cold-extreme,
allowing recovery to be successfully-
supported, compared with other sites
in which these favourable conditions do
not apply. For example, for the ferns of
Britain and Ireland, one of the authors
was able to construct such accumulated
temperature maps with the support of
both the British and Irish Meteorological
Offices (Page 1997). Additionally, much
wider and more generalised ‘hardiness
zones’ for horticultural plants have also
been mapped for Europe and North
America. These are broad sets of areas
into which specific and generic hardiness
can be expected to occur, and embrace
relatively average climatic characteristics
across large continental areas (utilised,
for example, in the European Garden
Flora).
From such databases, it is clear that
in sites in Atlantic Europe, at low altitude,
such temperature tolerances are far
from extreme, and winter accumulated
temperatures are at their highest within
extreme western and south-western
fringes of the continent. Taking West
Cornwall as an extreme oceanic
example, while winter air temperatures
themselves may occasionally drop to
zero or beyond (especially at times when
high pressure combined with drift of cold
continental air from the east temporarily
dominates atmospheric circulation
patterns), these periods are seldom long-
sustained, and the sea water itself, which
averages about 14°C in summer, seldom
drops below 11°C, and very rarely below
9°C throughout winter. The dynamics of
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
2
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND WILD-PLANT
RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
the movement of seawater in the form
of the Gulf Stream ensures that coastal
regions of western Europe are more or
less continuously refreshed with warmth
from the sea, and carried inland by
south-westerly air movements, warm
winter temperatures are more or less
permanently sustained. Here, the great
bulk and enormous thermal capacity of
this adjacent seawater ensures that the
mildest winter temperatures typically
occur closest to the coast. There is a more
or less constant atmospheric transfer of
some of this warmth to terrestrial habitats
nearby, allowing, for example, the tree
fern Dicksonia antarctica (Fig.1) to be
widely successfully cultivated in West
Cornwall, even up to altitudes of c. 100
m. Nearer to these coasts, provided that
they are relatively salt-tolerant, various
fern species can utilise this sustained
winter warmth, including, for example,
Adiantum capillus-veneris, locally
abundant is some sites along the Cornish
coast; also Asplenium marinum is locally
common despite not being frost-hardy,
being easily killed outright by winter frost
if cultivated even a few km inland. Other
species, such as Isoetes hysterix and
Ophioglossum lusitanicum, make most
of their annual growth near to the sea,
on the Lizard Peninsula and the Isles of
Scilly respectively, each capitalising on
the accumulated temperatures during
the winter months of November to March
(Murphy et al 2012).
Additional altitudinal, topographic,
and local microclimatic influences
Winter temperature minima, as well
as total durations of winter cold, clearly
vary locally not only with location, but
also with altitude. Temperatures fall with
altitudinal increase (the ‘lapse rate’), and
climatic differences can also occur, for
example, between windward and leeward
aspects of topographic undulations.
Horticulturalists will be especially familiar
with the occurrence of ‘frost hollows’ in
landscape settings, where heavy cold
winter air can accumulate and persist
longer than in surrounding areas, thus
forming pockets where tender plants
may easily fail.
By contrast, some fern species (in
Siberia, for example, especially Athyrium
filix-femina on mountains) prefer slight
and concave slopes of various aspects
and flat watersheds in the lower and
middle parts of the mountain-forest
zone. These provide sites of enhanced
moisture regimes, and can also be snow-
pockets in winter. There are also other
important indirect effects in Siberia of
climate associated with either presence
or absence of forests, with the detailed
topographic structure of mountains
and their aspects, and with the micro-
topography of the surfaces surrounding
the niches in which ferns succeed, all
Dryopteris sieboldii - 6-year-old planted
specimens (in a group of 10), now spore
producing, but not yet showing evidence of self-
setting, regarded therefore as ‘waiting in the
wings’.
Athyrium distentifolium Tausch. ex Opiz in the
sub-alpine coenosis on the Kuznetsk Altau
ridge, Siberia.
Matteuccia struthiopteris (L). Tod.
predominantes in the Pinus sylvestris forest in
the Altai, Siberia.
Asplenium septentrionale (L.) Hoffm. on mossy
rocks in the Altai, Siberia
modifying overall climate and having
considerable further modifying effects
on local fern survival. Siberia also
demonstrates that rocks especially can
provide niches of high local shelter,
and can, on south-facing slopes, also
warm appreciably, if exposed to winter
sunshine (see below). However, under
extremes of winter temperature, cold-
desiccation factors can become also
a strong component of fern survival
potentials, and moderation of such
winter-desiccation, as well as protection
from the greatest severities of absolute
winter temperatures, can be effects of
covering with a well-sustained winter
snow blanket.
Graphic examples of the influence
of winter-warming resulting in species
loss from alpine habitats have been
vividly illustrated in Scotland. Here,
Heather McHaffie has demonstrated,
by sequences of site-matched repeat
photographs, that Athyrium distentifolium
sporophyte persistence is related to the
amount of winter protection from frosts
which the plants gain by being covered
in a regular thick winter-snow blanket.
Ironically, it is with climate-warming, and
consequent loss of this protective snow-
blanket, that plants become directly
exposed to more severe cold penetration
through winter conditions of which low-
extremes these ferns are then unable to
tolerate (McHaffie 2006, 2009).
Absolute minimum temperature
dominance - the Siberian experience
In contrast to Atlantic Europe,
climatic conditions deteriorate in terms
of minimum winter temperatures
experienced as we move inland,
especially into more continental interior
conditions of the Eurasian landmass,
and reach an extreme of winter coldness
across Siberia. Across these regions,
winter accumulated temperatures
are minimal, and fern hardiness is
increasingly influenced by absolute
minimum temperatures experienced. In
Siberia, typical experience is that winter
temperature minima frequently drop to
below -20°C, and often -30°C (sometimes
to -40°C) for prolonged periods of winter
months (usually from the end of October
to the end of March). Conditions fluctuate
in different years. Vegetation can resume
growth at the earliest at the beginning
of May, but usually not until the end of
May or the beginning of June, when
the average daily temperature rises
above zero. The annual growth-cycle for
many species is thus compressed into
growing-seasons of a few short summer
months, from June to September, or
shorter. Interestingly, the diversity of
pteridophyte species does not decline,
and some individual species, including
many of Equisetum, and some each of
the genera Dryopteris, Polystichum,
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
3
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND WILD-PLANT
RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
Athyrium and Gymnocarpium remain species-identical
with western Europe, while different species of Asplenium,
Polypodium and Woodsia appear even in continental interior
conditions of Siberia.
Gymnocarpium continentale (Petr.) Pojark amongst stones in the Altai,
Siberia
Surprisingly, Siberian ferns probably seldom experience
such severe cold extremes as overall temperatures would
suggest. Large forest ferns such as Dryopteis filix-mas (L.)
Schott, D. carthusiana (Vill.) H.P. Fuchs, D. expansa (C.
Presl) Fraser- Jenkins & Jermy, Athyrium filix-femina (L.)
Roth, Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Tod. (all with deciduous
fronds), predominate in the herbal cover mainly only in forest
interior habitats; in these sites they are regularly covered by a
thick blanket (more than 1-2 metre) of snow for the duration
of the winter. Under these conditions, and insulated by the
snow-blanket, temperatures are suggested to not drop below
0°C at soil level and around the nearby rhizome area, and
within the soil itself they remain even higher. For example, in
the mountain forests of Abies sibirica and Populus tremula
(called chernevaya taiga) when the air temperature above
can drop to betwen -20°C to -30°C, soil temperatures
beneath the snow blanket have been measured to remain
as high as +0.9°C to +6.7°C (Gureyeva, 1990, 1996, 2001).
Further, species of smaller ferns such as Asplenium altajense
(Korn.) Grubov, A. sajanense Gudoschn. et Krasnob., A.
trichomanes L., A. septentionale (L.) Hoffm., Camptosorus
sibiricus Rupr., Cryptogramma stelleri (S.G. Gmel.) Prantl,
Cystopteris frag i I is (L.) Bernh. and C. altajensis Gureyeva
grow on rocks that are themselves usually situated within
forests and are themselves similarly covered by a regular
winter snow-blanket. Rhizomes of some rocky ferns, for
example, Lepisorus albertii (Regel) Ching, Polypodium
sibiricum Sipl. and P vulgare L., are additionally protected
by a mossy ‘pillow’. A few species, however, occur on rocks
which extend outside forests. These include especially
several Woodsia species and Aleuritopteris argentea (S.G.
Gmel.) Fee. These species retreat mostly to deeper clefts,
often amongst large stones, between which there is an
appreciable depth of snow accumulation in winter.
At higher altitude, ferns such as Athyrium distentifolium
Tausch ex Opiz and Polystichum lonchitis (L.) Roth reach
the subalpine zone, and, at more northerly latitudes, other
rock-inhabiting ferns reach arctic zones in high latitudes.
These include Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott, Cystopteris
dickieana R. Sim Woodsia glabella R. Br. and Asplenium
viride Huds. Here these species grow especially in niches
that are well protected from cold winds, and hence winter
wind-chill factors, and tend also to be protected from frosts by
the rocky surroundings. Some fern species such as Woodsia
ilvensis s.l. and Aleuritopteris argentea grow on rocks on
more open slopes, sometimes with southern exposure. Here
they do not suffer so much from cold, but from dryness and
heat in summer, when temeratures can rise to as much as
+35°C. These species are adapted to such conditons through
poikilohydrick fronds, which can loose water in summer and
curl-up, returning to an open frond condition again once wet
weather returns.
Diurnal temperature fluctuations of exposed rock
surfaces
Intimately involved with the ability of some ferns to survive
and endure winter cold can be the thermal (heat-holding)
capacity of the rocks around them. All rocks have a large
specific thermal capacity - which influences the amount of
heat they can contain and the time for which this can be
held. This is acquired from daily sunshine. Dark rocks warm
fastest, and usually hard and fine-grained rocks (such as
andesites and basalts amongst volcanics, but also slates,
sedimentary mudstones and darker sandstones) have the
largest thermal capacities, and thus the abilities to remain
warmest for longest.
Camptosorus sibiricus Rupr. in a deep cleft in the Western Sayan
mountains, Siberia.
In especially rocky but exposed sites, when cold nights
in winter are followed by clear days, sunshine on such rock
surfaces by day has a direct effect on warming the surface
microenvironment around rock-inhabiting ferns, depending
on aspect, and this may be a strong influence on their micro-
topographic distribution. Such influences potentially apply to
various Asplenium species and especially, for example, to A.
septentrionale, for which most northerly stations in Britain are
typically also south-facing ones. Measurements in Scotland
on dark-coloured basaltic rock surfaces of southerly aspect
have shown temperatures to rise from below zero to more
than +4-5°C within a few hours of winter daybreak on sunny
mornings. Such potential effects of rock for ferns are often
overlooked, but may well be particularly significant for
ferns not only growing in exposed sites at low altitude, but
potentially too for ones high on mountains. There is very
much to learn here, but perhaps small-statured evergreen
ferns are in a position to take most advantage of such short-
lived but warm-day opportunities, as a component of their
success in apparently exposed environments.
Local geothermally-enhanced temperature support
Although this is an often overlooked factor, and
is not necessarily an extensive one, enhancement of
temperature minima can result from genuine subterranean
geothermal heating, creating local enclaves of especially
constant warmth. Such geothermal heating is especially
a factor associated with areas of igneous intrusive rock
emplacements (eg. of granites), which mark sites of deep
underground heat sources.
4
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND WILD-PLANT
RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
In appropriate districts, warmth of such deep-seated
geothermal activity can be carried to the surface by ascending
groundwater movement. Where such groundwater emerges
in the form of local springs, such thermally-influenced
spring-water has the significance of being normally relatively
constant in activity, while its great plant-value is particularly
in terms of growing-season thermal-lengthening and frost-
avoidance during winter months. The warmth is transmitted
locally through moisture-enhanced air, creating enclaves
especially suitable for ferns. In one such spring in Cornwall,
one of the authors has made regular water-temperature
measurement, finding the spring-water to emerge at a
constant temperature of +12.5°C, irrespective of external air
temperature, even in winter. Thus where the spring emerges
is a small ravine-like enclave of locally enhanced positive
temperature minima, plus a high constancy of conditions. In
this site (in the garden of one of the authors), Woodwardia
radicans experimentally planted, introduced (via bulbils)
from La Palma, Canary Islands, has now been successfully
grown and established through 17 years of winters. The
Woodwardia here is thus now a thriving colony, with fronds
over 2m in length, successfully reproducing through frond-tip
bulbil-rooting.
Contrasting climatic reactions in co-associated sites
Often overlooked is the apparent enigma that contrasting
climatic preferences can occur even between species
growing naturally alongside one another. This is particularly
vividly exemplified by species enjoying oceanic influences.
These demonstrate that different elements of the same
climate can influence the distribution of co-associating
species that elsewhere have contrasting geographic ranges.
For example, in sites such as Western Ireland, it is possible
to find southerly species, such as Adiantum capillus-veneris
closely associated with plants that are elsewhere regarded
as alpines, including saxifrages and Equisetum variegatum.
It is only in extreme oceanic sites, that each can occur
together. In such sites ‘southern’ species are able to be
present because they are essentially escaping from cold
winters, while the adjacent ‘alpine’ species are also able
to be present because they are equally escaping from hot
summers. Oceanic conditions provide just the right ‘blend’ of
conditions for each to find differing climatic opportunities for
adjacent success. Indeed, in such sites, study of Equisetum
in particular (Page & Barker 1985) has raised a theory that it
is especially under such oceanic conditions that inter-specific
hybridisation opportunities in pteridophytes widen, because
A pokilohydric fern: Aleuritopteris argentea (S.G.Gmel.) Fee amongst dry
rock in the Altai, Siberia
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
it is in such environments that species of contrasting and
divergent climatic optima are most likely to meet.
A further apparent enigma of climate in relation to plants
is that, on a global scale, the rate at which temperatures
fall with increasing height significantly varies not just with
increase in absolute altitude, but also additionally with the
actual mass of the land or of the mountain involved. This
is the seldom-appreciated ‘mountain-mass’ effect, which
personal experience shows significantly influences at least
pteridophyte and conifer ecological presence and ranges
globally, and seems to demonstrate its greatest significance
especially towards the tropics. This means that altitudinal
vegetation zones tend to be telescoped downwards on
smaller mountains, while the opposite trend is true on larger
mountain masses. Thus ‘alpine’ habitats, often containing
pteridophytes, occur lower on isolated mountains whose
masses are smaller, such as on small island areas, and
occur higher on mountains with larger masses, such as main
mountain ranges. Notable pteridophyte examples of the
former are on many small tropical islands, and of the latter
are in the particularly high-montane ‘alpine’ habitats of areas
near to the tropics, such as on New Guinea and in the Andes
of South America. Indeed, the latter areas are especially
extreme. In these, under conditions of strong heat-loss
through clear-skies on a virtually nightly-basis throughout the
year (hence their significance especially in tropical latitudes),
some extreme conditions of pteridophte hardiness have
evolved. This can result, significantly, in genera on different
continents closely matching one another in adaptations and
appearance, such as the fern genus Papuapteris at ‘tropical-
alpine’ altitudes in New Guinea and the unrelated fern genus
Jamesonia at similar ‘tropical-alpine’ altitudes in the Andes of
South America (Page 1979a). Each of these have unusually
white hair- and scale-covered narrow upright ‘woolly’ fronds,
minimising the incidence of exceptionally high UV by day and
extreme cold by night. Further, in at least the Andes, many
species of Lycopodium are also extremely cold-hardy and
grow extensively and diversely under such tropical alpine
environments (Ben 0llgard, personal communication), and
may be similarly protected by numerous white, bristle-like
hairs.
Requirements and opportunity for ‘hardening-off’ of
individual plants, and age-related factors
Perhaps often overlooked in the field, but probably
much more observed by horticulturalists, is that processes
of ‘hardening-off’ can also be immensely important in the
survival of individuals against subsequent winter cold.
‘Hardening-off’ is a consequence of the sequences of events
to which a plant has been previously-exposed, before the
maximum of winter cold is experienced. This means that
individual plants can have had adequate time, or otherwise,
to effectively ‘close-down’ their growing processes gradually,
allowing previously soft-growth to harden in structure, before
exposure to winter chill. Such ‘hardening-off’ results in a
plant achieving gradual cessation of fresh growth towards
the end of the growing season as a result of such relatively
gradual temperature diminishment.
Such ‘hardening-off’ can sometimes achieve winter-
survival of unusual species in more eastern, more northern
and more continental-interior climates. By contrast, in
oceanic climates, much more winter-damage can sometimes
be caused even by conditions of lesser cold to plants which
have experienced only previously mild winter conditions,
before a sudden cold-snap arrives - for under normally mild
conditions, they are effectively still growing. Somewhat
similarly, late spring frosts can severely damage plants if
previous early-spring warm-spells have been long enough
to already trigger new soft growth to begin.
Further factors of actual size of individuals, especially
5
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND WILD-PLANT
RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
as achieved by age, can also be significant in cold-survival
process, when larger individual plants may tolerate short-
term cold penetration better than can smaller individuals.
For example, in Cornwall, introduced tree ferns can provide
particular cases of such mature-plant survival, when
smaller sporophytes with less bulk and closer proximity to
colder ground-layer air, are more rapidly damaged. As a
consequence, large, old Dicksonia antarctica, originally
introduced to Cornwall from the Blue Mountains of Australia,
have survived every winter since they were planted (1820-
1850), and thus provide important long-term fern biomonitors
of particular constancy of local temperature conditions.
Innate fern provenance influences on hardiness
We often tend to think that any species must be the same
wherever it may occur across its range. However, genetic
diversity tends to ensure that the actualities of the situation
are often far from this, and in ferns, with their advantages
of allopolyploidy, genetic variation amongst individuals may
be great. Further, it was rightly pointed-out, long ago by
Manton (1950), that because fern spores are haploid with
respect to their parent sporophytes (except for relatively
infrequent apogamous species), a consequence of spore
dispersal by ferns is that if self-fertilisation is an outcome
of distant establishment, as is often likely, then the resulting
sporophyte plant would become homozygous for every
allele carried by the spore. This is a factor unique amongst
vascular plants to pteridophytes (because, by contrast,
angiosperm and gymnosperm proagules (seeds) are always
diploid with respect to their parents, and hence progeny have
the potential normally to be immediately heterozygous). The
pteridophyte situation therefore tends to help to generate
diversity and to present this to the new environment. New
selection pressures, perhaps in distant locations, will then be
appropriately operative, and doubtless, in the case of natural
poleward migration, more hardy new individuals will become
rapidly selected. Such chance factors, occurring virtually
continuously everywhere, then contribute to defining limits
of overall wild species ranges, which are actually most often
likely to develop to form complex genetic mosaics, which at
most polewards peripheral extremes probably contain more
genes for hardiness.
Winter pinewood ( Pinus sylvestris) near Tomsk (Western Siberia)
Hardiness and life-cycle turnover
We know the range-distribution of wild fern species by our
field observations made mostly on the occurrence of their
large and generally long-lived, observable and identifiable
sporophyte generation. But we must not forget that hardiness
is also a feature that clearly influences every part of the
fern life-cycle, including that of the short-lived gametophyte
generation, as a small free-living prothallus (Dyer 1979).
This too has to be hardy, and only if it is appropriately so in
the site in which it finds itself, will a sporophyte plant actually
appear. Spores themselves, so long as ungerminated, have
extraordinary cold-endurance potentials (Page 1979b),
but subsequent to germination plants are much more
sensitive to many extremes. The fern prothallus, living for
usually 1-2 months in spring, can, however, often be a
‘cold-avoideh, thriving only mainly in the warmer months.
Exceptions, however, also occur. For example, we have
found gametophytes of some species (e.g. Woodwardia
radicans, mentioned above), to actually take two years
to produce their first sporophytes, and thus such prothalli
need to survive through at least one winter. This itself may
have profound implications on limiting the natural northward
spread by spores of this species, which may happen only in
exceptional years (Rumsey et al 2005). A somewhat similar
situation may range-influence the southern Trichomanes
radicans. But for this species (as with at least some other
filmy-ferns) the opposite is true, for Trichomanes can
apparently persist indefinitely as a gametophyte, within and
even beyond the range of its known sporophytes sites, not
necessarily making a sporophyte frequently or at all in some
of the more peripheral of these, except, again, perhaps in
exceptional years.
Somewhat similarly, for horticultural ferns, we tend to
recognise apparent hardiness by survival of a sporophyte
plant. Interest by one of the authors in Cornwall in horticultural
plants is in trialling those which demonstrate the capabilities
to not only survive as sporophytes, but also to show
evidence of production of further generations of observable
mature plants. Thus a species under trial is only considered
to be fully hardy when such natural generational-continuity
is achieved. For example, this has happened, for certainty,
successfully for introduced Dicksonia antarctica, Polystichum
polyblepharum, Cyrtomium caryotidium, Pteris cretica, and
Cystopteris diaphana (if indeed introduced). By comparison,
other species which hold their own as sporophytes, but have
not successfully achieved new-generational establishment,
are regarded as present but still ‘waiting in the wings’. This
includes virtually all other species of tree-ferns, and many
small temperate woodland species. But situations could
change in future with climate-change, and here such ferns
will prove immensely important as sensitive biotic measures
Conclusions - complexities of inter-linkage of multiple
factors
All aspects of hardiness of fern species summarised
here are clearly vital components of a knowledge base
important equally to horticultural and scientific fields. What
is also important is that virtually all of the above categories,
do not necessarily operate independently, but are inter-
linked, adding greatly to the complexity of the actuality of
the situation in the wild for fern species survival. All of these
factors interact with one another to determine whether any
particular genotype survives at that site or does not, and
whether or not it can then succeed in further reproducing.
Thermal boundaries are just one main element of a
multiplicity of other factors not included here, which also
include many edaphic and hydrological aspects, and for
pteridophytes especially even daylength ones, upon the
whole of which are also lain both internal and external
biotic ones, as well as ones possibly influencing success or
otherwise of particular stages of the complex fern life-cycle
dynamics.
6
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
HARDINESS AS A COMPONENT OF BOTH HORTICULTURAL SUCCESS AND WILD-PLANT
RANGE-DETERMINATION IN PTERIDOPHYTA
Climatic conditions, and the adaptations of ferns to
survive these, are thus clearly far from simple, and in actuality
are a complex of multiple inter-linking mosaic of factors, of
which extremes, averages, and regularities of conditions
all form integrally important components. Hardiness is thus
not a simple measure. We have very much still to learn.
Understanding the complexity of these factors has strong
potential significance in relation to assessing details and the
further complexities of fern ranges, as potentially sensitive
measures of future climate change.
Nomenclature information of some referred species
Cystopteris almaatensis Kotuch., Botanicheskie
materialy gerbariya Instituta Botaniki Akademii nauk
Kazakhskoi SSR [Notulae Systematicae ex Herbario Instituti
Botanici Academiae Scientarum Kazachstanicae], 4:27
(1966).
Type: Zailiisky Alatau, Chimbulak, on the open places
near stones and in in rock crevices in the belt of the fir
forest, 17 VIII 1964, Yu. Kotukhov (Holotype - AA, Almaty,
Kazakhstan).
C. altaiensis Gureyeva, Sistematicheskie zametki
po materialam gerbariya imeni P.N. Krylova Tomskogo
gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Systematic notes on
the materials of P.N. Krylov Herbarium of Tomsk State
University], 87: 5-7 (1885).
Type: «Altaisky krai, Turochaksky district, lower reaches
of the river Bolshiye Chili, in the niches of the shadow
rocks, near Teletskoye lake, 13 VII 1981, I. Gureyeva, V.
Goncharova. (Holotype -TK, Tomsk, Russia).
Gymnocarpium continentale (V. Petrov) Pojark.
Soobsheniya Tadzhikskogo filiala AN SSSR [Reports of Tajik
branch of Academy of Science of USSR], 22: 10 (1950).
- G. jessoense (Koidz.) Koidz. subsp. parvulum Sarvela,
Annales Botanici Fennici, 15: 103-104 (1978). - Dryopteris
pulchella (Salisb.) Hayek var. continentalis V. Petrov, Flora
Yakutii [Flora of Yakutiya], 1:15 (1930). - D. continentalis V.
Petrov (proposed name), Flora Yakutii [Flora of Yakutiya],
1:15 (1930); Fomin, Flora SSSR [Flora of the USSR], 1: 43
(1934).
Lectotypus (I. Gureyeva, 2010, Botanicheskiy zhurnal,
95(6): 855): Yakutskaya oblast, south part of Olekminsky
district, basin of the Tungir river, Dzyagdachi river near
Nikolsky mine, rocks near mount Kropachevsky, 11 station, 3
VI1 1910, No. 479, coll. No 753, V. Sukachev, G. Poplavskaya
(Lectotype - LE, Saint-Petersburg, Russia).
Rhizomatopteris montana (Lam.) A. Khokhr., Flora
Magadanskoi Oblasti [Flora of the Magadan oblast]: 347
(1985). - Cystopteris montana (Lam.) Bernh. ex Desv.
Neues J. Bot., 1(2): 26 (1806). - Polypodium montanum
Lam. FI. Franc. 1: 23 (1778).
Acknowledgements ( Irina Gureyeva)
I am grateful to Dr Christopher N. Page (United Kingdom)
for the constructive discussions, consultations and help in
correction of English in this paper.
This work was supported by Tomsk State University
Competitiveness Improvement Program and Russian
Foundation for Basic Research (grant No. 13-04-01705).
Acknowledgements (Both Authors)
The authors wish to thank Dr Heather McHaffie for
discussion and helpful comments.
References:
Dyer, A.F. (Ed.). 1979. The Experimental Biology of Ferns.
London: Academic Press.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Gureyeva, l.l. 1990. Sporophyte ontogeny and age
composition of thre Dryopteris filix-mas coenopopulations
in the northern low-mountains of the Kuznetsk Alatau.
Botainichesky Zhurnal [Botanical Journal], 75(5): 643-652.
[in Russian]
Gureyeva, l.l. 1996. Ecology-demographic analysis of the
Dryopteris expansa ( Aspidiaceae ) coenopopulations in the
primary association of the Kuznetsk Alatau. Botanichesky
Zhurnal [Botanical Journal], 81(8): 54-64. [in Russian]
Gureyeva, l.l. 2001. Homosporous Ferns of South Siberia.
Taxonomy, Origin, Biomorphology, Population iology. State
University Publishers, Tomsk, [in Russian]
Gureyeva l.l. 2002. Rare fern species of Russia and
reasons for their rarity. Proceedings of the International
Symposium, “Fern Flora of Worldwide: Threats and
Responses”, University of Surrey, Guildford, United
Kingdom, 23-26 July, 2001. Fern Gazette 16(6, 7, 8). P.
319-323.
McHaffie, H.S. 2006. Alpine lady ferns: are they suffering
with climate change ? Pteridologist 4: 162-164.
McHaffie, H.S. 2009. A visible response to climate change.
BSBI News 111 : 7-8.
Manton, I. 1 950. Problems of Cytology and Evolution in
the Pteridophyta. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Murphy, R.J., Page, C.N., Parslow, R.J. & Bennallick,
I.J. 2012. Ferns , Clubmosses, Quillworts and Horsetails
of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Truro, Cornwall:
Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly.
Page, C.N. 1979a. The diversity of ferns - an ecological
perspective. Pp 9-56 in Dyer, A.F. (Ed.). The Experimental
Biology of Ferns. London: Academic Press.
Page, C.N. 1979b. Experimental aspects of fern ecology.
Pp 551-589 in Dyer, A.F. (Ed.). The Experimental Biology of
Ferns. London: Academic Press.
Page, C.N. 1988. Ferns. Their Habitats in the Landscape of
Britain and Ireland. London: Collins New Naturalist.
Page, C.N. 1997. The Ferns of Britain and Ireland. 2 nd edn.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Page, C.N. 2001. Ferns and alied plants. Pp 50-77 in
Hawkesworth, D.L. (Ed.J. The Changing Wildlife of Great
Britain and Ireland. London: Taylor & Francis..
Page, C.N. 2002. Ecological strategies in fern evolution: a
neopteridological overview. Review of Palaeobotany and
Palynology 119: 1-33.
Page, C.N. 2006. Fern range determination in the Atlantic
Arc by an environment of complex and interacting factors.
Pp 59-64 in Leach, S.J., Page, C.N., Peytoureau, Y. &
Sandford, M.N. (Eds.). Botanical Links in the Atlantic Arc.
Camborne, Cornwall: BSBI & English Nature.
Page, C.N. & Barker, M.A. 1985. Ecology and geography
of hybridisation in British and Irish horsetails. Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 86: 265-272.
Page C.N. & McHaffie, H.S. 1991. Pteridophytes as
indicators of landscape change in the British Isles in the
last hundred years. Pp 25-40 in Camus, J. (Ed.). The
History of British Pteridology. London: BPS.
Rumsey, F.J., Barrett, J.A., Gibby, M., Russell, S.J. &
Vogel, J.C. 2005. Reproductive strategires and population
structure in the endangered pteridophte Trichomanes
speciosum (Hymenophyllaceae: Pteridphyta). Fern Gazette
17: 205-215.
7
The Fern Gazette is Evolving
Adrian Dyer and Bridget Laue
Review Editors, The Fern Gazette
e-mail: adrian@dyer.freeserve.co.uk, bridgetlaue@blueyonder.co.uk
You may have noticed recently that there have been
changes to the Fern Gazette which are intended
to broaden its appeal and increase the number
of contributions. Perhaps the most conspicuous
development has been the introduction of regular short
reviews. These are intended to present a clear and
concise review of research developments across any
of a wide variety of topics relating to ferns, horsetails,
clubmosses or the other vascular cryptogams, together
with a comprehensive list of the relevant references.
The intended readership of these articles is any
interested fern enthusiast who wants to increase their
understanding of the selected topic, or any researchers
new to the specialised field or requiring an update
who want an easily accessible introduction to the most
recent literature. To write an account in such a way that
is comprehensible to every interested amateur and at
the same time useful for professional specialists is a
challenge, but it is hoped that everyone who reads a
review will find most of it interesting and informative. In
this way we hope to encourage a wider readership for
the Gazette.
In fast-developing areas, these reviews will cover
recent progress only, but for neglected topics a longer
period is surveyed. Initial contributions have been by
invitation, but we are happy to consider offered reviews
that fulfil the same objectives. In inviting authors, we
have had two main intentions: to include a wide range
of both broad and more specialised subjects, and to
invite international authorities from as many different
parts of the world as possible. While the taxonomic and
floristic themes familiar to Fern Gazette readers will
continue to be covered, any research topic which has
ferns or lycophytes as its central subject will be eligible
for a review, whether it is concerned with conservation
or classification, development or demographics,
gametophytes or genetics, phenology or physiology.
Some more historical topics, like the development of
ideas, illustration methods and investigative techniques,
or the exploitation of ferns as a resource, might also be
suitable for a review. While we are flexible with regard to
the length of the review, in our invitations we have been
keen to stress that they can be short reviews with limited
scope, to avoid potential authors being discouraged by
the prospect of having to compile a traditional extended
review of a broad topic. The intention is to publish each
review within 6 months of receipt of the final draft, and
we hope that prompt publication is attractive to potential
contributors.
Authors are invited to include some of their own
unpublished work if they wish, provided that the review
also fulfils its main purpose. We ask the authors
to provide a photograph of themselves and a brief
autobiography for publication at the end of the review,
because we think that this is not only of interest but will
in time provide a useful record of some of the leading
international authorities in pteridology.
8
Each article is initially handled by the Review Editors
(i.e., us) in consultation with the author(s). During this
process, it is sent out for peer review, which is important
for ensuring that high standards are maintained. Finally,
each review is considered by Mary Gibby, the Fern
Gazette’s Editor-in-Chief, who may again consult with
the authors before sending it on to the Production Editor,
Andrew Leonard, for preparation for printing. After
publication, authors are provided with a PDF version
of their review, which they can distribute freely (the 21 st
century equivalent of reprints). Authors who are not
already BPS members (or the first such author of a multi-
author paper) are offered free membership for one year,
in appreciation of their efforts and in the hope that they
may subsequently renew their membership and perhaps
encourage others to join.
Of course, the Fern Gazette has sporadically
published reviews before, but now we are making a
concerted effort to make these a regular feature, with the
intention being to include one or two reviews in each part
of the Gazette. Starting from January 2013, four reviews
have appeared so far, and others are in the pipeline. We
have been delighted with the very high standard of these
articles, and have also found the topics fascinating. In
case you have not seen them, here are brief summaries
to whet your appetite.
The first to appear was by Ana Ibars and Elena
Estrelles, both based at the Botanical Garden of the
University of Valencia. Their review is asurvey highlighting
the current conservation status of Pteridophytes and
discussing management methods for conservation (Ibars
& Estrelles 2012). One practical example they describe
is the use of natural soil spore banks in the recovery of a
lost population of Marsileaquadrifolia L. (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. An example of fern conservation work: recovery of Marsilea
quadrifolia L. in the Natural Park of the Ebro Delta, Catalonia, Spain.
Reintroduction of cultivated plants (left), and coverage of the plants five
months later (right). (Taken from Ibars & Estrelles 2012).
The second review was written by Masamitsu Wada,
from the University of Tokyo, Japan. His paper describes
recent studies on the effect of light on the behaviour and
development of fern gametophytes (Wada 2012). He
emphasises that the simple structure of gametophytes
makes them a useful system for studying phenomena
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Jhe_Fern Gazette is Evolving
Fig. 2. Chloroplast migration in prothallial cells, (a) In the dark, the
chloroplasts are located at the periphery, just inside the cell wall (appearing
as light ovals), (b) After irradiation with a microbeam, the chloroplasts
(showing red here) have migrated towards the irradiated area (the circle)
in the centre of the cell, using the actin filaments (in green), (i) and (ii) are
enlarged insets of the two chloroplasts indicated by the arrows. The scale
bar (bottom right) is 0.01 mm. (Taken from Wada 2013).
common to ferns and seed plants, but which are difficult
to investigate in the latter. For example, prothallial
cells have been used to demonstrate the migration of
chloroplasts in response to light (Fig. 2).
Another review, contributed by Ryoko Imaichi from
Japan Women’s University, in Tokyo, also focuses on
gametophytes. She describes a new classification
of the types of gametophyte development among
homosporous ferns (Imaichi 2013). New methods of
long-term observation have allowed the description of
five basic types: Lyg odium-type, Elaphoglossum-type,
Anemia-type, Colysis-type and Vittaria-type. These are
considered in relation to fern taxonomy and gametophyte
ecology.
The most recent article is co-authored by Klaus
Mehltreter of the Instituto de Ecologia in Xalapa, Mexico
and Joanne Sharpe at Sharplex Services, Maine, USA.
This examines leaf lifespan, making the point that this
is a fundamental component of the evolutionary fitness
of ferns (Mehltreter & Sharpe 2013). They include
comparisons among temperate and tropical ferns,
monomorphic and dimorphic species, and fertile and
sterile fronds, to draw conclusions about the possible
ecological significance of differences in leaf lifespan.
Six more reviews have been commissioned to
appear over the next two years following invitations from
the Review Editors, and another (unsolicited) has been
submitted. We are continuing to approach more authors
and we welcome any suggestions of suitable topics and/
or potential authors. We encourage any potential author
who has an idea for a review to approach the editors
with a brief outline for consideration. In due course we
would like to have illustrations in colour - those shown
here were published in black and white in the Gazette;
we think colour enhances the information content of the
figures and would also make the Gazette more attractive
to readers and contributors.
Finally, it is also worth noting that Mary Gibby has
assembled a new Editorial Board for the Fern Gazette.
This currently comprises an international panel of seven
experts in a variety of specialisations, who will regularly
serve as reviewers of submitted manuscripts, and who we
hope will actively encourage colleagues to offer papers.
The Gazette first appeared, as the British Fern Gazette,
in 1909. Now well into its second century of publication,
we hope that the developments reported here will help to
prolong its lifespan, ensuring that it maintains its position
as a respected source of pteridological knowledge, but
also that it contains interesting reading matter for most
BPS members.
References:
Ibars, A.M. & Estrelles, E. (2012) Recent developments
in ex situ and in situ conservation of ferns. The Fern
Gazette 19 (3), 67-86.
Imaichi, R. (2013) A new classification of the
gametophyte development of homosporous ferns,
focusing on meristem behaviour. The Fern Gazette 19
(5), 141-156.
Mehltreter, K. & Sharpe, J.M. (2013) Causes and
consequences of the variability of leaf lifespan of ferns.
The Fern Gazette 19 (6), 193-202.
Wada, M. (2013) Recent advances in the understanding
of fern responses to light. The Fern Gazette 19 (4), 97-
115.
Put it in your pipe and smoke it!
This unusual box decorated with ferns designs is an example of Mauchline ware. Bought at auction, by BPS member
Robert Crawford last year, it measures about 15" by 10" by 8". The front opens to reveal a rack designed to hold pipes.
Can you imagine the early members of the BPS being proud owners of such a fashionable item?
For further details of this type of decoration please see Jennifer Ide's articles in previous copies of the Pteridologist:-
2009 Mauchline Fern Ware pp 74-78 and 2012 Mauchline Fern Ware Furniture pp 382-385
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
9
Raising Ferns From Spores
Using Plastic Milk Bottles.
Fiona Lanyon
Fiona and her husband John own a private historic 5/4
acre Cornish valley garden, home to many unusual plants
including a wide variety of ferns.
Young Beginnings
My first attempt at raising ferns from spores was as a young
teenager when I had a small patch of my own in my parent’s
garden. It was under an old greengage tree and as it was
fairly shady I bought some ferns to plant and have been
hooked on them ever since. I had a small fish tank in which
I had originally kept stick insects but then put to a much
better use- raising ferns! I sowed spores in flower pots and
put them in the tank with a sheet of glass on top to keep in
the moisture. I had limited success but enough to keep up
my interest.
In later years I progressed to using catering sized ice-
cream containers in which I cut a hole in the bottom of one
corner for drainage. These worked extremely well as they
kept moist for a long time allowing the prothalli and young
fronds to develop without the need for additional watering.
Fig. 1. Polystichum nepalense. Top frond with immature spores.
Bottom frond, spores just right for collection.
Some experimentation
After a move to a much larger garden, I was keen to grow
a lot more ferns. After using up my supply of ice-cream
tubs, I started looking for an alternative. My first idea was to
buy some cheap plastic food storage containers that I had
found, but these had opaque lids and did not seem to let
enough light in. I then decided to recycle pots I used in the
home such as yogurt pots and cottage cheese pots. These
however, proved to be of no use as they did not respond
well to my usual method of sterilization, pouring on boiling
water, as they just melted out of shape.
After much experimentation with different containers, I
hit upon what I find is the perfect propagation container, the
humble plastic milk bottle. We get through a lot of milk with
a young family and I am pleased to have found a good use
for my ready supply of plastic bottles.
My milk bottle propagators let in the perfect amount of
light, can be sterilized with boiling water, do not take up too
much room and being rectangular they fit together nicely
whilst growing. The best thing about the containers is that
when it comes time to wean the sporelings out of their
humid little microclimate into the big wide world, the milk
bottle propagators make this very easy without any risk of
the sporelings shriveling up in horror (more about this later).
Collecting spores
We have a good collection of unusual ferns in our garden
and after several losses with the last few cold winters, one
of the things I am trying to do is to propagate all of the
ferns we have already as well as introducing new ones. To
obtain a good amount of spores, the fern spores should be
collected when they are at the right stage ie. just before the
sporangia open to release their spores. If they are immature
they will not be ready to drop and if over mature, most of the
spores will have already been shed.
Pick a small section of the frond on a dry day. Place
in a piece of folded up white paper or envelope (fold up
the bottom or spores will escape out of the corners) and
leave for a few days. Once the spores have shed they
can be separated from any debris by holding the paper
horizontally, tipping slightly and gently tapping. The spores
remain together towards the top while any debris slides
downwards and off the bottom edge of the paper.
Fig. 2.Arachniodes sp.- spores over mature
Fig. 3. Separating spores by gently tapping the paper.
The debris can be seen sliding downwards.
10
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Raising Ferns From Spores Using Plastic Milk Bottles.
Fig. 4. Making the propagators.
Cutting the base from the first bottle.
Fig. 5. Making the propagators.
Drainage holes cut and slits cut in the other bottle base.
Preparing the milk bottle propagators
First I cut the bottoms off two well washed 4pt milk bottles.
Then I cut two small holes in two opposite bottom corners
about 1cm in diameter, for drainage. Four slits are then cut
in the sides of the other bottle base. This enables this piece
to slide over the other to form a sealed unit which will keep
out airborne contamination. This is very important when
sowing spores. If the holes are too small the compost will
stay too wet but if they are too big the compost will dry
out before the prothalli develop. Ideally they will not need
watering until the young sporelings have developed.
After preparing several propagators in the same way, I
half fill them with a mixture of 2 A multipurpose compost and
I/s John Innes. The John Innes is necessary as the ferns
will be in there for a long time. Then the lid and compost
needs sterilizing by pouring over boiling water, making sure
the compost is thoroughly soaked so the container will not
need watering again before the young sporelings develop.
The lid is then placed on top immediately to prevent any
airborne contamination. The lid of the mini propagator keeps
the surface of the compost free of contamination whilst the
holes in the base allow sufficient drainage but cannot allow
the surface of the compost to become contaminated as the
compost provides a barrier across the holes. Great care
must be taken as the containers are very hot and hold their
heat for quite a while. The containers must then be left to
cool down completely before sowing the spores.
Sowing and growing
Small quantities of spores can be sown directly from their
envelope as this reduces the likelihood of contamination.
If I have a large quantity of spores, I dip the tip of a clean
knife into the spores and gently tap it over the compost to
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
allow the spores to scatter evenly. It is important not to sow
the spores too thickly as the prothalli will not have room to
develop fully. It is also important not to cross contaminate
with other fern spores by sowing each type in a different
place or allowing plenty of time for any spores in the air to
settle before sowing the next ones.
The lid is replaced immediately and the mini propagators
are labeled using a permanent marker pen and placed on a
bottom shelf in the glass house, towards the front, ensuring
they get plenty of light but not direct sunlight or they will
get too hot and dry out too quickly. A light north facing
windowsill would also be good. Tropical species will need
more warmth and light than temperate ones so will need
positioning accordingly. I also move mine around according
to the time of year ensuring the optimum conditions of
warmth, light and moisture.
Fig. 6. Sowing with a knive.
Fig. 7. Prothalli are too crowded.
Fig. 8. Prothalli with room for development.
11
Raising Ferns From Spores Using Plastic Milk Bottles.
After a few weeks to a few months, depending on when
they are sown, where they are kept and the species, an
algal like bloom will appear on the surface of the compost,
after which the developing prothalli will be seen. After a
further period of time the first fronds will appear.
Fig. 9. Mini milk bottle propagators under the glasshouse bench.
Once a good quantity of fronds are showing, then it is
time to ‘wean’ them. If the lid is removed and the tender
new fern fronds are exposed straight away to the elements,
they will shrivel up and die. The best thing is to acclimatize
them to the outside air over a period of a few days.
Fig. 10. First fronds appear.
This is another very useful aspect of these propagators
as when it is time to acclimatize them to the outside air, I
simply turn the lid on its side and slip it back over, allowing
a gap to let a little air in. I leave it like this for a day or two
then gradually slide the lid further off the base over the next
few days, exposing the new sporelings gradually rather
than suddenly to the outside environment as they have
been cosseted inside the propagator for a while. Once fully
acclimatized, the young sporelings can be fed with a half
strength liquid feed.
Next I prick out tiny clumps( not individual plants unless
they are growing very sparsely, as it disturbs the roots too
much) into either small 7cm pots or if I have a large quantity,
into a nursery frame situated in a shady spot in the garden.
It is a good idea to cover the pricked out clumps for a few
days until they settle in, to prevent them from drying out. My
frame has a plastic cover which I put over for a few days.
It also has a shade net cover for hot summer days. The
ferns are then left to grow on until I am ready to pot them
up individually or plant into a lazy bed before planting out in
the garden once they have developed a good root system.
Acclimatizing young Pteris wallichiana sporelings
Fig. 11. Pteris wallichiana sporelings ready for acclimatizing.
Fig. 12.The lid removed , turned and slid sideways onto the base.
Fig. 13.The lid slid further back to help the acclimatization
Fig. 1 4 . Pteris wallichiana sporelings fully acclimatized.
12
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Raising Ferns From Spores Using Plastic Milk Bottles.
Conclusion
After trying various ways of sowing, the milk bottle mini
propagators are by far my most preferred way of sowing
spores and I shall certainly use this method in the future.
The propagators can be cleaned and sterilized for use
over and over again and I have had some very successful
results with them. □
Fig. 15. Growing the clumps of sporelings on in the frame
Fig. 16. Onychium japonicum from BPS spore exchange 2012 , planted
out and photographed September 2013
A role for instant porridge in pteridoculture.
Roger Horton
145 St Bede's Crescent, Cambridge CB1 3UA
e-mail rogerhorton@zoho.com
A curtailed camping expedition left
me with the makings of several quick
breakfasts in the form of instant
porridge, namely Scott's 'So-Easy
creamy porage oats'®, (other brands
also available; and 'Yes' the people
at Scott's really do spell it that way).
These consist of the porridge mix
contained in a white plastic pot with
a thin card cladding, a foil seal and
a clear lid. Once the porridge is
consumed and the foil and card have
been removed, what remains is an
ideal planting pot. Although the intact
product is described as 'not suitable
for microwaving' the empty pots half
filled with moist compost and with lids
in place appear resistant to several
minutes of microwave heating on
medium power for sterilisation.
The lids clip in place well enough
to retain most moisture but not so
tight as to be a complete seal, and
are clear enough to allow superficial
examination. The white plastic of the
pot is well suited to labelling and the
base surprisingly sturdy should there
be a need to drill drainage holes.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The illustration shows an unknown young fern, found as a contaminant in
a house plant pot, which has now out-grown its lid, plus pots containing
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum gametophytes grown from spores, Dryopteris
erythrosora transplanted sporelings, and the original product.
The spurtle* doubles as a handy dibber.
* A spurtle is a Scots kitchen tool, dating from at least the fifteenth century. It
is used specifically for stirring porridge and soups. Ed
13
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda:
A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
Kevel C. Lindsay
Island Resources Foundation
24 Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
e-mail: Kcl927@yahoo.com
My passion for wild ferns goes back to my early childhood
on a farm on the island of Antigua. I spent many days in
the wild open pastures and woodlands day-dreaming about
such primitive places while I explored the Nephrolepis fern
groves, hoping that the land before me would suddenly be
transformed into a hot humid and wild jungle like those I
often read about in books or saw on television.
In later years, as a forester with the Ministry of
Agriculture (this was in the early 1990s), I discovered that
the islands had relatively few fern species when compared
to the wetter and more volcanic neighbouring islands such
as St. Kitts; this disappointed me. It seemed that my dream
of Antigua blossoming into a verdant primeval jungle with
giant tree ferns was even more fanciful than I had imagined
as a child.
Out of this disappointment grew a greater urgency to
know about my islands’ ferns because I was convinced that
there were many more species than had been previously
reported. In 2008, 1 began a study of the ferns of the islands
of Antigua, Barbuda, and Redonda in attempt to determine
the number of species, their distributions and habitats as
well as their conservation status. During my research, I
have learned that the fern species here are remarkably
resilient, despite several centuries of deforestation and
continued loss of habitats in some areas of all three islands,
as well as the increasing impacts of global climate change.
In fact, Antigua is seeing an increase in the number of ferns
species, and this upsurge in numbers is likely due to an
increase in moist forest cover in some parts of the hills of
the volcanic south of the that island.
Before we look at the ferns, let me give you a brief
overview of the tropical island setting.
The country of Antigua and Barbuda is a tripartite state,
consisting of three islands, namely: Antigua (280 km 2 ),
Barbuda (161 km 2 ) and Redonda (2.6 km 2 ). It is located 402
km southeast of the United States territory of Puerto Rico.
The state is part of the Lesser Antillean grouping commonly
referred to as the Leeward Islands. The capital of the country
is St. John’s, located on the shore of a deep harbour on
the northwestern coast of Antigua. The island has a total
population of over 81,000 (2011 Census), with an average
population density of about 360 people/km 2 . Barbuda has
just one settlement, Codrington, and a population of about
1,400 people. Until November 1981, these islands were a
part of the colonial West Indian territories of Great Britain.
When A. Alston and Harold Box wrote the Pteridophyta
of Antigua in 1935 — for decades the only compendium of
the island’s ferns — the landscape was dominated by large
tracts of sugar cane fields. Even 26 years later, much of the
island was intensively cultivated, as shown in the image in
Fig.1 taken in 1961 (Antigua looking toward the northeast).
Alston was a British botanist and naturalist of considerable
talent, and was quite familiar with the flora and landscapes
of many of the West Indian islands. Box was at the time, the
Government Entomologist at the Antigua Sugar Factory.
14
Fig. 1 . Aerial view of northeast Antigua showing mosaic of extensive
cane fields. Photo taken by botanist Walter H. Hodge, circa 1960s.
Source Island Resources Foundation Walter H. Hodge collection.
Along with his official role, he also spent a great deal of
his time exploring the island, recording many of its natural
features, including its plants.
During the periods of sugarcane cultivation, there
remained small forest fragments, especially on some hills
and in steep valleys, and ribbons of woodland along streams
and property boundaries. Though these plant communities
were only fragmentary, they perhaps served as seed-
banks, harbouring spores, which may have allowed the
repopulation of species in later years.
In Alston and Box’s overview of the ferns of Antigua,
they listed about 35 species (the authors also suggested
the presence of the hybrid Thelypterisx rolandii, a naturally
occurring cross between T. tetragona and T. poiteana),
most of which were limited to the more humid woodlands
of the southern volcanic region of the island, where the
highest point is Mount Obama (Boggy Peak during his time)
at 403 meters.
Fig. 2. The island of Redonda from the air. Photo courtesy, Brian Cooper
2012 .
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda: A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
Box also made observations on the ferns
and other plants of the sister island of Redonda
and published A Note on the Vegetation of
Redonda, B.W.I in 1939, providing a useful
timeline and overview of the rapidly changing
natural environment of the small uninhabited
island. Redonda was once extensively mined
for guano from the late 1800s to around 1921.
This changed the landscape very dramatically.
Today, Redonda is unfortunately overrun by
feral goats and introduced rats, which have
wreaked havoc on the native plants and
animals of the island. Fig. 2 shows an aerial
view of this island.
No similar work was published for the ferns
and other plants of Barbuda, though Box and
other experts spent time there.
To establish the extensive agricultural
fields of Antigua, the British began clearing
the land of its native old growth forest soon
after the first settlement was established in
1632. In less than 100 years, the island had
been transformed into thousands of hectares
of sugar cane fields, small-scale agricultural
holdings and vegetable crop farms, especially
in the central and northern regions, with more
tree, fruit and crop farms (cultivating yams,
taro, sweet potato, bananas, cassava, among
other things) established in the volcanic hills
of the south. Deforestation continued well into
the 1800s, especially to obtain wood to fuel the
factories that manufactured sugar. Fig. 3 shows
a crew felling large Silk Cotton (Kapok) trees
( Ceiba pentandra) at Wallings in the south of
the island sometime in late 1800s. Note the
numerous epiphytes covering the trunk.
Fig. 3. Fall of an old silk cotton, circa late 1800s by John
Anjo. Source: Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.
The felling of the islands’ forests likely
resulted in the disappearance and even the
extinction of many species of native plants
and animals. Ferns, especially epiphytic
species, declined, and by the end of the 18 th
Century, only a few species persisted, and
only those that were hardy enough to survive
in the desiccated, fragmented and degraded
patches of remaining woodlands. Alston’s
and Box’s 1935 summary review offers a rare
window onto the environmental conditions to
the island at that time, and it suggests that
the flora consisted of species that were fairly
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
widespread throughout the Caribbean, most being generalist that
were able to survive in a range of enviroments, including dry seasonal
to evergreen moist forests, and from sea level to the highest point.
Even so, some species were quite rare, limited to the steep valleys
of the volcanic south. The species that Alston and Box recorded are
shown in table 1 below, and list 35 species.
Species
Status in 1935
Alston & Box
Status in 2013
(Lindsay)
Acrostichum aureum Linnaeus
Rare
Rare
Acrostichum dcmaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch.
Common
Uncommon
Adiantopsis radiata (L.) Fee
Rare
Rare
Adiantum tenerum Sw.
Common
Common
Adicmtum tetraphyllum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
Rare
Uncommon
Adiantum villosum Linnaeus
Common
Common
Anemia adiantifolia (L.) Sw.
Uncommon
Common
Anemia hirta (L.) Sw.
Rare
Uncommon
Asplenium cristatum Lam.
Common
Common
Asplenium pumilum Sw.
Rare
Common
Asplenium serratum Linnaeus
Rare
Uncommon
Blechnum occidentale Linnaeus
Uncommon
Common
Campyloneurum phyllitidis (L.) C. Presl
Common
Common
Cheilanthes microphylla (Sw.) Sw.
Rare
Uncommon
Didymoglossum krausii (Hook. & Grey.) C. Presl
Common
Common
Doryopteris pedata (L.) Fee
Rare
Uncommon
Microgramma heterophylla (L.) Wherry
Common
Common
Microgramma lycopodioides (L.) Copeland
Common
Common
Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott.
Uncommon
Common
Neurodium lanceolatum (L.) Fee
Rare
Common
Phlebodium aureum (L.) J. Smith
Common
Common
Pityrogramma calomelanos (L.) Link
Common
Common
Pleopeltis polypodioides (L.) E.G. Andrews & Windham
Common
Common
Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv.
Rare
Rare
Pteridium caudatum (L.) Maxon
Rare
Extinct?
Pteris biaurita Linnaeus
Rare
Uncommon
Pteris vittata Linnaeus
Common
Common
Serpocaulon triseriale (Sw.) A.R. Sm.
Uncommon
Common
Tectaria heracleifolia (Willdenow) L. Underw.
Rare
Uncommon
Tectaria incisa Cav.
Common
Uncommon
Thelypteris dentata (Forssk.) E.P. St. John
Common
Common
Thelypteris patens (Sw.) Small ex R.P. St. John
Common
Rare
Thelypteris poiteana (Bory) Proctor
Rare
Rare
Thelypteris tetragona (Sw.) Small
Common
Common
Vittaria lineata (L.) Sm.
Rare
Uncommon
Table 1. Summary status of fern species listed by Alston and Box in 1935 and
their status today.
Note that Alston’s & Box’s species names have been updated where necessary.
The situation for most of the ferns has improved considerably since
1935, in that many are found more widely, and/or population numbers
have increased, while a handful have remained rare (this may be a
natural dynamic).
It is not known how Alston and Box arrived at the status for each
species, but given the landscape at the time, and the relative paucity
of forests and woodlands, it is not hard to imagine how conclusions
15
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda: A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
were reached. The authors often suggested that a species
was “very scarce” or “only found once” and so on, and may
also say the species is “common” or “rare.”
For my work, my experience often paralleled that of
Alston and Box, and many of the species are only known
from a handful of locations, one plant or one population,
and so on. I used the IUCN species assessment approach
to determine the conservation status of many species
(though not all have been evaluated). For a full conservation
assessment of the islands’ ferns please refer to the Regional
Red List of pteridophytes of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda
(2012). For the purpose of this article, simpler terms have
been employed to denote the status of the species.
By1997, Island Resources Foundation (IRF), in a report
on the country’s Biodiversity Profile for Antigua, Barbuda,
and Redonda (Lindsay and Horwith), increased the number
of species for the islands, and listed 45 ferns (43 for Antigua
and two for Barbuda).
Between 2007 and 2009 when the Environmental
Awareness Group (EAG) published The Wild Plants of
Antigua and Barbuda, the number of fern species increased
from 45 to about 54.
By 2013, my field work determined that country has at
least 109 species, far more than the 35 that Alston and
Box recorded. Some of the increase is due to taxonomic
revisions and splits, the recognition of many hybrids,
and because of several introduced species, but most
were new records such as the first documentation of the
primitive Ophioglossum reticulatum for Antigua. Though
a widespread species across the Caribbean and in other
parts of the world, it is a rare species here. In fact, not long
after that discovery, we found a single colony of another
species Ophioglossum harrisii, a rare West Indian endemic
(Fig. 4). Both species prefer grassy moist slopes with
partial shade to full sun. They are also easily overlooked
or mistaken for other plants given their simple leaves and
terrestrial habits.
Fig. 4. Ophioglossum harrisii in the southern hills of Antigua.
Another great find — adding to our growing fern list — is
Adiantum fragile. Adiantums, with their lacey fronds are
a favourite of local gardeners, and in fact, are cultivated
the world over. There are two varieties of this species on
Antigua, these being A. fragile var. fragile and A. fragile
Fig. 5. Adiantum fragile var. rigidulum, Antigua.
Fig. 6. Didymoglossum ovale found growing on boulder, Antigua.
Fig. 7. Asplenium uniseriale on rocky escarpment at Christian Valley,
Antigua.
Fig. 8. Marsilea nashii, a West Indian endemic aquatic fern in Barbuda.
16
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda: A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
var. rigidulum (Fig. 5). The latter is the smaller and more
delicate of the two forms; it is also quite rare, known only
from a handful of locations and a few plants.
Some species are very tiny and easily overlooked —
they resemble mosses or hide amongst them (see Fig.
6). Alston and Box observed the diminutive filmy fern,
Didymoglossum krugii, which is widespread in moist
ravines and woodlands, often found growing on boulders,
rocks and tree trunks. It is one of about nine species and
varieties, found on Antigua since 2008. One of these is the
country’s smallest fern, Didymoglossum ovale (Fig. 6). So
far, D. ovale is known only from one small colony found
growing on a few rocks in a damp, dark, valley bottom in
the southern hills.
Several species remain a taxonomic challenge, including
Pityrogramma, and members of the Asplenium cristatum-
complex. Many of the species closely resemble each other,
and are very difficult to tell apart. This is compounded
when two or more species grow in close proximity or in the
same area. Fig. 7 shows what is believed to be Asplenium
uniseriale found growing at Christian Valley in the southern
hills. Its delicate and graceful fronds often have long
attenuated tips.
In Barbuda, we have added another species of
Marsilea, the clover-leaf aquatic ferns, which now means
the island has two types: Marsilea nashii (Fig. 8) a West
Indian endemic, and Marsilea ancylopoda, widespread
throughout parts of the Neotropics. The island’s list is now
up to about 1 0, when previously, it was about two.
Redonda has at least six species, including the beautiful
Island Goldback Fern ( Pityrogramma chrysophylla var.
subflexuosa), endemic to the Virgin Islands, Montserrat and
Redonda (Fig. 9), with the bright yellow powder covering
the underside of the leaves.
Fig. 9. Pityrogramma chrysophylla var. subflexuosa on Redonda. Photo
courtesy Dr. Jenny Daltry, Fauna and Flora International, 2011
What accounts for the dramatic increase in numbers
of ferns recorded? How did Alston, Box and others miss
so many species? There are several reasons for this:
many experts and observers only made occasional efforts
to study the islands’ species and could have overlooked
several forms. Their field observations would have also
missed many species because they are quite rare, limited
in many instances to just one narrow valley or a handful of
plants on a few boulders or trees.
During the 1930s to 1980s, many of the areas of
Antigua consisted of open grasslands and scrubby patches
of woods. With the abandonment of intensive export-driven
agriculture since 1980, many were left fallow and have
transitioned to taller and more stable forest habitats, which
have provided the needed environments and conditions for
ferns to prosper. In the early 1980s, areas such as Midway
Ridge and the slopes of Mount Obama were a mosaic of
extensive grass, shrublands and patches of forest, but by
the early 2000s, many of these areas reverted to secondary
woodland and the region is now largely wooded. Fig. 10
shows a view of the Christian Valley and the surrounding
summits of Midway Ridge and of the highest point on
Antigua, Mount Obama. The photo was taken from McNish
Mountain.
Fig. 10. View of Midway Ridge, summit to left in background and Mount
Obama summit in right background with communication tower.
Mature old trees also create suitable sites for epiphytic
species to become established. The tall trees also provide
shade and help to increase levels of humidity in upland and
valley areas, conditions loved by many ferns. These sites
were once denuded and exposed to destructive ultraviolet
radiation, desiccating winds, the ravages of goats and
other livestock, and erosion. Previously small, fragmented
woodland patches are now a network of forests, woodlands,
scrub, patches of grassland, rocky cliffs and herbaceous
growth, offering a complex and diverse system of habitats
that allow increasing biodiversity in the area.
Nevertheless, severe challenges remain, especially
because some fern species are known from only one small
colony or just one plant. This makes them vulnerable to
disturbances, including droughts, floods, land-clearing,
diseases, invasive species, and fires. Added to this is the
increasing stress of the effects of climate change and sea
level rise, which compound and amplify existing threats.
While some areas in the volcanic south of Antigua are
seeing an increase in forest habitats, the central, northern
and northeastern end of the island are experiencing a
decline in forest cover and a loss of wetlands due to tourism
and upscale housing developments.
On Barbuda, introduced feral livestock, which include
goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, horses, Fallow Deer ( Dama
dama) and wild boar, some of which may have been
introduced as early as the 1 500s, are causing a gradual but
steady ecological decline in ecosystems. Barbuda also has
seen a dramatic increase in sand mining and quarrying,
which have destroyed large tracts of rare native woodlands.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
17
The Ferns of Antigua and Barbuda: A Case of Resurgence and Resilience
Redonda is now largely deforested due to guano mining,
to goats introduced prior the 1600s and introduced Black
Rats ( Rattus rattus).
Sadly, at least two species: Pteridium caudatum and
Microgramma piloselloides may be locally extinct on
Antigua. Field surveys have so far turned up no evidence
that either species is still present on the island. Fig. 11
shows the author high on the slopes of Saddle Hill, from
where Alston and Box reported P. caudatum.
Field studies continue, and new species are likely to
turn up. But it is now necessary to develop effective ways
to protect suitable habitats and ensure that these species
maintain sustainable populations. Working with local
authorities, I have been planning the development of a
native plant nursery and garden to maintain populations of
native species, and to eventually repatriate many of these
to the wild. These plans are now in the beginning stages.
My field study of the ferns of Antigua, Barbuda and
Redonda has been under the auspices of the Environmental
Awareness Group (EAG) of Antigua and Barbuda, and
generously funded by the Rufford Small Grants for Nature
Conservation, UK, and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species
Conservation Fund, Abu Dhabi. The study has resulted
in the production of a Regional Red List of Ferns for
Antigua and Barbuda, and a Conservation Perspective,
both researched and authored by myself, and which can
be freely downloaded from the EAG fern project website
at: http://www.eagantigua.org/page525.html. Also being
produced is a guide to the ferns, expected by early summer
of 2014. n
References:
Alston, A.H.G. & H.E. Box. 1935. Pteridophyta of Antigua
Journal of Botany, Vol. 73 No., 366.
Beard, J.S. 1949. The natural vegetation of the Windward
and Leeward Islands. Oxford Forestry Memoirs, 21 . Oxford
University Press.
Box, Harold E. 1939. A note on the vegetation of Redonda,
B.W.I. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, Vol. 77, No.
923.
Government of Antigua and Barbuda. 2012. Census
2011: preliminary data results. Ministry of Finance, the
Economy and Public Administration Statistics Division.
Harris, D. R. 1 965. Plants, animals and man in the outer
Leeward Islands, West Indies - an ecological study of
Antigua, Barbuda, and Anguilla. University of California
Press.
Howard, R. A. & others. 1977. Flora of the Lesser Antilles.
Pteridophyta. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University.
Island Resources Foundation, 1991. Antigua and
Barbuda country environmental profile. Caribbean
Conservation Association.
Lindsay, Kevel. (In Prep.). The ferns of Antigua, Barbuda
and Redonda: an atlas and illustrated guide to the native
and naturalised pteridophytes. Environmental Awareness
Group.
Lindsay, Kevel & Bruce Horwith. 1997. A biodiversity
profile of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda. Island Resources
Foundation.
Lindsay, Kevel & Bruce Horwith. 1997. A vegetation
classification of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda. Island
Resources Foundation.
Lindsay, Kevel. 2012. Protecting native pteridophytes
in Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda: a conservation
perspective. Environmental Awareness Group.
Lindsay, Kevel. 2012. Regional Red List of pteridophytes of
Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda. Environmental Awareness
Group.
Lindsay, K. & Horwith, B. 1997. Plant species of Antigua,
Barbuda & Redonda. Island Resources Foundation.
Loveless, A. 1960. The vegetation of Antigua, West Indies.
Journal of Ecology Vol. 48, No. 3.
Pratt, Christopher, Kevel Lindsay, Melanie Pearson
& Carolyn Thomas. 2009. The Wild Plants of Antigua
and Barbuda: an Illustrated Field Guide to the Native and
Naturalised Vascular Plants. Environmental Awareness
Group
Fig. 11. The author, Kevel Lindsay, searching for Pteridium caudatum
high on the slopes of Saddle Hill on Antigua in October of 2013.
Wheeler, L. Eichmond. 1916. The botany of Antigua. The
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, Vol. 54.
18
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A FAN OF JAMAICAN FERNS
Michael Hayward
6 Far Moss Road, Blundellsands, Liverpool L23 8TQ
e-mail mhaywardL23@blueyonder.co.uk
In the last issue of the Pteridologist I described and
illustrated the Jamaican lacebark fern doyleys made from
around 1 860-1 920, predominately by the women’s self-help
society (Hayward 2013). Other fern decorated lacebark
productions included fans, both simple paddles and more
elaborate folding fans, and I am now taking the opportunity
to describe one such in my collection. This large fan has
a width of 57cm and height of 31cm when expanded (Fig
1). It is of brise construction, i.e. of individual panels which
slide one over another as the fan is opened and closed,
with a linen thread passing through the apex of each panel
to restrict their movement (Fig 2). The 16 sticks of the fan
are made of bone with a simple geometric pattern produced
by drilling and fretting (Fig 3) and it is likely that the sticks
were imported to Jamaica from China. The lacebark brise
panels are constructed of the same materials as the
doyleys, but with fern decoration on both faces. For details
of the preparation of the lacebark and the construction of
the items see my previous article.
Fig 1 . A large Jamaican lacebark fan with 16 panels. Both sides have
similar fern decoration
The fan box is made of folded card held together by
stitching. The ferns which once decorated the cover are
long gone. The box contains both a hand written listing of
the construction materials used for the fan and a printed
list (Fig 4). The fan was sold to raise funds for the Kingston
orphanage for girls at Half Way Tree. It is likely that such
fans were made by the ladies of the local church, rather
than by the girls of the self-help society.
The fan that Armstrong (1999) illustrates has
tortoiseshell sticks and a repeating pattern of fern
decoration on the central panels whereas this example has
Fig 2. The apex of the fan panels showing showing the restraining thread
a different pattern on each panel. Lacebark fans are also
recorded with wooden sticks. The Lagetta lacebark tree
was introduced into Java by the dutch and fan specialists
believe that similar lacebark fans were indeed produced in
Java (Armstrong 1984). This view is largely based on the
identification of similar fans in ninteenth and early twentieth
century photographs from the region, but the examples
that I have seen illustrated all mention ‘mountain-cabbage
palm’ in their descriptions which clearly indicates their
Jamaican origin. These fans are the most elaborate of the
fern decorated lacebark artefacts produced in Jamaica and
are a delight to hold and examine. They are decorated with
a range of filmy and other small ferns. □
Fig 3. Detail of the bone guard stick decorated with fret work
Fig 4. The printed label in the stitched card fan box
References:
Hayward, M. (2013). Pteridologist 5: pp 411-415
Armstrong, N. (1999). The Book of Fans, London: Colour
Library International, pi 20
Armstrong, N. (1984). Fans, London: Souvenir Press, p76
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
19
Davallia as traditional decorations.
Neil Timm
The Fern Nursery, Grimsby Road, Binbrook. Linconshire LN8 6DH
e.mail: rtimm@fernnursery.co.uk
In mid December we made a visit to the island of Madeira,
where the preparations for the Christmas festivities where
well under way. One of the first things we noticed was the
great popularity of nativity cribs on the island. Often large
impressive structures depicting the stable in Bethlehem
appear in just about every free space that can be found.
Fig. 1 . A typical Nativity scene in Maderia.
We soon noticed that apart from the simple issue of
size, these constructions differ from those you often see in
Britain by frequently taking the form of a wider naturalistic
landscape richly filled with Madeiran plants, including and
especially ferns; with the nativity scene itself forming only a
small central element. Moreover there is no attempt made
to depict the Holy Land in any realistic way, instead the
traditional stable with all its accompanying figures, is usually
surrounded by a model countryside which is completely
Madeiran in style and obviously inspired by the surrounding
mountains. I think that it is probably completely impossible
to say whether this is due to genuine naivety, a deliberate
attempt to entertain the tourists, or some complex mixture
of both.
Fig. 2. Another Nativity scene complete with model houses, bandstand
and orchestra.
Of the ferns used for the displays Davallia, the Hares
Foot Fern, is by far the most popular type. Davallia
canariensis is indeed a very common Madeiran fern
growing wild throughout the island, especially on the walls
of the many terraces which make up most of the islands
cultivated ground, but that alone did not seem to account
for its exceptional popularity, since Madeira has a large
number of both wild and cultivated ferns, any of which at
first glance would do just as well for decoration. Indeed
Nephrolepis the Boston or Ladder Fern is one of the most
commonly cultivated pot and garden plants to be seen, why
not use that instead?
Fig. 3. Davallia canariensis, the Hares Foot Fern, for sale in Maderia
complete with scaly rhizomes still attached to the fronds.
20
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Davallia as traditional decorations.
It did not however take long to find the answer, because
as soon as we set out to explore the streets of Funchal,
the islands main city, we rapidly found numerous street
vendors selling cut flowers and foliage, of which one of the
most common items was small clumps of Davallia. What
really made apparent the reasons for the ferns popularity
however, was that it is sold in handy small clumps with its
characteristic scaly rhizomes still attached to the fronds.
Fig. 4. Typical street vendor selling clumps of Davallia canariensis. Note
the bag of extra fronds at her feet.
Obviously this way of harvesting the plants must mean
that the fronds are easy to arrange in displays since they
have a good firm base attached, and most likely supported
by the roots the fronds will, as florists say, “stand well”, not
wilting perhaps even through all the Christmas season.
Moreover the ferns habit of growing among the loose stones
on the edges of the terraces and in walls, must make them
a very easy and obvious target for harvesting in this way.
I was not at the time sure whether or not the trade in
Davallia foliage was year round, but research on the web
shows that, like holly and mistletoe in Britain, it is a traditional
seasonal one; which made it all the more interesting to find
that wild ferns continue to be involved in what is almost
certainly a vernacular minor industry marking the festive
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
cycle, even well into the twenty first century. I can not
say if the trade at this time presents any risk to the ferns
themselves, or if it will be sustainable in the future should
human population, land usage, and demand increase,
though at the moment Davallia seems to be both common
and widespread on Madeira. □
Fig. 5. Another street vendor not only selling Davallia canariensis but
also other greenery and cut flowers.
Fig. 6. This street vendor seems to be a specialist Davallia canariensis
seller.
In Madeira, tradition dictates that homes are decorated on the holiday of
the 8th of December - the day of Our Lady of Conception. As well as the
Christmas tree it is typical to assemble the Christmas crib or, as called
in Madeira, "a Lapinha".
It is common to decorate the Lapinha with searinhas which are
crops of corn, wheat or lentils in small vases. The seeds are usually
soaked for 1 or 2 days and then are planted on the 8th of December
so they are relatively grown on Christmas day. Some native plants to
Madeira are also used such as the Climbing Butcher's Broom Semele
androgyna, the Hare's Foot Fern Davallia canariensis and some other
non natives such as the Lady Slipper Orchids, Paphiopedilum sp.
Read more at: http://www.madeirahelp.com/madeira traditions#ixzz2riCzpYeZ
Ed.
21
Ticks, Borrelia and Lyme disease.
Peter Blake
14 Mill Hill Road, Norwich, NR2 3DP
e-mail: nicklodge@btinternet.com
In August 2013, six members of the BPS South East and
East Anglian groups travelled to Holland for a field-trip with
Wim de Winter. On 24 th August we went fern-hunting in the
plantations of Voosterbos and Kuinderbos, guided by Piet
Bremmer, a Dutch ecologist. Before entering the woods he
told us that deer, ticks and Lyme disease were endemic in
the area. He commented that he had ticks himself on at
least three hundred occasions and had contracted Lyme
disease (LD) three times, each episode being successfully
treated with antibiotics.
Fig. 1 . A tick waiting on a bracken crozier, ready to jump.
Photo: James Merryweather.
The group subsequently checked themselves for ticks
and four of the six found them on their trunk and legs. In
my case I found five, with two being behind my left knee
and three around my midriff. At that time there was no
evidence of a ‘bite’ mark, unlike mosquito or bedbug bites,
which produce a red itchy lump. The ticks themselves were
tiny, no more than two millimetres across and they moved
quite quickly (Fig. 2). They were easy to remove with fine
tweezers.
Fig. 2: A tick feeding
Fig. 3. Early skin rash at the bite Fig. 4. Characteristic ‘bulls-eye’
site rash
myalgia (muscle pain) and arthritis 2 . These symptoms of
advanced disease can occur months or years after the
initial infection.
Around 12 th September I noticed a large purplish mark
behind my left knee (Fig. 5). For a day or two I thought it
was a bruise, although I had no memory of trauma and the
mark was completely painless. On 14 th September, three
weeks after our forage in the Dutch forest, it dawned on
me that this peculiar, florid rash was similar to what I had
seen on the internet and could represent Borrelia infection.
I saw a medical colleague who had some knowledge of the
disease, having had a friend who had developed serious
central nervous system (brain) involvement before a
diagnosis was made. He started me on antibiotics that day.
I saw my GP two days later, who told me that he had never
seen a case, but that the rash fitted the description and
appearance on the NHS site. Fortuitously, he had a South
African GP trainee with him that day who said that Lyme
disease was common in South Africa and that she had
treated it many times with a four-week course of antibiotics.
The British National Formulary recommended a 10-14 day
course. However, we decided to err on the side of caution
and take the South African’s advice and I took doxycyline
for 28 days. The rash faded over several days, has not
recurred and I have had no symptoms at any time 3 .
After returning to England I thought that it would be
wise to look up Lyme disease on the internet and found the
NHS site (Ref.1). I learnt that Lyme disease was caused by
Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterial spirochaete similar to that
of syphilis ( Treponema pallidum). Like this more infamous
disease, infection with Borrelia could have both local and
systemic effects, with an early skin rash 1 (Fig. 3), leading to
a spreading ring or ‘bulls-eye’ ( erythema migrans- Fig. 4).
This rash may be accompanied by flu-like symptoms.
A common feature of persistent infection after the rash
has faded is lassitude and weakness, but there may be
involvement of major systems such as the brain, heart
and, particularly, the muscles and joints, causing crippling
22
Fig. 5. The author’s rash behind the left knee
Ticks wait for passing prey by resting on the very tips of
blades, especially of fern fronds including bracken (Figs. 1
& 6). They wait, with front legs outstretched, to latch-on to
passing mammalian fur (or clothing). Once 'aboard' a target
mammal, they crawl to seek the warmest places to bite,
which are usually those parts of the body with thin skin and
a good blood supply. Typical sites are behind the knee, in
the groin or in the armpit.
Borrelia burgdorferi can infect several animals including
deer and rodents but, apparently, also pheasants and
blackbirds 4 . Ticks become infected having ingested blood
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Ticks, Borrelia and Lyme di seas e.
from affected creatures and can transfer this infection to
humans. Larger ticks have most probably already bitten
one or more animals, such as deer or rodents. So, larger
ticks are more likely to carry the disease than smaller ones.
The disease is then transferred to a fresh victim through
a subsequent bite. Transfer occurs if the tick regurgitates
blood from its gut into the human. Regurgitation occurs
particularly if the tick is irritated by chemicals or heat applied
to it in an effort to remove it. Quick removal with tweezers 5
or a ‘tick card’ carries the least risk of regurgitation and
infection. A tick card has a narrow slot in it to slide under
the tick and lift it off. In England and Wales the incidence
of infection is thought to be at least 2000-3000 cases per
year. However this may well be an underestimate as the
disease is still poorly-recognised and not well reported.
Blood tests for Borrelia infection are not 100% accurate
and can only detect the disease after it has been present
for several weeks. Diagnosis is therefore very dependent
on the history of tick bites and the characteristic rash.
Fig. 6. Adult and nymph waiting on a bracken stem.
Photo: James Merryweather.
Early disease can be treated successfully with oral
antibiotics but advanced disease may require intravenous
treatment. Lyme disease can be very serious in its advanced
stages and can cause heart failure and paralysis. However
myalgia, arthritis and lassitude are the commonest
symptoms. Indeed, there is at least one member of the BPS
who developed severe arthritis after tick bites. This was in
the days before the disease was recognised, his symptoms
never entirely regressed even after treatment. Although
the infection can be treated with antibiotics in the later
stages, there can be no guarantee that the damage caused
will be completely repaired or that the symptoms will be
completely alleviated. There are support groups for those
affected by chronic Lyme disease and groups campaigning
for better diagnosis and treatment of the disease 6 (Refs. 2,
3, 4). n
Fig. 7. An adult tick searching for somewhere to bite.
Photo: James Merryweather.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
References:
NHS Choices: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease
Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness UK:
http://www.bada-uk.org/
Worldwide Lyme Protest UK: http://worldwide-lyme-
protest.org.uk/
Lyme Disease Action: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.
uk/
P.S. (Written anonymously by a member of the BPS who has
suffered tick bites on at least three continents!)
Because of the Tern-connection', pteridologists should be
aware of Lyme disease, especially if in any woodland environment
in which populations of deer are also present. Early treatment at
the time of the initial rash is important and, therefore, anyone
venturing into heathland or forest where ticks abound should
view the NHS site, be familiar with the appearance of this rash
and seek early advice if they are suspicious of having contracted
Borrelia. It is equally important that anyone who has been bitten
by ticks in the past and who subsequently develops unexplained
lassitude, arthritis or other unaccountable symptoms brings this
to their physician's notice.
Endnotes provided by Wendy Parsons, co-founder of the
Lyme Disease Action Group.
1. Surveys have shown that around 50% of people who
contract LD do not see a rash. If you do have a rash then
take a photograph of it and show your GP, ensuring that it
is recorded in your medical notes.
2. The list of possible symptoms is very long because LD is
systemic and can affect the whole body. These symptoms
can all have causes other than LD and misdiagnosis can
occur.
3. The antibiotics normally quoted in guidelines are the
drugs that have been used in clinical trials. Doctors and
researchers are looking for better treatment because these
trials have shown very variable outcomes (38% - 100%
successful outcome) and because investigations have
shown that the bacteria can survive conventional courses
of antibiotic treatment.
4. Hundreds of species of animals, including mammals,
birds and reptiles, can carry LD. Live Borrelia burgdorferi
spirochetes have been found in mosquitoes and biting flies,
as well as the fleas that are carried by disease hosts. There
are an increasing number of studies to show transmission
via these routes.
5. When removing embedded ticks, always be careful not to
squeeze the tick body. A distressed tick can release infected
saliva or even disgorge its stomach contents into the bite
wound, thus assisting the spread of any infection that is
present. For this reason, only use finely pointed tweezers to
remove ticks. It is much better to carry a tick removal tool,
or tick card.
6.lf you have been bitten and would like some help, contact
support@lymediseaseaction.org.uk Your GP can also ask
for advice via medics@lymediseaseaction.org.uk
23
Fern exploration in the high Andes
Martin Rickard
Pear Tree Cottage, Sutton,
Tenbury Wells, Worcs., England WR15 8RN.
e-mail: h.m.rickard@btinternet.co.uk
My first visit to Ecuador in 201 1 was a general tour organised
by Naturetrek focusing on native orchids. Inevitably
time for ferning was limited. This time the tour was with
pteridologists with the primary purpose of looking at ferns,
and more ferns! Our group consisted of three somewhat
decrepit Brits., Pat Acock, Paul Ripley and me, and one
much younger German, Klaus Mehltreter. This 14-day tour
was not organised in any real sense, apart from the first
two nights and the last night, all in Quito. We had booked
no hotels.
Fig. 1. Klaus Mehltreter and Patrick Acock in the Pontificia Universidad
Catolica del Ecuador Herbarium.
The first day was spent in Quito visiting the Pontificia
Universidad Catolicadel Ecuador Herbarium (Fig. 1). Patand
Klaus had previously made contact with Hugo Navarrete,
Director of the Herbarium, a student of Ecuadorian ferns
(he got his Ph.D. with Dr. Benjamin Ollgaard in Denmark).
He kindly met us and gave us access to the University's
rather impressive collections. Additionally Hugo gave us
ideas where we might find a visit rewarding, and sites for
some more localised species. We learnt that the far north,
near the Columbian border was very different from the
Quito area. While further south towards Peru, near the city
of Cuenca, the flora changed again. We decided to try and
target all three areas even though it meant a lot of driving.
Suitably informed for our first day in the field we headed
north to Ibarra with plans to visit the El Angel Nature
Reserve the next day. Klaus had found a suitable hotel in
Ibarra on his laptop. Once booked in we had a few hours
before dark so we decided to follow up one of Hugo's
sites south of Ibarra. En route we made a roadside stop
by a cliff in pretty dry country at 2500m. Even here we
found about 20 fern species alongside the road. Pellaea
ternifolia and Asplenium aethiopicum were old friends.
The most interesting find was two species of Niphidium.
The common N. crassifolium, and the new to us, narrow-
fronded N.longifolium. The roads hereabouts were not
good and our maps rather inadequate but we eventually
found our way to Hugo's site above Turucucho...well
almost! The road was closed just short of our target area.
Nevertheless we explored where we could. Sadly we did
not find the main target species, Jamesonia cinnamomea,
which is even more beautiful than your average Jamesonia,
but plenty of other treasures were in the vicinity. We were at
24
about 3500m. Among others we found a beautiful tripinnate
polypodium, P.monosorum, climbing through bushes, a
Blechnum from the B.cordatum group with very attractive
deep red new fronds but lacking aerophores, and a large
polystichum which might be P.distans. Following a track
the other side of the valley we came into paramo where
Blechnum loxense was abundant(Fig. 2). I'd seen this in
2011 at Papallacta where it was abundant very locally.
Here it was simply abundant! It is a beautiful erect fern
covered with scales which reflect a silvery light. As if that
isn't enough it also has a trunk up to 2 feet tall. Perfect for
a temperate garden? If it's hardy! One or two plants of the
slightly taller growing B.auratum were scattered among the
B. loxense, another potentially superb fern for temperate
gardens. At this site we had our first sighting of Lophosoria
quadripinnata - already a favourite in UK gardens.
Fig. 2. Blechnum loxense recovering from fire.
The next morning it was north to El Angel (apparently
pronounced hangel!). A small town with its central square
filled with one of the most amazing topiary displays I've
ever seen. Not done with box but some small-leaved
conifer. It looked fabulous. The nature reserve of the same
name lies north of the town and runs just about as far as the
Columbian border. The long entry road proved fascinating
taking up much of our day. Blechnum loxense and
B.auratum were common, with one possible hybrid between
the two. The blechnum-like Plagiogyria semicordata was
rare. It is distinguished from Blechnum by its lack of scales
and only three vascular bundles in the petiole (Blechnum
has 4 to 7). The ever present mountain polystichum,
Rorbiculatum, was frequent as were numerous species of
Elaphoglossum, all of which remained unnamed at species
level until Robbin Moran at the New York Botanic Garden
later sent me an excellent article: “Taxonomic revision of
Elaphoglossum section Muscosa” by his former student,
Dr. Alejandra Vasco. I was then able to work out one
particularly scaly specimen as E.engelii. We saw one or two
plants of a Jamesonia sp. and the jamesonia-like Grammitis
moniliformis. I was fascinated by large colonies of what I
initially thought was Lycopodium clavatum, except it only
had one stobilus per stem. Checking with the flora revealed
our plant was L.clavatum subsp. contiguum (the same as
to L.lagopus from Scotland?). Other ferns of interest I noted
were Eriosorus rufescens and Lophosoria quadripinnata.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Fern exploration in the high Andes
Much as it grieves me to say it, however, the star of this
habitat was not a fern! It was a composite! A flower! Oh
dear! The plant in question is Espelitia pycnophylla. It
covered hundreds of acres, disappearing into the distance
as far as the eye could see, and that was a long way!(Fig.
3) It produces a trunk up to 10 feet tall which is crowned by
a thick rosette of silver leaves. At the centre of this rosette
are masses of large yellow ‘daisy’ flowers. Truly stunning!
Fig. 3. Summit plateau wilderness at the El Angel reserve with Espelitia
pycnophylla abundant.
At the top of the track, at 3800 metres, we found a short
trail running through the Espelitia. There were initially very
few ferns, except by drainage ditches with some beautiful
stands of Jamesonia alstonii (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Jamesonia alstonii at El Angel.
The trail wound down to a lake where with great
excitement Klaus found a handsome species of quillwort,
Isoetes sp.(Fig 5/6). It grew in company with the red-
stemmed Huperzia crassa and various bog plants including
a charming gentian. Nearby a rather splendid Pinguicula
sp. was in bud amongst a mat of Eriosorus sp. The altitude
here was a problem for the first time, and somewhat limited
our exertions! A lot of heavy breathing and frequent rests
were needed.
Descending, back on the main track/road, we stopped
a short distance from the top to examine a small section of
cliff. Rock was rare up here, hence the relatively few ferns
noted, but this cliff at about 3600 metres was a great surprise.
Water dripped down a narrow crevice. Within were two
new species of Elaphoglossum, one with the upper surface
of the lamina lightly covered with dark brown bristle-like
scales, this was E.lindenii, the other still unassigned! The
greatest star here for me was a Hymenophyllum. Fronds
were about 1 metre long but only 3-4 cm wide. I identified
this as Hymenophyllum elegantulum later in the trip after
finding it again at an even higher altitude. Surprisingly, a
few metres further along the cliff there was another species
of Hymenophyllum, H.undulatum var. undulatum, growing
fully exposed to the elements, including the sun!
Fig. 7. Elaphoglossum matthewsii. Papallacta Pass
The reserve at El Angel was our real reason for heading
up north so with that objective achieved we headed south
the next day on the long drive to the hills east of Quito.
Specifically the Papallacta Pass (Papallacta means ‘potato
land in Quechua). At the top, about 4000 metres altitude,
the species of Elaphoglossum were extremely varied but
too numerous. Klaus commented that their identification
would need serious research, endemicity is high and even
if we had an account of Elaphoglossum for Ecuador there
would be no guarantee that species we were seeing would
be included. Many could still be waiting to be described.
Nevertheless one of the most common species growing
erect on the grassy banks was Elaphoglossum matthewsii
(Fig. 7). Jamesonia alstonii was here with another
Jamesonia sp. and Polystichum orbiculatum (Fig. 8), which
Fig. 5 and 6. Isoetes sp. at El Angel. Fig. 8. Polystichum orbiculatum. Papallacta Pass
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
25
Fer n exp loration injhe high Andes
always seemed to be common at these
high altitudes. There were some great
flowering plants too, I especially liked
the various gentians. In a marsh at the
top of the pass, Klaus found another
Isoetes, without a microscope we could
not tell if it was the same species he
had found at El Angel. It is tempting to
think it is the l.andinum that I looked for
here briefly in 2011 . An exciting end to a
day, mainly given over to travelling, was
capped in the evening by luxuriously
soaking in the thermal springs at our
hotel, the Thermas Papallacta.
The next day, Friday the 13 th , was
anything but unlucky! We had a great
day in the hills about 2km up the lane
behind the hotel. I'd been up this track
in 2011 as far as the chain barrier. This
time we went higher and had much
more time. The ferns did not disappoint!
A narrow side track led down to a
waterfall. The added humidity made this
valley a fern paradise. Again we were
sadly unable to identify many species,
especially the elaphoglossums. The
elaphoglossums are difficult to key
out but they are far from uninteresting.
Many species seem distinct but despite
much time being spent I think it's fair
to say we did not get very far with their
naming at the time! Several grammitids
were seen, one with reddish brown
scales/hairs was particularly attractive.
Robbin Moran has kindly identified
this as Alansmia Stella (formerly
Terpsichore lanigerav ar. Stella). Nearby
Grammitis serrulata was also growing
epiphtically in the festoons of moss.
The hymenophyllum we'd seen in that
small cave at El Angel ( H.elegantulum )
was growing strongly here forming
curtains of wondrous foliage (Fig.
9). A polypodium which looked like
Polypodium(Serpocaulon) loriceum,
with conspicuous venation and blue
green fronds grew out of the moss
coating the trees. Again Robbin Moran
has kindly identified this as probably
Serpocaulon cf. eleutherophlebium,
quite a mouthful! One patch had fronds
approaching a crenate form much as
we might see in European Polypodium
australe. At the foot of the waterfall, in
the spray zone, Klaus found another
colony of Isoetes, species unknown
again, but superficially similar to his
earlier finds. Fie is the Isoetes king!
After quite a while we managed to
pull ourselves away from this site and
moved back to the main track and
walked further up the mountain. The
first kilometre or so was through fernless
grassland surrounding beautiful lakes
with the variously wooded or grassy
slopes high above us. Eventually the
path passed through a small wooded
area (at about 3900 metres). Just above
Fig. 9. Tree covered with epiphytes including
Hymenophyllum elegantulum. above Papallacta
village
Fig. 10. High altitude dark woodland. Any bears
here? Above Papallacta village.
Fig.11. Trichomanes (Didymoglossum) reptans
.Baeza.
Fig. 12. Trichomanes (Vandenboschia)
collariatum. Baeza.
Fig . 1 3 . Trichomanes capillaceum. Baeza.
the track the woodland was extremely
dense and dark (Fig. 10). Recesses in
the wall of vegetation were shrouded in
sheets of filmy ferns and clubmosses.
Most notable were Hymenophyllum
amabile and Huperzia tenuis. Paul
soon disappeared as he crawled into
the undergrowth! The recesses here
were so dark and quite large that my
thoughts turned to Spectacled bears.
I didn't see one, however, Klaus, who
had moved ahead did! It disappeared
before he could photograph it. I believe
him, though! I am very jealous! We
finished the day botanising the trackside
on our way back down to the hotel
Lots more ferns of course, Grammitis
heteromorpha, Pteris muricata and
some wonderful robust erect huperzias
were among the highlights. Huperzias
may no longer be fern allies but they
are a fabulous group very strongly
represented in the Ecuadorian flora.
The following morning we moved
down the valley from Papallacta
towards Baeza, stopping on the way
at a site at about 2700 metres that I
visited in 2011. The highlight here for
me was Blech num sprucei with its
long creeping bulbiferous fronds and a
large plant of Dicksonia sellowiana. I'd
missed that last time! A small colony
of Asplenium serra was growing on a
bank. Lophosoria quadripinnata was
abundant here, cascading down the
roadside banks - looking rather more
attractive than it does in my garden!
Moving on to Baeza, Klaus soon found
a charming ‘hotel’ for a two night stop.
In the garden were dozens of tree ferns
planted by the owner. There were only
two species but one was very distinct
with the pinnae produced in pairs arching
like a form of coat hanger. I think it is
best described as Cyathea cfbicrenata.
Beside our accommodation we took a
walk down into tropical forest in pouring
rain - making the track treacherous. On
side banks was a handsome Tectaria
sp., possibly T.heracleifolia. We were
particularly lucky when Klaus spotted
Lonchitis hirsuta, an uncommon fern in
Ecuador . A good clump of an unknown
Adiantum was a first for that genus on
the trip for me. Cyathea aff. bicrenata
and a possibly Sphaeropteroid tree fern
were also occasional along the path. In
the bottom of the gorge with a beautiful
waterfall, filmy ferns were frequent on
cliffs and on trees, particularly tree
ferns. Many types of fern abounded
here, many too critical to identify,
especially in pouring rain. Sadly tree
ferns, elaphoglossums and many
filmies fall into this category. Species
we were able to identify, with help from
Robbin Moran, were Trichomanes
(Didymoglossum) reptans( Fig. 11) only
about 2 or 3 centimetres tall growing
26
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Fern exp loration in the
amongst mosses on a rock and
nearby Trichomanes (Vandenboschia)
collariatum (Fig.1 2)with elegant fronds
similar to our own T.speciosum except
the fronds were longer and more
compact. This was intermixed with
Trichomanes capillaceum (Fig.1 3), a
beautiful filmy fern with hair-like frond
segments. On a fallen tree I noted a
mystery Asplenium rather like A.
laetum with sori densely packed at
the tips of each pinna, but it cannot be
this species as it is never epiphytic.
It remains a mystery! Nearby there
was an attractive species of Pteris, P.
Haenkeana , a tripartite species with
ultimate divisions, rather narrow, like
Pcretica. Among the elaphoglossums
were a couple we could identify with
some help again from Robbin. Both
were small creeping species on trees
and mossy rocks, Elaphoglossum
peltatum forma f label latum with simple,
undivided fan shaped fronds about 2
cm long and the beautifully divided E.
peltatum forma peltatum, which Klaus
had shown us in Costa Rica a few years
ago, similar except the fan-shaped
frond is divided into linear segments. At
the end of the path by another waterfall
Klaus pointed out a crozier of what was
possibly a Dennstaedtia species. This
was incredibly tall and elegant, growing
erect for 2 metres in height before the
first pinnae appeared.
About 60 kilometres north east of
Baeza at San Rafael, the main river,
the Rio Quijos, plunges over a huge
waterfall. An obvious site to explore!
So the next day we were off. En route
I spotted an example of that most
dreaded ‘fern’ genus, Equisetum.
Pat's main target species for the whole
trip were Equisetum giganteum and
E.myriochaetum so reluctantly I drew
them to his attention! The plants were
huge, probably E. giganteum, and even
I had to admit they had something
about them, shooting vertically to about
4 metres high. Further down the valley
in the middle of nowhere a huge power
plant was being built by the Chinese,
here too we found the Equisetum. (Fig.
14).
The footpath to the waterfall is 1 .5
kilometres from the car park. In truth
much of it is through secondary forest.
Nevertheless, Paul soon got stuck in
with the gleichenioid species. There
were huge fronds of Diplopterygium
bancroftii (the only Diplopterygium
species in the American tropics)
partially hiding a Sticherus species. A
slender stemmed, pinnate pinnatifid
tree fern quickly became frequent,
appropriately named Cyathea
bipinnatifida. Elaphoglossum peltatum
forma peltatum was occasional on tree
bark. The new red fronds of Blechnum
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
high Andes
Fig.1 4. Patrick posing beside Equisetum ?
giganteum with stems up to 12 feet tall. Road to
San Rafael.
Fig.1 5. Blechnum cordatum agg. with the
disgustingly slimy crozier. At Rafael.
Fig.1 6. San Rafael waterfall.
Fig.1 7. Pityrogramma trifoliata (formerly
Trismeria trifoliata). Between San Rafael and
Baeza.
binervatum subsp. fragile brightened
up the gloom of the deep shade. Other
species randomly scattered alongside
the path included Pteris muricata and
Hymenophyllum trichomanoides with
exerted indusia looking like a species
of Trichomanes, hence the specific
name. This one fooled me and I have
Robbin to thank for correcting me,
again! A single plant of Lonchitis hirsuta
surprised me - I did not expect to see
an uncommon plant twice on this tour!
Nearby was one of the highlights of the
whole excursion; a bipinnate fern with
fronds 7 to 9 metres long but only about
25 cm wide. Initially I thought it was a
species of Dennstaedtia but there are
none with fronds this long. Robbin
later pointed out it was a Hypolepis,
probably H.parallelogramma. As we
descended the forest became more
humid and ferns with aerophores
were not uncommon. The disgustingly
slimy form of Blechnum cordatum
(Fig. 15)became quite frequent as
did Thelypteris cf. amphioxypteris, an
attractive species with reducing pinnae
at the base of the frond a little like our
European Oreopteris limbosperma.
Eventually the reason for the path being
created came into view - the waterfall
of San Rafael. Magnificent!(Fig.16). On
the way back to Baeza for the night we
stopped briefly at another magnificent
waterfall a short walk up a side valley,
few ferns here but by the side of the river
was Pityrogramma trifoliata (formerly
Trismeria trifoliata)( Fig .17).
The next two days were mainly
taken up with driving. At a short stop
south of Baeza we saw Hymenophyllum
ruizianum amidst quite a few different
lycophytes.
Our route travelled to the edge of
Amazonia at Tena, where we crossed
the River Napo, and Puyo before
heading back west into the mountain
chain again. We stopped the night in
Banos. The following day was a longer
drive south to Cuenca where Flugo had
told us to expect a different flora.
The city of Cuenca was quite a
revelation. It was steeped in history
and the architecture was a wonderful
remnant of its Spanish past. Our hotel
was no exception. Skilfully discovered
by Klaus it had an internal covered
courtyard and was furnished with
antiques throughout. A marvellous
place.
The Cajas National Park which lies
just west of Cuenca boasts a high level
of endemicity , flowering plants and
ferns. The latter did not disappoint!
Our first stop was fairly near Cuenca
in woodland around Lago Llaviucu at
about 3200 metres. One of the ferns
I most wanted to see on the trip is
restricted to this general area. Flugo
27
Fern exp loration irrthe
said we should find it easily, he was
right it was everywhere! The fern in
question is Lophosoria quadripinnata
subsp. contracta. It differs from normal
L. quadripinnata by being much more
compact, as the name suggests. It
tends to grow in grassy places and sits
with upright fronds, a bit brush-like! It is
probably not as beautiful as the normal
form but certainly an exciting variant.
When asked, Hugo thought it might
be a distinct species. Although closely
related to the tree-ferns Lophosoria
does not produce a trunk. Initially I only
saw one plant of the Lophosoria but
there was much else. It was good to
see quite a lot of Dryopteris wallichiana,
(Fig. 1 8) an indication quite a lot of plants
from here might be hardy, although this
form lacks the black spot at the base
of the pinna. Is it the same as plants
in cultivation??? Along the trail down to
the lago the banks were festooned with
drapes of Lycopodium species while
the less steep area beneath was heavily
populated with Huperzia spp. Several
elaphoglossums were intermixed with
the huperzias. Robbin has placed one
of these with a scaly blade and an
obtuse tip in the subsection Muscosa.
Another Elaphoglossum here with
less scaly and narrower leaves is
probably E.gayaunum. Other species
of Elaphoglossum, unfortunately, went
unidentified. Polypodium (Pleopeltis)
buchtieniiwas common running through
the undergrowth. To me, a polypodium
addict, this is a real beauty with
pinnae irregularly lacerated, a little like
Poly podium australe’ Om n i I aceru m ’ .
Other nice things included a
polystichum, possibly Polystichum
boboense, and Asplenium monanthes,
and we still had not reached the lago!
On reaching the shoreline we
followed a footpath through the
trees, probably designed for birders.
Never mind it gave us easy access!
I ignored rather beautiful epiphytic
orchids overhead to concentrate on a
very boring lady fern. It was Athyrium
dombeyi with a somewhat more deltate
lamina than A.filix-femina, otherwise
similar. Hymenophyllums on the
trees sadly remained unidentified.
A magnificent Huperzia, probably
H.linifolia var. tenuifolia, hung down in a
solid, club-shaped festoon of hundreds
of stems, perhaps 1.5 metres long
and 20 cm through at its widest part.
On the ground was more Dryopteris
wallichiana plus a Pecluma species,
possibly Pventurii, and a couple of
polystichums. One, an attractive palish
green glossy polystichum, a little like
Pluctuosum in shape, this might be
Pplatyphyllum, the other rather similar
28
h[gh Andes
Fig. 18. ? Dryopteris wallichiana pinna, showing
no black spot. Near Lago Llaviucu, Cajas
National Park.
Fig. 19. Botrychium virginianum.Near Lago
Llaviucu.
Fig. 20. Sticheris simplex. Near Lago Llaviucu.
Fig. 21 . Lophosoria quadripinnata subsp.
contracta, short colony up to 60 cm tall. Near
Lago Llaviucu.
Fig. 22. Lophosoria quadripinnata subsp.
contracta, tall colony up to 2 m tall. Near Lago
Llaviucu.
to the one we saw the first day which
I have tentatively placed under P.
distans. Another Northern Hemisphere
fern, common in the United States,
Botrychium virginianum, was scattered
about through this wooded area (Fig.
19) .
About 200 yards along this path
through woodland we emerged into a
cleared area. What a treat this was!
We spent ages here. Discussing what
species might be and which might be
hybrids! The real eyecatcher was a
pale green pinnate fern growing erect
with indeterminate fronds about 30
to 50 cm high. This carpeted quite a
large area. I think it is fair to say we all
thought this was an exciting Jamesonia
sp., certainly I did. However, I did
photograph the underside of the
frond and I was worried that the soral
arrangement was not right. Eventually,
to my amazement Robbin partially
confirmed my suspicions by telling me
this was in fact Sticherus simplex I (Fig.
20) I never knew any members of the
Schizaceae could mimic a jamesonia
so convincingly! Amongst the Sticherus
were various lycopods including
Lycopodium(Diphasiastrum) thyoides,
and again, several elaphoglossums
including one from subsection
Muscosa. More exciting was a real
Jamesonia, Jamesonia cheilanthoides,
formerly this was an Eriosorus, but now
all Eriosorus have now been sunk into
Jamesonia. At this site the Sticherus
was not in fact the highlight for me.
The real star species was Lophosoria
quadripinnata subsp. contracta. It was
everywhere from little plants only 20 cm
high to 2 metre high giants. The pinnae
are crowded and the fronds almost
perfectly erect. Rather like a dryopteris
- but it is a great improvement on that!
(Fig. 21 )The pinnae are tiled, that is they
are turned close to horizontal and do
not normally touch each other. If they
were held in the plane of the frond they
would touch. To add to its fascination
the underside of the frond is silver as in
the normal form of the species.
It was difficult to drag myself away
from this area but time was running
out and Ecuador is a country which
never disappoints a pteridologist.
Around the corner , near a stream,
the trees were festooned with more
unnamed elaphoglossums, and a very
nice eriosorus, possibly E.acrescens
(now Jamesonia), was weaving
through the undergrowth. There was a
pinnatifid polypod, rather like Pleopeltis
buchtienii, but simply pinnatifid, not
with lacerated pinnae. Another very
scaly tripinnate Eriosorus(Jamesonia)
unfortunately remained unnamed.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Fern exploration injhe higlvAndes
Leaving the Lago Llaviucu valley we turned west and
headed up the pass to Tres Cruces at 4170 metres (Fig.
23). En route, to my delight, hedgebanks were full of
Lophosoria quadripinnata subsp. contracta. We didn't stop
though making straight for the col. Here we walked a short
distance exploring amongst stones but there were few
ferns. Mind you at that altitude we were soon out of breath
and could not have walked very far!
Fig. 23. Tres Cruces, summit of road west from Cuenca in Parque
Nacional Cajas, 4160 m.
Species we did see at this exposed high altitude site
included; Polystichum orbiculatum and possibly another
alpine Polystichum species, Grammitis (Melpomene)
moniliformis, Campyloneuron, possibly C. angustifolium,
except it is unusual to see it on rocks so it may be a species
of Niphidium, Elaphoglossum matthewsii, Cystopteris
fragilis - looking quite unlike any European material and
Polypodium (Pleopeltis) buchtienii,. The most remarkable
find for me at this height was, however, Lophosoria
quadripinnata subsp. contracta, surely it must be hardy in
the UK if it can stand this climate at 4170 metres (Fig. 24).
Is this the highest recorded altitude for a tree fern/ tree fern
relative in the world?? (Robbin has since commented that it
might be, although Blechnum auratum and a trunk forming
Plagiogyria possibly grow higher in Bolivia. I would love to
see the latter!)
Fig. 24. Lophosoria quadripinnata subsp. contracta, at 4170 m.Tres
Cruces.
This altitude was very tough on the lungs so we soon
moved back down the pass to a park information centre
and tea rooms. We took advantage of the tea rooms!
After tea we split into two pairs. Paul and I walked back
up the road aiming to get to a high altitude rocky wood.
Unfortunately there were rather a lot of distractions en
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
route and we had very little time in the target area. The
highlight was a beautiful little Asplenium. At first it looked
a bit like a Jamesonia , but closer examination showed it
to be Asplenium triphyllum( Fig. 25). Interesting how plants
in exposed sites at high altitude in the tropics often evolve
to have an erect habit. In this case we were at about 3950
metres. Growing in the same general area on the roadside
bank were Polystichum orbiculatum, Asplenium monanthes
or something similar, Polypodium sp,. Jamesonia
alstonii, J.cheilanthoides, Sticherus simplex, Lophosoria
quadripinnata subsp. contracta, Grammitis moniliformis
and Blechnum loxense.
Fig. 25. Asplenium triphyllum. Near Tres Cruces.
Dusk was beckoning so we headed down the hill but
had one more stop to admire the Lophosoria quaripinnata
subsp, contracta on the roadside. How curious that we saw
not one plant of normal lophosoria all day.
The next day Thursday the 19 th September we headed
into the hills east of Cuenca on the road to the settlement
of General Leonidas (I almost said the road to nowhere!!).
Driving up a mostly unmade road, often on steep slopes,
we were concerned about the amount of water in the rivers.
It was raining intermittently, sometimes quite heavily so the
potential for the road getting worse was a slight concern.
Never mind, we climbed on and upwards. At infrequent
roadside stops we saw masses and masses of Lophosoria
quadripinnata subsp. contracta, but again no plants of the
normal form. As Hugo had told us this plant was so common
up this valley I will not mention it any more. An unknown
species of Amauropelta (Fig. 26) or other thelypteroid
Fig. 26. Amauropelta sp. Below Collay.
29
Fern exploration irrthe
genus was quite common. Considering
I generally have little time for thelypteris-
types I find this plant rather attractive.
Superficially it looks rather like a choice
alpine polystichum.
At the top of the pass at around 3500
m etres Sticherussimplex was occas i o n al
and various Jamesonia species
were common. Apart from J.alstonii
we could not name them. Blechnum
loxense was common and higher up
B.auratum (Fig.27)was occasional.
Puyas were everywhere in this valley,
dominant almost like the Espelitias
earlier in the trip(Fig.28). Eventually,
despite the rain, I managed to get a
photograph of a flower! A few plants of
Dicksonia sellowiana (Fig.29,30)to me
indistinguishable from D.antarctica, and
Plagiogyria semicordata (Fig. 31) were
scattered over the hillside. On tree fern
trunks there were a range of unknown
Elaphoglossums and grammitids,
although Cochlidium serrulata looked
familiar. This identification is, however,
suspect because the altitude here
is much higher than its usual sites.
A beautiful Blechnum sp. with new
fronds bright red was common. It
might be Blechnum chilense but I
do not think so as it only occurred as
single plants. I could see no evidence
of a creeping rhizome. Lycopodium
(Diphasiastrum) thyoides was hanging
over some banks. On our way down I
spotted the dreaded Equisetum again
- this time the other side of the valley
and completely inaccessible. It was
presumably E.giganteum again. Pat
was quite happy!
The rest of the trip was largely driving
and admiring snow capped volcanoes.
We did manage a foray onto the side
slopes of Chimborazo but made no
exciting finds. It is in a cold, dry area.
The most interesting observation was
cows in makeshift jackets to keep them
warm! Cystopteris fragilis and Pellaea
ternifolia grew on our hotel walls. The
next day we made a similar foray into
the Cotopaxi area near Quito. This too
is in a dry zone, but we did find a few
ferns by a lake, and Pat found Azolla
filiculoides on it, and looking bigger than
it does in the UK. The most interesting
ferny fern looked like Asplenium viride.
It was green stemmed and pinnate,
although there was a slight sign that if
better grown it might become pinnate
pinnatifid. Robbin has since placed it
under Asplenium stoloniferum which we
have seen on BPS trips to Reunion and
South Africa. It's a very small world! On
the same bank at about 3900 metres
altitude we found a Campyloneuron,
again probably C.angustlfolium.
high Andes
Fig. 28. Typical high altitude scrub with abundant
Puja sp. by the Collay reserve. c.3500m.
Fig. 29. Dicksonia sellowiana recovering after
disturbance by road repairs. Collay Reserve.
Fig. 30. Dicksonia sellowiana crown, showing
hairs on crosiers. Collay reserve.
Fig. 31. Plagiogyria semicordata. Collay reserve
The next day we flew home. What a
great trip!
We may have been hopping
backwards and forwards over the
Equator but quite a few ferns we saw
do already grow in the UK climate;
Cystopteris fragilis, Azolla filiculoides,
Lycopodium clavatum, Dryopteris
wallichiana, Lophosoria quadripinnata,
Botrychium virginianum, Asplenium
monanthes, not to mention Osmunda
sp. which I saw in 2011. This list
speaks volumes about other species
which might be hardy here given the
right garden niche. E.g. Lophosoria
quadripinnata subsp. contracta,
Pleopeltis monosorum, P. buchtienii,
Athyrium dombeyi, Pellaea ternifolia,
Blechnum loxense, B. auratum, various
Campyloneuron and Niphidium species
etc., etc., etc. □
Acknowledgements:
I am very grateful to my travelling
companions for their company and
pteridological input, especially Klaus
who already knew many of the species
from his vast experience in central
America. In addition we are even more
grateful to Klaus for all the administration
he took on without really being asked.
Fie sorted the car hire and most of the
hotels. I think we would have struggled
in wildest Ecuador with no real Spanish
between us, we would certainly have
paid more for the hotels without his
bargaining skills!
After the event I sent some pictures
of ferns that I did not know or was
unsure of to Robbin Moran. He is the
main specialist pteridologist for South
America at the New York Botanic
Garden since the semi-retirement of
John Mickel. I am very grateful for the
way he dealt with my enquiries. He
was amazingly patient, and usually
within 12 hours I had his replies which
were marvellously clear. I am also very
grateful for reprints on Elaphoglossum
which he sent me. I found both very
interesting and useful. These were:
Vasco, Alejandra, 2011. Taxonomic
revision of Elaphoglossum section
Muscosa . Blumea5 6 , 165-202.
Vasco, A., Mickel, J., and Moran,
R.C., 2013. Revision of Neotropical
Elaphoglossum sect .Squamipedia
(Dryopteridaceae) . Ann. Missouri Bot.
Gdn.99, 2 1-43.
Robbin has named and corrected a
lot of my identifications but I have not
asked him to check the majority. Any
mistakes are totally my responsibility.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
30
Underneath the arches - an urban fern odyssey
Fred Rumsey
Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity,
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London.SW7 5BD
e-mail: F.Rumsey@nhm.ac.uk
It is the lot of the professional botanist that when the sun
shines you will most likely be in an interminable meeting,
hankering for the open air and a live plant or two. It was
thus that I found myself back in March 2013 outside the
Ramblers offices in Vauxhall and with a yearning to ramble.
In the distance my usual train terminus beckoned and I
figured I had just enough time to make it before it got too
dark. The railway lines that carry me in and out of work into
Waterloo snake parallel to the Thames, at this point crossing
numerous minor roads, the low arched over-bridges and
a degree of urban decay providing an excellent series of
locations for wall ferns - dank, shady and sheltered. I knew
that Nick Bertrand and John Edgington had previously
walked some of these unloved streets, turning up amongst
other things a huge clump of Pteris cretica high above the
Lambeth Road and so I had hopes of seeing enough to
make the trudge worthwhile.
Almost immediately, the first bridge I came to, (1/A27)
New Springs Garden Walk, revealed a nice small plant
of Cyrtomium fortunei sensu lato on its northern arch
(TQ30437 78324), but far better was yet to come! Under
Tinworth Street bridge (1/A25) where a strip-light let out
a baleful glow above a seeping, slimy wall, there was
evidence of the formation and passing of many a fern but
still tenaciously clinging to life (and just about to the wall)
was, amazingly, a small rather mouldy plant of Asplenium
marinum (Fig. 1) alongside an interesting looking Asplenium
trichomanes and a very dead Dryopteris. This was the first
Greater London and Surrey (Vc.17) record for this scarce
native of coastal rocks. A return visit in August found it
still alive but if anything looking even more disconsolate.
London walls had provided new finds of the other nationally
scarce Spleenworts, A. septentrionale and A. obovatum
subsp. lanceolatum, in the last few years so the discovery
of this felt a little like completing a set!
(bridge 1/ A20) had a rather stunted Dryopteris filix-mas on
its sunnier aspect, lots of the frilly A. trichomanes already
seen (which I kept hoping might be subsp. inexpectansl)
and two more plants of Cyrtomium fortunei, one large, one
small (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Cyrtomium fortunei - Black Prince Road bridge (TQ30663
78664)
Whitgift Street bridge produced nothing of note, but while
finding a way through the recreation ground off Lambeth
High Street, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum was found on an
old wall top behind the coffee roasting plant (TQ3068 7886).
The next road under the railway, Old Paradise Street (1/
A1 7), started to live up to its name, with 1 6 separate healthy
clumps of Adiantum capillus-veneris on the north-facing
walls (TQ30785 78874). I had previously seen two plants
of this (still present) in the shade of the bridge at Upper
Marsh, virtually below Waterloo station (TQ30951 79551)
on a past ramble. My return visit in August to check on
earlier finds also revealed huge populations of this delicate
fern under the arches, on the north side of the railway line,
used as parking bays in a secure area off Carlisle Lane
(TQ3092 7926 to 3093 7933). (Fig. 3)
Fig. 1 Asplenium marinum under Tinworth Street bridge, Lambeth
(TQ30469 78430)
Salamanca Street was to prove comparatively
disappointing, although the presence of the most frequent
of the tunnel ferns, Asplenium scolopendrium, and lots of
Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens (still not very
common on London’s city walls, Edgington, 2007) was
encouraging. Moving steadily eastwards Black Prince Road
Fig. 3. Adiantum capillus-veneris - Carlisle Lane, Lambeth.
I knew that Juxon Street bridge (A1/15) had had a small
population of Pteris cretica that I’d previously found many
years before. It was thriving (Fig. 4), young plants mingling
with those of more abundant Asplenium scolopendrium in
a wet seepage. Going north under the bridge it became
apparent that the Pteris population extended onto the more
exposed north-facing walls of the railway arches from TQ
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
31
Under neath the arch es - an urban fern odyssey
3083 7897 to 3082 7895 - many very young plants and
some bigger rather brown-ended clumps with little but
Buddleia for competition (Fig. 5).
Like the single plant present under the strip-light at the
next bridge, Sail Street (1/A14) (TQ30864 79020), these
Pteris almost certainly have arisen from spores originating
from the very big old plant still on the Lambeth Road bridge
(1/A13), first found by Nick Bertrand (Fig. 6). He very
resourcefully took a long ladder to it to gather a voucher-
respect! This clump has led a chequered existence, battling
for supremacy with a bracken plant in drier years and after
cold winters it looks particularly tragic but when it is damper
and milder it flourishes and the fertile fronds are 40cm or
more long. Several smaller plants occur further under this
bridge and also round the corner behind the pub on the S.E
facing walls at TQ3091 5 791 00.
However, the greatest surprise still awaited me. Tucked
behind a rather leaky downpipe was a then rather battered
Dryopteris- sized plant, which I immediately recognised
from my Macronesian travels, was Christella dentata. The
distinctly hairy fronds, the veination and sporangia (Fig. 7)
were unmistakeable. I felt rather guilty taking material for
a herbarium voucher but this was, after all, the very first
Fig. 6 Pteris cretica- Lambeth Road (TQ30909 79090).
been trundling on the tracks above I had been oblivious to
the pteridological treasures which littered my commute, just
metres from my train, but invisible from it. It just goes to show
that it is well worth spending a little while exploring even
the most unpromising areas and also the power of ferns
Fig. 7 Christella dentata- veination and developing sporangia
(Aug. 2013)
Fig. 8. Christella dentata - Lambeth (Aug. 201 3)
to sow themselves in unlikely but conducive spots, even
when these are many miles from the nearest spore source.
To regard these plants as introductions, as for instance was
done in the BSBI atlas (Preston, eta /., 2002), doesn’t really
capture the dynamic, admittedly often ephemeral, but un-
assisted nature of these occurrences which give the city-
bound pteridologist some succour.
Fig. 4 Pteris cretica with
Asplenium scolopendrium Joxon
Street Bridge, Lambeth (TQ30848
78944)
Fig. 5 Pteris cretica plants
scattered on W.N.W facing
brickwork (TQ3082 7895)
time this plant had been seen as an escapee in the British
Isles, or indeed anywhere north of Galicia. I was particularly
relieved then, when on my return visit in August the plant
was so clearly flourishing. (Fig. 8). It will be interesting to
see if this plant survives and whether the species then
turns up elsewhere in sheltered, damp nitrophilous spots in
greater London, or elsewhere.
All in all it had proved a rather exciting and highly
productive ramble. It amused me that in all the years I’d
32
References:
Edgington JA. 2007. Dynamics of long-distance dispersal:
the spread of Asplenium adiantum-nigrum and Asplenium
trichomanes (Aspleniaceae; Pteridophyta) on London
walls. Fern Gazette 18: 31-38.
Preston, CD., Pearman, DA. & Dines, T. 2002. New Atlas
of the British and Irish Flora, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Cave ferns of Madeira
Neil Timm
The Fern Nursery, Grimsby Road, Binbrook. Linconshire LN8 6DH
e.mail: rtimm@fernnursery.co.uk
The village of Sao Vicente on the island of Madeira boasts
a spectacular cave system, it is formed from ancient lava
tubes made when the volcanic island first erupted, and
the flowing lava cooled leaving behind it the holes in the
rock from which it once poured. Recently in the last half
century or so the caves have been opened to the public
and artificial lighting has been installed, along with a
spectacular, if somewhat quirky, visitors centre.
half a metre of the lights at most, and seem to belong
to just two genera Adiantum and Cystopteris, of which
the Adiantums were by far the most common. They grew
on most of the surfaces, though most of the plants were
small and had the look of immature sporelings. Perhaps
they were living on the limits of low light tolerance, and
were unlikely to grow strongly.
Fig. 2. Another Adiantum species growing on the cave wall.
Fig. 1 . An Adiantum species hanging from the cave roof.
While visiting the island recently we had to endure a
very wet stormy day, and so we gave up on the ferning
and went to see the caves instead, mainly because it
seemed a good way to get out of the weather. However
they proved to be more interesting than expected, not
only because of the creative, (often, questionable) way
the geology was presented, but also because the caves
have been colonised by numerous ferns, which grow
there thanks to the artificial lighting installed for the benefit
of the visitors. The caves are slightly damp and drip with
water here and there, so that there is moisture enough
for plants to survive; though there are no stalagmites
or stalagtites since the volcanic rock does not contain
any suitable water soluble minerals. There are also
some pools of standing water, though these seem to
have been made with the aid of concrete dams, (like I
said 'questionable'). The ferns however all grow within
It was however of course quite astonishing that
spores could have found a way into a virtually draught
free environment, down narrow tunnels, to reach a point
tens of metres from the surface and could then grow
just by the artificial light of electric bulbs. That they have
done this in just the few decades since the light were
installed says a lot about the potential of ferns as pioneer
plants. I took several photographs but regret to say that
I failed to note what type of bulb was being used to light
the cave. Outside the caves around the visitor's centre
there is an excellent garden where ferns, especially tree
ferns, predominate, and the operators are clearly aware
and proud of the troglodyte ferns as a novelty, since the
guide pointed them out for the interest of the whole group
during the tour.
(For more details of these caves, please see:-
http://www.madeira-web.com/pagesuk/caves-sv.php Ed.)
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
33
Starting in Ferns
Patrick Acock
13 Star Lane, St Mary Cray, Kent BR5 3LJ
e-mail: pat.acock@virgin.net
Going to your first indoor meeting
of the Fern Society can be very
intimidating for most people.
It is not quite so bad if you go
with someone. When you arrive
you are in a room of strangers
with what you think is the only
common ground an interest in
ferns but everyone else you think
is an expert and you are not.
Most people in the room will
rush here and there chatting to
various clusters of people and
a few will speak to you and ask
who you are and where you are
from and then have to rush off.
Fig. 1 . Every, allowed, spare space filled with ferns at
home. Obsessive?
Someone (Jennifer Ide) once
said, “Fern people are probably
the friendliest people in the whole
world.” I can concur with this
statement. I now know many fern
people from all over the world.
One or two by correspondence
only but the great many by
going to meetings or from field
experiences.
And yet it was not always so.
Would you believe this, it took
the best part of 1 5 years to arrive
and my hope is that in writing this
it does not take you so long. I had
been introduced to the society
by Frank Brightman who was an
education officer at the Natural
History Museum. On my arrival
at a day meeting in London,
Frank would be the only person
I knew and his real love was
lichens. I would stand around
waiting for the meeting to start
and was usually interested and
stimulated by the content of the
talks. At lunch time I would once
again hang around with the odd
person passing the time of day.
At the end of the day I would beat
a hasty retreat to the suburbs
avoiding the conversations which
sounded even more intimidating
and elitist.
One Christmas paying my
subscription for the umpteenth
time I thought I should make a
step forward or I would never
Fig. 2 Fern hunting in Ecuador Sept. 2013 with friends
Martin Rickard, Klaus Mehltreter and Paul Ripley. It can be
freezing on the Equator if you are high enough up.
Fig. 3. Remy Prelli, author of the book, Pat Acock and Paul
Ripley examining Dryopteris cambrensis in Somerset,
August 2013.
34
make any progress. I spoke to
my brother and as the venue for
the weekend was near a steam
railway dear to both our hearts,
I talked him in to coming. Clive
Jermy my future mentor was
leading the meeting and I had
met him as a young man at the
1972 symposium dashing about
the place trying to meet all the
new people in the world of ferns.
It was at this meeting after dinner
when the power failed and we
stepped out into the darkness
that Paul Ripley came stumbling
out of the darkness down the
path and the rest as they say is
history. Later we found out that
we both had a similar history in
the society up to this point.
That Christmas Clive invited
Paul and myself around for tea
with our spouses and spoke of
us starting up a S.E. regional
group. Of course Paul and I did
not realise that after the first year
we would be leading it. It is in
becoming involved that we will
feel we belong.
The regional groups and
national meetings will help to
establish these relationships
and help us to learn about
ferns. I always felt at school and
university listening to and asking
questions of my teachers was
a much quicker way to learn
than reading about things in a
book. This was because I rarely
found time for homework or
assignments. In fact while I was
training to be a teacher, I took
time five days out to go to the
fern symposium of 1972 despite
being a total novice. At these
meetings do not hesitate to ask
questions on identification and
any aspect of ferns you want
to know. On one field meeting I
went to I took my 7 year old son,
John. It was based at Treborth,
University of N. Wales. Our leader
Nigel Brown, head of the Botany
School there, was a teacher par
excellent and John and I were
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Starting in Ferns
in the labs with him until past
10:30pm on the Bank holiday
Monday. Such generosity from
such a busy person. Nigel was
the one who showed me the
difference between Equisetum
arvense and E. palustre and
then went on to show me other
Equisetums. Now you know
who to blame for my lifelong
love of the plants since then!
Good books are a great way
into identification. The very
best as far as I am concerned
is Remy and Annie Prelli’s Les
Fougeres et pi antes allies. The
layout and the photographs
are stunningly beautiful and
if you have the fern in front
of you to compare with the
photograph you cannot go
wrong. Others include Ferns of
Britain and Ireland C.N.Page
with very good descriptions,
The Illustrated Field Guide
to Ferns and Allied Plants of
the British Isles Clive Jermy
and Josephine Camus with
excellent line drawings to help
identification, Welsh Ferns G.
Hutchinson and B.A.Thomas
and The Fern Guide James
Merryweather and Michael
Hill. Some of the best guides
are over 100 years old and
include A Popular History of
British Ferns Thomas Moore
and A History of British Ferns
Edward Newman, which has
some excellent line drawings
as well a detail as to where to
find ferns.
Fig. 4. My son Richard showing me around the Peel Forest,
New Zealand February 2013.
Fig. 5.Jose-Luis Perezcalo, a newish member ferning with
us in Corsica May 2013.
It is interesting that when
8 people were asked to bring
the fern book to a meeting on
books and to say why they
were influenced by it 3 out of
the 8 brought The Observer
Book of Ferns. It is a great
shame that we do not now
have such a book so freely
available and in every W. H.
Smiths so that someone who
has an inclination they might
become interested would see
it and eventually pick it up and
their race to learn begin.
Growing ferns, especially
from spores or bulbils is
another way to develop your Fig. 6. Remy Prelli’s highly recommended Fern Book,
interest. Many of the great
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
fern people in the world have
ferns in their gardens. You
learn a considerable amount
from watching the young
ferns develop. You also learn
how genera of ferns look as
immature plants as well as
learn the key identification
characters and know what to
look for in the wild.
One word of warning. Try not
to become an obsessive. One
wag on hearing a member had
a new girlfriend quipped, “She
will soon realise there are three
in this relationship him, her
and the ferns.” I thought when
I retired I would have time to do
all the things I like doing and
started off well but soon found
that my interests of a former
lifetime of steam railways, Pre-
Raphaelite poetry and painting,
music, football, science fiction,
classic novels and history, were
being squeezed. All this can
add pressure to relationships
and can help us to become
fern bores. Some of us have
become obsessive collectors
of fern books which soon fill
up our houses, others book
holidays only where the ferns
are good; this is usually where
the weather can be damp.
Our friends tend to be of the
fraternity and all these can add
to tension with our partners
and will mean a lot of tolerance
needed on both sides.
Remember, try to go to
your first meeting as soon as
possible to obtain the best
out of your society. And make
yourself known. Paul and I
were at the Group for European
Pteridologists in Corsica and
were joined by a new young
Spanish member, Jose Luis
Perezcalo. It was his first fern
meeting but he had a broad
knowledge of natural history
and he was never afraid to ask
questions. It was a delight to
see one so young developing
his interest so quickly and with
no inhibitions. I hope you will be
more like him and not like me.
35
A gemmiferous form of Asplenium lobatum Pappe & Rawson
found in South Africa.
Tim Pyner
182 Southchurch Boulevard, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. SS2 4UX
e-mail: t.pyner@byinternet.com
In February 2012 I had the good fortune to be able to visit
South Africa with the BPS. It was a fantastic meeting with
many ferns seen in the wild. The trip was based mainly
in the Drakensberg range and a variety of habitats were
explored. Details of the field meeting are reported in the
BPS Bulletin Vol. 7 No. 5 (Ide et al. 2012).
One of the most species rich genera in South Africa is
Asplenium, the spleenworts. 35 species are accepted in the
most recent fern flora (Crouch et al. 2011). In addition some
species are further divided into subspecies and varieties.
Over the two week trip the BPS group managed to find
and identify 19 species and 5 sub-taxa of spleenworts.
Surprisingly, apart from members of the A. aethiopicum
complex, most were easily identified.
Fig. 1. Asplenium lobatum. Typical form with single crown.
Photo: Andrew Leonard.
One species that was frequent in the evergreen
Podocarpus forests was the attractive A. lobatum. Several
dark green bipinnate fronds emerge from the erect rhizome
forming a loose crown. The fronds are usually 30-40cm in
length with a 5-1 Ocm dark brown stipe turning greenish
in the rachis. The pinnules are rather broad and obtusely
lobed with elongated sori. Plants occurred singly or in
small colonies on shady banks or the forest floor. Past
classifications have included this as a variety of the simply
pinnate A. erectum but it is now considered a good species
(Schelpe & Anthony(1 986), (Crouch et al. (2011)). Although
plants we saw were fairly uniform, the species becomes
more variable northwards into Zimbabwe, Malawi and
Mozambique. Here the fronds can be much more divided,
tripinnate to quadri-pinnatifid with narrowly linear ultimate
lobes. They can also be strongly gemmiferous. The gemmae
or proliferations form leafy plantlets at the junction of the
stipe and rachis. These finely divided, often gemmiferous
forms have been separated as variety pseudoabyssinicum
Schelpe & N.C. Anthony. This variety is quite distinctive and
Burrows (1990) even considers it deserving of specific or
subspecific rank. Recently, Klopper et al.(2008) reported
the occurrence of var. pseudoabyssinicum at 2 localities in
South Africa, in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga,
south of Zimbabwe. These plants are 3-4 pinnatifid but no
gemmiferous forms have been discovered. However the
plants illustrated in Crouch et al. (2011) appear to be less
divided than those illustrated in Burrows(1990) or those I
have examined in the Natural History Museum Herbarium
(BM).
Fig. 2. Gemmiferous colony of Asplenium lobatum.
On 29 th February 2012 the BPS party visited the Royal
Natal National Park, KwaZulu-Natal. A keen sub-group
set out for the Gudu Falls, a spectacular waterfall several
kilometres along an ever steepening trail. As we neared
our goal I was briefly distracted by some ferns on a large
rock and lost site of the remaining group. As I moved on I
reached a fork in the trail and realising that I had no way
of knowing which direction to take decided to stay put until
the group returned. I took the opportunity to study some of
the ferns in more detail and one colony in particular caught
my eye. It was obviously a bipinnate Asplenium but not
one I recognised. Furthermore it was producing copious
gemmae at the junction of the stipe and lamina and these
were clearly rooting and forming a spreading colony. It did
not seem to match any species in Crouch et al.(2011). On
rejoining the group I found out that Alison Evans had also
noticed the strange fern and asked our leader, Allan Nel,
what it was but he was also uncertain to its identity. I had
collected a frond for further study and later that evening we
concluded that it was most likely a form of A. lobatum but
without further evidence we could not be sure.
36
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A gemmiferous form of Asplenium lobatum
I returned home with a lasting impression of South Africa,
the huge variety of ferns, amazing scenery and fascinating
cultures. Above all, the knowledge and hospitality of our
leaders Jolanda and Allan Nel was outstanding and I
promised to myself that I would return. This ambition was
realised far more quickly than I expected and I was able
to re-visit South Africa in January 2013 accompanied by
Martin Rickard and Andrew Leonard. Jolanda and Allan
were again fantastic hosts and guides and we were able
to explore several new areas as well as returning to some
of the sites visited the previous year. I was still intrigued by
the strange Asplenium. Further research had indicated that
we had been correct in equating it with A. lobatum however
there was still an unanswered question. To which variety
did it belong?
Fig. 3. Asplenium lobatum. Fronds of gemmiferous form.
Photo: Andrew Leonard
Needless to say I was keen to re-visit the Gudu Falls
and carry out further investigations. This I was able to do
on 28 th January 2013.
The site was a few metres from the rocky stream exiting
the plunge pool of the waterfall, under a light canopy of
Yellowwood ( Podocarpus latifolius). The main colony was
on a rocky bank, c. 1 metre in extent. 2-3 sub-colonies
occurred nearby that had clearly established from the
proliferations. One other small colony was seen about 10
metres distant. This may have established from spores
although gemmae could have been spread by wind or
animals. The fronds were all bipinnate and matched those
of var. lobatum. Most fronds were strongly gemmiferous
and the colony was clearly spreading vegetatively. The
size of the colony indicated that it was not very old and
may have spread from other undiscovered plants nearby.
Alternatively the gemmiferous habit could be a genetic
character that can arise sporadically in both varieties but
is expressed more frequently in var. pseudoabyssinicum.
From these observations I conclude that gemmae can be
found in both varieties of A. lobatum and that the evidence
supporting the recognition of var. pseudoabyssinicum
as a separate taxon is weakened. It is not recognised at
any rank by Roux(2001 ,2009). This appears to be the first
record of gemmiferous A. lobatum for South Africa.
Of further interest, during my examination of herbarium
specimens at BM I checked the folder of A. abyssinicum
Fee, a superficially similar species found in tropical Africa.
Several collections from Zimbabwe were clearly A. lobatum
var. pseudoabyssinicum and therefore other records of A.
abyssinicum from countries south of Tanzania may need to
be checked or confirmed.
Fig. 4. Frond showing plantlet at apex of stipe.
Photo: Andrew Leonard
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful for the kind help and hospitality of Jolanda
and Allan Nel prior to and during my trips to South Africa.
Without them the visits would have been improbable and
far less enjoyable. Also my thanks to Alison Paul at the
Natural History Museum who has been of great help during
my visits to the herbarium.
References:
Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern
Allies, Frandsen Publishers, Sandton.
Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E., & Burrows,
S.M. (2011) Ferns of Southern Africa, Struik Nature, Cape
Town.
Klopper, R.R., Nel, J., Klopper, A.W., & Smith, G.F. (2008)
Asplenium lobatum var. pseudo-abyssinicum, A new record
for South Africa, Bothalia 38(2) 144-146.
Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African
Pteridophyta, Report No. 13, SABONET, Pretoria.
Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and
Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring
islands, Strelitzia 23, SANBI, Pretoria.
Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. & Anthony, N.C. (1986) Pteridophyta
in Leistner, O.A. Flora of South Africa, Dept, of Agriculture
and Water Supply, Pretoria.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
37
Finding the Holly Fern ( Polystichum lonchitis)
on Hutton Roof, Cumbria.
Bryan J. Yorke
9 Glebe Close, Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria LA6 1PL.
e-mail: bryan.yorke@sky.com
A developing interest in the natural world
If someone had asked me five years ago what was a Holly
fern, or even Polystichum lonchitis, I would, without doubt,
have been left standing there with gaping mouth and
pondering as to what they were on about!
Again, if five years ago someone had asked me where
Hutton Roof was, I just would not have had a clue. It could
have been in the far south of England or to the far north of
Scotland, I really had never heard of the place.
Although born in Beckenham, Kent, I spent 62 years of my
life in a East Lancashire mill town called Haslingden which
lies at the head of the Rossendale valley.
From a very young age, I was generally interested in
nature, especially in ornithology. This has become a lifelong
interest, which has developed over the years and continues
to give me so much pleasure, with the added bonus these
days of a far greater understanding of life, together with a
more sympathetic view to the natural world as a whole.
It was around the 1980’s when my interest became more
serious. By then I was making more detailed notes and
keeping diaries in relation to experiences with avifauna,
fauna and flora, and I also had started to include poetry
and prose and the odd sketch here and there. Apart from
ornithology, other fauna and flora did play some part,
but it was more or less kept to the background and was
based purely on a keeping notes and records of what
was about and where; nothing too detailed or scientific. I
can’t remember ever making notes on ferns although I did
occasionally make records of fungi and lichens and local
flowers.
Leaving Lancashire and settling in the South Lakes
It was in 2009 that everything was to change, when our
daughter mentioned to us that she and her husband were
seriously considering moving to the South Lakes. Would we
be interested in moving with them and sharing their large
rented accommodation? She showed us the property they
had in mind, which was in Burton-in- Kendal. For us it did not
take much consideration, as we were quickly approaching
retirement and thought this would be a lovely place to live.
We had always had a deep passion for the Lakes and
its most special landscape, together with its associated
limestone features ( Fig. 2) and some of the country's rarest
flora right on the doorstep. So, soon afterwards we put our
house up for sale and moved to Burton-in-Kendal. Four
years on, and I can say it’s the best move we could have
possibly made at that time. And for sure nowadays I can tell
you exactly where Hutton Roof lies. It can’t be bad when
you just live at the base of it!
Nature Study from a “new” area
Getting out on most days investigating Hutton Roof and
meeting up with other local nature lovers, I quickly learned
about all the beautiful flora in the area, with its magnificent
orchids and other rare flowers. I was fortunate to learn about
some of the rarities of the area which included: Birds Foot
Sedge ( Carex ornithopoda) (Fig.1) , Polypodium australe,
Limestone Polypody fern ( Gymnocarpium robertianum),
38
the Rigid Buckler Fern ( Dryopteris submontana) and the
aspleniums. I clearly remember my ears pricked up on
hearing tales about the long lost “Holly Fern” ( Polystichum
lonchitis ) in the local vicinity. I think this wetted my appetite
to bring the search of the Holly Fern to the top of my agenda.
Fig. 1 . Carex ornithopoda (Birds Foot Sedge). One of the rarities of
Flutton Roof.
Fig. 2. Limestone pavements on Hutton Roof showing grikes 1
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Finding the Holly Fern ( Polystichum lonchitis) on Hutton Roof, Cumbria.
Fig. 3. The trig point 2 on the summit of Hutton Roof.
History of the Holly fern on Hutton Roof.
Mr J. A. Wood recorded this rare species on Hutton Roof
in 1957. A frond sample was collected at that time and
placed in the Lancaster University herbarium where it has
remained ever since. Although there have been various
searches to try and locate this rare plant, especially within
the last 20 years, no further evidence was found of its
existence and subsequently many thought that the plant
had become extinct on Hutton Roof.
The only reference I had of the original record was a
comment “deep grike 1 near to the trig point 2 ”(Fig.3). (Since
writing the above, my subsequent television appearance
on BBC regional news, prompted Mr. Tony Wood to get in
touch with Cumbria Wildlife Trust on November 13 th 2013
and his details were then passed on to me. Since then we
have been in touch with one another and he kindly sent me
his original sketch from 1957.)
Searching and finding the Holly Fern in 2013
During the three years from 2011 to 2013 it has been the
most important of my “target species” to try and locate the
rare Holly fern (Polystichum lonchitis) on Hutton Roof. I
have spent numerous hours searching various areas close
to the trig, point 3 . Why the trig, point 3 ? Well that was the
only lead I had to go on which could help in finding the
actual location. I was originally told on good authority that
it had been recorded in the past “somewhere near the trig,
point”. So it was a question of working blind around that
area.
Although I had spent a lot of time during 2011 and 2012,
looking specifically for this species, the outcome had always
proved negative, yet beneficial in other ways as I was able
to locate other interesting species in the area which I had
previously been unaware of.
Thankfully during August of 2013, I was given further
details of the original record and on this new information I
noticed that the actual comment read “deep grikes 1 just N
of trig point 2 ”.
It was reading the “N” for north that made all the
difference. With this new information I could specifically
concentrate my search in that direction, rather than having
to work blind and take pot luck.
So on Friday 23 rd August 2013 the search was on with
even more vigour. That first day was spent searching out
all areas near to the trig, point 2 on a northerly line. This
meant trying to access and survey the nearby limestone
pavement which was massively overgrown with vegetation,
resulting in limited access, although I still managed to get
a reasonable account of the area. My main target species
eluded me, although I did find several locations for the
Black Spleenwort ( Asplenium adiantum-nigrum), which
had never been recorded in this area.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The second day of the renewed search was the Bank
Holiday, Monday, 26 th August 2013, when I extended the
northerly radius by another 50 yards or so (~50m) bringing
me to an area to the north/north west of, and some 10-20ft
(3-6m) lower than, the pavement I had searched previously..
This new area was mixed, with rank moorland grass and
bracken, then fragmented pavement (near a man-made
cairn) and some solid pavement beyond.
The area near the cairn was scoured and I was making
notes of new finds of Angular Solomon’s Seal ( Polygonatum
odoratum) and the Common Rock Rose ( Helianthemum
nummularium). After a lengthy search, without success, it
was now time to give up the search for yet another day.
Finding the Holly fern.
However at that very point when I had decided to call it a
day, something very strange happened and it was as if I was
being forced to stop in my tracks to take a final look around.
It felt as though I had no control in the matter, I just had it
to do it. So stop I did, and directly in front of me (within 6ft
(2m)), I started to stare at a Polystichum specimen, not sure
at first, thinking perhaps it was just another aculeatum, and
pondering in my mind for a short while, then realizing, that
what was in front of me was that very special fern, the Holly
fern ( Polystichum lonchitis). An instant excitement came
over me, which I would find so difficult to explain in words,
but it certainly was overwhelming to say the least. Amongst
this nervous excitement, I managed to take photos, in fact,
many photos from all positions and depth of fields including
macro shots (Fig.4). I got my notebook out and made notes
of a gps reading, a sketch plan, etc etc etc.
After perhaps some twenty minutes aborbing all this
“good feeling” I thought it was time to go home. On my way
I phoned, then later called in to see, Alec Greening of the
BPS, to show him the photos. He was as excited as me
with my find, whilst at the same time confirming that without
doubt the plant was the long lost Holly fern.
Fig 4. The first sight of the Holly fern ( Polystichum lonchitis) after 56
years.
"I searched out that “revered of ferns” year in year out,
A record in 1957, with frond preserved in herbarium,
Since then it’s remained a mystery and thought to be
extinct!
Until now in 2013 when “Holly” was “ferned” again”
39
Finding the Holly Fern ( Polystichum lonchitis) on Hutton Roof, Cumbria.
The Plant in situ and the habitat
This rare fern lies at approximately 884 ft (270m) above
sea level, which makes it a very low altitude record for
this particular species, which is rarely seen below 1 ,600ft.
(488m) Dr. Geoffrey Halliday (the County Recorder), to
whom I have already showed the plant, thinks that it is the
lowest recorded altitude for this species in the British Isles
and that it could well be the lowest ever recorded in Europe.
The plant is situated in a crevice of a fragmented piece
of limestone pavement (Fig. 5)
As you can see, the fern is growing out of a small crevice
in the limestone with the fronds pointing north and growing
erect to horizontal.
Within about 3ft (1m) there is a 4ft (1.3m) deep grike 1 ’
which can be seen to the right hand side of the photograph
above. There is no evidence of P. lonchitis in this grike 1 or,
Fig. 5 The location of the first Holly fern found at an altitude of 884ft.
for that matter, any others close by. I mention this purely
because the original record from 1957 mentions “deep
grikes 1 just N of trig point 2 ”.
Looking at the fronds, there are 7 fronds in total, 5
grouped together and then another two fronds about
6”(15cm) apart from the others. Each frond measures
approximately 13” to 15” ( 33cm to 38cm) from tip to root.
On the day of finding (August 26 th 2013) most of the
fronds had sori on the upper half of the frond, as shown in
Fig.6.
Fig. 6. Sori showing clearly on the underside of the frond.
In the immediate vicinity of the Holly fern, the following
plant species were recorded: Maidenhair Spleenwort
(Asplenium trichomanes) intermingled with the Holly
fern, bramble (Rubus fruticosus). Hawthorn (Crataegus
monogyna), Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus), hazel
(Corylus avellana). and Hard Shield fern (Polystichum
aculeatum) all occur within a 5ft (1 .5m) radius.
Fig. 7. Black spleenwort ( Asplenium adiantum-nigrum) found near the
site of the Holly fern. This has never been recorded in this area before.
The local area does support numerous specimens of
Hard Shield fern ( Polystichum aculeatum) very close to
the Holly fern (within a 50ft (15m) radius). Other local ferns
found in a 200 yard (180m) radius include; Polypodium
vuigare, Dryopteris submontana (locally common),
Gymnocarpium robertianum (several locations), Asplenium
trichomanes (locally common), A. adiantum-nigrum (up to
ten locations)(Fig.7), A. viride (one location only)(Fig.8)
and lots of A. scolopendrium. Other flora in the vicinity
include both Angular Solomon’s Seal and Lily Of The Valley
( Convallaria majalis), as well as Common Rock Rose and
both Broad Leaved Helliborine ( Epipactis Helliborine) and
Dark Red Helliborine (Epipactis Atrorubens) .
A further specimen of the Holly fern
On Tuesday 1 7 th September 201 3, 1 found anotherspecimen
of this rare fern, which I have now named Holly fern 2, and
this one seemed to me to be a even nicer looking specimen
than the original, This new plant was growing intermingled
with a Hard Shield fern ( Polystichum aculeatum ); in fact
the outer fronds on both sides were of the Hard Shield
fern, whilst the Holly fern fronds were central to the clump.
This is probably why I had missed it during my searches
Fig 8. Green spleenwort ( Asplenium viride) found near the site of the
Holly fern. This fern has not been recorded in this area for at least 15
years.
40
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Finding the Holly Fern ( Polystichum lonchitis) on Hutton Roof, Cumbria.
for the Holly fern, although I had walked passed it several
times (Fig. 9). This plant is approximately 40 yards (37m)
to the east of Holly fern 1 and was lying almost level to the
fragmented limestone floor making it even more exposed to
the elements than the previous record.
This plant had eight fronds which were slightly smaller in
size to the previous find, and they were of a deeper green
colour.
This plant was also different in that it faces to the west
(not north like the other one). It is also shielded from the
east by a hazel bush, although a visit during late December
when the hazel leaves had blown, made the plant look very
exposed.
Within 3 to 4ft (~ 1m) of Holly fern 2 is another deep
grike 1 of approximately 6ft in depth. (It is more than likely
that the old 1957 record comes from here - more details in
next section).
Fig. 9. The author and the second Holly fern found on Hutton Roof.
(Photo: Andrew Walter - Cumbria Wildlife Trust)
“It's made my day,
No! It's made my week,
In fact it’s made my year!
Holly fern here, and holly fern there.
I can’t give up now, the search is on,
To find that holly fern everywhere”.
Original 1957 record in relation to current 2013 records
It has now become clear that neither of the two recent
specimens are growing in the exact location referred to in
the original 1957 record (Mr. J.A. Wood), since the original
record states that they were in fact down a deep grike 1 .
Also, Mr. Tony Wood (the original finder), confirms that
his original record is definitely not of any of the current
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Fig. 10. Details of the second Holly fern.
(Note that Polystichum aculeatum is growing very close to this fern - a
chance of a hybrid? AEG)
plants. In fact he can remember that his was about 18”
(45cm) down and coming out from the side of the grike 1
and that it was in a very protected position.
After considering Mr. Woods' original sketch (Fig.11)
and after showing him several photos of the current day
alignments in relation to his sketch, it very much looks as
though the original (1957) plant could have been in the
deep grike 1 which lies within four foot of Holly fern 2.
For now we are happy to conclude that this could well
have been the original area were the 1957 record was
made. □
Footnote:
1 . Grike (Gryke) : A deep fissure in limestone pavements
2. Trig Point: Triangulation Point
41
Artificial Hybrids of Asplenium
Rolf Thiemann
Im Tuessenberg 10, Altena, D-58762 Germany
'
e-maii: rolf.thiemann@arcor.de
In the last issue of the Pteridologist I wrote about some artificially made Polystichum hybrids. Now I will present some self made
hybrids in the genus Asplenium. Whereas some of the Polystichum hybrids had been known from nature (P. x potteri, P. x lesliei) or
had also been described (P. x arendsii) the described hybrids presented here were unknown until now, as far as I know.
All hybrids presented here are between “normal” Aspleniums and Asplenium species of the group Phyllitis/Camptosorus. The success
in producing the following described hybrids are one reason more to unite the genera Phyllitis and Camptosorus under Asplenium.
Asplenium scolopendrium x A. cuneifolium
Fig. 1 . Development of A. scolopendrium x
cuneifolium
This was my first successful Asplenium
crossing (2001), for which I used
the European diploid subspecies of
A. scolopendrium. The fronds of the
hybrid are a paler green than those of
A. scolopendrium and are also much
smaller in size. Most fronds are not
larger than 6”and are more like A.
scolopendrium. The fronds show two
types of shape. Some are arrow-shaped
but the majority are only slightly lobed
(see figure 2). The fronds are toothed.
This is inherited from A. cuneifolium
and is quite distinct. The hybrid is sterile.
This is normal for a hybrid but what is
remarkable is the high degree of sterility;
the sporangia fall away before they are
fully grown (see figure 6).
The plant is slow growing and needs
a fair amount of attention. Lime in the
substrate is necessary. Fig. 2. A. scolopendrium x cuneifolium.
Two types of adult fronds.
Fig. 3. A. scolopendrium x cuneifolium Fig. 4. A. scolopendrium x cuneifolium.
in the garden Young frond in spring
Fig. 6. A. scolopendrium x cuneifolium.
The dried up sporangia
Fig. 5. A. scolopendrium x cuneifolium.
The toothed margins
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
42
Artificial Hybrids of Asplenium
Asplenium obovatum ssp. obovatum x A. rhizophyllum
Fig. 7. Development of A. obovatum ssp. obovatum x
rhizophyllum
Fig. 8. A. obovatum ssp. obovatum x rhizophyllum.
Two types of adult fronds
The trial to propagate this hybrid was
started in 2005. Plants of this hybrid
resemble the hybrid above but the
fronds have a very long curved
narrow tip which give the plants
the appearance of a green spider.
The hybrid is strong growing and
the apple green fronds can reach
12”. The fronds are more or less
lobed and some also are arrow
shaped (see figure 8). To my
pleasure most fronds of the hybrid
produce bulbils and so the further
propagation is easy but slow. I am
suspicious now that only young
and medium-sized plants produce
bulbils. So as a precaution all
bulbils that appear I propagated
because this hybrid is fully sterile.
Cultivation in contrast to many
Aspleniums is easy in acid soil.
In the garden, however there
is the same problem as with A.
rhizophyllum - for snails and
slugs it is festival time!
Fig. 11. A obovatum ssp. obovatum x
rhizophyllum between the parents
Fig. 9. A. obovatum ssp. obovatum x rhizophyllum. Bulbils
Fig. 10. A. obobatum ssp. obovatum x rhizophyllum.
Arrow-shaped fronds with very large basic lobes
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
43
Artificial Hybrids of Asplenium
Asplenium billotii (obovatum ssp .lanceolatum) x A. rhizophyllum
This hybrid results from a trial
started in 2007. The fronds
of this hybrid are much more
divided than those of the
formerly described plant, the
fronds being broader. In most
fronds the ends taper to a long
tip and the fronds can reach
10”. The plants appear a little
like a Polypodium. Surprisingly
the hybrid is fully fertile like a
good species and it was easy to
propagate a second generation.
This is fortunate because the
hybrid produces no bulbils.
The F 2 plants I planted in the
garden one year ago developed
slowly but look healthy.
Protection against snails and
slugs is necessary. As with the
parent A. billotii the plants don't
like lime.
Fig. 12. Development of A. billotii x rhizophyllum.
Fig. 17. F2-plants of A.
billotii x rhizophyllum.
Fig. 15. A. billotii x rhizophyllum.
Very large frond of the FI -plant.
Fig. 13. Medium large plant of A. billotii x rhizophyllum.
Fig. 16. A. billotii x rhizophyllum
between the parents
Fig. 14. Very large plant of A. billotii x rhizophyllum. Fig. 18. A. billotii x rhizophyllum. F2-plants.
44
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Artificial Hybrids of Asplenium
Asplenium onopteris x A. ruprechtii (A. ruprechtii = Camptosorus sibiricus)
This hybrid was propagated
successful in 2008.
Surprisingly the hybridizing
trial resulted in nine hybrid
plants. All of these hybrids
have inherited the small size
of A. ruprechtii and reach
only 7” in length (fronds of
my A. ruprechtii are only
2” long). From A. onopteris
is inherited the dark green
colour. The fronds are
pinnate-bipinnatified and very
regular. Although sterile the
hybrid seems to produce a
few good spores (probably
diplospores). Sowing the
spore material very densely I
grew a few prothallii but until
now only two sporophytes
have developed. I hope that
the second generation of this
hybrid will be a little more
fertile because none of the
hybrid plants produce bulbils.
Fig. 20. Young plants of A. onopteris and the hybrid.
Fig. 22. A. onopteris x ruprechtii. Fronds from adult plant
Fig. 23. A. onopteris x ruprechtii between the parents
Acknowledgements:
I am very much obliged to Prof. Ronnie Viane, University of Ghent, Belgium, for his flow cytometrical examination of the
hybrid A. billotiix rhizophyllum and Pat Acock for preparing the text prior to publication.
References:
J.D. Lovis (1968). “Fern hybridists and fern hybridizing. Part II Fern hybridizing at the University of Leeds”, Fern Gazette
10(1) BPS
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
45
The Dead of Winter?
Keeping Tree Ferns Alive in the U.K.
Pt 3. Mike Fletcher continues his trials
Mike Fletcher
1 Silcott St, Brightlingsea, Colchester, Essex C07 ODP
e-mail: mikefletcher@waitrose.com
Seen from a tree fern’s point of view, the winter of 2012
- 2013 wasn’t really that bad, was it? You may not have
seen it that way, but those of you that actually are tree
ferns please stand up. Just as I thought! Down here, on
England’s south coast, tree ferns (and folks) certainly got
off lightly and my sophisticated trunk heating set-up was
definitely a step too far. Having said that, I know from bitter
experience that a step too far is infinitely preferable to a
step too short.
So all my tree ferns romped happily through the winter,
without losing a single (unprotected) frond. This actually
proved a tad embarrassing come the spring, for when
the new crosiers emerged they rather inanely developed
sideways, beneath the old fronds. I’m sure that this was
because the sun was still relatively low at that time of year,
and both the old fronds and the neighbour’s overhanging
walnut tree reduced the overhead light. I imagine that the
fronds were desperately craning towards the sideways-
moving light, which taunted them as it disappeared behind
obstructions and then teased them by peeking from a
different orifice between the houses and other obstructions.
The end result was alarming, with crosiers spiralling in
seemingly random chaos and with the pinnae unfurling in
the vertical plane. Whoops! I was reminded of Medusa’s
writhing snake head-dress (Fig. 2), and I’ve little doubt
that those crosiers would have mimicked those snakes if
subjected to time-lapse photography. As a friend remarked
with more wit than I could ever muster,
“With fronds like those, who needs anemones?”
Alarmed, lest they harden and preserve their Quasimodo
posturing, I removed the old leaves. To my surprise and
immense relief, in less than 24 hours every crosier had
straightened gratefully.
I decided to simplify my electrical set-up, because I now
have a shed in which I over-winter a few tender plants.
These are cosseted by a domestic heater powered from
a frost thermostat, and I argued that I really didn’t need
extra thermostats for the tree ferns living just beyond the
shed’s planking. This central control led to a significant
reduction in the number of connections, and I furthered this
by dispensing with the indicator lights. Not only should I
expect increased long-term reliability, short-term it slashed
the time I normally spend wrestling with the spaghetti,
hunting for mislaid items and endurinq the misery of frozen
fingers.
Extending this laziness, I’ve also modified the way I
protect each fern. No more winding the 12-volt Dennerle
heating cables in spiral fashion, which is harder than it
looks as it invariably involves kneeling, some untangling,
and an undignified intimacy with the trunk which is quite
difficult to explain away to the neighbours with any degree
of conviction. This year I simply fed the cable up from
ground level, over a few stalks and down again to ground
level. Repeated twice more before wrapping, it’s not only
quicker and easier but it provides much less entertainment
for those lurking eagerly behind twitching curtains.
Since all the tree ferns have done well, 111 not elaborate
upon individual case histories except to concentrate on
the outcome of the work involving vivisection - oh, all right
then, division!
I’ll dismiss the Dicksonia squarrosas briefly in a single
Fig. 1. Dicksonia antarctica, December 2010
paragraph, since all were divided into single crowns during
the spring and all are doing well. I am getting much closer
to my target of possessing the largest private collection of
the smallest tree ferns in the country...
The focus of this report is upon the Dicksonia antarctica
that has featured, covered in snow, as the title shot in each
of my 3 articles. (Fig. 1 ) Let me briefly remind you that it was
crippled during the winter of 2010/11 because, although
I’d protected the top quarter of its trunk, I didn’t then think
it necessary to protect the rest of it. Wrong!!! During the
spring of 2011, the emerging crosiers slowly withered and
died. Dug up and discarded, it lay apparently lifeless until
autumn. Then, prompted by a question from your editor as
to precisely where the meristem (the growing heart of a
tree fern) was located, I grabbed my camera, took a power
saw to it and dissected it longitudinally. I was amazed to
discover that the meristem wasn’t quite dead; there were
tiny deformed crosiers, unable to develop because most
of the trunk was quite dead and therefore incapable of
supplying nourishment (see photos in the Pteridologist,
2012). I wonder how many other “dead” tree ferns have
been buried alive, so to speak?
I reacted to this discovery by discarding the dry
and lifeless lower two thirds, lashing the 2 halves of the
remainder crudely together with cable ties, and planting
Frankenstein in a pot of that ambrosia for all ferns, seed
and potting compost. By next spring he had rooted well and
46
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The Dead of Winter? Keeping Tree Ferns Alive in the U.K.
Fig. 2. 'Medusa' A survivor from the winter
I planted him out (Fig 5 in the Pteridologist, 2013). In that
article I was trying to decide whether to leave Frankenstein
alone or cut the ties to see if the graft had failed and it were
now (sic) Frank and Francesca...
Curiosity killed both the cat and my procrastination
and, knowing your own thirst for the truth, I succumbed to
impatience and severed the ties in the spring.
Did you know that the greatest thing since sliced bread
is a sliced tree fern? Frankenstein opened eagerly, as at
the juicy bits of a well-thumbed naughty novel, revealing
quite separate and fully-healed twins and about 100
disgruntled and homeless woodlice. Planted apart, with
their naked rears facing the fence (no, not the woodlice - 1
speak of Frank and Francesca) they are progressing well
as separate organisms. Of course, each had (and still has
in autumn) a semicircular trunk and meristem, although
immediately upon separation the soft fibres surrounding the
latter sprang free providing both welcome protection and
the illusion of circularity (see Fig 3 ). The fronds enhanced
the illusion, for they obligingly radiated in all directions to
seek light. Whereas there were 4 fronds last autumn, this
autumn there are a total of 7. It’s all a pale shadow of the
fern heading this article, but even that was a pale shadow
of the fern it once was in its native land. At least it’s still
alive, and has multiplied numerically despite shrinking so
sadly.
The moral, I think, is not to give up on apparently lifeless
tree ferns. I’m reminded that they reached our shores after
being scalped, rendered legless, transported crudely and
Fig. 3. 'Frank' shows he has survived the brutal treatment of being sawn
vertically in half.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
shipped half way round the world without water or care.
Nevertheless, they happily root in our green and pleasant
land given just a little encouragement, and they repay
Fig. 4 'Francesca' is surviving as well.
Finally, am I allowed a brief indulgence? To my eyes, a
mature Cupressus cashmeriana tree is achingly beautiful
and even more exotic than any tree fern. Yet I know of
only one gardener in this country that grows them outside
- me. You see, the R.H.S. books say that they won’t take
temperatures below 0 C . As a result, their exquisite blue
cascades feature mainly in large public glasshouses, or
in those books themselves to torment you. Nurserymen
invariably shake their heads. The books are wrong. I
bought my first one as a summer indulgence, like one buys
summer bedding, and was amazed to see it romp away
happily next spring, with no help from me. I can’t say that
you won’t lose a young one, just that I never have. Just
plant them and forget them, as I have done successfully
for over 25 years in 2 small North Yorkshire gardens, both
in north-facing situations. Search the web to find a U.K.
supplier and please, please plant one as a specimen. Give
it 3 years in the ground and then stand back and stare in
wonder. □
Fig. 5. A mature cupressus cashmeriana (Kashmir cypress) showing it's
beautiful foliage.
47
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
Adrian Dyer
i -i i
□
499 Lanark Road West, Balerno, Edinburgh. EH14 7AL
e-mail: afdyer499@googlemail.com
L
M
Patrick Neill Fraser (1827-1905) was a committee
member of the first British Pteridological Society
c.1875, one of the first members of the second British
Pteridological Society, a Committee member (1896-
1898) and a Vice-President (1898-1905). A keen fern
collector and grower, he was well-known in his time but
his is not a familiar name today. The garden he created
in Edinburgh was described as containing one of the
finest collections of ferns in Britain. A few survivors
of this collection have recently been discovered in the
garden.
Introduction.
Patrick Neill Fraser was named after Dr. Patrick Neill, FLS,
FRSE, Hon. LL.D., his father’s business partner in Neill &
Co., founded in 1749 by a second cousin of Dr Neill’s father
and eventually Edinburgh’s largest printing firm. Although
much has been published about Dr Neill, because of his
influence on Fraser’s achievements it is necessary to briefly
review Dr Neill’s life before considering that of Patrick Neill
Fraser.
Dr Patrick Neill (25 th October, 1776 - 3 rd September,
1851).
Dr. Neill, an antiquarian, horticulturalist and keen naturalist,
and an active field botanist throughout Scotland when
young, was perhaps more of a scientist than a printer,
although his botanical reputation no doubt helped to bring
scientific printing work to the firm. He was a co-founder in
1809 of the Caledonian Horticultural Society (CHS), later
the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (RCHS), and
he served as its Secretary for 41 years. In 1819, Dr Neill
published a paper on “Proofs that the beaver was a native
of Scotland”. In 1827, he was chairman of the committee
that planned the development of Princes Street Gardens in
Edinburgh. He wrote the “Fruit, Flower and Kitchen Garden”
section of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which Neill & Co.
printed while he was sole proprietor. In 1836 he became
Vice-President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (BSE,
now the Botanical Society of Scotland, BSS) and donated
several thousand herbarium specimens to the BSE and, in
1 841 , to the Royal Botanic Garden. Their fate is not known,
although there are Patrick Neill herbarium specimens at the
National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, most of which are ‘ex-
RBGE’. There are also a few Neill algal specimens in the
RBGE herbarium. Dr Neill is commemorated by the genus
Neillia.
Patrick Neill inherited Canonmills Cottage from his father
in 1812 and lived there for the rest if his life. It was situated
in an area still known as Canonmills, just north of Edinburgh
New Town and close to the CHS garden and the adjacent
Royal Botanic Garden. Loudon considered the Canonmills
Cottage garden to be “the best endowed suburban garden
in the country”. Dr Neill’s gardener in 1832 was Alex Scott.
Also in the 1830s he had a gardener, appropriately called
William Brackenridge, who was interested in ferns. (After
Brackenridge had moved to America, Cyathea brackenridgei
was named after him and several ferns including Blechnum
vittatum Brack, were named by him.) However, a long list
of the plants grown in the garden of Canonmills Cottage
included no ferns and there are no indications that Dr Neill
Fig. 1 . The memorial to Patrick Neill Fraser’s father, mother and six of his siblings in ‘Dr Neill’s
Tomb’, Calton New Burial Ground, Edinburgh.
was a fern enthusiast. On 3 rd September, 1851, Dr Neill
died in Canonmills Cottage and was buried in Warriston
Cemetery. He left most of his estate to Patrick Neill Fraser,
although Anne Neill, his cousin’s daughter and for many
years his housekeeper, inherited Canonmills Cottage and
garden for her life time before it was owned by Fraser.
Patrick Neill Fraser (5 th August, 1827 - 27 th February,
1905).
Patrick Neill Fraser was born at 59, Lauriston Place
(since demolished), on the 5 th August, 1827 (although
his birth was entered in the 1828 Register for Births and
Baptisms at St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh). He was
named after Dr. Patrick Neill (see above) and in later years
he usually wrote his name as ‘P. Neill Fraser’. Maybe he
used ‘Neill’ rather than ‘Patrick’ as his first name, but the
result is that he has sometimes been referred to under the
double surname ‘Neill Fraser’ and his widow was referred to
as ‘Mrs Neill Fraser’. In 1841, he was living at 1, Lauriston
Lane (since demolished) with his father William Fraser, a
printer, mother Agnes, two older brothers, Thomas and
Alexander, 4 younger siblings, Barbara, Jane, William and
Ann and 2 female servants. One older sister, Helen, had
died and another sister, Agnes, had apparently left home.
His father William Fraser died of heart disease aged 51 and
was interred on the 13 th July 1846 in Calton New Burial
Ground, close by Holyrood Palace. The burial records state
that he was interred in “Dr. Patrick Neill’s tomb” next to his
son Thomas, buried nine months earlier. A large memorial
stone to William Fraser, his widow and six of his children
(Fig. 1) can still be seen at the tomb that is marked on the
cemetery plans as “Dr Neill’s Tomb”. It rests on a plinth
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
48
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
engraved with “The Burying Ground of William Fraser of
Neill & Co Printers Edinburgh”. (Maybe Neill reserved a
tomb in New Calton Burial Ground but allowed his business
partner to use it; Neill himself was buried later in Warriston
Cemetery.) Patrick Neill Fraser, aged 18, and his surviving
older brother Alexander, then joined Neill & Co. After Patrick
Neill died (see above), Patrick Neill Fraser, now aged just
24, and Alexander became sole proprietors of Neill & Co..
In business, Patrick Neill Fraser is said to have combined
caution and enterprise with a remarkable capacity for
detail. Fie considered success or failure in business was a
matter of book-keeping. The same qualities characterised
his horticultural activities and fern collecting.
By the time of the Census on 6 April, 1861, Fraser’s
widowed mother Agnes, her sons, Alexander and William,
and two servants, had moved into Canonmills Cottage,
by then called “Canonmills Lodge”. Anne Neill had moved
out. Patrick Neill Fraser, described then as a Letter Press
Printer employing 100 men, was lodging with two younger
sisters, Barbara and Annie, in Oak Bank, one of a few large
lodging houses on the main road (now the A9) through the
middle of Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. The Canonmills
Lodge garden was still being maintained; in the “Gardener’s
House” was George Robb, gardener. A comparison of the
OS maps of 1849-53 and 1876 (Fig. 2) shows that much of
the Canonmills Cottage/Lodge plot had not changed during
the previous 25 years, except for a large addition built on
the south-east side of the House. Perhaps this enlargement
coincided with the name change during the 1850s.
Fig. 2. A plan of the Canonmills Lodge garden in the 1 876 OS Town Plan
of Edinburgh. The lane leading to the house still exists as Rodney Place.
Although Anne Neill did not die until 2 June, 1869,
Patrick Neill Fraser had moved to Canonmills Lodge by
1865, the year that he published his first list of “British
Ferns and their Varieties”. He was living at Canonmills
Lodge on the 8 th October, 1869 when he married Margaret
Watson, daughter of Glasgow stockbroker James Watson,
who later became Sir James and Lord Provost of Glasgow.
They were married “according to the established Church of
Scotland” when Patrick was 42 and Margaret was 23, with
his brother William as a witness. In the 1871 Census, Patrick
Neill Fraser was listed as a Master Letter Press Printer and
Junior Partner, living at Canonmills Lodge, with his wife,
baby daughter Rachel, sister-in-law Marianne Watson, and
three servants. Living in the Gardener’s Cottage was James
Green. In the adjacent dwelling was “Isabella Roxburgh,
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
garden worker” who might also have been employed in the
garden of Canonmills Lodge. Fraser’s mother had moved
out with Agnes, William and Anne, to 37, Drummond Place,
Edinburgh, where she remained until she died on 19 th of
October, 1887 aged 92. Canonmills Lodge and garden is
shown little changed in the 1894 OS map but is now a car
park between two blocks of apartments (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. The site of Canonmills Lodge garden in 2014 - the car park for
the Simpson Apartments, Rodney Street, EFI7 4FR.
In 1 876, Fraser, perhaps in need of largeraccommodation
for his expanding family, bought ‘Rockville’ in Murrayfield,
about 2 miles from RBGE. In 1881, still described as a
Master Letter Press Printer, he was living there with his wife,
and five children, Rachael A Neill Fraser (aged 10), James
Watson Neill Fraser (8), William Neill Fraser (5), Patrick
Neill Fraser (2), and Margaret (10 months), as well as 4
servants. In Rockville Gatehouse was William Anderson,
a young gardener from Banffshire, and his family. Fraser
was for many years an elder and manager at the Church
of Scotland West Coates Church, approximately half-way
between Rockcliffe and Princes Street.
In 1891, Patrick Neill Fraser was still at Rockville with
his wife and five children, together with a sister-in-law,
Mary Ann Anderson, and three servants. His gardener,
James Napier (31), lived next door in ‘Rockville Lodge’,
with Napier's sister as housekeeper. Napier was still the
Rockville gardener in 1894. According to the 1901 Census
records, Patrick Neill Fraser was not at home on 5 th April
but his wife and two children were present, along with 3
servants. In Rockville Lodge, the appropriately-named
gardener David Gardner lived with his wife and four sons;
Daniel Gardner, the oldest son, was also a gardener,
probably also working in the Rockville garden.
Patrick Neill Fraser died aged 77 on 27 th February, 1905,
after suffering from angina for a month. He was buried in
Dean Cemetery, where his funeral took place on 2 nd March
1905. His gravestone (location JJ157; Fig. 4) stands beside
a small cross commemorating his youngest daughter
Nina, who had died aged 5 in 1891. His widow stayed at
Rockcliffe for several years, maintaining the garden and
continuing to send plants to RBGE. For example, there is a
record of Saxifrage plants being sent by “Mrs Neill Fraser”
in 1905. On Census day in 1911, she was still at Rockville
with her children Patrick Neill Fraser Jnr. and Margaret
Neill Fraser Jnr. and 3 servants. In the “Gardener’s House”
was Archibald Knox, “Gardener (domestic)” with his family
and a boarder Samuel Smith, also listed as “Gardener
(domestic)”. It seems likely that both Knox and Smith
49
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
worked in Rockville garden. Patrick Neill Fraser’s widow
Margaret died of cancer of the pancreas on 26 th February
1927 at 22 Moray Place, Edinburgh, but her residence then
was given as 30 Grange Road. She was buried in the same
plot as her husband (Fig. 4), with her children Margaret
(who died serving in a hospital in Serbia in March 1915)
and Patrick (who died on the first day of the Battle of the
Somme, 1 st July 1916) and a servant Lizzie Lunan (died
1908). Her son James was buried there in 1946. Rockville
had been sold during the 1920s.
Fig. 4. Patrick Neill Fraser’s gravestone in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Also commemorated are his wife Margaret, daughter Margaret, and sons
Patrick and James.
Patrick Neill Fraser, botanist and horticulturalist.
There is no record of his early introduction to botany but
in an obituary it is suggested that his early interest was
stimulated by Dr Patrick Neill. In 1852, Fraser enrolled at
the Royal Botanic Garden as a second year student in
the Botany Class. In the same year he went on the class
excursion to Ireland, and accounts of this excursion reveal
that he was already especially attracted to ferns. He visited
Ireland regularly, the last time, with Col. Jones, when in poor
health 6 months before he died. During the 1860s, he was
collecting fern varieties in the wild in Scotland. In April, 1 864
he published his first list of “British Ferns and their Varieties”,
re-issued in March, 1865. This list “contains, as far as is
known, the names of all the British Ferns and their varieties
hitherto discovered . . . .”. It includes the first use of the name
‘Victoriae’, given by Moore, for the variety of Athyrium filix-
femina also known as the Buchanan Fern. In October, 1 866,
he produced a 4 page list of “British ferns and varieties
grown by P. Neill Fraser.”. In April, 1868, he published
the “List of British ferns and their varieties.”, an enlarged
edition of his 1864 list and, like the previous lists, printed by
Neill & Co.. Included were 565 varieties of ‘Scolopendrium
vulgare ’ and 482 varieties of Athyrium filix-femina alone and
even 22 varieties of Asplenium ruta-muraria. Two further
printed lists of “Exotic Ferns grown by P. Neill Fraser” at
Canonmills Lodge were “Printed for Private Use”. The first,
dated 1 October 1871, listed more than 200 hardy and
glasshouse non-native species; the second, dated 16 April
1875, included nearly 400 species plus some varieties. He
clearly had a well-established interest in ferns while still at
Canonmills Lodge. For much of his life he amassed ferns
from all regions, in part collected by himself, and his fern
herbarium became one of the best in the country. After his
death, his collection of 5-6000 specimens was valued at
£30 (equivalent to about £2,100 today according to the
50
National Archive Currency Converter) by Professor Isaac
Bayley Balfour, Regius Keeper of RBGE, on 18 March 1905
in a letter to the solicitors acting for Fraser’s executors.
He suggested that an advertisement should be put in the
Journal of Botany to bring it to the attention of collectors,
and that the Secretary of the “Pteridological Society” should
be asked to notify members. In the end, the RBGE bought
the collection for £30; the specimens are now distributed
among the other specimens according to species. Taking
Athyrium filix-femina as an example, there are many (c.50)
wild and garden-grown Fraser specimens, though none is
identified as being grown in his garden. Some are identified
as varieties; most of these show unusual degrees of
‘leafiness’. None of the Fraser specimens are crested or
have other types of irregular branching.
In 1875 he was a Committee member of the first British
Pteridological Society; this began as the West of England
Pteridological Society in 1871 but ceased activity in 1876.
Fig. 5. Rockville house and garden in 2012. The slopes between the
terraces were probably rockeries in Fraser’s garden.
In 1876, Fraser bought “Rockville” in Murrayfield (Fig. 5).
Rockville was a substantial house, built in the 1840s, at
the top of a south-facing slope in 4 acres of ground which
included an old flooded quarry. In 1854, segments of a 7m
long tree trunk of the fossil referred to as Pitys withami
(Lyginopteridaceae) had been taken by a previous owner to
the garden from Craigleith Quarry, source of stone for much
of the Georgian New Town. The segments of the fossil
tree were placed along the Rockville drive, though several
were later distributed to neighbours. After he took over
the property, Fraser transformed the walls of the Rockville
quarry, creating walks through planted shrubs and extensive
rockeries on which he planted a great number of alpines,
with a particular fondness for ‘Polyanthus’. Aquatics were
planted round the lake margin.
The large sloping garden, the quarry, and the
glasshouse(s) offered scope for Fraser to assemble his
large collection of alpines and tropical and temperate ferns.
In particular, he was known as an enthusiastic collector and
cultivator of filmy ferns and for his “remarkable” collection of
varieties of British fern species. Fraser and his gardeners
won prizes at the RCHS shows for their ferns. In a report
(Gardener’s Magazine for July 22, 1 882) of a Society of Arts
competition for designs of plant labels, he was commended
for his widely-used zinc strip labels written on with “bichloride
of platinum”. Another list of ferns grown in his garden (i.e.
Rockville) was produced in 1884, according to the account
of the Annual Meeting of the BPS for 1891, but this list
has not been traced. The 1:2500 OS map of 1894 (Fig.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
6) shows a small lodge near the entrance
gate and a large glasshouse close to the
north-west corner of the house. A nearby
structure could be a potting shed or a range
of frames. Trees line the perimeter of the
garden and the lake margin. The southeast
part of the garden appears to be open but
no formal beds are indicated. In a published
report (‘H’, 1894) of a visit in 1894, special
note is made of several fern species; these
are reported here using the names as given
in the article. The visit was early in the year,
so the report does not include the hardy
ferns, but it gives a flavour of the collection
that Fraser had accumulated under glass.
The first plant that attracted attention in
the tropical house was a specimen of
Polypodium glaucophyllum, 5ft in diameter,
growing in a tub. Also mentioned is P.
aureum and a plant of P. subauriculatum with numerous
fronds up to 10ft in length. The list continues to include
Davallia hirta (a crested form), D. dissecta, Adiantum
speciosum, A. williamsii, A. aethiopicum, several varieties
of A. cuneatum including var. grandiceps, Gymnogramma
laucheana, G. tartarea, G. schizophylla gloriosa, G.
cantonensis, Asplenium resectum, Gleichenia dicarpa,
and Lygodium scandens on a pyramidal trellis. Most of
the filmy ferns were cultivated in “light cases” on stages.
These included Trichomanes maximum, T. auriculatum, T.
javanicum (as T. pyxidiferum), and T. trichoideum. In large
pans, T. radicans, T. radicans alabamense, and T. radicans
andrewsii were successfully grown. Noteworthy among the
Hymenophyllums were H. hirsutum, H. aspienioides, H.
demissum. Quoting the report:
“In a small brick pit several square yards of the lovely H.
tundridgense and H. tunbridgense var. Wilsonii formed a
carpet. This variety was collected in the west of Scotland.”
Todea hymenophylloides and T. superba had several
stout fronds and “seedlings were springing up in all
directions”. The report finishes:
"Some of the above had only the protection of a cold frame
during the winter. Others too numerous to mention here, are
well cultivated by Mr. J. Napier, the gardener."
The report refers to the need for a later visit to study the
hardy species grown outside, but no report of such a visit
was published during the next two years. In 1896, Fraser
went on an expedition to Jamaica to study filmy ferns in
their native habitats. Specimens he collected in Jamaica at
altitudes up to 6,000ft and in Grenada were brought back
and cultivated with considerable success in the Rockville
glasshouses. Accounts published shortly after his death
state that his collection of ferns was among the finest in
Great Britain.
Fraser was an acquaintance of James McNab, Curator
of RBGE and he donated live plants to the Garden. In
addition to Saxifrages, Primulas, and bulbs of various
genera including Galanthus, he donated glasshouse and
hardy ferns. For example, on 16 February, 1897, the ‘Glass
Department’ (the section that maintained the glasshouses)
of the Garden received plants of Trichomanes spheroides,
and on 24 June, 1902, plants or spores of Gymnogramma
chaerophylla, Notholaena marantae, N. lanuginosa,
Cheilanthes pulchella, Adiantum reniforme, Asplenium
palmatum, and Ceterach aureum. On 8 th April, 1902, the
Flerbaceous Department received plants of Scolopendrium
hybridum. Fraser was in contact with other luminaries
of the Victorian fern world in Britain. Fie is referred to
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
only twice in the text accompanying the
nature prints of ferns produced by Col. A
M Jones in the late 1870s, but as noted
in the book “Our Native Ferns” (E J Lowe,
1876), Fraser sent fronds, live plants or
illustrations of several named fern varieties
to Lowe. Amongst them were the varieties
‘Spirale’ and ‘Fimbriatum’ of Scolopendrium
vulgare ( Asplenium scolopendrium ), and 16
varieties of Athyriumfilix-femina: ‘Multifidum-
Fraseri’, ‘Alatum-Fraseri’, ‘Arranense’,
‘Defectum’, ‘Flexuosum’, ‘Fraseri’,
‘Furcillatum’, ‘Grantlae’, ‘Impastum’,
‘Laciniato-elegans’, ‘Laciniato-interruptum’,
‘Mesembryanthemoides’, ‘Pruinosum’,
‘Trifidum’, ‘Victoriae’, and ‘Sub-erosum’.
Of these, no doubt grown at Rockville, four
were found in the wild by Fraser: ‘Alatum-
Fraseri’ in “Corrifern Glen, Peebleshire” (=
Carrifran?) in July1860; ‘Arranense’ on Arran in September
1863; ‘Defectum’ at “Drummelzien” (=Drummelzier?), near
Broughton, in July 1860; and ‘Fraseri’ in Larrington Glen,
Lanarkshire in June, 1863. Those varieties named after
Fraser were so-called by Lowe. Few of the names used
by Lowe are still valid, even if the ferns themselves have
survived. Years later, in 1 892, Frasersent D. aemuiaXo Lowe.
Just after Fraser died, Professor Balfour, reporting on the
value of the living collection, wrote “At auction these would
fetch nothing. There is no money in them for dealers. Some
private collector should if possible be found to whom they
might be offered.” The only fern enthusiast in the Edinburgh
area known to Balfour was Alexander Cowan (1864-1943)
of Valleyfield House, Penicuik, who knew the collection.
Balfour continues “If he will buy at any price you should
accept his offer.” Cowan later took all the ferns, except the
Todeas, for an unknown sum. Cowan’s grandfather had
been a close neighbour of the Frasers, which perhaps
explains how Cowan “knew the collection” but he would
have also known Fraser through the BPS. Cowan exhibited
varieties that he had found in the wild at Annual Meetings
of the BPS in the early 1900s and was President from 1909
to 1920. Fraser and Cowan may also have had business
connections. Along with Valleyfield house and garden,
known for his father’s Narcissus collection, Cowan had
inherited the adjacent papermill, established by his great-
great-grandfather and one of Scotland’s largest. Perhaps
Alex. Cowan & Sons sold paper to Neill & Co. Ltd. Little
has been recorded of Alexander Cowan’s pteridological
activities and his time as BPS President, and the fate of
his fern collection, including those acquired from Fraser,
is not known. Cowan’s daughter-in-law Margaret lived at
Valleyfield in the Iate1940s but does not remember there
being a fern collection or even a glasshouse at that time.
The Cowan family left the house in the early 1950s.
Fraser’s botanical and horticultural interests and
especially his garden occupied most of his free time, and
he was a quiet and retiring man who shrank from prominent
public duties. He was one of the early members of the
second British Pteridological Society (BPS), and within a few
years of its founding, initially as the Northern Pteridological
Society, in 1 891 , he was a Committee member (1 896-1 898)
and a Vice-President (from 1898 until his death in 1905),
but he rarely attended AGMs of the BPS, held in Bowness,
and does not appear to have taken an active part in BPS
meetings. He was Honorary Treasurer of the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh from 1857 to 1891 and sometimes
spoke at meetings but he refused the Presidency. Fraser
wrote few papers but was a recognised British authority on
51
Fig. 6. A plan of the Rockcliffe
garden from the 1894 OS map
Edinburgh sheet 3.06.
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
ferns and fern cultivation and was always ready to receive
those who sought his knowledge and advice or who wished
to see his herbarium or garden. Despite his retiring nature,
people were drawn to him and he was “a general favourite”.
In February 1 905, he sent a hybrid snowdrop to E A Bowles.
Bowles wrote asking about its origin but received no reply
because Fraser’s death intervened. It may have arisen
spontaneously among the Snowdrop collection in Fraser’s
garden. Bowles named the variety “Neill Fraser” after him.
It is of average height but has a distinctively-shaped green
mark on the inner segments and is still offered for sale.
Fraser’s considerable library and voluminous detailed
and well-ordered notebooks enabled him quickly to provide
friends with information on any plant. In 1905, Professor
Balfour valued all the books at £60-£70 (£4,200-£4,900
today). He recommended approaching a second-hand
bookseller such as Mr Thin of South Bridge, Edinburgh. A
few papers and some books with Fraser’s signature and
other annotations are now in RBGE library (Fig. 7).
■ ■ S M L- ?i Li.U ’^.L, : > ■ fcl I K I ‘ t 1 k| All. ATT 1.1 1 I I \'-U
.■□cai (r iidz^ n IHFPR
i.vi i i 1 1' : i I iTL.it ni.itf-ilftllH HI J a: 11 ■ i J- 7 - l -
4 1 itl.A L
Fig. 7. Patrick Neill Fraser’s signature and address on his copy of Hooker,
W. J. and Baker J. G. (1874) Synopsis Filicum. 2 nd edition. Throughout
there are annotated letters P (black) and R (red) in the margins beside
names of species and relating to pencil notes in the front of the book
referring to “945 sheets” of “Parish” ferns and “Blanford” ferns.
For example a copy of Milde, J., Filices Europae et
Atlantidis, Asiae Minoris et Siberiae. (1867) has pencil
notes on a title page relating to ferns received from Tenerife
in 1872, and correspondence with a Mr. Brown. There are
several other Victorian fern books that have the same library
accession date stamp for 27 th June 1905, and are almost
certainly also from Fraser’s library, although his name is not
on them. In his later years much of Fraser’s reading was
the works of explorers and he was a member of the Royal
Scottish Geographical Society.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, like his mentor Dr Patrick Neill, and of the
Scottish Alpine Botanical Club. His service as Honorary
Treasurer of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society
from 1871 to 1898 was recognised with the presentation of
a service of silver plate. He was also a Fellow of the Royal
Horticultural Society. He was on the General Committee of
the RHS for the Fern Conference and Exhibition of Ferns at
the Chiswick Gardens of the Society in July 1890. He was
on a RHS Committee to draw up a schedule of prizes for
the RHS Exhibition of British Ferns, in August, 1892, again
at RHS Gardens, Chiswick. He contributed to the cost of
the Silver Floral Medals for Class I and Class K. He also
exhibited Polystichum angulare ( =setiferum ) varieties at
the 1892 Exhibition.
52
Although Fraser’s significant contribution to fern collecting
and growing was recognised during his life time, he then
seems to fade from view. He has an entry in Desmond
(1994), but does not feature in the Directory of National
Biography (Patrick Neill appears in both). He gets only
passing mention in Lowe’s book “Fern Growing” of 1895
and does not feature in Druery’s “British Ferns and their
Varieties.” of 1910. Unlike some other fern growers of that
era his reputation has not lasted. It is perhaps time for his
place in the history of fern growing in Britain to be reinstated.
Rockville garden today
Identification of “Rockville” was complicated by the fact
that between the 1920s and the 1970s, the name of the
house was changed to “Rockshiel”. Once it was found,
the current owner generously allowed me into the garden
in September, 2012, to search for ferns with a colleague,
Phil Lusby, from RBGE. It was clear that the house was
largely unchanged externally since Patrick Neill Fraser’s
time. Much of the garden remained, although in the 1920’s,
perhaps about the time that Fraser’s widow left, about
one quarter of the area on the east side was sold off as a
building plot and now contains another house and garden.
The gardener’s lodge is still beside the gate and the one
remaining segment of the fossil tree trunk remains beside
the driveway (Fig. 8). The present owner has lived there for
about 35 years, during which time the derelict greenhouse
and frames were removed.
Fig. 8. The present owner beside the fossil tree in Rockville garden,
2012. Growing on the stump is Polypodium vulgare (sensu lato).
The garden is now mostly mown grass surrounded by
dense tangled shrubbery, while the other areas, such as
the sides of the quarry, well drained and exposed to sun
most of the day, are overgrown with brambles and small
shrubs (Fig. 9). The margin of the pond also has dense
unmanaged vegetation. Conditions over much of the
garden would seem to be less than ideal for ferns but
some were found. Six species were present, all of them
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
native to south-east Scotland:
Asplenium scolopendrium, Athyrium
filix-femina, Dryopteris dilatata, D.
filix-mas, Polypodium vulgare, and
Polystichum setiferum. The present
owner has not intentionally or
knowingly introduced (or removed)
any ferns.
Asplenium scolopendrium is
common on the more shady walls
and paving between the house and
the site of the greenhouse. Most
plants were typical of the species
and some of those growing in the
abandoned brick ‘old meat-store’
are very well grown, some with a
slightly wavy margin. However, two
or three small individuals amongst them had conspicuous
terminal cresting of the fertile fronds (Fig. 10a. and 10b.)
which Martin Rickard has identified as falling within the
‘Ramosum’ group. While other possibilities cannot be
entirely discounted, it seems probable that they are
descended from specimens in Fraser’s collection, having
naturally reproduced by spores for one or more generations
over the nearly 140 years since ferns were first cultivated
there.
Fig. 10a. Normal and 10b. A single frond of the
crested forms of Asplenium crested form, resembling
scolopendrium growing in a wall. ‘ramosum’ group.
Athyrium filix-femina is the most abundant and widespread
species in the garden and is scattered throughout the
unmown areas. The morphology of most individuals was
within the normal range of variation but several plants were
regularly crested on the ends of the fronds and of each
pinna (Fig. 11). They have been identified by Rickard as
‘Cristatum’ group. One individual growing near the remains
of a jetty in the flooded quarry had pronounced terminal
Fig. 11 .Part of a frond of a cristate Athyrium filix-femina, typical of
several found scattered in unmown areas throughout the garden.
crests and was possibly a different
variety, as was another plant with
very narrow pinnules but no crests.
Two juvenile plants growing in
cracks between paving slabs had
narrow fronds, downwardly directed
pinnae, and cresting of some fronds
and pinnae (Fig. 12). Because we
thought they might be different from
the others, we removed one plant
(with permission) and Phil Lusby
gave it to Andy Ensoll at RBGE to
grow on. One year later, it still looks
rather different from any others in the
garden, and is slightly depauperate
with irregular, rather lax, cresting
(Fig. 13). Rickard says it would be
best described as Cristatum group although it is “close to
Gemmatum Barnes”. Perhaps its characteristics will have
developed further in another year or two. Again, these
varieties are probably descended from Fraser’s collection.
Fig. 12. A frond from one of two juvenile plants of Athyrium filix-femina
with depauperate downwardly-directed fronds and irregular cresting.
Fig. 13. The same plant as in Fig. 7, one year later. It is still different from
most of the crested plants in the garden but, despite the irregularity of
the cresting, best described as Cristatum group.
Fig. 9. The flooded quarry; the pond margin (foreground)
and rock wall (behind) have become overgrown.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
53
PATRICK NEILL FRASER - VICTORIAN FERN ENTHUSIAST
Dryopteris filix-mas:
Among the few individuals present in the garden, all
growing along a shady path through shrubs on the edge of
the quarry, was one with unusually narrow pinnules. All of
them could have colonised naturally from incoming wind-
blown spores.
Dryopteris dilatata:
A few individuals grew with D. filix-mas ; none had abnormal
morphology. These also could have been naturally sown
from incoming spores.
Polystichum setiferum.
Two plants typical of the species occurred on the same
path as the Dryopteris spp. Unlike the other species
found, P. setiferum is not common outside gardens around
Edinburgh. The nearest known large natural populations
are on the coast about 35 miles away, near its northern limit
on the east side of Britain. A few plants, usually as single
individuals, are known in the wild in and near Edinburgh,
but usually, if not always, close to habitation and thus
perhaps garden escapes. The plants at Rockville could be
descended from plants grown by Fraser, who exhibited this
species, or from spores blown in from other gardens.
Polypodium vulgare (sensu lato):
No ferns were found on the garden walls but a single
spreading individual of Polypodium, with normal
morphology, was growing on the fossil tree stump (Fig. 8).
It was not identified to species. It seems likely that it was
planted there but it is not known when or by whom.
It is interesting to note that the probable survivors of
the 19 th Century collection in a garden which is now not
very ‘fern-friendly’ belong to species that are naturally
successful in the wild in south-east Scotland. They are
therefore probably among the species best adapted
to the local soil and climate, and most tolerant of local
competition. It may also be significant that they are all
fertile and, with the exception of Polypodium, with little or
no capacity to form clones. Even within Fraser’s life-time,
Lowe had noted that varieties of Scolopendrium (Asplenium
scoiopendrium) had the ability to maintain themselves by
spores. Distinctive varieties appeared on walls in Lowe’s
garden and up to three-quarters of a mile away for several
years after he moved his collection from Nottinghamshire to
Monmouthshire in 1880. All the exotic, tropical and sterile
ferns in Fraser’s collection were either removed after his
death or have been eliminated since.
It is sad to learn of yet another instance of a nationally
important Victorian fern collection being lost, but it is also
interesting that the garden is largely intact and, nearly 100
years later, a few of Fraser’s ferns remain, self-perpetuating
in the garden.
Acknowledgements:
I am grateful to Graham Hardy (RBGE Library) for much
help in locating relevant publications and archival records
at RBGE and to Martin Rickard for helpful comments on an
earlier draft.
Further reading:
Anon (1905) The late Mr Patrick Neill Fraser. Scotsman, 3
March, 1905, p.5.
Anon (1906) Patrick Neill Fraser obituary. Transactions of
the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1906, 208-209.
Boyd, P.D.A. (1992) The Victorian Fern Cult in South-
West Britain, pp. 33-56 in Fern Horticulture: past, present,
and future perspectives. (Eds J M Ide, C Jermy, A M Paul)
Intercept, Andover.
Desmond, R. (1994) Dictionary of British and Irish botanists
and horticulturalists. NHM, London.
Don, Professor & C.H. Smith et al. (1836) A notice of the
garden of Canonmills Cottage, the residence of Patrick
Neill Gardener’s Magazine 12, 334-341.
‘H.’ (1894) Garden of PNeill Fraser. Gardeners’ Chronicle,
June 2, XV, No.388, 697
Hall, N. & M. Rickard (2006) Fern Books in English
published before 1900. British Pteridological Society,
London.
£ J.’ (1894) Rockville, Murrayfield, Edinburgh. The
Gardeners’ Chronicle, June 2, 1894, 697.
Jackson, B.D. (revised Peter Osborne) (2004) Patrick Neill
1776-1851. Dictionary of National Biography, 40, 369.
McLaren, M. (Ed.) (1949) The House of Neill 1749-1949.
Bicentenary Edition. Neill & Co. Ltd., Edinburgh. 40pp.
(Enlarged version of History of the firm of Neill & Company
Ltd. (1900) and The Printing House of Neill (1917))
Paul, D. (1905) Patrick Neill Fraser ( obituary). Memoirs of
the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, 1 (1), 83 - 85.
Robertson, F. (2011) Patrick Neill, 1776-1851: Doyen of
Scottish Horticulture. Whittles Publishing Ltd., Dunbeath.
Wallace, J.M. (1994) Cannonmills and Inverleith. John
Donald Publishers Ltd., Edinburgh.
MORE FERN DECORATIONS
Atrip in February 2014 to Costa Rica was staggering with the amount of variety and
number of ferns. However it is always pleasing to see that ferns are used to decorate
and embellish even modest establishments. This photograph was taken at a simple
roadside eatery (cafeteria de carretera) and every table had similar decorations.
They even grew this fern in window boxes alongside the bar.
However, I am unable to name this fern and would appreciate any help from
readers. Please contact me at:- alec.greening@virgin.net
Thank you
54
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A Trip to the Blue Mountains
Near Sydney, NSW, Australia
Mark Longley
76 Cockle Bay Road, Howick, Auckland, NZ
e-mail: longley74@xtra.co.nz
In April of 2012 I began writing my book - Tree Ferns For
Your Garden, an article about which appears in this edition
of the Pteridologist. One of the most important features of
this book and one which separates it from any publication
on ferns or tree ferns is the fact that I wanted to include a
great deal of images of tree ferns in their own habitat.
Living as I do in New Zealand, I had covered all of the
native species here without too much effort. The only NZ tree
fern I had to make a special trip for was Dicksonia lanata,
the non-prostrate form which only grows in the Kauri forests
of Northland. I’d also managed to catch some good shots of
Cyathea cooperi and Dicksonia youngiae while on holiday
in Australia prior to 2012 but there were 2 species which I
had absolutely no habitat shots of and they were possibly
the 2 most important; Dicksonia antarctcia and Cyathea
australis. The former is easily the most cold tolerant of all
tree ferns and one of the most popular so I could never be
forgiven for not having fresh and exciting images of that
species. Likewise Cyathea australis is probably the most
cold tolerant of the entire Cyathea genus so again I just had
to get myself some good images.
It was imperative for me to find a location that I could visit
and find both species in the same area. I allowed myself a
trip duration of 4 days to fly in, get the shots and fly out! The
one place that instantly seemed to make sense was the
Blue Mountains in New South Wales. Logistically they were
the perfect option as the National Park is less than 3 hours
train journey from Sydney and I could fly direct to Sydney
from my home in Auckland in just 3 hours. Perfect - The
tickets were booked, the camera gear and luggage packed
and I was off!
Upon arrival into Sydney I headed straight for the Royal
Botanic Gardens. They are in a park adjacent to the Opera
House on the waterfront and quite the most beautiful
gardens I know. The Sydney climate is absolutely perfect
for growing tender palms and tree ferns which abound in
the dedicated fernery.
The next day I walked from my hotel to the main train
station at King’s Cross, boarding the 6am train to the Blue
Mountains. It was going to be a long day. If I took the wrong
walking track and missed my shots or missed the tree ferns
altogether then I would be coming back again the next day!
Fig. 1. Cyathea cooperi growing in full sun near the Opera House in
Sydney.
Fig. 2. The fernery at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens is packed with
hundreds of species of ferns.
Fig. 3. A beautiful tall Cyathea australis
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
55
A Trip to the Blue Mountains
The train arrived at Katoomba station a little after 8am
and I headed for the information centre where I hoped to
pick out a map of the various walking tracks which might
help me decide which was most likely to come up trumps.
Thankfully the gentleman who offered me the map was also
very familiar with all of the walks and upon my divulging the
mission I had set myself, he pointed out the best 2 tracks
for seeing ferns. He wasn’t specific about what ferns were
there but he was confident enough that I took his advice
and jumped on an old red London bus (seriously!) for the
trip to the beginning of the walk. It was the middle of winter
(August 2013) and there had been a light frost overnight
due to the Blue Mountains being 800 metres above sea
level. The sun was out now and by 9am it was 10°C, though
it never got any warmer all day so one could definitely refer
to it as ‘chilly’.
Fig. 4. A forest full of Cyathea australis
If I’d had any fears at all about finding tree ferns on
this trip then my fears dissipated after 2 minutes walking
down steep steps into the dark and cold ravine. Cyathea
australis everywhere and some terrific specimens of them
too. The feeling of relief was most satisfying as I pulled out
the DSLR, fiddled with the settings to account for the very
dark ravine I was in and took some shots.
Then after a little while I came across some beautiful
specimens of Todea barbara. There were thousands of
small ones growing everywhere but only very rarely did I
find really old ones which had formed a large thick caudex.
These were usually growing right next to or in running water
so clearly the high humidity is crucial.
Fig. 5. A large Todea barbara
Fig. 6. Trunk detail
Further along the track I came to an opening in the thick
canopy of Eucalypt forest and found the most stunning
scene. The blue haze you can see in plate 7 is the reason
the Blue Mountains have their name and it is caused by
refraction between light and the mist created by the resin in
the Eucalypt forest.
Fig. 7. A view across the Blue Mountains
Further along the track and I found more Cyathea
australis, some of them with quite the most beautiful trunks.
Already this trip was paying for itself and I knew I was
getting some great images for the book.
The only fly in the ointment right now was that I hadn’t
seen a single Dicksonia antarctica. Was I going to have
to look elsewhere? The trail continued downwards for
some time. The light levels dropped and the humidity rose.
Then suddenly, yes! There I could see the unmistakable
chocolate brown trunk and beautiful long arching fronds.
56
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A Trip to the Blue Mountains
Fig. 8. Attractive specimens of Cyathea Australis.
I had obviously reached that point in the forest where
the conditions were no longer suitable for Cyathea australis
which appeared to prefer the drier, brighter and slightly
warmer aspect and here in the deep dark depths, the
Dicksonia thrived albeit in fewer numbers.
Fig. 9. Cyathea australis detail of the crown
I spent several hours on the tracks that day and once the
images I needed were in the bag I was able to enjoy some
of the spectacular scenery that this National Park affords
including some stunning waterfalls. My train arrived into
Katoomba Station at 4.30 for the trip back to Sydney that
afternoon and I must say it was a most pleasant journey
knowing that I had accompolished the prime objective of
the mission. The next day back in Sydney I went to the
fernery in the Botanic Gardens again and shot a 10 minute
video tour which you can view by following this Youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF7exnr3HbA&feature
=youtu.be
Fig. 10. The first specimen I saw of Dicksonia antarctica
Fig. 11. Several nice specimens of Dicksonia antarctica
with 2-4 metres of trunk
Fig. 12. A big 6 metre trunked Dicksonia antarctica
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
57
A fern cultured from Antarctic glacier detritus.
R.l. LEWIS-SMITH
Centre for Antarctic Plant Ecology and Diversity, Torr Lodge,
Alton Road, Moffat, Dumfriesshire, DG10 9LB, U.K.
ronaldlewissmith@gmail.com
Fig . 1 . Bilobed prothallus six months after it first
appeared on the cultured cryoconite soil from
Signy Island ice cap (July 2000).
Fig. 2. Multilobed prothallus (September 2001)
Fig. 3. Multilobed prothallus with frond beginning
to develop at upper centre (June 2002).
58
[Condensed from a paper of the same title in
Antarctic Science, 26, 1-4, 2014]
The Antarctic flora contains no ferns but
comprises 113 moss taxa, 27 liverwort
taxa, about 500 lichen taxa, and two
native flowering plants (Antarctic
Hairgrass, Deschampsia antarctica Desv.,
and Antarctic Pearlwort (Colobanthus
quitensis (Kunth.) Bartl.), both restricted
to the maritime Antarctic (i.e South
Sandwich, South Orkney and South
Shetland Islands, and the west side of
the Antarctic Peninsula). The very limited
palynological analyses of organic deposits
in the maritime Antarctic have revealed the
presence of pollen from flowering plants
(including Deschampsia and Colobanthus
and several species from Terra del
Fuego.), and spores from unidentified
pteridophytes and mosses, over a 5000
year timescale. Other studies conducted
in the South Orkney and South Shetland
Islands have shown that the spore and
pollen “rain” contains fern spores (Kappen
& Straka 1988, Lewis-Smith 1991).
A long-term study of soil propagule
banks 1 has been carried out on Signy
Island (60°43S, 45°38W), one of the South
Orkney Islands, lying some 900km east-
south-east of Tierra del Fuego. Mineral
soils from "cryoconite" holes in the island's
ice cap have been sampled and cultured.
These cryconite holes are caused by
aggregations of wind-borne mineral
particles deposited on ice and gradually
melting into it to create small holes 20-
40 cm deep and up to 50 cm wide which
then fill with melt water in summer. The
soil in these holes contained a diversity
of diatoms, algae, protozoans, rotifers
and tardigrades, as well as vegetative
fragments of local mosses, liverworts and
lichens.
In November 1999 fine mineral soil
from ten cryoconite holes was collected
within an area of about 1 hectare on
the island’s ice cap at c. 300 m altitude.
Each sample was divided into three sub-
samples, of approximately 100 gram
fresh weight, which were cultured at room
temperature (~18°C) in the laboratory
at Signy research station. For the first
six months the culture dishes were kept
sealed to prevent contamination, but
examined frequently through the clear
polystyrene lid. No water was added as
the soils were moist. Later, a small amount
of deionised water was added to the tray
at regular intervals. The dishes had a
perforated base over which was glued
an ultra-fine nylon mesh to allow water
to penetrate upwards during subsequent
cultivation. The experiment was continued
for a further 12 years, with occasional
transplantings.
1 Seed and spore bank
Fig. 4. Early development of fronds from
prothallus (January 2003)
Fig. 5. Development of frond and elongation
of stipe (December 2003).
Fig. 6. Development of frond and elongation
of stipe (December 2004).
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A fern cultured from Antarctic glacier detritus.
Fig. 7. Mature plant of Elaphoglossum
hybridumin ini 4 cm diameter pot (June 2011).
Fig. 9. Detail of the base of the frond
(June 2011)
After about four weeks several
species of moss and two liverworts
began to develop small colonies of
shoots from spores or gametophyte
fragments. All were typical of the local
flora. After two months several other
moss species appeared, as well as a
green multicellular disc about 2 mm in
diameter. This was tentatively ascribed
to the thalloid liverwort Marchantia
berteroana, a frequent species on
Signy Island, where it is not fertile but
does produce vegetatively by means
of copiously produced gemmae. After 4
months the dishes were transported by
ship at 4°C to the British Antarctic Survey,
Cambridge, and maintained at that
temperature in a controlled environment
chamber for a further three years.
The thalloid plant gradually became
bilobed and grew to about 6 mm in
diameter after six months (July 2000)
(Fig.1), and was by then clearly
identifiable as a fern prothallus. After
15 months (April 2001) the prothallus
(gametophyte) was transplanted onto a
sterilised (48 hr at 50°C) homogenised
moss peat substrate, prepared at
Signy Island. By September 2001 the
gametophyte had increased to about
15 mm diameter and had become multi-
lobed and deeply crenellated, and the
ventral surface had developed clusters
of rhizoids (Fig. 2). By January 2003
several of the lobes had developed into
small oval entire fronds with a very short
rachis (Figs. 3-4) By December 2003, the
fronds had become diamond-shaped
with a cuneate base and borne on a
short stipe, both elongating to c. 3-5 cm
length (Figs. 5-6). The dish was moved
to room temperature (c. 15-20°C), and
the growth rate accelerated. The plant
survived two further transplantings
into larger containers. By 2009 it was
mature and, over the next three years,
the lanceolate frond dimensions ranged
from 5-10 cm long by 2-4.5 cm wide,
borne on stipes of 5.0 to 7.5 cm long
(Figs. 7-1 3), with a few dying annually
and being replaced by new leaves. By
March 2014 the plant continues to thrive
in the author’s conservatory, and the
largest fronds are up to 16 cm long, 6
cm wide on stipes of 8-12 cm long. The
frond margins and stipes are densely
covered with rust-brown hairs, although
the former disappear as the frond ages.
No sporangia have developed.
In 2012 photographs and two fronds
of the fern were sent to Dr Fred Rumsey,
Natural History Museum, London, for
identification. It has been confirmed as
Elaphoglossum hybridum (Bory) Brack.
(Lomariopsidaceae), a species with a
southern African distribution centred on
South Africa (notably the high eastern
Cape, central, tropical and east Africa),
Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands
in the south Indian Ocean, as well as
Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in
the south Atlantic Ocean (Crouch et al.
2011). E. hybridum is closely related to
E. randii Alston & Schelpe, a species
endemic to sub-Antarctic Marion Island
Fig. 9. The rust brown 'hairs' showing on the
stipe. (June 2011)
Fig. 10. Frond details (2011)
Fig. 11 . The apex of the frond showing the
rust brown 'hairs'. (June 2011)
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
59
A fern cultured from^Antarctic glacierdetrjtus.
and lies Kerguelen in the southern
Indian Ocean.
This is the first record of a
pteridophyte cultured from an Antarctic
substrate, although it cannot be
construed as a component of the
native flora. Nevertheless, it provides
evidence that viable spores of ferns,
like those of bryophytes and fungi, do
reach remote Antarctic sites, and that
some may be considered as potential
colonists if and when they reach a
suitable substrate with favourable
growing conditions.
All locations from where
Elaphoglossum hybridum is known are
well to the north and east of the South
Orkney Islands, which lie in the path
of strong prevailing westerly winds.
So how did the spore, from which the
present plant developed, reach Signy
Island? The most probable explanation
is by encircling the Southern
References
Fig. 12. An emerging crosier with light coloured
hairs. (June 2011)
Hemisphere on an east-west
trajectory at high altitude in the upper
atmosphere. How it was transported
into the upper atmosphere is open to
speculation. However, it is known that
once spores and pollen have been
carried to high altitude they may be
transported across great distances
by upper air currents before being
deposited (van Zanten 1978, Marshall
1996, Munoz et al. 2004).
These simple soil culture
experiments provide evidence of
what must be an abundant pool of
viable spores preserved in various
substrates throughout the Antarctic.
With the current trend in regional
warming in the maritime Antarctic there
is an increasing probability that exotic
spores in the soil, previously unable to
develop into plants because of adverse
growing conditions, will be able to
become established. □
Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R. Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. 2011. Ferns of Southern Africa. A comprehensive guide. Cape Town,
Struik Nature, 760 pp.
Kappen, L. & Straka, H. 1988. Pollen and spores transport into Antarctica. Polar Biology, 8, 173-180.
Lewis Smith, R.1. 1991 . Exotic sporomorpha as indicators of potential immigrant colonists in Antarctica. Grana, 30, 313-324.
Marshall, W.A. 1996. Biological particles over Antarctica. Nature, London, 383, 680.
Munoz, J., Felicisimo, A.M., Cabezas, F., Burgaz, A.R. & Martinez, 1. 2004. Wind as a long-distance dispersal vehicle in the Southern
Hemisphere. Science, 304, 1144-1147.
Zanten, B.O. van. 1978. Experimental studies on transoceanic long-range dispersal of moss species in the Southern Hemisphere.
Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory, 44, 455-482.
Polystichum munitum, the Bird's Nest Fern.
Adrian Dyer
499 Lanark Road West, Balerno, Edinburgh. EH14 7AL
e-mail: afdyer499@googlemail.com
While tidying a fern bed in my garden in May, 2013, I came
across something that gave a new meaning to 'Bird's Nest
Fern'.
Well hidden in a large plant of Polystichum munitum
was a recently vacated bird's nest, probably of the Dunnock
(Hedge Sparrow, another 'P.m.', Prunella modularis) (see
attached photos). I have never previously seen a bird's nest
in a fern, in my garden or anywhere else. It could probably
only happen when a bird that normally nests in low shrubs
finds a large fern with persistent wintergreen fronds on
closely packed crowns. Perhaps there is no native fern
species that provides sufficient cover early in the year, if
at all. Does anyone know of other records of British birds
nesting in ferns? (See page 78) Perhaps there are birds
that regularly nest in evergreen ferns in the tropics
60
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
DRYOPTERIS LABORDEI 'Golden Mist'
Unravelling the identity of a fern recently introduced to cultivation
Tim Pyner
182 Southchurch Boulevard, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. SS2 4UX
e-mail: t.pyner@byinternet.com
Over the last few years a fern has appeared for sale in
garden centres, nurseries and on-line suppliers named
Dryopteris labordei, usually with the evocative epithet
'Golden Mist' attached or sometimes just Golden Mist Fern.
This fern is extremely attractive, with young fronds flushing
orange fading through golden-green. The mature dark
green, glossy fronds contrast beautifully with the colourful
young foliage. I currently have some misgivings with
regards to its cold hardiness in the UK but should these be
unfounded this fern could prove very popular with a market
potential approaching that of D. erythrosora. In the light of
these expectations and before the name gets permanently
established in the horticultural trade I feel it is appropriate
to address some doubts I have regarding the identity of this
fern. As I see it there are 3 problems to address, firstly the
name Dryopteris labordei and the fern it refers to, secondly
the identity of the fern grown under this name and finally
the label Golden Mist.
I started this research because I had come across the
name D. labordei in the course of other investigations into
Dryopteris species in cultivation and realised that it had
been used in different senses in the past. Fortunately the
recent publication of volume 2-3 of the monumental Flora
of China (2013) which covers ferns and lycophytes has
been of immense help in sorting out which plants are being
cultivated.
Fig. 1. Dryopteris varia 'Golden Mist'. Young plant with colourful new
frond. Note the elongated, pointed basal basiscopic pinnules.
Photo: Yvonne Golding
1 . Dryopteris labordei
There are several names that have in the past been
associated with D. labordei.. These are;
1 . Dryopteris labordei (Christ) C. Chr. (1906) first described
from China in 1905 by Herman Christ as Aspidium labordei.
2. Dryopteris gymnosora (Makino) C. Chr. (1906) first
described from Japan in 1899 by Tomitaro Makino as
Nephrodium gymnosorum.
3. Dryopteris indusiata (Makino) Makino & Yamamoto
ex Yamamoto (1932) first described from Japan as var.
indusiatum of Nephrodium gymnosorum by Makino in 1 899.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
4. Dryopteris tenuicula Mathew & Christ (1909) described
from China.
These are now considered to be separate species in
Flora of China but have been treated in a variety of ways
in the past. A few examples include Fraser-Jenkins (1986)
who sinks D. labordei into D. gymnosora and D. indusiata
into D. tenuicula. In Flora of Taiwan, Shieh et al. (1994)
includes D. indusiata under D. labordei. However in Knapp
(2011) D. labordei is excluded from the Taiwanese flora but
D. tenuicula is now accepted as occurring there. In Japan
D. indusiata has been erroneously called D. labordei in
the past (Iwatsuki et al.(1995)). All 4 species have been
recorded from mainland China.
If there have been so many differing opinions amongst
botanists it is very possible that horticulturalists, particularly
large enterprises producing millions of plants annually, will
have chosen the incorrect name for this very attractive fern
with great commercial potential.
Anyone who has tried to identify an unknown cultivated
Dryopteris will know that it a frustrating and often fruitless
exercise. Cultivated ferns can differ markedly from those
found in the wild just through environmental conditions and
both targeted and unconscious selection can also affect their
appearance. Descriptions in floras do not account for these
differences and comparing them with herbarium specimens
is also difficult without plenty of experience. Dryopteris is
a very large genus, 167 species are recognised just for
China in Flora of China. To approach such a large number
of species is daunting.
However Dryopteris has been classified into subgenera
and sections by Christopher Fraser-Jenkins(1986) and
this classification can be used to narrow the range of
possibilities. The above 4 species are all members of
Section Erythrovariae of Subgenus Erythrovariae. Most
Fig. 2. Dryopteris \/ aria 'Golden Mist' in my Essex garden, July 2012.
61
DRYOPTERIS LABORDEI 'Golden Mist'
of the members of this subgenus bear small bullate
(swollen, blister-like) scales on the underside of the rachis,
costae and costules. These scales do not occur in other
sub-genera. D. erythrosora is a familiar member of this
subgenus. The treatment in Flora of China divides the
Section Erythrovariae even more narrowly and all 4 species
are now included under Section Indusiatae. The 4 species,
D. labordei, D. gymnosora, D. indusiata and D. tenuicula,
are clearly described and differentiated. D. indusiata is
cultivated by enthusiasts in the UK and in my experience is
usually correctly named.
I apologise for the in-depth nature of this discussion
however nothing in regards to Dryopteris is straight-forward.
Fig. 3. Stipe bases showing narrow, unbordered, brown scales of
Dryopteris varia.
2. What is 'Golden Mist'?
Now we come to the question to what species does 'Golden
Mist' belong to? By comparing the descriptions of the above
4 possible contenders with the fern sitting in front of me
the answer is conclusive - none of them! Here is a brief
comparison between 'Golden Mist' and Section Indusiatae :
Lamina ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, lowest
basiscopic pinnule on lowest pinna not markedly longer
than adjacent pinna, pinnules not caudate, rounded at
apex. Section Indusiatae.
Lamina pentagonal-ovate, lowest basiscopic pinnule on
lowest pinna markedly longer than adjacent pinna, pinnules
caudate, apex acute. 'Golden Mist'.
The characters of 'Golden Mist' actually meet the criteria
for another group, the Section Variael This is a group of
around 15 species and after a careful comparison of
descriptions and herbarium specimens I have concluded
that it belongs to Dryopteris varia (L.) Kuntze. The
architecture of the fronds, the scales of the rhizome,
stipe, rachis, costae and indusia characters match the
descriptions of this species in various floras, in particular
that of Fraser-Jenkins(1989). As the name suggests, this
is a variable species with a wide distribution ranging from
India through China to Japan and the Philippines. In modern
treatments much of the variation has been removed into
segregate species however diploid and triploid plants are
still currently included within D. varia and future research
may involve further splits.
62
There is a good photo in lwatsuki(1992)-Plate 123.3,
that shows a wild plant in Japan that closely resembles our
cultivated fern and shows the colourful young fronds.
I have been unable to establish how the name D. labordei
became attached to this fern however I find it odd that the
name of a rather obscure species has somehow replaced
that of the common and widespread D. varia. On-line
searches have revealed that plants in the North American
trade may have originated from Australia but these claims
are vague and unsubstantiated. Perhaps someone in the
nursery trade will be able to shed light on this matter?
Fig. 4. Back of frond showing weakly bullate and attenuate scales typical
of Dryopteris varia.
3. The name 'Golden Mist'
D. varia is apogamous and reproduces asexually. This is
an important aspect to nursery production as the plants
behave as clones and the offspring from spore sowings
are identical to the parents. However like our native
apogamous D. affinis there is natural variation across
the entire species and distinctive clones could be given
cultivar names. However the name 'Golden Mist' has a
somewhat complicated history that I have not yet been
able to fully unravel. An application was made in 2007 by
Casa Flora- a well known mass grower of ferns in the USA-
to register the name Golden Mist as trademark for 'plug
starter plants, namely, ferns'. It is uncertain whether this
name was applicable to the fern grown as D. labordei. It is
also unclear whether 'Golden Mist' was attached to this fern
before the application or did it become linked following the
application? Again perhaps someone in the nursery trade
would be able to provide some answers. Furthermore the
trademark application was abandoned in 2010.
(For those interested, an excellent review, The Misuse of
Trademarks in Horticulture by Tony Avent of Plant Delights
Nursery, of what may become an increasing problem for
horticulturalists, can be found at www.plantdelights.com/
Trademarks-in-Horticulture/products/534 )
Cultivation
Cultivation requirements for D. varia are similar to other
Dryopteris species, a well drained moisture retentive soil
in dappled shade being ideal. Cold hardiness is frequently
stated to be Zone 5-8 (USDA) or Zone 7-8 (UK) on nursery
websites. This indicates hardiness down to -29 c in North
America. I am rather sceptical as in my experience, unless
very sheltered, plants are damaged or killed at temperatures
below -5 C . As part of my research I have tried growing a
number of plants of 'Golden Mist' from various sources in
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
DRYOPTERIS LABORDEI 'Golden Mist'
my Essex garden and only one is currently alive. I do have
2 plants of D. varia (both obtained under incorrect names)
that have survived a number of years but these remain
small and I am not confident they will survive a below
-10 c . I would be interested in other growers experiences,
particularly from milder parts of the UK.
Conclusions
To summarise, the fern currently being marketed as
Dryopteris labordei 'Golden Mist' does not belong to that
species. It is actually D. varia. The cultivar name 'Golden
Mist' can be attached to this clone although whether it differs
significantly from typical D. varia is debatable. D. labordei
is a different species that has a confused taxonomic history
since it was described over a century ago. However in the
most recent treatment it is accepted as a species and is
clearly differentiated from its close relatives. It does not
appear to be in cultivation in the UK at present although the
allied species D. indusiata is grown by enthusiasts.
I would like to thank Alison Paul for help and advice
when visiting the herbarium at the Natural History Museum,
London. □
References
Fraser-Jenkins, C.R. (1986) A Classification of the genus
Dryopteris (Pteridophyta:Dryopteridaceae). Bull. Br. Mus.
Nat. Hist. (Bot.) Vol 14 No3 pp 183-218.
Fraser-Jenkins, C.R. (1989) A monograph of Dryopteris
(Pteridophyta:Dryopteridaceae)in the Indian subcontinent.
Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Bot.) Vol 18 No5 pp 323-477.
Iwatsuki, K. (1992) Fern and Fern Allies of Japan.
Heibonsha Ltd, Tokyo.
Iwatsuki, K, Dryopteridaceae in Iwatsuki, K et al. (1995)
Flora of Japan Vol. 1 Pteridophyta and Gymnospermae.
Kodansha Ltd, Tokyo.
Knapp, R. (2011) Ferns and Fern Allies of Taiwan. KBCC
Press, Taiwan
Shieh, W.C., Devol, C.E. & Kuo, C.M. (1994) in Flora of
Taiwan Vol.1 2 nd Edition. Taipei
Wu Sugong et al (2013) Dryopteris in Flora of China Vol
2-3 Lycopodiaceae through Polypodiaceae. Science Press,
Beijing & Missouri Botanic Garden Press, St. Louis.
Book Review
Flora of Birmingham and the Black Country by Trueman, I., Poulton, M. and Reade, P.. Pisces
Publications. 2013. 488 pp., hardback. Numerous colour photographs and numerous plant
distribution maps. ISBN 978-1-874357-55-1 .
No price given but available for £38 on Amazon.
Over the years quite a few floras of urban areas have
been published, for example Aberdeen, Glasgow,
Derby, Bristol, London etc. etc. . Not a bad idea as this
is where the people live. Birmingham and the Black
Country does not disappoint, the flora is remarkably
rich although fairly heavily peppered with alien species.
The early pages are given over to an in depth general
analysis of the area, followed by lists of fungi, lichens,
bryophytes and vascular plants.
The ferns do not get a chapter on their own but they
are there, and there is a good range of species. On
occasions Matt Busby has given the Society accounts
of the region’s ferns, particularly with reference to
the canals, so I suspect he has had quite an input
of records, over and above the record for Oreopteris
limbosperma - for which he is credited. Quite a few of
the species discussed are believed to be extinct but
as pollution is gradually pushed back who knows what
might reappear. Well represented are the wall ferns
and horsetails, it's good to see quite a few records for
E.sylvaticum. Polystichum, Dryopteris and Polypodium
are also widely distributed. There are no records for
Polypodium australe despite good limestone outcrops
around Dudley .
I can feel a recording trip coming on! I suspect many
of our local members will be getting this book - it' II make
that afternoon walk so much more interesting!
Martin Rickard
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
63
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae
THE STORY OF A VICTORIAN FERN VARIETY
Adrian Dyer
499 Lanark Road West, Balerno, Edinburgh. EH14 7AL
e-mail: afdyer499@googlemail.com
One day in the summer of 1861, 23-year old James Cosh
jumped over a stone dyke near his home in Drymen,
Stirlingshire, and almost landed on an extraordinary fern
growing on the verge of a cart track. He was interested
in plants, particularly ferns, and, recognising that the
fern was something special, he arranged for it to be dug
up and brought into cultivation. More is known about
the early history of this variety than is the case for most
other fern cultivars and it is one of the most striking. It
made an immediate impact on the horticultural world
and was christened “Victoriae” in honour of the Queen.
Clonal descendants of the original plant might still exist
in private collections but it is fertile so this is difficult to
confirm. Most, probably all, of the plants now available
commercially are grown from spores. It is widely
considered that only clonal derivatives of the original
plant have all the characteristics that make the variety so
distinctive, and ‘inferior’ plants, in which some of these
characteristics are absent or incompletely developed, are
considered to be spore-derived progeny. This assumption
is challenged after observing the effect of disturbance and
sub-optimal growing conditions. The fern, its discovery,
and attempts to trace the history of the original clone in
cultivation, are discussed below.
Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
Description
Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’ has been described as the
“most spectacular of all fern cultivars in its magnificent
frond architecture” and “really the Queen of Greens”
(Mickel, 1994) and “the most extraordinary wild find ever J ’
(Kaye, 1968). Jones (quoted in Druery, 1910) referred
to “ its strange perfection” as an “an extreme deviation”.
Druery (1902) states that it “has no compeer at all amid
all the ferns in the world’. According to Dyce (1980), “It
is absolutely unique, and no fern has ever been found
anywhere in the world which can approach its extraordinary
design.” Its aesthetic appeal no doubt stems from its
“elaborate, yet perfectly symmetrical, design” (Mitchell &
Mason, 1981). Soon after its discovery in 1861, the editor
of the West of Scotland Horticultural magazine for May,
1864 (p.352) wrote: ’’Altogether we have no hesitation in
pronouncing it to be one of the most elegant as it is certainly
the most extraordinary deviation from the normal type of
Athyrium Felix-foemina (sic) that has ever come under our
observation.”. Lowe (1876) called it the “Queen of Ferns”.
It received an RHS certificate in 1864.
The fronds, which unfurl later than those of the typical
species, taper gradually from the widest part, just above
the middle of the frond, to near the base and more abruptly
towards the apex to form a long narrow ’neck’ before the
terminal crest or tassel. The pinnae become progressively
closer together from base to tip along the frond. Pinnae
alternate on each side of the rachis, but are sometimes
almost opposite each other; this varies on the same plant.
The frond is both cristate (rachis and pinna axes branched
at tip to form a crest) and cruciate (pinna axis forked at
base). Well-grown mature plants said to be of the original
clone are large, with rigid fronds that can be “up to 90cm
(3ft) or even nearly 120cm (4 ft) long” (Dyce, 1980), highly
fertile, and very regular in their cresting and forking. The
tip of the rachis and of each pinna produces two to four
or more branches, each of which then branches again
to form a tassel. Each pinna forks at the base into two
portions extended at 90° to each other (Fig. 1 ). Each is also
at 45° to what would be the plane of a normal frond, one
extending stiffly upwards above the plane and also angled
down towards the base of the frond, the other, usually
slightly shorter, below the plane and towards the tip. As a
consequence, the pinnae overlap with the pinnae above
and below them on the same side of the rachis, and the
frond has a 3-dimensional structure, especially striking
when viewed end-on. The pinnae are long and very slender
with small, almost vestigial, pinnules. The pinnules are said
to be also cruciate (Druery, 1902; Mitchell & Mason, 1981;
Mickel, 1994; Rickard, 2002), i.e. the original clone of the
variety is ‘percruciate’, but as shown in the photograph in
Druery (1908) it applies only to some pinnules (Fig. 2) and
is not clear in most illustrations; it is not mentioned at all
in the descriptions by the editor of the West of Scotland
Horticultural Magazine for May 1864, Sadler (1866), Lowe
(1876), Kaye (1968) or Kelly (1991). Cruciate pinnules are
visible in the clone at Brodick Castle, identified in 2005 by
Martin Rickard as ‘original’ (Fig. 3).
64
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
Fig. 2. Photograph of part of a frond of Athyrium filix-mas ‘Victoriae’ from
Druery (1908). Red arrows indicate cruciate pinnules.
Fig. 3. Cruciate pinnules in a frond from the clone of Athyrium filix-mas
‘Victoriae’ growing in the garden of Brodick Castle. See Fig. 16.
I have a plant derived by division from the plant in the
walled garden at Brodick Castle. Received as a plant in
a pot, three years after planting in the garden in 2010 the
fronds were erect, fertile and up to 70cm long, with cruciate
pinnae. Pinnules have become more cruciate each year. In
2013, some pinnules were more or less cruciate with two
lobes at right-angles; in most of these pinnules, as is the
case with the pinnae, one lobe was longer than the other,
but in a few the lobes were of approximately equal length
(Fig. 4). The expression of the cruciate pinnule character
was variable within a pinna - the basal pinnule on the
lower side is sometimes almost normal, while the second
to fourth pinnules have the greatest degree of forking.
There is also variation within a frond; cruciate pinnules
are most pronounced on the upper, longer, branch of each
pinna, and in pinnae about half way up the lamina. There
were also indications of variation between fronds; cruciate
pinnules were more pronounced in fronds formed later in
the season.
Fig. 4. Cruciate pinnules in a frond from a plant newly-established from a
crown removed from the Brodick Castle clone. The red arrow indicates a
cruciate pinnule with equal lobes.
Examination of several cultivated plants with claims to be
of the original clone showed that cruciate pinnules are less
well-developed in younger and less vigorous individuals.
Fully cruciate pinnules have been seen only in larger,
longer established, specimens; they are not mentioned
in the descriptions by Sadler (1866) and Lowe (1876) of
original-clone plants with 18 inch fronds.
The original clone was slow to form new crowns but it
has been split and distributed. Kaye (1968) claimed that
it retained its vigour for at least a century in cultivation
but because it is very fertile it can be difficult to determine
whether a plant originated clonally or sexually. Spore-
produced progeny, including hybrids, are reported to
usually show reduced size and regularity of forking and
the pinnules are often not cruciate (Dyce, 1980; Mitchell &
Mason, 1981; Schroder, 1990). Dyce (1980) thought it was
possible that most, if not all, forms in cultivation in 1980
were not of the original clone. Because of the need for rapid
reproduction, it is likely that most commercially-available
plants have almost certainly been derived from spores,
although Casa Flora in Texas advertises ‘Lady Victoriae’
which is said to be derived by tissue culture from the
65
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
original clone. It is generally believed that in spore-derived
plants the cruciate pinnules are less well developed than in
the original clone. I have a commercially obtained variety
with fronds up to 33” in length and regularly cruciate pinnae
as well as cresting that has a red-purple stipe and rachis
and is thus certainly the product of cross-fertilisation with
another variety; in most cruciate pinnules the lobes are
very unequal (Fig. 5). Another bought plant of ‘Victoriae’ is
a green-stiped form in which the pinnules are only slightly
cruciate, though more so in late-season fronds. Cruciate
varieties available for sale are now usually called by some
name other than ‘Victoriae’.
Fig. 5. Part of a frond of commercially-obtained “Victoriae” with a
red-purple rachis and stipe.
Frond development
Jones in Druery (1910) comments: “It is difficult to conceive
how such an extreme deviation from the normal form
could have been produced in all its strange perfection
without gradual development, yet it would seem to have
sprung directly by seed from some common Athyrium.”
This comment probably means that there were no plants
of Lady Fern in the vicinity that had an abnormal frond
structure or were in any way outside the normal range of
variation, and thus the Buchanan Fern appeared to have
arisen from an individual typical of the species. However,
there is nothing to confirm that it arose in one step from
a normal plant and the fact that this fern has at least two
developmental abnormalities, each of which has been
found separately in other varieties, suggests that it might
have arisen incrementally.
First, ‘Victoriae’ is cruciate. Edwin Fox, quoted in Druery
(1910), interprets this condition as being due to the pinna
apex ceasing development after producing two basal
pinnules which grow abnormally long to resemble pinnae.
Other authors conclude that the axes of the pinnae fork
into two equal halves at the junction with the rachis to
produce ‘twin’ pinnae joined at the base. ’Victoriae’ is in
fact ‘percruciate’ - some pinnules show the same anomaly
as the pinnae in well-grown examples. This developmental
abnormality has been found in the wild in other species,
such as Polystichum setiferum, but only very rarely; in some
cases, more than two axes are produced at each fork.
66
Secondly, ‘Victoriae’ is cristate. The apex of the primary
rachis, at the end of the frond, and the secondary apices at
the end of every pinna, all split into up to 4 distinct apices
after a period of normal development, forming a branched
axis, and then the branches fork again in the same manner,
resulting in a tufted tip. A similar abnormality affecting the
frond apex, or the frond and pinna apices, is relatively
common among varieties in this species and several others.
Thus in ‘Victoriae’ the secondary apices of the pinnae
divide into two at an early stage of their development, while
the primary apex of the rachis and the secondary apices
of the pinnae branch repeatedly at a late stage. It seems
likely that at least two mutations are involved, rather than
one, with effects at different stages of frond development.
The somewhat depauperate development of the laminas
on the pinnae may be within the normal range of variation
in what is a very variable species in the wild and thus not an
additional abnormality.
If at least two independent gene loci are involved and both
mutations are not only rare but also recessive, expression
of both the cristate and the cruciate characters will require
the individual to be homozygous for the mutations at both
loci. This in turn requires inbreeding - fertilisation within
a gametophyte (intra-gametophytic selfing) or between
gametophytes from the same parent sporophyte (inter-
gametophytic selfing). In the wild, Athyrium filix-femina,
which is diploid with two copies of each gene, usually
reproduces by cross-fertilisation between gametophytes
from different sporophytes. The low probability of two rare
mutations being present in the same individual and then
becoming homozygous through inbreeding might go some
way to explain the rarity of plants like ‘Victoriae’. If ‘Victoriae’
is the entirely homozygous product of intra-gametophytic
selfing, then cultivated progeny raised from spores which
have self-fertilised in isolation from other gametophytes will
be genetically identical to the parent clone.
Naming the variety
Because of where it was found, this variety was known
locally as the Buchanan Fern, a name that has persisted.
Sadler (1864) states, in relation to the fronds of the
Buchanan Fern: “As I could find no description in Moore’s
‘British Ferns’ answering to my plant, I transmitted the
fronds to that gentleman, when he wrote me as follows:-
‘The variety of Filix-foemina is quite new, so far as I know,
and is a very beautiful one. As a queen amongst Lady
Ferns it would well bear to be called Victoriae. ’Accordingly
it is published under this name in Mr. Fraser’s List of British
Ferns and their Varieties, recently issued.” (The first edition
of his fern list was published by Patrick Neill Fraser in
1864.) Lowe (1895), also states that the fern was given
this name by Moore.
The discovery
The most detailed account of James Cosh’s discovery was
by Charles T. Druery (1910). Druery, whose wife was the
daughter of the factor of the Duke of Montrose on whose
Buchanan Castle estate the fern was discovered, returned
to the site in about 1895. By good fortune, he spoke to
Mr Buchanan, a local farmer, who had been cutting grass
nearby when the fern was found more than 30 years earlier.
This would have been John Bilsland Buchanan, who would
have been 25 years old in 1 861 . Also present was Alexander
Crosbie, Head Gardener at Buchanan castle during the
1890s. Based on John Buchanan’s account, Druery, who
elsewhere records the date of discovery as 1861 , wrote: “It
was found as a robust plant of several crowns growing in
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
a cart road off the high road at Drymen, in Stirlingshire, by
Mr. James Cosh, a Scotch student, who, jumping over the
stone dyke into this road, nearly alighted on the clump, the
nature and value of which he immediately perceived. ”
Druery (1843-1917) read a paper on “The Lady Fern,
Athyrium filix foemina ” at a meeting of the British
Pteridological Society in 1902 at Bowness Windermere
(Druery, 1902). Included in a report of this in Duery
(1908), (and reproduced in 1991 in the BPS Special
Publication No. 5, “Abstracts and Reports and Papers
read at meetings 1894-1905”) is a drawing by Druery
entitled “ The spot where A.F.F.Victoriae was found near
Drymen, Stirlingshire ” (Fig. 6). This shows a clump of fern
at the foot of a stone wall close to a gate. Behind the wall
is mixed conifer and broadleaf woodland and, in front, a
rough track with an intervening grassy verge. The verge
appears to be a bank sloping down to the track, although
the perspective is difficult to interpret. There is what might
be a small ditch that runs down the verge close to the spot
where the fern grew, and then runs beside the track. The
drawing is dated “19/7/98”, 37 years after the discovery.
(As there is no evidence that Druery visited the site twice,
this provides a date for Druery’s meeting with Buchanan.)
As the fern originally discovered was removed in 1861, it
is not shown in the drawing but the site is marked, rather
inconspicuously, with an ‘X’.half way down the bank. The
drawing is consistent with Druery’s description of the site.
Fig. 6. Drawing by C. T. Druery of the site where Athyrium filix-mas
‘Victoriae’ was discovered in 1861. The drawing, dated 19.7.98, was
published in Druery (1908). The position of the fern is indicated with a
small “X” on the bank in front of the wall to the right of the gateway.
Other, briefer, accounts of the discovery differ in some
details. Sadler (1 864) states that the fern was found in 1 862.
Lowe (1876) states that the plant was not dug up until two
years after the discovery in 1861 beside “a bye-way that
runs along the margin of a wood’, when it was removed
to Buchanan Castle by John Connon. (Connon (c.1826-
1873) was the head gardener there from about 1862 until
the late 1860s.) The sources of their information are not
disclosed; Sadler might have spoken to Cosh, who was
attending Edinburgh University in 1864-5. All agree that the
fern was large and found beside a track on the Buchanan
Castle estate and was in Buchanan Castle garden by 1863.
James Cosh
As a boy, James Cosh (1 838-1 900) lived with his parents and
siblings in the end cottage of a row of ten dwellings, called
Gartlick, for Buchanan Castle estate workers, including a
woodcutter, hedger, dairy maid and washerwoman.
Fig. 7. The end cottage, now No.1 Buchanan Smithy Cottages, in which
the Cosh family lived from about 1847 to the 1870s.
The cottage, identified in an old photograph reproduced in
Denne (1991), is still there on the B837 road from Drymen
to Balmaha (Fig. 7) (Map Ref. NS 46392 89467; Post Code:
G63 0JJ), but now called No.1 Buchanan Smithy Cottages
(so-called after the smithy in the middle of the row). His
father, also James Cosh, was born in 1809 in Portpatrick
and came to Drymen in about 1847 as a joiner. He became
the estate Clerk of Works by the time he left in the 1870s.
After several years of ill-health, he died in 1880. James
Cosh junior, the second child and oldest son of James
senior, was born on 27 th June, 1 838, near Stranraer. In 1 856
he had become a student at Glasgow University, taking arts
subjects in preparation for the Ministry and winning prizes
in Greek. He received scholarships towards the cost of his
fees, books, clothes and coal, expenses which totalled £30
5s. 6d. for 1 858. He tutored children to augment his income.
In April, 1861, he was living in a Glasgow boarding house
when he graduated M.A., majoring in Greek. In August
1861 he entered the Missionary Hall of the Reformed
Presbyterian Church with a one-year bursary from the
Glasgow Presbytery. During this period he taught English,
Arithmetic, Mathematics and Latin at Alloa Academy; while
in Alloa he tutored a local brewer’s children and met his future
wife, Janet Frame. Between June 1863 and June 1864, he
was appointed as preacher in Dunscore, near Dumfries,
at a salary of £80. In 1864-5, he studied medicine and
physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh,
probably as an extra-mural student. He might have been
in contact with the Royal Botanic Garden and the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh at this time. He was ordained on 4 th
October, 1865, in the Presbytery of Paisley and appointed
to serve in the New Hebrides. In January, 1866, he married
Janet Frame and they sailed for the New Hebrides later that
year. In 1872, after a year in New Zealand, James became
minister of Balmain, Sydney, Australia. He was eventually
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
67
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
Fig. 8. James Cosh in the 1890s. Photographer unknown.
appointed Professor of Oriental and Polynesian Languages
at St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney, and was
awarded an Honorary D.D. by Glasgow University (Fig. 8).
He died in 1900.
He gave Drymen as his home address until he got married,
and regularly returned home throughout his student years.
He was interested in natural history in general and ferns
in particular and often brought friends home to search for
ferns or go fishing. He recorded the occurrence of ferns
for the Natural History Society of Glasgow. He probably
found the Buchanan Fern while living at home between
graduating in April, 1861 and starting in the Missionary
Hall in August, 1861. He would have recognised that he
had found an unusual individual of a common fern. More
surprising is the fact that he had not noticed it before, a
large fern which had been growing for several years beside
a cart track within 1 km of his home.
John Bilsland Buchanan
John Bilsland Buchanan (c.1 836-1 908) lived all his life
at Coldrach Farm, a substantial farm of 300 acres with a
9-room house that still exists (Map Ref. 46922 89990) (Fig.
9). His father John Buchanan, son of a Drymen innkeeper,
died there in 1873, aged 75, and John Bilsland Buchanan
took over the farm. Coldrach Farm is about 200m along
Coldrach Lane (also marked on some modern maps as
Coldrach Farm Road) a turning to the east about 650m
along the unnamed farm track (sometimes now also
referred to locally as ‘Coldrach Farm Road’), that starts
beside the cottage occupied by the Cosh family and runs
north through Coldrach farmland from Buchanan Smithy.
68
The Buchanans were the nearest neighbours of the Cosh
family, and John B. Buchanan and James Cosh, of similar
age, must have known each other as they grew up. John B.
Buchanan was still there in 1898 to meet Druery when he
visited, but when Buchanan died in 1908 he was living in
Townfoot House, Drymen.
Fig. 9. Coldrach Farm viewed from the unnamed track from Buchanan
Smithy Cottages. In the foreground, a plant of Athyrium filix-femina beside
a typical estate wall.
Locating the discovery site
The precise spot where ‘Victoriae’ was found was never
disclosed. John Mitchell, Alec Greening and I, and perhaps
others, have independently identified the same approximate
location for the discovery site. Druery’s “ high road at
Drymen” must be what is now the Balmaha Road, the
B837, that runs north-west from the village past Buchanan
Castle to Balmaha. Buchanan Castle estate lands are on
both sides of this road. Then Druery’s “cart road leading off
the high road at Drymen” is likely to be the unnamed track
that runs north from Buchanan Smithy to the junction with
Coldrach Lane which runs to the east past Coldrach Farm
(Fig. 10).
Fig. 10. The unnamed track from Buchanan Smithy Cottages to Coldrach
Farm, looking south-west towards the Cottages. The opening on the right
leads to the track along the south margin of Angle Plantation.
As shown on Sheet XIV of the 1865 OS 6 inch to the mile
Stirlingshire map (available on line at http://maps.nls.uk/
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
Fig. 11. Roebuck Loan, looking north.
view/74430864), from a survey in 1861, the year the fern
was discovered, the unnamed track continues beyond the
Coldrach Lane turn as Roebuck Loan (Fig. 11). In 1861
there were no dwellings along the unnamed track and only
one small building, now called ‘Ardyle’, in Roebuck Loan.
On the west side of Roebuck Loan and the north end of the
unnamed track is a plantation labelled ‘Angle Plantation’
on the 1865 OS map and apparently still known by this
name locally (Fig. 12). At the east end of Coldrach Lane,
where it joins what is now called the Old Gartmore Road
(Map Ref. NS 47609 89745), was a single dwelling, the
gamekeeper’s cottage, now Coldrach Lodge. There were
no other dwellings along Coldrach Lane in 1861 and on the
north side towards the eastern end there was woodland.
Fig. 12. Angle Plantation, recently clear-felled, to the west of the unnamed
lane from Buchanan Smithy Cottages to Coldrach Farm. The light coloured
track in the distance is Roebuck Loan.
It seems certain that the fern grew on Coldrach Farm
ground, and probable that the site was somewhere along
the unnamed track from Buchanan Smithy, although in
1861 only at the north end was there adjacent woodland.
However, the possibility cannot be excluded that the site
was on a track leading off the unnamed ‘cart road’, either
the track which follows the walled and gated southern
boundary of Angle Plantation, or towards the east end
of Coldrach Lane. All this is Buchanan Castle estate
ground and about 2km from the Castle itself, matching
the comment in Druery’s account that it was “close by”.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
However, although for the most part the lanes to the farm
have changed little over the intervening century and a half,
it has not been possible to identify the precise spot shown
in Druery’s drawing (Fig. 6). In the first place, it is not known
how accurate the drawing is. All the Buchanan estate walls
in the area have the same striking appearance, with stones
that are shallow, flat and of even thickness. These are laid
horizontally except in the top layer of cap stones which are
laid vertically on edge (Figs. 9, 13). The wall depicted in
the drawing is broadly similar but there are no vertical cap
stones, perhaps an indication that details in the drawing
were only approximate. Of course, the walls might have
changed: cap stones might have been added, walls rebuilt
or even removed (there is now no wall visible along the
west side of Roebuck Loan), or gates widened. Perhaps
all that can be safely concluded is that the fern grew on
a verge beside a gateway in a drystone wall with mixed
woodland behind.
Fig.l 3. Agateway near Coldrach Farm. The cottage behind is on Roebuck
Loan, with Angle Plantation in the distance.
Fig. 14. Another gateway near Coldrach Farm. Compare with Fig. 6.
There were (and still are) several gateways along the
unnamed tracks and Coldrach Lane, but most lead into
fields (Figs 13, 14). In two places gates lead into woodland:
at the north end of the unnamed track close to Coldrach
Farm gates on the west side led into Angle Plantation and
at the east end of Coldrach Lane close to Coldrach Lodge
gates led on the north side into woodland, much of it later
cleared and the walls modified when five houses were built.
69
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
Now, the commonest fern in the area, particularly in the
road verge along the walls, is Athyrium filix-femina, though
all of typical form (Fig. 15). One of the puzzles regarding
‘Victoriae’ is that diligent searches of the area both shortly
after the discovery and subsequently, have not yielded
another plant of the same percruciate form (Druery, 1913).
The fern Cosh discovered was large and vigorous and, no
doubt, fertile, after growing well for several years. The rarity
of the ‘Victoriae’ (see above) doesn’t explain why, once
well established, it gave rise to no others of the same type
nearby, either then or since even though sporelings can
be raised easily in cultivation. Maybe the mortality rate of
Lady Fern spores provides part of the explanation. A large
mature individual of Lady Fern produces several billion
spores per year, of which only a handful at most succeed.
In the absence of suitable microhabitats, all might fail. The
odds are very much against the survival of normal progeny;
if the ‘Victoriae’ variety is less competitive, the chances of
establishment are further reduced.
I
I
. i _
Fig. 15. Typical plants of Athyrium filix-femina growing beside the wall
along the unnamed lane from Buchanan Smithy Cottages to Coldrach
Farm, visible in the distance.
The Buchanan Fern in cultivation
According to Druery’s account, after discovering the fern,
James Cosh asked John Bilsland Buchanan to take care of
it, and not damage it, until the next day. Cosh returned the
next day and dug up the fern; half was taken to Buchanan
Castle, the seat of the Duke of Montrose. It is thought that
the other half was given by Cosh to friends in Edinburgh.
The head gardener at the Castle in 1861, John Paterson,
would presumably have been responsible for establishing
the fern in the Castle garden. According to Lowe’s account,
it was Connon, who replaced Paterson in 1862, who dug up
the fern and introduced it to the garden in 1863. Either way,
Connon decided to make the fern better known. According
to the West of Scotland Horticultural Magazine for May
1864, he had sent fronds to the editor, who published a
description of this “remarkable variety” and suggested
the names ‘divaricata’ or ‘deflexa’ for it. In the July issue
there is a report that in June 1864 Connon exhibited a fern,
which from its description as “the most remarkable sample
of Athyrium which has ever been found indigenous to this
country ’ is almost certainly ‘Victoriae’, at the Glasgow
and West of Scotland Horticultural Society show, along
with direct nature prints in colour of the fronds. On 17 th
April, 1865, he sent a plant to the Royal Botanic Garden
70
Edinburgh (RBGE). According to Lowe (1876) the clone
was still in the Buchanan Castle garden in the 1870s. By
the 1 890s it had been split and planted in the walled garden
and in a nearby rockery and was an attraction for visitors
(Mitchell and Mason, 1981). Druery states that he had
“an actual division of the original plant’, perhaps from the
Castle; it is presumably this plant that is shown in Fig.11 3 of
Druery (1910). The head gardener in the 1890s, Alexander
Crosbie, stated that the fern was propagated by spores and
“ the varietal form has remained true” (Ross, 1900), but it
is likely that the original clone donated by Cosh was also
maintained. Young plants raised from spores were offered
for sale at the Castle as the ‘Buchanan Fern’. Buchanan
Castle was sold in 1925 and became derelict in the 1950s
and the fate of the plants grown there at that time is not
known. Mitchell (1990) searched in vain for the Buchanan
Fern in the ruined fernery and walled garden before
houses were built in the 1980s, and also the garden of the
Duke’s subsequent residence, Auchmar House. In 1894,
the Andersonian Naturalists of Glasgow reported that the
original Buchanan Fern was growing in the walled garden
of Blair Drummond House but it was no longer there in the
1990s.
It is uncertain where Cosh sent the other half of the plant
he dug up. He was studying in Edinburgh in 1864-65 but
the Buchanan Fern was already there by then. John Sadler,
assistant to Professor John Hutton Balfour from 1854 and
curator 1879-1882, stated, at a meeting of the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh on 12 May, 1864, that in February
1863 he had visited Alloa, Clackmannanshire and obtained
dried fronds of Buchanan Fern from a Mr Dawson and a
Mr Paterson who lived there. (A John Dawson of Alloa was
elected a Fellow of the BSE in April, 1862.) It is possible that
James Cosh gave living material to Dawson and Paterson
when he lived in Alloa from August 1861 to June 1862.
Sadler sowed spores, perhaps from the fronds from Alloa,
in 1863. In 1864 he exhibited a live plant, which he must
have received as a crown, perhaps from Cosh, because the
sporelings he raised would not have developed sufficiently.
Also in 1864, Patrick Neill Fraser of Canonmills Lodge,
Edinburgh had included ‘Victoriae’ in his privately published
list of fern varieties. In 1865, Connon sent live material from
Buchanan Castle to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
In about 1 870, James McNab (Curator at the Royal Botanic
Garden from 1849 to 1878) raised ‘Victoriae-gracile’,
almost identical to the original. By 1876, Lowe had received
fronds from Connon at Buchanan Castle, and from Balfour,
Sadler and Fraser in Edinburgh. The variety is no longer at
RBGE, and Fraser’s collection has been lost. Surprisingly,
there are only two specimens in the RBGE Herbarium; one
dated 1930 from Brodick Castle garden, and one undated.
Meanwhile Lowe had first exhibited ‘Victoriae’ crosses in
the 1870s, exhibiting some at the 1879 British Association
meeting in Sheffield, and continued producing new named
varieties, including ‘Czarina’, ‘Kezia’, and ‘Thule’, into the
1890s. According to published plant lists, ‘Victoriae’ was at
Royal Botanic gardens Kew in 1895.
There are now several plants, mostly in private collections,
which are claimed to be from the original Buchanan Castle
clone. The strongest claim concerns a plant at Brodick
Castle on the Isle of Arran. Other claims are more tenuous
or less well documented.
Brodick Castle clone.
In 1906, James Graham (1878-1954), later 6 th Duke
of Montrose, married Lady Mary Louise (1884-1957),
only child of the late 12 th Duke of Hamilton (1845-1895)
of Brodick Castle. Later, Lady Mary Louise extended the
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
gardens at her childhood home, which she and her husband
used as a summer residence. In the process, it is likely that
she transferred favourite plants from Buchanan Castle. A
specimen in RBGE Herbarium labelled “ Buchanan Fern,
Brodick Castle, 1930' ’ confirms that it was there at that
date. In a published account of a visit to Brodick Castle
(Anon, 1930) it is stated that the Buchanan Fern growing
there then was “a souvenir from the Duke’s hereditary seat
on Loch Lomondside”, which seems to confirm its origin.
Although the public have been able to view it there since
the property was acquired by the National Trust in 1 958, its
existence was not widely known until John Mitchell, aware
of the historical connection, discovered in 1990 that the
plant, now a clump of 40 crowns with percruciate fronds
up to 115cm long, was still in the walled garden at Brodick
(Mitchell, 1991; Mitchell and Warner, 1992; Warner, 1991).
In 2005 Martin Rickard examined it and confirmed that it
matched the description of the original plant. It is still there
(Fig. 16) and it has some cruciate pinnules, though most
have unequal lobes (Fig. 3).
Fig. 16. Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’ in the garden of Brodick Castle
with a group of BPS members. Photograph taken in 2012 by Chris
Nicholson. See Fig. 3.
This clone has the best documented connection with the
original plant found in 1861 and may indeed be clonally
derived from it. However, in view of its fertility, the possibility
that the plant taken from Buchanan to Brodick was a spore-
derived offspring of the original clone cannot be entirely
ruled out. According to Chris Nicholson, ex-gardener at
Brodick, sporeling volunteers continue to appear around
the Brodick clone although she reports that “ They showed
some but not all the characteristics of the parent.” Although
no numbers are given, this seems to confirm the claims
that it does not produce sporelings that are true to type.
In support of this Rickard states that he has never seen a
spore-derived plant that is as tall as the Brodick clone.
Since 1990, a few offset crowns from this clone have been
established in the NTS garden at Arduaine and in a few
private gardens. I have a crown that I planted in my garden
in 2010. Initially, few if any pinnules were cruciate. Each
year, as the plant has grown larger and fronds have become
longer, cruciate pinnules have become more conspicuous
(Fig. 4), but with fronds only 70cm long, it still (in 201 3) has
not reached the size of the Brodick clone. The Buchanan
Fern seems to take several years to establish and until it
does so, the varietal characters are not fully developed.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Boquhan clone
In 1984, a plant of Buchanan Fern with fronds up to
115cm long was discovered in George Goodwin’s garden
at Boquhan, about 4 miles from Drymen. It has all the
characteristics of the original clone (Mitchell, 1990;
Schroder, 1990). It had been brought to Boquhan by
Goodwin’s father who had been a dry-stone waller and
fencer on the Buchanan Castle estate, and had grown the
plant in his own Drymen garden. It has well-developed
characteristics, although only “partial secondary crossing of
the pinnules”, and might well be from a crown of the original
clone, although the possibility cannot be ruled out that it
was a ‘good’ sporeling that arose in the Castle garden. The
plant in Boquhan no longer exists but in the 1980s crowns
were donated to two gardeners from Drymen, to Maurice
Wilkins for Ross Priory Gardens (who subsequently took
crowns when he moved to NTS Arduaine Garden) and to
Nick Schroder (who still has it in his National Collection
of Athyrium in Haywards Heath). Crowns from the plants
moved to Drymen have been distributed to other gardens.
One of the crowns from Boquhan now growing in Drymen
is well-developed with moderately percruciate fronds up to
93cm long.
Mason's nursery clone
Other plants can be traced back to John Mason’s plant
nursery in the centre of Drymen in the 1920s. The nursery
offered for sale plants of the original clone, though it is not
known whether from offsets, spores or both. It is unlikely that
offsets alone could meet the demand. A ‘good’ plant from
the nursery was transferred to the garden of John Mason’s
son Ronnie in the village of Gartocharn, where it was still
flourishing in 1980 (Mitchell and Mason, 1981). A crown
of this clone was moved back to a garden in Drymen and
when examined in 2013 was a large plant with spreading
rhizomes but fronds no more than 72cm long and only very
slightly percruciate, perhaps because it is in dry shade. In
1981, Mitchell photographed a large plant, reputed to be
from the nursery, growing in another garden in Drymen; the
transparency shows a plant in full sun with several crowns
and around 50 rather upright fronds which appear to be at
least 1 m tall. According to one of John Mason’s sons, when
the Mason nursery closed in about 1950, the nursery’s
main clump of the Buchanan Fern, which might have been
clonally derived from the original plant, was transferred to
a nurseryman called Lyle in Fife. This was almost certainly
Neil Lyle of Maryfield Nursery in Leslie, Fife, who collected
ferns. Neil Lyle’s father, James Cameron Lyle, had been born
in Drymen. He left there in his early teens as a farm servant
but became a gardener in Berwickshire, eventually in the
early 1900s moving to Fife where he was a gardener at the
Teasses estate near Ceres. His grandfather George Lyle
lived in the Main Street, Drymen, close to Mason’s nursery,
and was at one time a garden labourer. It is possible that
George, or James as a boy, might have worked in Mason’s
nursery, or even Buchanan Castle garden, and seen the
Buchanan Fern. Through this connection, Neil Lyle was no
doubt aware of the fern when the nursery closed.
In 1967, a long-time BPS member, Willie Duncan, obtained
a plant of Buchanan Fern from Neil Lyle, who told Duncan
that it was brought from Buchanan Castle by his father
James when he moved to Fife. James may have taken
the fern with him as he moved from garden to garden but
perhaps it is most likely that Duncan’s plant was from the
material obtained by Neil Lyle about 1950 from Mason’s
nursery. Duncan’s plant, and offsets from it, are still growing
in his garden in Fife. Currently Duncan has three plants but
71
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
they are not vigorous in dry conditions overtopped by other
plants. The typical features of Buchanan Fern are not well
developed in them but whether that is because of adverse
conditions or because they are not clonal derivatives of the
original is not certain. In 1978, Duncan gave an offset of
his clone to Jimmy Dyce who suspected it was not of the
original clone (see below).
In about 1 984, Christopher Fraser-Jenkins obtained a plant,
from Ronald ‘Bud’ Lyle, younger brother of Neil, of Grange
Nurseries, Alloa. A link with James Cosh’s connections
with Alloa (see above) has not been established. Fraser-
Jenkins, who also visited Neil Lyle, was also told that the
clone was brought from Buchanan Castle by Bud Lyle’s
father, James.
Reginald Kaye clone
At his Silverdale nursery, Reginald Kaye built up a large
collection of ferns over several decades of the mid-20 th
Century, including plants from dismantled collections
of earlier enthusiasts. Fie refers to the vigorous original
‘Victoriae’ clone in cultivation, and comments that sporelings
inherit the frond structure but lack the same strength and
size and sometimes have attractive modifications (Kaye,
1968). Since Kaye died, there have been conflicting stories
about the origin of his ‘Victoriae’ plant. According to one
version it came from a Scottish palace, perhaps Holyrood
House in Edinburgh, but the present Head Gardener there,
Alan Keir, says that the variety has certainly not been in
the garden since he started there in 1976, and there is no
record of it having been there since World War 1 . Malcolm
Hutchinson, Head Gardener at the NTS property Sizergh
Castle, near Kendal, obtained ‘Victoriae’ from Kaye as
‘original clone’. The plant at Sizergh was reported a few
years ago to be in poor condition, but a crown that Robert
Crawford obtained from Hutchinson in the 1980s is now
well developed with fronds more than 1m long, perhaps an
indication that it is of the original clone. Volunteer sporelings
appear around the garden, some at least of which are the
result of crossing with other varieties. Several crowns of
Crawford’s plant have been passed on to others including
Michael Hayward, Alec Greening, Robert Sykes and Martin
Rickard among BPS members.
Other clones
In 1981, John Mitchell saw a plant in the Drymen garden
of Mrs McCallum which was said to have come, via two
intermediary gardens, from Buchanan Castle in about 1910
(Mitchell and Mason, 1981). It was growing in permanent
shade and was small; Mitchell concluded that it was an
inferior, spore-derived, plant. However, a crown from this
plant was transplanted in 1 996 to another garden in Drymen
where it is growing in rich, moist soil exposed to mid-day
sun, and is now much larger, with erect fronds up to 97cm
long. (Fig. 17) This plant closely resembles the Brodick
clone, although the cruciate character of the pinnules was
less pronounced. Occasionally, the cruciate pinnae arise
as a group of four ‘prongs’, two long and two short, instead
of the usual two. While it remains an open question as to
whether this is a clonal derivative of the original plant, or
at some stage spore-derived, it does demonstrate that
development of the full suite of characters of ‘Victoriae’
depends very much on the growing conditions.
Dyce (1980) states that “I would hesitate to confidently
label any plant 1 have ever seen as part of the original
find.”. His best plant, since deceased, was received 11 in a
direct line, straight from the old authorities”, but although
stated to be original, I considered it was not tall enough and
some pinnules were not cruciate. The offset crown he had
received from Duncan two years earlier (see above) was
reported to be growing well but too young to be definitive
about it - he was concerned about the pinnule shape and
suspected “it will turn out to be progeny and not the original ’.
Rickard has never seen spore-derived plants as large as
those plants considered to be offsets of the original clone.
Fig. 17. A plant of Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’, said to be traceable
back to Buchanan Castle, growing in a sunny rhubarb bed in Drymen. The
fronds were up to 97cm long.
Cultivating the Buchanan Fern
Observations on existing plants indicate that the
characteristics said to define the original clone, namely
the long erect fronds, the terminal crests and the cruciate
pinnules, are more pronounced on established and well-
grown plants, and less pronounced or even absent in
recently separated crowns or in plants with growth limited
by unsuitable conditions.
This means that some plants dismissed as ‘inferior’ and
not of the original clone may be in unsuitable conditions
or recently divided and planted and would in time and with
good cultivation develop the full set of characters. Thus,
while some commercially available plants (such as those
with purple stipes) are certainly spore derived, and the
others are probably spore-derived, some of the plants with
a pedigree leading back towards Buchanan Castle may
be of the original clone even when lacking a full suite of
characters. Reports in the literature and examination of
plants in several gardens indicate that ‘Victoriae’ may be
more adversely affected by disturbance and sub-optimal
conditions than the typical forms of the species. If that is
so, only long undisturbed cultivation in good conditions
can reveal whether a plant is truly inferior. That being so,
it is possible that some sporelings of the original clone are
as ‘good’ as the original in the right conditions, as claimed
by Crosbie in the 1890s, particularly if the gametophytes
are raised in isolation without access to gametophytes
from other plants. However, Lady Fern is normally an
outbreeding fern which means that if spores from other
individuals are in the vicinity, the sporelings are unlikely to
be identical to the parent
72
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BUCHANAN FERN, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’
The best conditions for growing this fern seem to be rich
permanently moist soil in an open site with sun for part
of the day. The impressive clump in the walled garden of
Brodick Castle receives some direct sunlight during the
middle of the day in summer and horse manure is regularly
dug into adjacent parts of the bed in which it has been
grown for many years. These requirements probably reflect
the conditions in which the plant arose and established in
the wild, in an open trackside verge, by a wall probably
facing east, in an area which receives, on average, at least
75mm (3”) rain every month, and 1410mm (c.56”) rain in a
year (according to en-climate-data.org).
Conclusions
The claims that some clones in private collections are
clonally-derived from the original plant might be valid but the
possibility that spore-derived progeny feature at some point
in their history cannot be entirely ruled out. The Brodick
Castle plant has a strong claim to be clonally-derived from
a plant at Buchanan Castle and perhaps from the original
plant found in the wild. Spore-derived progeny frequently
lack the vigour and all the characteristics of the parent
clone but there are circumstances in which it would be at
least theoretically possible for sporelings to be genetically
identical to the parent. The ‘Victoriae’ characters only
develop fully after several years of undisturbed growth in
optimal conditions of rich moist soil in sun for part of the
day. With young plants and those in adverse conditions,
it is frequently impossible to determine whether a plant is
similar to the original.
Acknowledgements
Information from John Mitchell, who first investigated the
origins and fate of the Buchanan Fern in the early 1980s,
has been invaluable. I am also grateful to others who have
provided information or allowed me access to the Buchanan
Fern in their gardens, including Robert Crawford, Willie
Duncan, Peter Elder, Michael Hayward, John B Mason,
Martin Rickard, Nick Schroder, and Maurice Wilkins. In
order to avoid giving offence with unwelcome publicity, I
have intentionally not given details of some of the private
gardens referred to.
References
Anon, (1 863). List of the Localities for Ferns around Glasgow
and its Watering Places. The Manuscript Magazine of the
Glasgow Naturalists Society IV, 158-168. (In the Archives
of the Natural History Society of Glasgow.)
Anon (1930). Brodick castle: The seat of the Duke and
Duchess of Montrose. Scottish Country Life 17, 135-137.
(Possibly by George Eyre-Todd.)
Denne, J. (1991). Rev. James Cosh M.A, D.D. 1838-1900
Minister, Missionary and Academic. Denne Design, Killava,
New South Wales. (Includes a drawing of James Cosh as a
young man at Buchanan.)
Druery, C.T. (1902). The Lady Fern (Athyrium filixfoemina).
Report of the meeting of the British Pteridological Society
at Bowness, Windermere, 6 th August 1902. pp. 6-11. BPS,
Kendal.
Druery, C. T. (1908). British Ferns and their Varieties (with
Illustrations) Memoirs of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural
Society (1908), pp. 106-117.
Druery, C. T. (1910). British Ferns and their Varieties.
London: Routledge & Son.
Druery, C. T. (1913). Fern fertility. British Fern Gazette 2,
101-104.
Dyce, J. W. (1980). Athyrium filix-femina ‘Victoriae’. British
Pteridological Society Bulletin 2, 92-94.
Kaye, R. (1968). Hardy Ferns. London; Faber & Faber.
Kelly, J. (1991). Ferns in your Garden. London; Souvenir
Press Ltd.
Lowe, E. J. (1876). Our Native Ferns, Vol.ll. London:
George Bell & Sons.
Lowe, E. J. (1895). Growing Ferns. London: John C.
Nimmo.
Mickel, K. T. (2003). Ferns for American Gardens. Portland;
Timber Press, Inc.
Mitchell, J. (1990). In search of the Buchanan Fern II.
Forth Naturalist and Historian 13, 77-78.
Mitchell, J. (1991). In search of the Buchanan Fern III.
Forth Naturalist and Historian 14, 84-85.
Mitchell, J. & J.B. Mason (1981). In search of the Buchanan
Fern I. Forth Naturalist and Historian 6, 97-1 00A.
Mitchell, J. & D. Warner. (1992). Queen amongst Lady
Ferns on the Isle of Arran. The Arran Naturalist 15, 19-21.
Rickard, M. (2002). The Plantfinder’s Guide to Garden
Ferns. Newton Abbot; David & Charles.
Ross, A. (1900). Records of Excursions in Stirlingshire.
Annals of the Andersonian Naturalists Society 2, 1 1 7-1 34.
Sadler J. (1864). Notice of a new variety of Athyrium filix-
femina. Botanical Society of Edinburgh Transactions VII I,
p.187.
Schroder, N. (1990). In search of the original ‘Victoriae’.
Pteridologist 2, 8-10.
Warner, D. (1991). Is this the Original Victoria Fern? Arran
Banner, 28 th September, 1991.
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
73
West Dean Gardens
Julian Reed
19a Northdown Road, Kemsing, Sevenoaks.
Kent. TN15 6SD
e-mail: julianreed@waitrose.com
Fig. 1. The walled garden at West Dean with its
restored glasshouses.
Fig. 2.An array of ferns await the visitor in one of the
glasshouses.
Fig. 3. Adiantum raddianum 'Legrandii'
This all started when Peter
Tindley, a BPS member, very
kindly invited me to see his
excellent range of ferns and
exotic plants in September
2013. In his usual kind and
generous manner he gave
some to me to take home,
whilst I was there he suggested
we go to see West Dean
Gardens. He knew the head
gardener, Jim Buckland, and
Sarah Wain, the supervisor,
from his days working at Kew.
The West Dean Estate
covers approximately 6,400
acres (2,590 hectares) along
the Sussex South Downs. It
stretches over 6 miles (9.7
kms) from the South Downs
escarpment, overlooking the
Sussex Weald, to the edge of
the Trundle Hill, overlooking
the English Channel and the
Isle of Wight. Whilst much of
the village of West Dean and
West Dean College is sheltered
within the Lavant valley, the
Estate rises to its highest
point of almost 750 feet (280
m) on the top of the Downs.
This garden is set in beautiful
surroundings and what is more
has a superb greenhouse full
of fascinating ferns, but more
of that further in this article.
Fig. 4. Adiantum raddianum 'Variegated Pacottii'
Fig. 5. Adiantum raddianum 'Variegated Tessellate'
In the hands of Gardens
Manager Jim Buckland and
Gardens Supervisor Sarah
Wain, the 36 hectares (90
acres) of grounds, divided into
four distinct areas: the gardens
entrance; the walled kitchen
garden (Fig. 1 .); the pleasure
grounds and St Roche’s
Arboretum have carried
out a bold re-development
programme designed to bring
the nineteenth century gardens
into the twenty-first century.
As we arrived I could tell
that we were in for something
good. Even the car park was
well maintained This garden
is a gem set in parkland
surrounding with manicured
Fig. 6. Frond details of Adiantum raddianum
'Variegated Tessellate'
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
74
West Dean Gardens
Fig. 7. Adiantum Cornubiense 'Tessellate'
Fig. 8. Davallia trichomanoides 'Lorraine'
Fig. 9. Davallia Solida
Fig. 10. Adiantum “Fine Leafed”
(I suspect it is raddianum ‘Micropinnulum’)
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
lawns with a haha separating
the gardens from the parkland
landscape
In the walled garden there
are amazing multi-cordon fruit
trees as well as beautifully
restored glass houses. At
the time of our visit they
were running a trial on chile
peppers which was part of
a RHS trial written up in the
RHS magazine, The Garden.
However the best part was
the superb greenhouse full of
fascinating ferns
Sarah Wain managed to
show me some ferns that
I have never seen before,
including a lot of Adiantum
raddianum varieties. This
Maiden Hair fern is usually a
common house plant but there
was nothing common about
the ones growing here. (See
Figs, 2 to 6.) They dislike a
very dry atmosphere but they
do not need high temperatures.
I grow mine on a north facing
window on the stairs and they
are doing well (Sue Olsen
lists as hardiness zone 9-11)
They also had a Adiantum
Cornubiense Tessellate' (Fig.
7) and several species of
Davallia. (Figs 8 and 9).
Following our visit to the
greenhouse we were looking
around the walled garden
when we came across two
amazing lady ferns ( Athyrium
filix-femina ) One was a
'GlomeratunT and the other a
'Cruciate Grandiceps' the like
of which I have never seen
before. (Figs. 12 and 13)
Just to round off our day
there was also a superb
Polystichum squarrosum (Fig.
14) in Peter's garden.
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Peter
Tindley for suggesting the visit
and also Sarah Wain for taking
the time to show us around.
Just a reminder that the
south east group of the BPS
will be visiting these gardens in
mid-summer.
For more details of this
garden please visit the website
at:-
https://www.westdean.org.uk/
garden/home. aspx
Fig.11. Detail of the fine collection of ferns.
Fig. 12. Athyrium filix-femina 'Glomeratum' still looking
surprisingly good in spite of it being a mid-September
Fig. 13. Athyrium filix-femina 'Cruciate Grandiceps'
Fig. 14. Polystichum squarrosum in Peter Tindley's
garden.
75
Author's Book Review
Tree Ferns For Your Garden by Mark Longley. Published as an Ebook on 2nd June.
150 pp, 200 Colour photographs. Price £6.00 / $10 USD / €8.20 (based on current rates)
In June of this year I will be releasing an Ebook on tree
ferns titled Tree Ferns For Your Garden. I began this project
back in April of 2012 and having discussed the idea with one
or two publishers it became apparent that the focus of the
subject matter should be on the subject of gardening with
tree ferns in general as this subject had not been written
about previously in any great detail. In a nutshell this book
is an introduction to tree ferns, how to propagate them, how
to cultivate them and which particular species are suited
to growing in cultivation. It is written with an err towards
those fern growers in cooler temperate climates such as
those in North West Europe and America. Obviously we
all know very well that these climates are very challenging
ones in which to grow tree ferns hence I have written in
great detail about winter protection and growing them in
containers where they can be moved under cover in winter.
I have also explained how to convert your greenhouse into
a glasshouse and how to build an outdoor shade house.
The book contains 150 pages with over 200 colour images
accompanying the 30,000 words of helpful advice and is
divided into 3 main chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 - The Biology and Distribution of Tree Ferns
This chapter covers (as the title suggests) very simply what
tree ferns are, their physical structure, an introduction to the
families and what types of climate they tend to inhabit.
Chapter 2 - The Cultivation and Propagation of Tree
Ferns
This is the section which has taken the most amount of time
to write as there is simply so much information that I wanted
to convey. I am a strong advocate of spore propagation and
I’ve never found a website or publication which covered
propagation in enough detail. Most descriptions make it all
sound too easy and don’t advise of the many pitfalls so I
have written a step-by-step guide which I think is far more
detailed than anything that has been written before it. I
then go on to advise how to grow tree ferns in the garden,
containers, ferneries, glass houses and there is a large
section on winter protection
Chapter 3 - Tree ferns Suitable for Cultivation
This is a really dynamic chapter as it covers all of the tree
fern species that are commonly available in cultivation and
is packed with original, never before seen images of them in
their native habitat. I spent many hours tooing and frowing
over what species to include in this chapter and which to
leave out. Where do you stop? Ultimately I stuck to those
which are tried, tested and well understood. In total there
are 24 and I have included as much imagery as I could as I
want this section to be an inspiration, a visual guide as well
as a practical reference.
The book is being released as an Ebook on 2 nd June 2014
and is priced at £6.00 / $10 USD / €8.30. It is formatted as
a high definition PDF file in the portrait aspect and ideally
suited to reading on an Ipad or similar tablet device like
a smart phone or note book. You can also read it on your
laptop or home PC, basically any device that can read a
PDF file. You don’t need a dedicated E-reader as with many
books. It will be available for purchase and download via
For Your Garden
Tfrf CimptfU rf f Wf!H.pr r t intitfr.
t’rf fe mS mfJEifl'uPd AqViCc PH
iptc us Vi , rcfi,'VL
Mark Longley
my website www.thefernhouse.moonfruit.com. Follow the
simple instructions which will direct you to a page where you
can view the book and buy it. The page will also process your
payment securely via Paypal either with your own account
or a one-off card payment after which you will immediately
receive an email with a dedicated link to a page from where
you can download the book to your chosen device.
For those who might wish to buy it I very much hope
you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your feedback!
Mark Longley
76
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
A frond in read is a frond indeed!
Jeremy Pellatt
Peacehaven, East Sussex
e-mail:je22a@hotmail. co.uk
A number of years ago, whilst
looking for something to do with
my family on a typically wet bank
holiday, we came across a new
antiquarian book shop in a local
Village, Alfriston. Once inside I
came across a very old looking
book on ferns, I've always had an
interest in gardening of all sorts
and a few years ago I got caught
by the fern bug and this book was
great to look through but, as the
price was a little steep I showed
my wife, and reluctantly placed
the battered, blue covered book,
back on the shelf.
A couple of months later,
in amongst my other birthday
presents was a book shaped
package, lovingly wrapped in
tissue and brown paper and tied
up with a neat cross of coloured
string.
I peeled back the wrapping to
reveal the familiar battered blue
linen cover with its faded gilt fern
motif, thanked her and started
to thumb through the pages at
random. After a few pages I came
across something that made me
close the book and carefully re-
wrap it with as much care as the
bookshop had done originally.
Now I'm no expert on
these matters but I suspected
that along with a number of
desiccated grey fern remnants
flattened between the pages was
a distinct smattering of tiny rusty-
brown dots. I took a guess that
these were fern spores.
The next time I opened the
book was a couple of weeks later
during which time I had swotted
up on how to grow ferns from
spores and armed myself with a
half-sized seed tray full of damp
sterilised compost and a small
paintbrush.
This time as I opened the
book I took time to dust out
the suspect contents of each
page onto the compost, paying
particular attention to the gutter
between the pages where most
of the spores appeared to have
collected. There were about 8
pages with small dried pieces
of fern frond but there were
more pages that just contained
spores suggesting that other
specimens had been present but
had been lost over time. Once
the entire contents of the book
had been spread evenly across
the compost I sealed the tray in a
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
Fig. 1 . The book in question. The Ferns of Great Britain,
1855 by Charles Johnson, illustrated by John E. Sowerby.
Fig. 2. The first signs of ferns emerging.
Fig. 3. Familiar ferns developing.
plastic bag and placed it carefully
in the garden shed.
Every few days I religiously
peered through the condensation
in the bag for signs of activity on
the compost. Sadly, as nothing
obvious was happening, I gave
up checking for several months
and forgot about the experiment.
The book in question is a
copy from 1855 of " The Ferns of
Great Britain", written by Charles
Johnson and its musty, yellowed
pages contain descriptions of
most of the ferns known in the
UK at the time and includes
illustrations by John E. Sowerby
to help the amateur botanist
identify any ferns they may come
across (Fig. 1 .).
Inside the book, Lizzie I.
Stokes had pencilled her name
in her very best copperplate
handwriting during the August of
1861 and I guess she had been
caught up in the Victorian fern
craze that was in full swing and
had used this book to help identify
native ferns whilst out and about
in the English countryside. Maybe
it was even she who had pressed
the small fern specimens in this
book? Who knows?
A few months later whilst
attempting to clear some space
in the shed I came across the
murky looking bag and ripped
it open just to check before I
condemned it to the Compost
heap. Much to my surprise the
surface of the compost was
covered with a green fuzz and
several bright green round lily-
pad shaped growths which were
just as described in the book that
I had read on how to grow ferns
from spores (Fig. 2.). The seed
tray was hastily re-sealed in a
new bag and left to carry on its
growing process.
A couple of more months
passed and now there were a
number of small plants present
emerging from these growths.
Over time these plants developed
into very distinct, but familiar fern
species (Fig. 3.), and I gradually
potted them up individually to
allow them to grow on as can be
seen in Figs. 4 and 5. Over time
these were then planted in the
garden to add to my burgeoning
collection.
Fast forward to today and
whilst I was clearing out dead
77
A frond in read is a frond indeed!
Fig. 4. The developing ferns potted up for the
first time.
Fig. 5. The ferns potted on as they develop.
leaves and twigs from around the
garden I came across the glossy
leaved Cyrtonium falcatum (Fig. 6.),
now growing strongly in the shade
of a twisted hazel bush.
Whilst it is impossible to tell
exactly when the fern fronds were
pressed between the pages of the
book, I like to think that this one
remaining plant is a direct child of
one of the fern specimens collected
by Ms. Stokes during the Victorian
fern craze back in the 1860's and
that she would be amazed that her
faithful old book, which has probably
been through the hands of many
collectors, still contained the basis
for life, and that although she would
not recognise the modern world in
which we live... she would still be
able to identify this fern.
Footnote: Since the above
experiment I have got hooked on
collecting old fern books (Fig. 7.),
and, using the BPS publication
"Fern books in English published
before 1900" as a reference,
have amassed up to 50 plus.
Unfortunately, although many have
had dried fern specimens tucked in
their pages, I have not identified any
more spores and have been unable
to repeat the experiment.
Fig. 7. The increasing collection of fern books.
More Bird's Nest Ferns!
Peter Campion, the Chairman of the North West Group, was checking his ferns this spring and found a nest at the base
of some Polystichums. The small blue eggs gave away the owner as a Prunella modularis commonly known as the
Hedge Sparrow or Dunnock. The latter name comes from the Ancient British dunnakos, meaning "little brown one", an apt
description of this small bird that creeps and forages underneath shrubs and bushes.
The eggs eventually hatched and the chicks have flown. Now Peter can enjoy his ferns in peace.
Fig. 2. (Right) An
adult Dunnock.
They are ground
feeders and tend
to scuttle about the
undergrowth. This
bird is not a sparrow
but a member of the
accentor family
Fig. 1. (Left) The
pale blue eggs in the
feather lined nest
can only be from
a Dunnock. They
seldom nest on the
ground and prefer
dense shrubs and
trees.
Fig. 3. The eggs hatched succesfully and the chicks have now
flown.
78
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
The BPS Photographic Competition 2014
This year the BPS ran a new Photographic Competition. The aim is to encourage members to take photos of ferns in the wild,
in the garden or greenhouse and of any ferny artefacts, so these can be enjoyed by others. All photos sent in will appear on
our website and the winners are published here. The photos may also be used to produce our BPS calendar.
The competition attracted 11 entrants submitting 62 photos. These were displayed at the AGM where members voted for
their favourites. We hope that many of you will be enthused and submit photos for next years competition; look out for the
instructions in the Autumn Mailing. Remember Photos win Prizes!
Class 2 - Cultivated ferns in a house, greenhouse or garden - 24 photos
1st Linda
Greening
Athyrium
otophorum
var. okanum,
Cottage
Garden, Burton-in-Kendal.
No date.
3rd Patrick Acock - Equisetum gigantum, Garden at
Baeza, Ecuador. Sept 2013.
1st Sue Olsen - Etched glass window, Olsen
Garden, USA. Winter 2014. (This photo won
the most votes - 24.)
2nd Sue Olsen - Glass Ferns, Seattle, USA
Winter 2013.
2nd Linda Greening - Dryopteris
wallichiana , Cottage Garden, Burton-in-
Kendal. May 2010.
3rd Yvonne Golding - Fern Modern, Hull, UK. April
2014.
Class 3 - Item or object with a fern-related theme - 14 photos
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
79
Book Review
Fougeres rusfiques: pour le jardin by Olivier Ezavin & Cedric Basset (2013). pp. 224. 22 x 17 cm. 24C
Les Editions Ulmer, 8 rue Blanche, 75009 Paris, France. ISBN: 978-2-84138-528-7
On the back cover of Pteridologist,
for many years now, Olivier Ezavin,
the first author of this book, has
advertised his fern nursery Le Monde
des Fougeres (The World of Ferns). It
is located a short distance inland from
Nice and the Eastern Mediterranean
coast of France. I have visited there
twice, by bus, when holidaying near
Nice. The co-author, Cedric Basset is
an expert in botanical photography and
specialist in Asiatic floras. Together,
Ezavin and Basset have produced a
beautifully- and profusely-illustrated
book with much useful advice on ferns
and how to grow and appreciate them.
Fig. 1 . Front cover.
Fig. 1 shows the front cover.
Fougeres rustiques is a practical guide
(in French), to hardy ( rustique ), ferns
(fougeres) that are recommended as
suitable for French gardens. Many
are also widely planted in British
gardens but several are definitely not,
and might be well worth re-testing in
protected micro-habitats.
The book starts with a general
introduction to ferns; their evolutionary
origin, diversity, anatomy and
reproduction. A major theme is
how ferns can provide counterpoint
to the flowering plants. It is thus
intended for keen gardeners whose
horizons haven’t yet intersected with
pteridology but who might respond to
‘frondly’ persuasion.
The main part of the book is an A
to Z Guide of 100 species of ferns,
native and foreign, that are hardy,
from a French perspective. They are
presented in alphabetical order of Latin
name, and authority, from Adiantum
capillus-veneris (L.) to Woodwardia
unigemmata [Makino] (Nakai). As
a sample of the presentation, Fig.
2 shows Woodwardia radicans, a
native French species. The authors
must have wanted to avoid producing
the truly massive tome that would
be needed for all the native French
species of fern, plus the several
hundred foreign species that might, or
do already, grow in France. Instead,
with a book-thickness of only 2-cm,
and containing 224 pages, the authors
had to be highly selective.
For example, in the genus
Asplenium, there are 22 French-native
species listed in Remy Prelli’s (1990)
Guide des fougeres (2 nd Ed., Paris,
Lechevalier). From these, Ezavin
& Basset offer only 3, namely A.
adiantum-nigrum, A. scolopendrium
[plus 4 cultivars], and A. trichomanes
[2 sub-species and 3 cultivars].
Similarly with Dryopteris, Prelli
describes 15 native-French species,
from which the A to Z Guide has taken
only 4 as follows, with [cultivars]: D.
affinis [7], D. carthusiana, D. dilatata
and D. filix-mas [4], This then made
space for 6 species, foreign-to-
France, of Dryopteris representatives
from North America and Asia.
Overall, the A to Z Guide has more
fern species that are foreign to France
than it has French natives, in a ratio
of about 70 to 30. With the cultivars,
which are mainly from species native
to France (and shared with the British
Isles), many, if not most, were from
Britain.
Each entry in the A to Z Guide
has a species-description, with the
systematic name and authority,
synonyms, natural occurrence and
distribution. There is then a listing of
the distinguishing anatomical features,
one or more coloured illustrations, and
expert advice on cultivation.
For readers who want the lowest
temperatures each species can
withstand, there is a 4-page Tableau
de Rusticite (Hardiness Table) for the
100 fern species described. These
temperatures range from the -2°C
of Pteris vittata down to the -40°C of
Cystopteris fragilis.
Many of the species and cultivars
described in the book do well in British
gardens. However there is a goodly
proportion which may be ‘ rustique ’
(hardy) in France, but would be
vulnerable in many parts of Britain.
These are the species which Ezavin
& Basset cite as being hardy down to
between -5°C and -10°C. In Britain,
these might need specially-protected
micro-habitats to survive our periodic
exceptionally cold or long winters.
The book offers a fair number in this
category, of which - as a sample -
only those under the letters A, B and
C are: Adiantum hispidulum [-6°C],
Blechnum appendiculatum [tested
to -5°C], B. australe auricu latum
[-6°C], Colysis eliptica [to -8°C],
Coniogramme japonica [-8°C] and
Cystopteris diaphana [-8 °C] .
Fig. 2. Woodwardia radicans, a native French
species.
Those British fern-growers with only
school-level or holiday-level French
should not let the foreign language
be a deterrent. I found that only a
short crib-sheet of technical-botanical
words from a dictionary was enough
for reasonable understanding. The
text is concise and straightforward
and unburdened by convoluted
phraseology. The numerical hardiness
information doesn’t need much
translation anyway, and the pictures
speak for themselves.
Fougeres rustiques has at the end a
short Bibliography and ‘Webographie’,
and lists of fern gardens and specialist
fern nurseries in France. It is well
indexed.
The book has a certain inspirational
quality and offers a master-class in how
to take and display appealing pictures
of ferns. Its horticultural advice struck
me as accurate and insightful.
At 246, it is modestly priced
for its size and its lavish use of
colour. I recommend it for its French
perspective on choosing and growing
garden ferns, and enthusing on their
aesthetics.
Alastair Wardlaw
80
Pteridologist 6.1 2014
THE BRITISH PTERIDOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Registered Charity No. 1092399
Patron. HRH The Prince of Wales
Officers and Committee from April 2014
President:
Prof. J. A. Edgington,19 Mecklenburgh Square, London. WC1N 2AD
President@eBPS.org.uk
A.R. Busby, R.J. Cooke, Dr A.F. Dyer, R. Golding, Miss J.M. Ide, R.W. Sykes
Dr Y.C. Golding, 7 Grange Road, Buxton, Derbyshire. SKI 7 6NH
Secretary@eBPS.org.uk
Mrs.A. Haskins, WillowbrookCottage,WasteLane,Cuddington,Northwich, Cheshire. CW82TD
Mrs G.J. Smith, Rookwood, 1 Prospect Road, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk. NR32 3PT
Treasurer@eBPS.org.uk
Dr A. J. Evans, Springfield House, Salterforth Rd, Earby, Lancs. BB18 6NE
Membership@eBPS.org.uk
B.D. Smith, Rookwood, 1 Prospect Road, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk. NR32 3PT
Meetings@eBPS.org.uk
Dr H.S. McHaffie, Royal Botanic Garden, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh. EH3 5LR
Conservation@eBPS.org.uk
Dr F.J. Rumsey, Angela Marmont Centre, The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London. SW7 5BD; e-mail: Recorder@eBPS.org.uk
A.C. Pigott, Kersey’s Farm, Mendlesham, Stowmarket, Suffolk. IP14 5RB
Projects@eBPS.org.uk
Dr A.J. Evans, Springfield House, Salterforth Rd, Earby. Lancs. BB18 6NE
Education@eBPS.org.uk
Miss E. Evans Springfield House, Salterforth Rd, Earby. Lancs. BB1 8 6NE
Publicity@eBPS.org.uk
M.H. Rickard, Pear Tree Cottage, Sutton, Tenbury Wells, Worcs. WR1 5 8RN
Publications@eBPS.org.uk
A.E. Greening, Pear Tree Cottage, Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria. LA6 INN
Pteridologist@eBPS.org.uk
Miss A.M. Paul, Dep. of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London. SW7 5BD; e-mail: Bulletin@eBPS.org.uk
Prof. M.Gibby, Royal Botanic Garden, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh. EH3 5LR
Fern Gazette@eBPS.org.uk
A.C. Pigott, Kersey’s Farm, Mendlesham, Stowmarket, Suffolk. IP14 5RB
Webrnaster@eBPS.org.uk
I.J.Bennallick, P. Blake, Mrs A. Haskins, Dr S.L.Jury, F.McGavigan, J.P.Reed
Dr F. Katzer, Highfield House, Muirburn, Biggar. ML12 6HL
Booksales@eBPS.org.uk
Horticultural Information Adviser & Archivist: A.R. Busby, 16 Kirby Corner Road, Canley, Coventry. CV4 8GD
Horticulturallnformation@eBPS.org.uk, Archivist@eBPS.org.uk
Mercfrand/seOrgan/'sers: Mr B.D.&MrsG.J. Smith, Rookwood, 1 ProspectRoad, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk. NR323PT
Merchandise@eBPS.org.uk
Plant Exchange Organiser: J.P. Crowe, Kellys Cottage, Tredilion, Abergavenny, Gwent. NP7 8BB
PlantExchange@eBPS.org.uk
Spore Exchange Organisers: Dr B. & Dr S.C.Dockerill,1 9 Westfield Road,Glyncoch, Pontypridd,
Mid Glamorgan CF37 3AG Spores@eBPS.org.uk
Trustees of Greenfield & Centenary Funds : President, General Secretary & Treasurer
Vice Presidents:
General Secretary:
Committee Secretary.
Treasurer.
Membership Secretary.
Meetings Secretary.
Conservation Officer.
Conservation Officer & Recorder:
Project Officer:
Education Officer:
Publicity and Marketing Officer:
Publications Secretary:
Editor of Pteridologist:
Editor of the Bulletin:
Editor of The Fern Gazette:
Editor of BPS Website:
Elected Committee Members:
Booksales Organiser:
The BRITISH PTERIDOLOGICAL SOCIETY was founded in 1891 and is still a focus for fern enthusiasts, its
wide membership including gardeners, nurserymen and botanists, both amateur and professional. It provides a wide
range of information about ferns through its publications and website, and also organises indoor and field meetings,
garden visits, a plant exchange, a spore exchange and fern book sales. The Society’s journals, The Fern Gazette,
Pteridologist and Bulletin are published annually. The Fern Gazette publishes matter chiefly of specialist interest on
international pteridology, the Pteridologist, topics of more general appeal, and the Bulletin deals with Society busi-
ness and meetings reports.
Membership is open to all interested in ferns and lycophytes. SUBSCRIPTION RATES (due on 1 st January each
year) are Full personal Members £25, Personal Members not receiving The Fern Gazette £21, Student members
£12.50, Subscribing Institiutions £42. Family Membership in any category is an additional £2.50. Applications for
membership should be sent to the Membership Secretary (address above) from whom further details can be ob-
tained. Airmail postage for all journals is an extra £10, or for those not receiving The Fern Gazette, £5.00. Standing
Order forms are available from the Membership Secretary and the BPS website
WEBSITE: www.eBPS.org.uk
Back numbers of The Fern Gazette, Pteridologist and Bulletin are available for purchase from
PJ. Acock, 13 Star Lane, St Mary Cray, Kent. BR5 3LJ; e-mail: BackNumbers@eBPS.org.uk
, www.fibrex.co.uk
Honeybourne Road, Pebworth' Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 8XTTel: 01789 720788
Hardy and tender ferns, Begonias, Gloxinias, Hederas, Hydrangeas, Primroses,
Arum Lilies and plants for the cool greenhouse. A
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Retailers fcf a small range of ptipular ferns for Scotland
d 4 www.binnyplatits.coVn r
nfiy Estate, Ewlesmachran, West toothian, Scotland £H52 oNL
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Specialising in ferns ( 1/ *
.arge range of Australian native amtexotic species available
Australian orders only. Nursdry visits by appointment. ^
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FkRNWObDjfPLANT pIurSERY - Iain J^cki
Native and lmdy^xotie t ferns k forCanadian gardens'll
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