56 



for instance, under the name Lastvea is treated as a 

 lady, and under that of Nephrodiiun as a neuter, and as 

 grammar, both Latin and Greek, demands a gender agree- 

 ment between the adjective and the subject, we must write 

 Lastvea filix mas cvistata. and Neplivodiiim filix mas cristatuni 

 to be correct. 



The moral of all this is that though we have given all the 

 characters above mentioned the termination " um," ''a" 

 must be used instead where the specific name is feminine. 

 This is often shewn by an "a" termination as the neuter 

 gender is evidenced by "um," but not always. Ptevis 

 aquilina, for instance. It must, of course, be understood 

 that the above remarks only touch the fringe of the subject 

 of nomenclature, but, as we have said, they will assist in a 

 very large number of cases in which now considerable con- 

 fusion exists owing to the lack of guiding principles. 



C. T. D. 



FERN CURIOS. 



Although it is our aim in this " Gazette " to encourage the 

 cultivation of our British Fern varieties in the direction of 

 improvement of type and enhancement of beauty, it is not 

 right to ignore entirely those curious " sports " which 

 Nature occasionally contrives, and which in their way are 

 even more interesting to the student of variation than those 

 which involve, to a large degree, mere extensions of growth 

 on otherwise normal lines. All the \iT\cx&?>\.e(l plumose forms, 

 for instance, are of this last description, and many others, 

 though varying much in detail, adhere in general structure to 

 the normal plan. As examples of the types we have in 

 view, we may take the various truncata varieties, such as 

 Lastvea montana truncata, A . f. f. excuvvens,L. f. m. tyuncata,Scol. 

 V. pevafevcns and covnutum, and several forms of P. vulgave. 

 In all these, for some occult reason, the growth at the frond 

 tip and, in the divided ferns, the pinnae as well, suddenly 

 stops and ends more or less squarely, the midrib projecting 

 for a short distance like a thorn. This peculiarity is truly 



