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constituting the selector's opportunities for improvement of 

 type. In this way, sometimes by gradual steps and in 

 others by more advanced ones, the greater part of our 

 horticultural wealth of flower and foliage has been 

 acquired. 



In the cases, however, which we have in mind, the 

 spores concerned have yielded such entirely unexpected 

 results that the cultivator has been unable to satisfy him- 

 self of the origin of the plants obtained until a second 

 sowing has convinced him by similar produce. Thus in the 

 case of the Jones and Fox wonderful plumose Shield ferns, 

 spores were sown from a wild decomposite or merely 

 tripinnate form, the result being a batch of such finely 

 dissected and feathery varieties, so widely ditfering from 

 the parent that their origin seemed an entire mystery, 

 until a second sowing from the same plant revealed the 

 fact that its spores were endowed with the capacity of 

 surpassing it to that extent, a similar lot arising. 



These, however, resembled each other closely, varying 

 only in fineness of cutting or density of foliage. Another 

 form, however, known as Pearson's decompositum, while 

 producing also a beautiful plumose form far surpassing it 

 in delicacy and foliose character [Polystichum angulave 

 divisilohum plumosns Pearson) regularly produces, in con- 

 junction with a percentage of this plumosum and a number 

 of the parental form, a very remarkable and distinct form 

 of " grandidens," w^hich no one ignorant of its origin could 

 possibly impute to such a parent. In this the fronds are 

 narrow, the pinnae being short and somewhat irregular, 

 while the pinnules, instead of being extra feathery, are all 

 reduced to short pointed spikes, so narrow that the 

 abundant fructification shows on the upper side of the 

 frond. A greater contrast could not be imagined than there 

 is between this and plumosum, and yet both forms arise 

 from spores from one and the same frond or even pinnae. 



Here it will be observed a character comes into evidence 

 of which there is absolutely no trace visible in the parent, 



