226 



hobbyists, plus four issues ot the "Gazette," is surely 

 moderate enough for anyone inspired with a sincere interest 

 in the marv^els of our Native Ferns, while every increase 

 in the numbers is a step to that improvement of the 

 "Gazette" itself, and consequent personal benefit, to 

 which allusion is made above. All communications should 

 be addressed to The Editor, 11 , Shaa Road, ActoUj London, 



W., WHO WOULD ALSO BE GLAD TO RECEIVE ANY OUT- 

 STANDING SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE CURRENT YEAR. As 



regards the matter of the present issue, we have been again 

 favoured by Mr. C. B. Green with a most interesting paper 

 on the Shield Ferns, and also a contribution from the Rev. 

 W. Kingsmill Moore on the Polypodies. Practical papers 

 like these, or suggestions for same, are always welcome to 



The Editor. 



OUR FRONTISPIECE. 



The frontispiece to No. i represented a frond of that 

 remarkable strain of P. acnleatiim pnlclierrhmim (gracil- 

 limum), to which we have alluded on several occasions^ 

 and to which Mr. Green's article in the present issue also 

 refers at length. To give an idea of the possibilities of 

 this strain, we reproduce a photo, kindly taken and supplied 

 by Mr. Green, of a frond which had developed on another 

 plant in the Editor's fernery, and which shows the cristu. 

 late character developed on a much finer scale than before. 

 It is a curious fact that while in the parental plant P. ac. 

 pnlchervimum, a piece of which is depicted on p. 4 of No. i, 

 the pinnae adhere to the specific form by bearing pinnules, 

 which gradually decrease in length as they taper off towards 

 the slender tip of the pinna, in the " gracillimum " 

 section they get longer and larger, and in addition follow 

 out the same plan by expanding at their tips into pinnuloid 

 growths, which go far to imitate crests, though not 

 produced as with crests proper by any ramification of the 

 midrib. The result is extremely beautiful and unique, as 



