28 



wait Mr. Druery's opinion as to whether the varieties of 

 ferns named are really dwarf, and also as to where the line 

 is drawn between dwarf and tall or medium. 



Dwarf British Ferns at Glasgow. 

 With reference to the question raised by Mr. C. Pattison 

 in our issue of September 28th, Mr. C. T. Druery writes : — 

 " In reply to Mr. C. Pattison's enquiry in your issue of 

 September 28th, the only varieties to which the term 

 ' dwarf ' is properly applicable are those of particularly 

 small dimensions when full grown as compared with the 

 normal, and not such species as are normally small. As 

 regards the several varieties referred to, Lastrea pseiido- 

 mas cvispa cvistata angtistata, Polystichiim angnlave congestum 

 grandiceps, and Scolopendriuui vtdgave spivale covymhiferum 

 are the only ones properly belonging to the dwarf section ; 

 the others, Polypodinm vulgare tvlchomanoides cvistaUim, Blech- 

 mun spicant sevYatum ramo-cvistaUiin, and Asplcnmm tyichomanes 

 mcisum, should not rank as dwarfs. I know of no truly 

 dwarf Polypody, except a very small-growing normal which 

 I have found in Wigtonshire, which persistently dies under 

 cultivation, and all the varieties tvichomanoides, or rather, 

 covniihiense, with which I am acquainted, under favourable 

 circumstances attain fair normal size. Asplenmm tvichomancs 

 inciswn assumes full size under like conditions, and so does 

 Blechnnm spicant. True dwarf varieties are comparatively 

 rare. The best ones are Lastrea pseudo-mas above cited, 

 raised by Messrs. Sang of Kirkcaldy, and often called, for 

 brevity's sake, SangL In the same sub-species we have 

 L. p. m. cvispo-gvacile, Lyelli, and vamulosissiumni, all very 

 dwarf and good. In Blechnnm, a true dwarf form is B. s. 

 cYispissimum Hartley, only three or four inches high ; in 

 Scolopendvinm we have several spivale forms with very 

 small leathery fronds and twisted habit ; also 5. v. Kehvayi 

 densum, like a ball of moss ; and the several conglomerate 

 forms Kelwayi, Coolingi, Baxtcvi and iVardi, may legiti- 

 mately be included in the section. A number of INIr. 



