49 



sharp knife so as to remove the bud producinj^^ point 

 intact. In these last cases the frond bases should be 

 inserted about half an inch and upright. We do not 

 recommend this method of culture for spores, as they will 

 not germinate properly on clean sand and retjuire soil 

 which is almost sure to generate confervoid growth under 

 such close conditions. We have reason to believe that 

 this capacity of producing bulbil plants from rootstocks 

 which show no signs of their existence, even in embryo, is 

 far too much ignored in connection with many other Ferns 

 than these named. C. T. D. 



NEW FERNS. 



ScoL. v. coNCAVO-CAPiTATUM (Rev. KiugsmiU Moore). 



A fern hunt in the neighbourhood of SchuU, co. Cork, 

 gave me this variety, which, with the approval of Mr. 

 Druery, I propose naming Concavo-capitatiim. Owing 

 to the steepness of many of the old roads in West Cork, it 

 is not uncommon to find that the roadside streams have 

 carved out deep beds for themselves. Where this occurs 

 ferns abound. Sometimes they are not easily reached, 

 owing to the depth of the cuttings and the way they get 

 thatched over with brambles. This was the case with the 

 cutting, where I got my Scolopcndviiim, its promise of 

 ferns, however, induced me to devote the necessary 

 patience to the exploration, with the result that in a spot 

 where scores of people pass daily, I obtained quite a 

 number of interesting forms. The little ravine, varying 

 from, say, 4 to 8 feet in depth, with a general width of 

 3 or 4 feet, proved in fact to contain quite a colony of 

 tasselled Hartstongues, and many of them show the concave 

 fronds which suggested the name. In cultivation this 

 feature has become more marked, so much so that some- 

 times the frond is creased and doubled exactly like a sheet 

 of notepaper, the heads are large and luxurious, very 

 finely carved and subdivided. 



My discovery was made in January, 191 1, and on that 

 occasion I removed perhaps a dozen specimens, leaving a 



c 



