98 



The finely-cut Polypodium vulgave, known as elegantissi- 

 mum, or cornubiense, has the same trick in a more marked 

 way, since it really produces three kinds of fronds, viz. very 

 finely cut, coarser tripinnate ones, and the normal, and these 

 may appear indiscriminately all on one frond, or even in 

 one sub-division. Several other "sports" act in the same 

 eccentric fashion. These, however, are all constant in so 

 far as they never entirely revert, and their spores reproduce 

 the type plus its vagaries. 



Chas. T. Druery, V.M.H., F.L.S. 



ROOT ROOM FOR FERNS. 



In the course of a now very long experience in the 

 growing of Ferns so many rather contradictory cases have 

 turned up as to the need for more or less space for the 

 accommodation of their roots to secure their best and 

 continued healthy development, that I should be glad to 

 hear what are the experiences of others in the cult 

 in this particular direction. I may say at the outset that 

 I have formed the opinion that, as a rule, a humid 

 atmosphere with plenty of light, barring of course hot 

 sunshine, and an ample supply of water are three factors 

 of much greater importance than an abundance of soil as 

 regards cultivation in pots or pans. For Polystichums 

 for instance, the general opinion is that ample pot room 

 is an essential for full development, and yet my own finest 

 specimen, an unique seedling from the magnificent plumose 

 form known as Baldwinii, the best of the Jones and Fox 

 section, was planted some years ago, when a good plant 

 already, in a shallow, square 9-inch pan about 2-^ inches 

 deep. 



Year after year this plant attains full size, and forms 

 a perfectly symmetrical circle of magnificent fronds, and 

 these fronds, unlike most of the section, perfect their tips. 



