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FERN NOTES FROM SCOTLAND. 



By W. RiCHTER Roberts. 



Our Editor's earnest appeals for articles, notes, etc., in 

 each issue of the Gazette have emboldened me to write 

 these few notes on some fern rambles in Scotland during 

 the past year. I was travelling in Scotland from February 

 to the end of August and consequently these brief notes 

 will not refer to any particular district, and although, there- 

 fore, they may appear a little disjointed, it is hoped that 

 they may prove of interest to readers of the Gazette. 



It was on a bleak Saturday afternoon in February when 

 I took my first ramble, and on a bare exposed wall quite 

 near Edinburgh I found my first ferns in Scotland. Here 

 in the crevices of the walls the little evergreen Wall Rue 

 and Maidenhair Spleenwoort shivered in the cold wind. 



A week or two later, near Selkirk, I found remains of 

 magnificent specimens of Polystichum aculeatwii, Lastvea 

 f.m., Lastvea dilatata and Blechnum spicant. In some 

 instances the stout fronds were still intact, but in the 

 other cases the severe frosts and snowstorms had been too 

 much even for these hardy ferns. 



Although, as far as possible, I kept a careful watch, it 

 was not until the end of April that I began to see the first 

 signs of the unrolling of the new fronds. I was walking 

 in the lanes in Falkirkshire and Blechnum spicant, Lastvea 

 f. m., Lastvea dilatata and Poly podium vidgave had all begun 

 to respond to the warm spring showers and sunshine. In 

 the early part of May, thanks to a week of warm weather, 

 the fronds were rapidly expanding. I was in Perthshire 

 and much enjoyed beautiful rambles near Glenfarg and 

 the Rumbling Bridge. Here among the other commoner 

 species Cystoptevis fvagilis and Aspleninm adiantum-nigviim 

 were plentiful. Fine specimens of Lastvea montana and 

 Athyvinm f.f. grew in profusion, but careful search failed to 

 reveal any interesting varieties. 



During the remainder of May my travels were confined 



