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LASTREA F. MAS. ACROCLADON. 



Does anyone know anything at first hand of this 

 beautiful fern ? A coloured plate of it is given in Lowe's 

 ** Our Native Ferns," and this is reproduced in our editor's 

 latest book on British Ferns. Mr. Lowe states that it was 

 raised by the late Mr. Clapham, of Scarborough, and this 

 seems to be all that is really known about it. I have 

 never spoken to anyone who has mentioned having seen 

 it in the flesh. It was probably unknown to Col. Jones, or 

 he would, I think, have figured it or mentioned it in some 

 of his numerous letters to myself. The published figure 

 is fortunately a very good and detailed one, and from it we 

 are enabled to judge what the plant was like. It was not 

 only like but, so far as I can see, it was identical with 

 Cropper's L. pseudo-mas apospora cvistata. There is the 

 same slender rachis, bearing the same kind of small dark- 

 coloured scales, the cresting and marginal cutting are 

 similar, and even the little streaks of brown in the 

 vernation can be matched in Cropper's plant. In all 

 probability the two plants have, or had, the same delicate 

 and miffy constitution, because Clapham's plant has 

 entirely disappeared while Cropper's only survives in the 

 hands of a few enthusiasts who are prepared to go to 

 considerable trouble in order to keep it. This latter 

 circumstance even would probably not have enabled it to 

 survive but for the discovery of apospory, and the fact that 

 the fern is very easily raised, and comes perfectly true, by 

 apospory and apogamy. 



When the original plant was shown to me, about twenty 

 years ago, I felt certain, at the first glance, that it would 

 be capable of apospory, and this was promptly demon- 

 strated on trial, and it is from the plants thus raised that 

 most of the plants now in collections have arisen. If we 

 assume, as I think we may safely do, that acvocladon and 

 and apospora cvistata are identical, Cropper's "hit" con- 

 stituted really the third time this remarkable form had 



