28l 



BRITISH FERNS ABROAD. 



By " British Ferns Abroad " we mean, of course, such 

 of our native species as are found also in other countries, 

 which signification indeed embraces them all, since we are 

 not aware of any one which is strictly confined to the 

 British Isles, and many indeed are almost ubiquitous. 

 This being so, it is naturally of interest when a British 

 Fern-lover can give us some information on the various 

 ways in which our indigenous species behave elsewhere, 

 and a letter from our member, Mr. S. P. Rowlands, who 

 has travelled in the United States (mainly Connecticut, 

 to which his remarks must be regarded as confined), 

 contains several interesting notes, which we reproduce. 

 He says, " A point that struck me was that Polypodinm 

 vulgare in America is almost entirely a rock plant. It can 

 be stripped off bare rocks by the square yard in mat-like 

 sheets. No doubt it does sometimes grow on trees and 

 in such positions, but I never saw one doing so. The 

 American Royal Fern is termed Osmunda vegalis, but I 

 couldn't get away from the idea that it had a very different 

 sort of look from our home-grown article. I do not know 

 if Lastvea thelyptevis ever grows in distinctly dry situations 

 in England (I've never found it here), but I saw hundreds 

 of plants in the States growing on strong dry ground, 

 which was certainly dry for months together, though I 

 cannot vouch for winter conditions. I was almost amused 

 out there to find that the local fernists would have eaten 

 their hats if only they could have found a Hartstongue or 

 even a Male Fern. Asp. tvichomanes is common, hwt Asp. 

 r2ita. miivaria rare. I have brought home quite a number 

 of roots, out of which I hope a good proportion will 

 survive." 



Mr. Rowlands' notes, it will be seen, indicate a decided 

 difference between our local conditions and those under 



