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forty-five ; and of these some are so rare that the collector 

 who has found, say thirty, has every reason to be well 

 satisfied. But varieties are endless. It is the special 

 characteristic of British Ferns that, to a degree unknown 

 in any other part of the world, they have spent their time 

 developing into all sorts of novel and beautiful forms. 

 One collector has been heard to say that he holds upwards 

 of a thousand varieties of a single species — the common 

 Hartstongue. Probably in such a case his friends would 

 make inroads on the total, by banning many as " too much 

 alike." But the mere fact that such a collection is thought 

 possible is enough to unfold long vistas of delight. In so 

 speaking, I do not mean to suggest that the discovery of 

 varieties which are both good and new is common. In 

 the lists of the "British Fern Gazette" I am credited 

 with one or two. I am not a great hunter, and even if I 

 were I have but scant leisure for the sport. Where I have 

 done a little, others, with keener eyes and more time, 

 could do a good deal. But while it is true that really good 

 "finds" are rare, departures from the normal forms are 

 so common that it is scarcely too much to say that I have 

 never gone fern hunting without meeting something of the 

 kind. Two days after the walks referred to above, an after- 

 noon stroll gave three variations of Lastvea filix mas, one of 

 which shows real promise. In their capacity for surprise 

 our Native Ferns have a fascination which appeals widely. 

 Wherever you go there is always the possibility of being 

 confronted with something that is new. 



The second of the main characteristics of our ferns which 

 I set out for notice is that they are manageable ; if it is true 

 that anyone can find them, it is also true that anyone can 

 grow them. Of course there are heights, and depths, both 

 in the finding and the growing, but average results stand 

 open to all. And here another valuable feature emerges. 

 To put it paradoxically — the worse the site the better 



