JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Mii.T 2, 1872. 



audraj as] a coloiued Totato ; I should have said Paterson's 

 Albert is'a Totato of coloiu' not nearly so well Imo^yn as it 

 deserves'to be iu the market. — Eoeeki Fenx. 



NOTES UPON FEBNS.— No. 3. 



FEONDS. 



The leaves of Ferns are invariably called fronds, and may 

 be distinguished from those of all other plants by their pecuUar 

 coiled-up (circinate) growth 



Oliersia cerrina. 



It frequently happens that the same plant produces two 

 distinct forms of leaves or fronds, as may be seen in the illus- 

 tration of OLfersia cervina, or that a single frond takes upon 

 itself a variety of shapes. This modification in the form of 

 Fern fronds is brought about by the presence of the fructifica- 

 tion, or spore-cases, and those subject to these changes of form 

 are distinguished by Fern-growers as barren a.n(l fertile fronds. 

 I have heard them called male and female fronds by amateurs, 

 but the expression is erroneous. 



In the majority of the plants belongiug to this order the 

 fertile fronds do not differ in appeai-ance from the barren ones, 

 saving in the addition of the sori, which ai-e either situated 

 upon the under side or at the mai-gins of the pinme. Some- 

 times, but more rarely, they are to be found on the upper side. 



Fronds of Ferns are of various forms, vai-ying from the simple 

 or cntu-e frond of Scolopendi-ium vulgare,"Neottopteris nidus, 

 or the vai'ious species of Elaphoglossum, to the decompound 

 miiltifid ones of such genera as ThjTsopteris and Onycliium. 

 Intermediate forms of fronds are the phuiate— that is, when the 

 leaf is simply cut down into segments on each side of the midrib 

 {costal, bipinnate when these become again divided, and ."lo on up 

 to the compoiind frond. Wlieu the segments are not divided 



down to the costaor midrib, but have the divisions connected by 

 a kind of wing they are termed pinnatijid, and bipinnutifid 

 when again divided in a similar manner. When the leafy append- 

 age is continued down the stem to the cro^\-n of the plant the 

 crowns are styled sessDe, but when elevated upon footstalks, 

 the fronds are stipitate, as the footstalks, in the language of 



Niphobolas ]mgaa. 



ptcridologists, are stipes; these as they again become branched, 

 as iu bipinnate or decompound fronds, are termed the rachis. 



I shall now proceed to take a cursory glance at the peculiar 

 venation of Fern fronds, and there can be no doubt but that 

 the veius are of more importance to the student than the same 

 organs in flowering plants, and they consequently have been 

 seized upon by the pteridologist as a means of classification, 

 and when used iu conjunction with other organs the venation 

 is of great value and assistance in distinguishing genera. To 

 make this more apparent it will be as weU to give a few examples 

 of the venation peculiar to various genera ; thus in Elapho- 

 glossum conforme we have an example of free forked veins, in 

 wliich the sori in the fertile fronds cover the whole under sur- 

 face. This style of venation, however, must not be taken as 

 peculiar to Elaphoglossum, for manj' other genera of Ferns 

 have free forked veius, but they differ both in style of fructifica- 

 tion and habit of prowth ; as examples of this 1 may instance 

 Polypodimn, Pteris, and Asplenium. The veius are said to be 

 reticulated when joined together after the manner of Hemi- 

 onites palmata, the disposition of which is admh'ably shown 

 in the illustration. Agaiu, the veius are radiate when disposed 

 in the manner of Liudsaa trapeziformis, and anastomosing 



