14 



of the other variations, bulbils being especially common in the 

 " divisilobe" shield-ferns. 



The principal book giving an up-to-date selection of these varieties 

 is " British Ferns," by the late Mr. C. T. Druery. Taking our 

 genera and species alphabetically, we find here of Maidenhair 

 (AiliantiDii) about a dozen variants ; and of Allosonis, the Parsley 

 Fern, only a tasselled form mentioned, afterwards lost. Then come 

 the Asjileniiom or " Spleenworts." The best of the Black Maiden- 

 haii' spleenwoit are aciitinn, (irandirepa, and microilon : cetetadi has 

 several; A. inarimini, plumose and branched forms ; but little but 

 the normal in the "Wall-rue," A. rnta-inuyaria, or in A. rirUle, 

 fontanuiii, nennanivuiii, lanceolatum, and septentno)iale. The Maiden- 

 hair Spleen wort, As^p. tnchoinanes, requires separate mention, as here 

 we have many beautifully crested, branched, and plumose forms. 



Next is the Lady Fern, Atlnjrinm tiUx-f\r\iiina, whose hundreds of 

 varieties would easil}' make a noteworthy collection by themselves. 

 The '• Moonwort " {hutrj/chiitni), has several " incised" forms and 

 one tripartite; the Hard Fern (i)Z<?o//»(/»(), has some dozens. The 

 various species of (.'//■'<?''/'f^''s, or " Bladder-ferns," with the exception 

 of frof/iiis, give little change, nor do the Hi/inendp/ii/lliiiii or 

 GyriniuyraDiiiui. 



The Lastraeae, or Nep/irodiinn, give us a fine selection. First may 

 be mentioned the troad Buckler Fern, X. dilatatum (I confess I 

 hardly like its more "correct" name, according to Hayward, of 

 Dri/opteria aristota), which is majestic in its normal form when we 

 have a damp glade, with its glorious shoulder-high fronds as decora- 

 tion. There are many crested and ramose varieties, and " grandi- 

 ceps " with heavy bunch terminals. They are also fertile in the 

 extreme. 



The " Male Fern " has been divided into three sub-species by Mr. 

 G. B. WoUaston ; the first, A'. ;ili.v-t)iaii, so common in our suburban 

 gardens, is partially deciduous only ; propincjua is a quite deciduous 

 lowland form ; while pseudo-mas is sub-evergreen, and a very grand 

 plant. The chart of these differences, from a copy of the " British 

 Fern Gazette," was drawn up by Mr. Wollaston many years ago. 

 (Chart exhibited.) Of the many fine "Male Fern" finds, quite 

 unique is X. jisendo-iuas var. aistata, the "King of the Male Ferns," 

 found near St. Austell, evidently before 1850, as the plant was at 

 Kew in that year. Skilled culture of this lovely fern under glass 

 has sometimes resulted in a tree-fern with a two-foot stem uplifting 

 its great cluster of splendidly crested fronds. Lastraea montana has 

 given a wealth of beauty, its most noted form, however, being 

 barnesli, with its side divisions set on to the midrib at right angles, 

 like the steps of a ladder. There is not much variation in the other 

 LaHtra-a:, interesting as they are in the Marsh Fern, L. thelypteris, in 

 L. ceiiiida, ri(/ida, cyistata (so curiously named), with its connecting 

 sub-species with dilatata, known as spinulosa and ulifiinosa, and the 

 puzzling fern known as L. rcmota. 



