298 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
HYBRID FERNS. 
By Mr. H. B. May, F.B.HLS. 
To the much debated question of the origin of hybrid Ferns I am afraid 
[ cannot contribute much information, as although for a number of years 
[ have endeavoured to obtain new varieties by sowing spores of different 
kinds together, and more especially with the Polypodies, in following the 
suggestions of my good friend Mr. Druery, it has been all to no purpose. 
Of the numerous varieties of Ferns that have originated in my nurseries— 
and they are many—I can only say that the whole of them are sports or 
natural hybrids. 
Of the many Ferns from which I have obtained new varieties one 
of the most prolific, and perhaps the most erratic, is Pteris Victoria. 
This is thought by some to be a variegated form of P. ensifornis, an 
opinion to which I am unable to subscribe, as the green form of 
P. Victoria differs materially from that variety. From the first batch 
of sporelings raised from P. Victoria I obtained P. regina, P. regina 
cristata, P. nivalis, and, strangest of all, P. tremula variegata. This 
latter variety was also produced in Holland at about the same time, 
and this year a correspondent in the United States of America sent me 
fronds of P. regina and P. tremula variegata, which he had obtained 
from spores of P. Victoria. P. tremula variegata I have never been 
able to raise except from spores of P. Victoria. 
Another Fern, very prolific in hybrids, is Athyriwm Waltoni diffuswm, 
one batch of sporelings producing A. plumoswm, A. tenellwm, A. 
ornatum, A. Schneider, A. Hemsleyanum, A. elegantissimuwm, and 
A. nucrophyllum. Pteris tremula flaccida, which I obtained from 
spores of P. tremula, was produced the same year at Hendon, and has 
been sent several times to the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society from different parts of the country, where it has appeared 
spontaneously. 
