894 



am indebted for the careful cultivation of the plants exhibited to-night, 

 informs me that the same form was found by him, some years ago, at 

 Chatsworth. This is the only record of this variety as English, 

 though an allied form (crispum) has been recorded in Scotland. 

 This form has been also called, incorrectly, viviparum ; for the habit 

 of the plant is not viviparous. Another name given to it is multifi- 

 dum, also obj actional, as a multifid form of the frond does exist, as 

 this specimen shows, resembling in its characters those multifid forms 

 of other ferns to which I just now drew attention. The only analogue 

 recorded of this is a form of Lastrea Filix-mas, to which the same 

 name (furcatum) has been given. I should mention that A. Filix- 

 foemina, \ax. furcatum, has been also found in Wicklow. We next 

 in order come to the variety of Polystichum lobatum, to which the 

 name of lonchitidioides has been given, on account of its resemblance 

 to the holly-?eaved shield fern (P. Lonchitis). The plants I obtained 

 at Curraghclune Arthur, near Feacle, county Clare, during last Au- 

 gust. When cultivated, it is said to resume its original form. It has 

 been recorded as growing at Malone, in Ulster ; and I have seen 

 specimens of it sent from Carlow, as Lonchitis, but whether wild 

 or garden specimens I cannot say. It is at once distinguished from 

 Lonchitis, by the bipinnate character of the lower pinnae. The fronds 

 are fertile. It is very common in some parts of Scotland. 1 also 

 show you an analogous state of P. angulare, from the neighbourhood 

 of Bray, and a form as yet« unnoticed, though I have met with it in 

 many parts of the country. In conclusion, I beg leave again to bring 

 before your Society this variety of Polystichum angulare, exhibited 

 before you last session, and to which I then gave the name of vivipa- 

 rum, owing to its producing gemmae in the axils of the pinnules. 

 This is before you now, to show the autumnal fronds, which differ 

 greatly, in their characters, from those produced in the spring, more 

 nearly approaching the character of the typical form. I also beg to 

 submit to you a series of fronds, taken from the plant during each of 

 the years it has been under cultivation, showing you how well the 

 original characters have been preserved ever since." 



Dr. Allman, in making some remarks on Mr. Kinahan's paper, 

 referred to the recent discoveries of Count Suminski, concerning the 

 reproductive system of the ferns, and believed that much interest 

 would result from a comparison of the plants produced from the gem- 

 mae described by Mr. Kinahan, in one of the varieties exhibited by 

 him, with those resulting from the germination of the spores. Dr. 

 Allman was, however, of opinion that the spores borne upon the backs 



