1889-90.] 223 



Phillips, entititled " A Gossip about British Ferns and their 

 Varieties, with notices of local finds ; with illustrations." The 

 Chairman, in his introductory remarks, referred to the long- 

 continued and earnest way in which Mr. Phillips had worked 

 at this most attractive department of botany, and the well- 

 recognised position which, as a result, he now occupied of being 

 one of the foremost British authorities on that subject. 



Mr. Phillips, on being called upon, said — In the Proceedings 

 of the Club for 1885-86 appears an appendix, entitled " The 

 Ferns of Ulster," by W. H. Phillips and R. Lloyd Praeger. In 

 this list an attempt has been made to put in a permanent form 

 as much information as was possible to be obtained of all the 

 species of British ferns that had been found in Ulster, their 

 localities, and first finders. Besides this we gave lists of all the 

 varieties which had been found by ourselves and others, as far 

 we could get information. As compared with any similar lists 

 published elsewhere, it shows a good record of work done in this 

 province, but unfortunately by a very few people, our own 

 names occurring conspicuously, not from our wish to monopolise 

 everything, but from the absence of other workers in this field 

 of botany, the few varieties found by others being more the 

 result of accident than the reward of careful search. Out of the 

 46 species of ferns indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, 

 Ireland yields 32 species and the province of Ulster 31. The 

 varieties we record number over 150, of which Polystichum 

 angular e is credited with 55, and Athyrium with 30. It 

 occurred to me that a paper on these varieties, with illustrations 

 of local finds, would be of interest to the Club. In compiling 

 this list we were struck with the almost complete absence of any 

 records of finds by bona fide working men. In Ireland working 

 men do not take any interest in ferns, either as hunters or 

 cultivators. With them all kinds are alike — brackens. The 

 working men in England are largely members of geological 

 and botanical societies. Many of them have been both finders 

 and cultivators of ferns. Many of the best forms have been the 

 results of their hunting when on holiday excursions. 



