FERN GROWING 7 



due to the keen eye and sound judgment of Wollaston for 

 having shown us their distinctive characters. 



These are the only changes that have been made, and 

 in order that no confusion may result to those to whom 

 the old names have become familiar, they have each been 

 headed with the name of the subsection. 



In arranging the different varieties in classes, it must be 

 remembered that by wild finds, or by crossing two varieties, 

 we must obtain forms that have characters midway between 

 two classes. As example, taking the Lady Fern, if by crossing 

 the lax uncum with cruciatum we obtain a variety that is a 

 cruciate tmcuTn, or if we cross corymbiferum with cruciatum, 

 we obtain a cruciatum, with crested tips to the pinnae, it will 

 be apparent that in the first example the variety may be 

 with equal propriety placed in the class cruciatum, or in uncum, 

 and in the latter either in corym,biferum, or uncum,. It seems, 

 however, more natural that a crested Fern should be classed 

 with crested Ferns, no matter how nearly it copies another 

 class, and that a cruciate Fern should in like manner be 

 placed amongst the cruciate Ferns ; and if we do not draw a 

 hard and fast line such Ferns would take an unnecessary 

 amount of time in hunting them in several classes. It is 

 therefore to be understood that all Ferns that are ramose 

 will be placed under ramosum (or branched Ferns), all crested 

 Ferns under the section for crested Ferns, all capitate (those 

 having a terminal head broader than the frond) in the 

 grandiceps class, and all that are cruciate, even the when 

 characters are those of two or three parents, will be found 

 amongst- the cruciatums. An exception to this rule will be 

 those that are variegated, for it is obvious that there may be 

 variegated Ferns in any of the classes, and it would be doing 

 away with a very distinctive class if they were otherwise 

 arranged ; whilst a second exception, which is almost a con- 

 tradiction to what has just been said, will be where in the 



