38 FERN GROWING 



that is, those raised from the prothalli direct without the 

 intermediate spore, also vary. (An aposporous plant of Clar- 

 issima* of the Lady Fern shows this.) 



" Even. plants raised from the base of the stipes of plumose 

 Scolopendriums have produced marginal belts." 



Extracts from a second Paper read at the British Association 

 Meeting at Cardiff in 1891, by the Author. 



On Ferns and their Multiple Parents. 



"Colonel Jones and myself read a joint-paper on abnormal 

 Ferns at the Bath Meeting of the British Association, which 

 is printed in full, with illustrations, in the third volume of 

 the 'Annals of Botany.' The present paper is a report on 

 further experiments, and on the surprising discoveries that 

 have resulted. 



"Since 1887 other hybrids have been obtained, and 

 although these hybrids are more or less sterile, a few plants 

 (grandchildren of the original parents) have been raised, and 

 they differ so much from the parent that nearly all resemblance 

 has disappeared. What will be the characters of the great- 

 grandchildren is now in course of proof t It is very different 

 in the case of the offspring of crossed varieties : they are 

 copiously fertile, and when sown alone reproduce their varietal 

 form. Not only have certain forms been imparted to other 

 Ferns, but even variegation, notably so in the Shield Fern 

 and the Hart's-tongue. In the latter, spores from a normal 

 but variegated form were sown thickly with a plumose (or 

 crispum form) and a branching form, and their offspring 

 have become variegated. By sowing a muricate and a plu- 

 mose Hart's-tongue together, muricate-plumose varieties have 



* Named after Clara, Colonel Jones's wife — not a Latin word. 



t 1893. Not sterile, less congested than the grandchildren, some even robust. 



