I50 FERN GROWING 



tum-splendens ; and the plant is not bulbiferous, nor does it pro- 

 duce varieties like the plumoso-divisilobum. A somewhat similar 

 variety has been found in Ireland, in County Down, by Mr. W. 

 H. Phillips. However, the true or original decompositum- 

 splendens was found by Mr. James Moly of Langmoor, Char- 

 mouth, in one of his tours into South Devon in 1875, and it 

 received this name from Mr. G. B. Wollaston. Colonel Jones 

 gathered spores from this plant in Mr. Moly's garden, and these 

 were sown in 1878 by Mr. E. F. Fox, though the latter was not 

 aware till long afterwards that they were not from Colonel Jones' 

 seedling. The anomalous character of the seedlings raised from 

 these spores was so marked that Mr. Fox was unwilling to 

 credit decompositum-splendens with being the parent. Colonel 

 Jones therefore made a special visit to Mr. Moly for additional 

 spores, and was at the same time presented with a division of 

 the plant, which is now in the Martin-Atkins Fernery in Pem- 

 broke Road, Clifton. In 1892 Mr. Moly's plant produced a 

 bulbil, which he presented to the author, and this accounts for 

 the seedlings of decompositum-splendens being more or less 

 bulbiferous. 



The second sowing of these spores by Mr. Fox confirmed 

 the fact that the former anomalous seedlings owed their paren- 

 tage to his decompositum-splendens. Amongst the first seedlings 

 were three somewhat similar in character, yet distinct from each 

 other ; these Colonel Jones named plumoso-divisilobum laxum, 

 plumoso-divisilobum robustum, and plumoso-divisilobum. densum., 

 all very fine varieties, the last-mentioned being the most beauti- 

 ful, in fact as beautiful as Todea superba. They are all sterile, 

 and require propagating by bulbils or divisions, the latter being 

 a very slow process. As regards the propagation by bulbils, the 

 one known as plumoso-divisilobum densum. has bulbils that produce 

 very different varieties to the parent. Colonel Jones raised two 

 plants from bulbils in 1886, and in 1888 gave one to the author, 

 and the other to Mr. John Loraine Baldwin. They were not 



