174 FERN GROWING 



of wild varieties ; in some of these being accompanied by the 

 author. He was widely known and justly esteemed by Fern 

 cultivators, and added much to his collection by exchanging 

 plants. 



When the author sent a petition to the Board of Works 

 asking for a Fernery to be constructed at the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, in order that a National Collection might be formed, 

 Colonel Jones was one of those who not only appended his 

 signature, but after the Fernery had been made sent a 

 number of his varieties to Kew. 



The Ferns more especially associated with Colonel Jones 

 are Asplenium Filix-fcemina var. Clarissima ; Aspidiuin 

 aculeatuni var. Abbotics, which he saw in the garden of 

 Mrs. Abbot of Abbots Leigh, near Bristol (who had found 

 it) ; and Nephrodium csmulum-cristatum, which he raised from 

 spores from a frond given to him by the late Mr. Gill of 

 Lynton ; but his greatest achievement was in raising (in 

 conjunction with Mr. E. F. Fox) those beautiful plumose 

 varieties of Aspidium angulare known as plumoso-divisilobum 

 vars. laxum, robustum, and densum, raised from decompositum- 

 splendens (a variety that had been found by Mr. James 

 Moly). The first-mentioned Clarissima is a most delicately 

 beautiful variety of the Lady Fern ; it was found in North 

 Devon in 1868 by Mr. Moule, and the plant was secured by 

 Colonel Jones, who gave it the above name, saying it was 

 named after his wife, "the Clara of all Claras." 



A few years before Colonel Jones's death he presented 

 the bulk of his collection of Ferns to the Clifton Zoological 

 Gardens, where they are now, carefully tended by Mr. 

 Harris (the head gardener), under the superintendence of the 

 author. It is a grand collection, and a valuable addition to 

 the attractions of Clifton. 



It was not till 1884 that Colonel Jones commenced 

 repeating the author's experiments as regards multiple 



