332 



777^ BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



S. Y. Malcomsoniae — Mal-com-son'-i-a3 (Miss Malcomson's), Stansjield. 



A fine form, originally found at Clonmel by the lady to whom it is 

 dedicated. The normal part of its fronds is divided into two parts at the 

 base, and about 2in. below the summit they branch again into a large, nearly 



circular head ; they become narrower 

 near the summit of each tip and then 

 expand into a large, dense, hand-like 

 head, with narrow lacerations. — Lowe, 

 Our Native Ferns, ii., fig. 768. 



S. Y. marginatum — mar-gin-a'-tum 

 (edged), Moore. 

 It may appear strange that such a 

 distinct and singular form should have 

 been found in so many localities ; but, 

 according to Lowe, it was first dis- 

 covered at Nettlecombe, then near Sel- 

 worthy, in Somerset ; at Ilfracombe and 

 Combe Martin, Devon ; at Enys, Penryn, 

 Cornwall ; at Littlehampton-, Sussex ; at 

 Stroud, Gloucestershire ; at Grassington, 

 Yorkshire ; in the Isle of Wight, and 

 in Guernsey. Its erect fronds, about 

 Ift. long and lin. in breadth, are of 

 a very thick texture and dark green in colour ; their margins are a little 

 wavy and lobed, the lobes being blunt-toothed. On the under- surface, nearly 

 parallel with the midrib, but somewhat nearer to the margin, are two skin-like 

 lines, which, in fertile fronds, break up into ragged, projecting points Jin. long, 

 rather closely set and spore-bearing ; the fertile parts are on and outside of 

 these lines only. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., fig. 609. Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, iii., p. 394. Druery, Choice British Ferns, p. 140. 



Of the numerous sub -varieties of S. v. marginatum in cultivation, the 

 most distinct are : marginato-irregulare, marginato-multiceps, and marginato- 

 multifidum, of Moore ; marginato-laceratum, of Clapham ; marginato-triforme, 

 of Padley ; and S. v. m. tenue is a garden name for S. v. jim,briatum. 



Fig. 94. Frond of Scolopendrium vulgare lato-digitatum 

 (i nat. size). 



