1 *> 



JO 



than any of its members will ever be able to express — 1 

 ventured to submit four fronds which seemed to me 

 distinct and of merit. 



Not the least of Mr. Druery's many services to the cult 

 of our Native Ferns, and its lovers, is the skill and im- 

 partiality with which he adjudicates upon our " finds " and 

 our seedlings. Earlier in the year I had sent up three 

 specimens ; our Editor was courteous, as he always is, 

 with reference to their points, but he was quite firm in 

 refusing to acknowledge any of them as novelties. All 

 the greater, therefore, was my gratification when he pro- 

 nounced in favour of the whole four sent later (Not 

 necessarily as "novelties." — Ed.). 



With his permission I now write a short note on each 

 of these four novelties. 



No. i Mr. Druery speaks of as " certainly a beautiful 

 fern." He names it Polystichum angular e falcato-pinnulum, 

 suggesting that " pendens " should be added if the tendency 

 to curve down at the end, which the pinnae have been 

 showing, should persist. 



How this fern came to me I am unable to explain. It is 

 probably three years old, but its special features did not 

 develop clearly till this season. 



No. 2 is " evidently," according to the Editor, "a form 

 of Athyvium filix fcemina Victoria," and he adds that if it has 

 attained to its full size "it might well be named A. f.f. 

 Victoria nanum." He speaks of it as " very pretty." 



The origin of the fern is interesting, and I think 

 encouraging. Throughout 1910 a small box filled with 

 leaf mould stood in one of my greenhouses. Towards 

 the end of the year a number of seedling ferns appeared. 

 There was a good deal of Cystopteris fragilis — I do not 

 think I possessed a single plant of this species at that 

 time — there were some good Polystichums of the Divisi- 

 lobum type, but the gem of the collection was the 



