4 6 



colloquy ensued between the gallant Colonel and the 

 captor of the lovely dame, ending happily in a transfer 

 and the subsequent restoration to health of the beautiful 

 prize by her gallant rescuer. Delighted with his acquisi- 

 tion, which proved to be unique and far beyond his 

 expectations, Col. Jones named her in memory of his 

 beloved wife Athyvium filix fcemina Clarissima, and for 

 twenty-one years, until 1889, when, unhappily for the 

 British Fern cult, he died suddenly, she was cherished 

 by him as one of his most valued prizes. So far we 

 have dealt with the discovery on quasi-romantic lines, 

 but it is impracticable to keep up the " lady " metaphor 

 throughout, as the subsequent doings of this wonderful 

 fern will not lend themselves easily to the fiction. 

 Naturally, upon the acquisition of an extra beautiful 

 variety, the first effort of its owner is to propagate it, 

 if possible, through its spores. In this respect Clarissima 

 appeared- at first to be peculiarly gracious, since every 

 season the frond backs were profusely covered with 

 apparent spore heaps. Spores, however, could not be 

 individually detected, and repeated attempts at sowing 

 proved entire failures, not even prothalli being produced. 

 Lateral offsets were also, it would seem, rarely noted, 

 and hence the only practical means of propagation were 

 available at the rare periods when the central crown itself 

 divided, and in time, usually after several years' growth, 

 became safely separable. Clarissima, therefore, as a result 

 perhaps of a determination not to cheapen herself, 

 remained an extremely rare plant, represented only by 

 three or four specimens up to the year 1883, that is 

 fifteen years after its discovery. In that year a division 

 in the hands of the late Mr. G. B. Wollaston produced 

 a profusion of growths on the frond back, which were 

 different, it is now believed, from any previously noticed, 

 since none of a similar form have been since produced. 



