92 



six or eight inches high. And last, but not least by any 

 means, there is that extraordinary form, A. f.f. uncoglo- 

 meratnm of Stansfield, which forms with its fronds a 

 spherical ball of infinite division like a ball of minutely 

 cut Selaginella apoda, a fern absolutely without a parallel, 

 some eight or nine inches high at the outside. 



Among the Shield Ferns, again, the same extremes 

 occur, but in fewer number, feet being reduced to inches. 

 Polystichum aculeatum congestum Lyelli, a dense-growing 

 dwarf, is a gem. P. a. parvissimum is wrongly named, since 

 it is much larger, reaching nearly a foot, and P. a. con- 

 gestum is dense, and short in stature. These are the only 

 dwarfs we can quote in this species. 



In the Hartstongues, perhaps the most eccentric of all 

 ferns, we have Scolopendvium vulgare spirale, a bunch of 

 thick little corkscrews, as it were, and from this and others 

 Mr. Lowe raised a host of dwarfs, muricate, rugose and 

 sculpturate, i.e. roughed in various ways on the surface, 

 and also forked and crested ; but few, if any, of these are 

 in the market. Then there is the little moss-like form 

 known S. v. densum Kelway, three inches high, and as wide 

 across as the mass is permitted to grow. This forms first 

 a mossy boss, and then produces young plants all over the 

 edges, piling itself up with its offspring. This, too, must 

 not be watered overhead, and is best under a bell-glass. 

 The much-branched and crested varieties, 5. v. Kelwayi 

 (parent of the last), 5. v. Coolingi, S. v. Baxter, S. v. 

 Wardi, and 5. v. Cousensi all form balls of frondage. The 

 last is the best, and all have bulbils on the frond edges, by 

 which they may be propagated. In the Hard Fern, Blech- 

 num spicant, many of the varieties are small enough under 

 culture to suit limited space, but the only two really dwarf 

 forms are B. s. Maunderi, a mass of cresting, and B. s. 

 cvispissimmn Hartley, a tiny congested edition of the normal, 

 with two-inch to three-inch fronds. 



