I 29 



different from the rest, and resembling a forked hair of a 

 yellowish colour. The little plant developed very slowly, 

 retaining the yellow colour, but seemed too slender and 

 meagre for a pulcherrimum. 



As soon as the fronds were an inch long they were seen 

 to have a curious flexuose character, the rachis, and the 

 green midribs and veins stood out prominently against the 

 yellow background. It was not until this stage was 

 reached that I noticed the one-sided character of the 

 crown and the spinulose, up-turned teeth, and it dawned 

 upon me that this was not a Polystichum at all, but 

 Lastrea spimdosa, presumably the result of a stray spore 

 from my sowing of several years previously, though where 

 the spore could have lodged in the interval was a mystery. 

 A still greater mystery was that it should have taken on a 

 more or less variegated character, and should have chosen, 

 for a nest, the pot in which spores of a variegated fern had 

 been sown. The late Mr. Wollaston had an idea that 

 variegation was an infectious disease, communicable by 

 proximity to other plants, and even to other species, but 

 that the spores of a variegated fern should communicate the 

 character to another species without themselves producing 

 variegated offspring is rather too tough a proposition ! 

 Personally, I have never believed in the infection theory, 

 although I think that peculiarities of soil may bring about 

 a temporary change of colour. In any case, the plant is 

 still here and still retains a kind of variegation, though not 

 a very distinct one. A week or two ago I noticed a few 

 sori upon one or two of the fronds, and upon examining 

 them with a strong lens I found them all devoid of any 

 trace of indusium, thus making the plant a Polypodium 

 according to a certain school of botanists. That reminds 

 me of another head for my discourse. 



(5) In 1913 I found near Totnes a small plant of a 

 brachiate form of P. angulare. This "went blind " during. 



