i8o 



figure, and I have in my garden a plant found by the late 

 Mr. Barnes (L.f. mas incisa, Barnes), which is quite as distinct 

 as either pseudo-mas or pvopinqua, and which, if it were 

 found wild in the same profusion, would be quite as much 

 entitled to rank as a sub-species as either of them. It 

 must be regarded, I think, as a variety, to be distinguished 

 from a sub-species only by its, hitherto, smaller power of 

 colonization. 



What, then, about the " horticultural" varieties in 

 which we, as fern-growers, are particularly interested ? 

 They are, in most cases, quite as distinct as the 

 "botanical" varieties, and, indeed, often much more so; 

 they are capable, in most cases, of reproducing themselves 

 fairly truly from spores. What, then, is the bar to their 

 ranking as varieties proper in the botanical sens3 ? It is 

 that they are found wild mostly as isolated individuals, and 

 not in considerable colonies. Poly podium v. semilacerum, 

 which is frequent in the West of Ireland and fairly so in 

 some parts of England, is often recognised as a variety by 

 those who would deny the title to the quite equally 

 distinct, but not equally common, P. v. cvistatum ; and we 

 know that P. Cambrkum was described as a species by 

 Linnaeus, although it is devoid of one of the essential 

 parts of a fern (i.e. fructification), and is therefore in- 

 capable of reproducing itself from spores. It must be 

 admitted that there is some ground for the term of abuse 

 " monstrosity," which has been so indiscriminately applied 

 to horticultural varieties, inasmuch as in the early days of 

 fern collecting many depauperations and deformities were 

 gathered, propagated, and named. The British Pterido- 

 logical Society has, however, since its foundation, set its 

 face against the naming and perpetuation of mere ugliness. 

 If the word " monstrosity " could be restricted to those 

 forms which are less beautiful than the parent species, it 

 would have a useful application, but I imagine that but 



