*95 



Mr. Lowe's British Ferns, a descriptive list published in 

 1891, may be appropriately quoted. 



Pteris aquilina 



Adiantum capillus- Veneris .. 

 Asplenium adiantum nigrum., 

 trichomanes 

 maximum 

 Athvrium filix-foemina 

 Scolopendrium vulgare 

 Polystichum aculeatum 



angulare 

 Lastrea filix-mas 



pseudo-mas .. 



propinqua 



montana (oreopteris) 



dilatata and others . . 

 Polypodium vulgare 

 Other varieties of sundry species 



Total 



No. of vars. 



17 



34 



16 



27 



28 

 3*3 

 45^ 



34 

 394 



54 



42 



28 



77 



57 



74 



214 



Upon analysis it is found that 1,119 of these were wild 

 finds, without reckoning additional independent finds of 

 forms too similar to differentiate. Tnis list cannot be 

 regarded as exhaustive, and we may safely reckon the 

 distinct varieties at over 2,000, and the wild finds at 1,500. 

 As a concrete example of what one man cin do in a single 

 district, Mr. J. Moly, of Langmoor in Dorset, is credited 

 with no less than 600 distinct finds in that and adjoining 

 counties. His near neighbour, Dr. Wills at Chard, found 

 several hundred more. The numbers, however, represent 

 the outcome of many years of persistent search, which, 

 however, could not have been exhaustive, as it is recorded 

 that Mr. Patey, visiting Mr. Moly, found one of the finest 

 of all types (P. ang. plumosum Patey) in Mr. Moly's own 

 hedge, while Dr. Wills was indebted to a farm labourer 

 for that unique fern P. ac. pulcherrimum, also found in a 



