520 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



branched, the first bifurcation usually beginning near the base, and each 

 branch ending in an elegant little crest. We have never seen it in 

 fructification or heard of its being fertile, but it is readily propagated 

 by division of the crowns, which are of a dense and tufted character. 



N. F.-m. Schofieldii— Scho-field'-i-i (Schofield's), Sim. 



A pretty, distinct, and really pigmy variety, originally found near 

 Buxton, in Derbyshire. Its fronds, Sin. to 6in. long, are very variable in 

 outline, sometimes symmetrical, simply pinnate (once divided to the midrib), 

 and terminating in a crispy, outspread tuft ; more frequently unsymmetrical 

 (irregular) in their development and multifid (much-cleft) at their summit ; 

 or occasionally branching from the stalk or from the lower portion of the 

 frond. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 216 ; New and Rare Ferns, t. 11. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 441. 



N. F.-m. Scottii— Scot'-ti-i (Scott's), Lowe. 



This singular variety, originally found near Swansea, in South Wales, 

 possesses a curious appearance, produced by the leafy character of its fronds, 

 which are about l^ft. long, 5in. broad, and furnished with leaflets closely set 

 and overlapping each other. One half of these leaflets are branched, and all 

 are more or less irregular ; usually these branching pinnaa have three pairs 

 of opposite pinnules (leafits) at the base, and these are deeply cut and 

 irregular in shape. The extremity of the frond is also branched. — Lowe, 

 Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 223. 



N. F.-m. Willisonii— Wil-lis-on'-i-i (Willison's), Moore. 



An interesting variety, of medium dimensions, originally found near 

 Whitby. Its fronds, of a narrow outline, are furnished with leaflets distantly 

 placed and deeply cleft, the intervals between them being occasionally as 

 much as ^\\\. The pinnules (leafits) are deeply cleft in the same manner, 

 unequal in size, and irregularly toothed. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., t. 31b ; 

 New and Rare Ferns, p. 116. 



N. F.-m. Winstanleyi — Win-stan'-ley-i (Winstanley's), Lowe. 



This elegant and slender variety was raised by Mr. E. J. Lowe from 

 spores of crisiaium, from which it essentially differs in several respects. Its 



