236 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



British Ferns, and who has most carefully studied their varied wants, truly 

 remarks, "No Ferns are more patient of neglect than the Polypodium 

 vulgare, though the cultivator will hardly be tempted to neglect it, or any 

 of its most beautiful varieties, which are perhaps the freest-growing. They 

 all particularly delight in the decaying trunks of old trees, so that in forming 

 a rockery, either in or out of doors, it is well to introduce some old stumps 

 for the purpose of fixing the rhizomes upon them, and filling the crevices 

 with a compost of fibrous peat, leaf-mould, and silver sand. In order to help 

 the establishing of the Ferns, which should be planted in close proximity to 

 some decaying wood, they should be securely fastened to the ground with 

 wooden pins in the first instance, taking care that .the spot where they are 

 planted be thoroughly drained. In the greenhouse they also thrive equally 

 well in shallow pots or pans filled with the same compost, provided that 

 these be well drained." 



P. vulgare and its varieties are usually propagated by division, which 

 may be done at almost any time of the year, though spring is the most 

 suitable season. 



The Common Polypody is given to variation to such an extent that in 

 Mr. P. Neill Fraser's list, published in 1865, over sixty forms are enumerated, 

 some of which, it is to be feared and regretted, have now completely 

 disappeared from collections. Some of the varieties differ from the species 

 only through the crested character of the fronds, which in most cases attain 

 a greater development than those of the typical plant ; other varieties are 

 rendered more or less distinct by the notched nature of their leaflets or by 

 the plumose appearance of their fronds ; while others, on account of their 

 fronds becoming decompound (much divided), are so unlike those of the 

 typical plant as to require the knowledge of the botanist to point out that 

 all these widely -different forms are really related to P. vulgare. The most 

 distinct varieties are here described : 



P. Y. acutum — ac-u'-tum (sharp -pointed), Moore. 



This variety, originally found at Hartley Mandit, near Alton, Hants, and 

 subsequently on rocks in North Wales, in the meadows near Maiden and Ewell, 

 Surrey, and in Cobham Park, Kent, differs from the normal species only in 

 the tips of the leaflets tapering into a long, sharp point. When in its 



