244 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. Y. multifido-cristatum — mul-tif'-id-o-cris-ta'-tum (much cleft and 

 crested), Moore. 



This splendid variety, also found in gardens under the name of grandiceps, 

 is totally distinct from any other form of Polypody. Its marked feature 

 resides in its repeatedly short and leafy forkings, each alternate one crispy, 

 the whole forming a handsome, dense, fiattish or circular crest or tassel, 

 produced at the expense of the leaflets, which are comparatively few—Lowe, 

 Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 25. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., 

 p. 195. Druery, Choice British Ferns, p. 122. 



P. Y. multiforme— mul-tif-or'-me (of many forms), Moore. 



A very large-growing variety, with long-stalked fronds, which are broad, 

 divided and lobed somewhat like the better-known semilacerum, but differing 

 from that variety in being irregular and in having a horn-like projection of 

 the midrib of many of the abruptly-ending leaflets, which are deeply notched, 

 such fronds appearing as if the upper part had been suddenly stopped in 

 growth or broken out. This variety is extremely variable in size and form ; 

 it was originally found at Windermere, and subsequently in County Cork, and 

 in Wass Woods, near Coxwold, Yorkshire. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 26. 



P. Y. obtusum — ob-tu'-sum (blunt), Stansjield. 



A pretty, small-fronded variety, found simultaneously in North Wales 

 and in Devonshire. It is distinguished by the rounded edges of the leaflets, 

 which are very blunt. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 27. 



P. Y. omnilacerum — om-nil-ac'-er-uin '(wholly torn), Moore. 



This very elegant and distinct variety, originally found near Goodrich 

 Castle, Ross, Herefordshire, is somewhat like P. v. cambricum, from which, 

 however, it essentially differs in being at all times fertile. It is nearly 

 upright in habit, and its fronds, 1ft. to ljft. long, are provided with 

 leaflets narrowish at the base, widening towards the middle, and tapering 

 beyond. These leaflets are deeply cut into rather narrow, often much 

 attenuated, sharp lobes, which, towards the centre of the leaflets, are often 

 much jagged, particularly from the lower margin. Usually the fronds are 

 considerably longer than those of P. v. cambricum, the leaflets having their 



