VARIEGATED AND CRESTED FERNS. 



37 



prolific in the production of variegated forms of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous 

 plants in Europe, should act so very sparingly with regard to Ferns as to 

 leave positively no record of regularly - variegated species and varieties 

 permanently maintaining that character. Mention has occasionally been made, 

 it is true, of variegated forms of Nephrodium Filix-mas, of Aspidium angulare, 

 and of Scolopcndrrum vuhjare, but none of these have proved constant under 

 cultivation ; neither in these cases is the variegation anything particularly 

 striking, nor does it increase the decorative value of the plants affected by it. 



Among exotic Ferns accidental variegation is also occasionally met with, 

 especially in such genera as Lomaria and Nephrolepis, in which portions of 

 fronds are more or less splashed with white or yellow ; but, notwithstanding- 

 unremitting efforts on the part of specialists to fix these variations, none of 

 them have proved constant. An illustration of the deep interest with which 

 growers regard the fixing of variegation in certain genera may be given here, 

 in connection with the production of a singular form of Adiantum decorum, 

 which originated in Mr. Herbst's nurseries at Richmond, Surrey, in 1874 or 

 1875. The peculiarity of that plant, which had retained the habit and the 

 general characters of the species, consisted in the colouring of the pinnules, 

 most of which in the mature fronds were of a dark green, freely striped with 

 a much lighter colour. This Fern was the object of so much consideration 

 and attention on the part of its owner, that for several years numberless 

 seedlings were raised and grown by him to a size quite sufficient to enable 

 him to ascertain their value ; but, although the variegated character was shared 

 by most of the seedlings, none of these showed it to a degree sufficiently 

 marked to allow of their being distributed as truly variegated plants. Again, 

 in 1871, one really well -variegated form of Adiantum cuneatum made its 

 appearance among the thousands of seedlings annually raised in Messrs. Hugh 

 Low and Co.'s nurseries at Clapton. In this case the variegation was excep- 

 tionally good, the very dark green colour peculiar to the mature fronds of the 

 species being copiously relieved by pure white streaks, which extended to all 

 parts of the little fronds. Unfortunately, that most interesting plant was, 

 through sheer neglect, lost to science and to the floral decorator alike. Instead 

 of being separated during the process of pricking off, three or four seedlings 

 had, as is frequently the case, been allowed to remain together, and one day 

 the plant with the variegated portion in it was found to have disappeared 



