THE FERX BULLETIN 



123 



publications. The twenty-four pages of the first num- 

 ber are taken up entirely by various articles of its 

 editor, and shadows forth the peculiar British bias re- 

 garding ferns, in that it deals almost exclusively with 

 abnormal forms. In subsequent numbers we are 

 promised articles from other contributors though 

 the present one is well worth the reading as 

 the titles of such articles as "Our Native 

 Ferns," "The Life History of a Fern" and 

 "Fern Hunting Episodes" will indicate. We have 

 looked through the edition in vain for a statement of 

 the price of subscription, but we assume that it may be 

 somewhere near a dollar a year since the publication 

 is sent free to members of the British Pteridological 

 Society who pay annual dues of five shillings. We 

 are not advised as to whether sample copies will be 

 sent or not, but those who are inclined to investigate 

 the matter should address the editor at 11 Shaa Road, 

 Acton, London, W., England. Evidently the magazine 

 is to be strictly a British one for in listing the litera- 

 ture of British ferns no account is made of American 

 w T orks that treat of British species and this publication, 

 which has had considerable matter in past volumes re- 

 lating to British ferns, is not even mentioned. 



* * * 



Not so long ago, a fern hybrid was considered to 

 have only a mythological existence and Dr. Under- 

 wood is on record as insisting that Asplenhim eben- 

 oidcs is not a hybrid but a distinct species. The pro- 

 duction of this form by the crossing of Asplenhim 

 ebeneum and Camptosorus rhizophyllns showed how 

 wide of the mark the opinion of even an eminent fern 

 student may be, and at the same time gave room for 

 the suggestion that many variations of common ferns 



