THE FERN BULLETIN 



49 



quite unusual. It is but a step from auritum to hasta- 

 tum (fig. 3) where the tendency to produce lobes has 

 been manifested on both sides of the lower pinnae. 

 This is one of the commonest variations of the poly- 

 pody and is so well marked that it really ought to be 

 considered the only form worth a name the others be- 

 ing mere immature varieties of it. Our middle figure 

 approaches the form deltoideum of Gilbert. It ap- 

 pears to be merely a shorter and broader hast at u m. 

 When most distinct it has a longer tapering tip but 

 this would seem to depend somewhat upon how much 

 of the strength of the plant goes into the basal pinnae. 

 A full account of all the varieties of the polypody in 

 America appeared in this magazine for April, 1906. 

 and illustrations of various curious forms were pub- 

 lished in American Botanist for September 1903. 

 —IV. N. C. 



THE NAMING OF FERN VARIETIES. 



The question of how to name mere forms of ferns 

 has always been a perplexing one. By "mere forms" 

 we do not now refer to wild specimens which may or 

 may not have a permanent character, but rather to 

 those plants bred up by dealers and amateurs for some 

 striking or bizarre abnormality, such as crested or 

 forking fronds. In America it has been customary to 

 name these plants exactly as if they were legitimate 

 species and in recent years we have had more 

 Nephrolepis "species" odded to our lists than the wide 

 world ever contained. In selecting the name by which 

 each form is to be known, we have exhibited equally 

 bad taste, naming the plants for the discoverer or for 

 the place in which they were found. European fern 

 students apparently have a better way and seem to be 



