﻿12 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



after all, rather spore-like in origin ; in the other they 

 grow from some marginal cell of the frond. Apos- 

 pory must not, however, be confused with ordinary re- 

 production by adventitious buds, such as may be seen 

 on the walking fern and many others. Of the same 

 general nature are the bulblets of Cystopteris bulbifera 

 and Lycopodhnn lucidulum. The stolons of the ostrich 

 fern, the bracken and the sword ferns are mere 

 branches that rooting at their tips, form new plants. 



RARE FORMS OF FERNS.-VI. 



A Cut-Leaved Crest Fern. 



The description which D. C. Eaton drew up for the 

 form of Nephrodium cristatum which he named Clin- 

 tonianum neither fits his illustration of that form nor 

 agrees with the specimens that have subsequently been 

 referred to it. He describes the pinnules as ''linear- 

 oblong, obtuse, serrate or cut-toothed, the basal ones 

 sometimes pinnately lobed." It is rare, indeed, to 

 find specimens with the cutting of the pinnules extend- 

 ing beyond what would be pronounced serrate while 

 in many specimens the outline can hardly be character- 

 ized by any word that suggests a tooth-like edge. In 

 some handsome specimens which Air. W. A. Poyser 

 recently sent me for examination, however, the de- 

 scription is fully met for in these the pinnules certainly 

 are well described as cut-toothed. As will be seen 

 from our illustration of a single middle pinna the cut- 

 ting follows the general rule for such features and con- 

 sists in a deepening into lobes of the serratures that are 

 found on normal pinnae. The effect upon the appear- 

 ance of the whole frond is to give it a very striking 

 and beautiful outline. 



Since it is desirable to have a name to characterize 



