September 21, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



721 



ASTER SATURN- 



Prominent in the large and exc^dingly 



of ha rdy flo we r s ex - 

 Bnnyard and Co. at 



beautiful collection 

 hibited by Messrs. G 

 the meeting of the^ Royal Horticultural So- 

 cietv held on the 10th inst., was the hand- 

 some Aster Saturn, of which an illustra- 

 tion is given herewith. Tliis fine addition 

 to the Michaelmas daisies originated in 

 the nurseries of the firm, and is equally 

 deserving of attention for its robust 

 growth, free-branching habit, and abun- 

 dant production of flowers. The portion 

 illustrated is but a small spray, and that 

 reduced in reproduction, and those who 

 are familiar with the Michaelmas daisies 

 will have no difficulty in understanding 

 that a bushy specimen bearing a crowd of 

 such sprays must present a highly attrac- 

 tive appearance throughout the season of 

 flowering. The flowers are mostly semi- 

 double, about one and a-half inches 

 in diameter, while the colour is very pleas- 

 ing, and may, perhaps, he best described 

 as lavender-blue. Apart from its merit, 

 this aster is of special interest, as evidence 

 that Messrs. G. Bunyard and Co. do not 

 devote the whole of their attention to fruits 

 and fruit trees as might be assumed from 

 the success they have achieved in connec- 

 tion therewith. So far from this being the 

 case, they have had for many years past a 

 collection of perennials so extensive and 

 meritorious that, w^ere it not for the over- 

 powering influence of their culture of hardy 

 fruits the nurseries w'ould have been re- 

 gardeil as famous for hardy flowers. 



BRITISH FERN 



NOMENCLATURE. 



As the hon. secretary of the British 

 Ptfridological Society, to which reference is 

 made in your leader of Auguist 24 (the annual 

 report of which appears on p. 657 of the same 

 issue), I venture to solicit a little space 

 for a reply to the very kindly and sym- 

 pathetic remarks and suggedtions made in 

 the above connection. I also avail myself of 

 this opportunity of thanking the Gardeners' 

 Magazine for the support to the cult which 

 it has given for the past quarter of a cen- 

 ':'iry at least, and to my efforts to restore to 

 our beautiful native ferns the popularity 

 winch it is now generally recognised they so 

 'Ully merit. I cannot but agree that the 

 names given are in many cases very long 

 ones, but it must be conceded that if a de- 

 scriptive name can be given to a plant, it 

 must perforce be better than a purely fanci- 

 i, which conveys nothing at all without 

 'i<^ aid of the description which accom- 

 panieri It in the florist's catalogue. 



la king the daffodil as the example quoted 

 nough numberless flower^^ are so varied as 

 Z example one of a legion I 



n^r n "^"^ t'^^t t^^re is little or 'no 



para !el lx>tween the cases. With a flower 



hxri -J- virtue of sele<!tion, crossing or 

 nybndising, yields eventually hundreds of 



enni T'/^^^*^^^''^^^^ '^y often small differ- 

 nc^\? and size, which it is im- 



C ^^^'^'^ beyond a certain limit, 



iriPvif personal, local, or other, must 



fern •+ ^ be adopted, but with our native 

 alnnl • '^J"^^ remembexed that they stand 

 ori^f/+ ^'^'^^ t^^at all ^li« varieties have 

 time f ?i ^^^^ sports, which at the 



titled t I ^'^covery, were certainly en 

 lin^ to be descriptively named on botanicai 

 iVrn • ^"^ referred to the botanist or 



inplv'^l^f ■ *1^* w^'re treated accord- 



it J. to this that we inherit, as 



1 



oxt^«f ; varietal names thus given to the 

 n-arK f '^^o^y<,\•, list as an example, of 



^eWf r tl'otisand. As time went on by 



and H " spores of these w; 



thei. J"" f"'"?eny, other varieties a 

 Paro "'^tiuftive diffeivnce^ fr<. 

 par^l'l', indicated bv additions to the 



v^3nl Tlie rosiilt. 1 admit, is in 



- fases cumbrous, but it ics not to be 



by 



Wild plants 

 arose, and 



tluMr 



forgotten that this is partly due to the fact 

 that the specific names themselves are often 

 lengthy, such as Polyotichum angulare, P. 

 aculeatum, Athyrium filix-foemina, and 

 others, and hence when these are cut down 

 to P. ang., P. acul., and A. f . f. much of the 

 evil disappears. Mr. Lowe did an immense 

 service to the cult by dividing the varieties 

 of the moro variable species into sections, 

 each embracing a predominant character, and 

 in practice th's greatly facilitated naming 

 on dte6cri|ptive lines. Personally I liaVe 

 found that new dii,>cip>s to the cult find 

 little difficulty in grasping these principles, 

 and I have never come across one who has 

 been frightened away by the names when 

 once he or she, as the ease may be, has ob- 

 tained a few fine varieties, and thus acquired 

 a visual acquaintance with their charms. 



appears entirely, or becomes so unimportant, 

 in comparison with the plants concerned, as 

 to be Ignored; while, as I h^ve indicated, 

 those of the public who are content to see 

 their gardens decorated with fine varieties 

 without taking up the cult as a hobby, can 

 quite well do so by using the common names 

 of the speciee when giving their orders. 



I may say, on behalf of the society with 

 which I am associated, that it is our earnest 

 desire to simplify names, as far as possible, 

 but we cannot see our way to the adoption 

 of the daffodil style of nomenclature, which 

 conveys usually nothing but compliments to 

 those whope personal names are given to the 

 plants, and thus loses all scientific interest. 

 Another point is that the term garden 

 varieties" is most inappropriately applied to 

 the large number of our native fern forme 



J 



ij- 



■ ^' I" 



- - r 



m 



ASTER SATUBN. 



Flowers semi-double, lavender-blue. 



Introduced 

 Maidstone. 



by Messrs. 



G. Bunyard and 



Co., 



Furthermore, for the beginner there exists 

 sufficient simple English names for ln> 

 guidance; let liim send an order to one of the 

 trade for' a selection, say, of frilled and tas- 

 selled or crested hartstongues, plumose, and 

 tasselkd ladv ferns, tasselled male feins. 

 and plumose" and tasselled shield ferns, 

 and I am perfectly sure that the at- 

 tachment thereto of lal^els bearing the 

 accepted Latin names will form no 

 handicap to his admiration. Moreover, 

 even the Latin names are mostly so indica- 

 tive of tlie English ones- congesta, cnstata, 

 minur.. etc., etc., as to be easily interpreted 

 and speedily learnt. In short, my experience 

 has taught"^me that once a taste for the cult 

 has l>een acquired, the name difficulty dis- 



perfectly wild 

 foundation of 



which liave originated as 

 *' -|)(H t>.'" and form the 

 the cult; in daffodils and other flowerts this 

 peculiar factor is non-existent, and no true 

 tVrn-lover could agree to rechristen such 

 "sports" with commonplace names of per- 

 sons, places, etc. "We have inherited them, 

 and must retain them as the basis of our 

 nomenelature. 



One ])oint which the society has adopted 

 nowaday-^ is to refuse to name any but such 

 forms a.s ai'e distinct iinpi'nv<M7HMits and per- 

 fect in make In old (iay> the im st imper- 

 fect, irregular, and inconstant tyj>es were 

 christened, regardle-s of inerit ; these are 

 now i<»;nonMl. 



( HAS. T. Drvkry, V.M.H., F L.S. 



