FERN CONFERENCE. 



527 



densely covered at their bases by golden-yellow scales. In 

 spring, when growth is commencing, this is particularly notice- 

 able. The varieties worthy of mention among the many that 

 are now in cultivation are Bamesii, a fine, tall-growing kind ; 

 fluctuosa or crispatissima, compact in habit, with very crimpy 

 fronds ; grandiceps, bearing heavy crests and forming immense 

 clumps ; cristata, a handsome variety, its fronds regular in shape, 

 with crests along each side and at the point ; cristata angustata, 

 a narrow-fronded, crested form ; the very handsome fimbriata 

 cristata, remarkably distinct ; ramosissima, exceedingly pretty 

 branched, crested, and compact in habit ; and Lastrea propinqiia 

 cristata Bamesii, also very distinct and handsome. 



Lastrea Oreopteris or montana, the mountain Buckler Fern, 

 is a pretty species, while its varieties, Bamesii with narrow 

 fronds, cristata, and particularly coronans and ramo-coronans, 

 are distinct, the latter being very beautiful. 



Lastrea cemula, the Hay-scented Fern, and its variety cris- 

 tata are very pretty Ferns. 



Osmunda rcgalis is one of the most noble of hardy Ferns, 

 and is well named the Royal Fern. In some places this species 

 may be seen in immense clumps, 6 to 8 feet high or more, its 

 spikes of spore- cases developed at the tips of the fronds giving 

 the plant a peculiar appearance and gaining for it the common 

 name of" the Flowering Fern." There is a very handsome crested 

 variety, usually lighter in colour and more graceful in habit, 

 which under favourable conditions makes a beautiful specimen. 



The Oak Fern {Poly podium Dryopteris) and the Beech Fern 

 (P. Phegopteris) are so well known as not to require more than 

 passing notice, the former, however, deserving an extra note of 

 praise for its lovely pale green foliage, carpeting the ground 

 where it grows. 



The varieties of Polypodium vulgare deserving notice are 

 numerous. Among them there are cambricum, with its deeply 

 cut leafy pinnules, and the even more handsome cambricum 

 Prestonii ; semilacerum with its deeply lacerated fronds ; omni- 

 lacerum, finely serrated; pxilclierrimum, very lovely; bifidum. 

 bifiditm-cristatum, cristatum, and multifido-cristatum, all crested ; 

 grandiceps, heavily crested ; the finely cut elegantissimum ; the 

 still finer comubiense Foivlerii, and the selected form of this, 

 the most beautiful trichomanoides. 



