January 8 



GA RDENERS' MA GAZI NE. 



VARIETAL DEVELOPMENT IN BRITISH FERNS. 



( Concluded from page 1 3 .) 

 - c ^ hv R Mould, of Ilfracombe, a small plant (Athyrium filix- 



"^^iSSSSfl wh£i was destined afterwards to become one of the most 

 f,emina Clanss'ma) wluch w ^ ^ to have thought hlghly of 



famous of var «*J*« l ^ fterwards Colonel, Jones belongs the credit of perceiving 

 his find, ^ijE^JopabUitiea as an ornamental variety ; while to Mr. 

 .nd iM^^ffi first propagating it, and of thereby br.ng.ng to light a 



KKjSS^^^y new and of great lm P° rt5 T e , from St 



botanical P he "°™ e ™ n - a ^ 7 henomenon> t03f which is now seen to be widely 



* n f v ew A Dnenomenon, ioj, wmi.11 » — — • — 



eVOl TrmonS^ evident to those carefully looking for it 



SSgly ^SrnSd you all to look for it, especially among those varieties whi 



I 



which 



strongly "7" - r imperfectly fertile. In the" same year (1868) was 



f^ UP ^ form, which is not so 



Sfk^ Also Polypodium vulgare grandiceps Mti. Fox, 



M £. Wilson's Athyrium filix-foemina rectangulare, and many other notable 



Mrs 

 things. 

 The year 



i860 produced some fine things, one of the most notable being A. f.-f. 

 nlumosVm Wills, perhaps the grandest of the wild-found plumosums It is said 

 £ SS Teen found not so much by Mr, Wills as by his pony, which insisted on 

 X a detour round a piece of waste land and then suddenly stopped dead. On 



doctor casting his eyes to the ground he found he was on a feathery bed (not a 

 r" *w Lli Aliriitimr he severed with his crooked stick a large clump, as much 



featherbed). Alighting 

 as he could lift to the saddle. 



Other good things of this year were Polystichum 

 ■arable perscrrium' Wolkurton, P. a. divisilobum proliferum Bagg (better known 

 as Henley*), P. a. grandiceps Moly.,and Athyrium filix-fcemina multiiidum tenue 



Wilson (a very neat thing). 



In 1870 Mr. Howlett, of Oxford, raised A. f.-f. Kalothrix, the mom refined of 

 all Lady ferns, and, under proper conditions, one of the most delicately beautiful 

 of ferns. The origin of Kalothrix is involved in some mystery ; all that is known 

 being that it was raised from a plumosum which was growing in the Oxford 

 Botanical Gardens. This was supposed to have been traced to a Ilorsfall plumo- 

 sum in the Chelsea Gardens. It is recorded, however, that there is in the 

 Sherardian Herbarium, Oxford Botanical Gardens, a frond of^ Kalothrix, or 

 something very like it, which was gathered in the Mourne mountains many years 

 before Howlett raised his plants. This seems to suggest very strongly that the 

 plumose parent of Kalothrix came from spores of this Mourne mountain plant, 

 seeing that Kalothrix itself produces a percentage of plumose offspring. I intend 

 to try to clear up this point, if possible, the first time I visit Oxford. In the same 

 year was found Mrs. Hodgson's Athyrium filix-foemina subplumosum, of which I 

 have never seen more than a single dried frond, but which struck me as being in 

 the way of Kalothrix and almost equally beautiful. It would be interesting to 

 know whether this plant is still in existence. Among many other good things of 

 1870 may be mentioned Lastrea propinqua cristata Barnes, Polystichum angulare 

 divisilobum cristatum, Ivery, and Lastrea dilitata cristata, gracilis Roberts. This 

 last is very pretty in the young state, but as it attains maturity it is marred by a 

 certain depauperation which destroys its symmetry. If this defect could be eradi- 

 cated from its constitution, this plant would be a really good thing ; but as it is, 

 few people care to grow it. If there were anything in the idea of spores from a 

 particular part of a fern being different in constitution from those of another part, 

 and tending to reproduce the character of the part from which they arise, it 

 ought to be no difficult matter to get rid of the depauperation ; but, though 

 many thousands of seedlings have been raised, the spores of which would 

 presumably be selected from good fronds or parts of fronds, I have never 

 heard of one being raised which was free from the radical defects of the 

 par ? !t - r „ r T . his difficult y in getting rid of defects is a strong testimony to the 

 truth of Weissmann's theory, that the germ plasm is the same in all parts of the 

 plant. r 



Another yery striking find of 1870 was Mr. Stabler's Asplenium trichomanes 

 confluens. This is another of the ferns which have been, by many eminent 

 authorities, regarded as hybrids ; and it is also another case in which this opinion 



in K! 0 ^^ 0 -Ti^IVu^ at U P° n insufficiei * evidence. The chief points 

 emoIelv to tSf " hybrid " theory are the large size of the fern (approximating 



cSac er of % I ^ ™rinum), and its sterility ; perhaps the thick and rigid 

 .rst Doint uf^ ^ b u C °T e 1 aS an ° ther ' but reall y this is P«t of The 



£ S oTtte t£ E? f hC ° th - eT han<3 ' therC i§ n ° thin S ° f the outline and 



my oselv tt w5nn°T c ° nfll * ns - Father, Mr. Barnes examined 



^^^^S^T a * rk wher f co J nfluens was found > but not a lrace 



cies at all K tn l™» S-u^T™ ? A ' adiantum-nigrum, the only other spe- 

 confluen forms of S! l ° iu 9 K>sed h y b »<»sation. Moreover, other 

 TworfiS|^1i?r ie ! r ha J e ^ found by at least four other people. 



*em to b?equall v bL™ ^V^c *£' ^' ies) 1 have seen ' and *ey 

 small when fo3 L^"? Wlth K1 Mr - Stabler's form, and moreover, though 



- en however A. " " 



inch"S) than' Fwr^Z «PPP inches long by an 



» then, it seen«?o ".J ' confluens attaining to There 



of that'of conTu r N q o U on e e\ S e l idenCe ° f < he h y brid °"g 5 " of bdsam « 



t- .0^. " uuc -"s. sso one suggests, hnwwr tViot • _ ■ « . , r 



seen 

 Kobi 



trichomanes 

 to a 



saw 



Stabler's 

 under 



fern in size. I have 

 incisum, under the cultivation of Mr. 

 larger size size (sixteen inches loner 

 or heard of confluens 



!n 1871 Mr. Barnes found SP^ that incisum « * hybrid fern, 



wards raised his CreSted Lastr< ; a montana f from which he after- 



This was the first 



The name cristata was 



I«Hy crested ZSS^^? 3 ^^ and B^keps. 

 ^dert being atS c a ^ h ° f ,der so ^ lled L - Montana cristata found by 

 ll * odd resull ^t^t^t tHa ?, a T Sta u ta> , We have here an ^^ance of 

 yem, Upon which fe n v r r 1etil?™ tbe ba P hazard ^em, or rather want of 



t ? v «> ^ a polydactvlous forr^ L ™T firSt named ' - 



Jjght it c'oufd nTS j^fc^^ * ^ CrCSted form was ^ » was 

 » the fanciful name of SlT ^? 8 h&t name Was alread y in use » and 

 "Press Its character. 1 1 won^H H P en l ?, lt-a name which does not really 

 h^n really crested wWaSS^ ^ the Same had the original cristata 

 t 1 h had n ot SSoS^Stl^ " 1S ' th ° Ugb less P erfect 'y tba * the 



Wha?M T 6 ' d »tinguS?7h2n f P0DS T l °u glV t femS ° f Similar character 

 J« Mr. Barnes did in r g each other b >' *e name uf the tinder. 



™. " ln a, being assisted — ** 0 ana Mr. Glover did the S5»m^ \Jt*r*ir irt Dfa»if 



others. 



Last 



t \^^\^!Tm^t7 r' aS IOUnd J °hn Wilson's exceedingYv 

 lhc cristata 1 * ^ dlstlnct and handsome form quite Sffii 



1 in the rai^inrr K^ mJ^'w M *T , the same year in Pteris 

 year wa S fo2 t \ Mr ' r f a PP lebeck ^ Mr. Forster, and 

 st SLiS !^ J,° h ^ ^ llson s exceedingly fine c/ested 



I n — • — wumoi in habit from 



StS '^St^TJ^^ divaricatum, a fa™ 



. 'wards, 

 developed 



wh n S M r Ver T m H UC , h of at the time.' 



Mr. Tyldsley had 



It was not until some years 

 ' - full 



m s. Another good plant of the vear wa 



size and 

 to the first 

 year was Isaac Hind- 



son s Ptens aquihna congesta, as were also Blechnum spicant trinervium coronans 

 Barnes ; I olypodmm angulare tripinnatum Padley ; and Lastrea paleacea poly, 

 dactyla I>adds In 1873 was found Mr. Moly's Polystichum latifolium, a grand 

 form, which is far too little known and far too little grown. Also P. aculeatum 

 acutilobum Wills, and P. angulare persenatum Patey. In 1874 Mr. Karnes did 

 for I-astrea dilitata what he had previously done for montana, finding a wild fern 

 which was the parent of a series of grand crested varieties. Another prize was 

 Molys Polystichum angulare divisilobum robustum, a grand and noble form, to 

 which justice can only be done in the S.W. A crested form of parsley fern was 

 also *ound. In 1875 came Hadwin's plumose polypody, perhaps the best of the 

 Cambncum section, and Polystichum angulare divisilobum laxum Wills. 



The sensation of 1876 was P. aculeatum pulcherrimum or rather plumosum, as 

 I believe Mr. Wollastoa on second thoughts, and as I believe more correctly, 

 named it. It was found by one John Bevis, a labouring man, who had, as I 

 understand, little if any knowledge of ferns, but whose name will, in consequence 

 of this happy accident, be handed down as the discoverer of one of the grandest 

 ferns ever found. This is a fern absolutely free from faults of any kind, 

 lovely, graceful, and distinct, it is absolutely constant, perfectly symmetrical, ' 

 and a good grower. In its literal sense the name pulcherrimum is not 

 only appropriate but likely to remain so, for it is doubtful whether a more 

 beautiful aculeatum will ever be found or raised. Its analogies are, how- 

 ever, I think, rather with plumosum than with pulcherrimum in angulare. Other 

 good things of the year were Lastrea montana plumosa John Titterington— a very 

 fine form, though afterwards surpassed by Mr. WhitwelPs find in 188—; Poly, 

 podium vulgare cristatum of Clewarth, better known as Forster s cristatum, because 

 Mr. Forster first rescued it from oblivion, and afterwards refound it in its original 

 habitat ; and Blechnum spicant ramo-cristatum, of Maunder— a form not so re- 

 markable in itself as in its offspring, since it produces from spores some forty per 



cent, of densely conglomerate offspring, thereby differing from other similar ramo- 

 cristate forms. 



The year 1877 is famous for the discovery of two very fine Polystichum angulare 

 varieties by Mr. Phillips, viz., his rotundatum and his setosa-cuneatum, two of the 

 best of the many good things Mr. Phillips has found. Another very remarkable 

 find of this year was Mr. WhitwelPs Blechnum spicant paradoxum— a form which, 

 so far as I know, is absolutely unique among ferns, having a third row of pinnce 

 rising perpendicularly from the mid-rib of each frond. Wnen I last saw this plant 

 it was in a bad way, both morally and physically, but I trust that this year Mr. 

 Whitwell can give a better account of its health and character. 



The year 1878 produced Athyrium filix-fcemina setigerum Garnett, a lady fern 

 which, though pretty and distinct in itself, is yet more remarkable on account of 

 the offspring it produces. 



I imagine the possibilities 

 The botanical sensation of 



These, as you all know, tend to be percristate, and 

 from them even densely crested forms can be raised. 



of setigerum are even yet far from being exhausted. 



the year was Mr. Lowe's "hybrid" cruciate aculeatum, produced by crossing 

 Polystichum angulare cruciatum with P. aculeatum densum ; this was one of the 

 earliest, if not the first, cross produced intentionally between two distinct species 

 of ferns. Since that time, but especially within the last two or three years, Mr. 

 Lowe has been successful in the raising of still more remarkable fern hybrids — 

 having crossed not only distinct species but ferns belonging to different genera. 

 Of these things, however, Mr. Druery can te 1 you more than I can. The same 

 year (1878) saw the origin of the wonderfully beautiful plumose divisilobes in P. 

 angulare, which were the result of the collaboration of Colonel Jones and Mr. E. 

 F. Fox. I should like to say more about these ferns, but time is short, and I 

 have endeavoured to make this paper a record chiefly of ferns found wild rather 

 than of those raised under cultivation. 



Passing on to the year 1881, we find Mr. Druery 's Blechnum spicant concinnum 

 cropping up ; this was at the time, and I believe is still, the most beautiful thing 

 of its kind. Another good thing of the year was Westlake's Lastrea montana 

 angustata. In 1882 Mr. Lowe found his Asplenum trichomanes Trogyense, a very 

 beautiful fertile incisum, which will, I trust, in the future be the parent of many 

 good things. In 1884 Mr. Forster picked up his Blechnum crenato-congestum, 

 which when found was one of the prettiest and neatest blechnums I have ever 

 seen. Unfortunately, it afterwards lost the beautiful crenate, or rather dentate, 

 character which distinguished it from all other congested forms ; and, though 

 still a good imbricate variety, it has fallen from its unique position among dwarf 

 blechnums. In 1886 Mr. Smithies found his Las. montana grandiceps, the only 

 true montana grandiceps which has, so far as I know, been found wild. The 

 year 1888 produced Mr. WhitwelPs Lastrea montana plumosa, which remains, I 

 believe, so far the finest plumose form of the species. 



The ferns of the subsequent years I must leave to be dealt with by Mr. 

 Druery. I have scarcely attempted to deal with the many beautiful and 

 interesting things which have been raised from spores by Mr. Lowe, Mr. Druery, 

 Mr. Clapham, and others, and I have been perforce compelled to omit even the 

 very mention of a great number of first-rate things which have been found wild. 

 The chief thing that strikes me in looking over the history of varieties is, that 

 while we may obtain modifications and developments and combinations of 

 characters from raising seedlings under cultivation — the really epoch-making 

 varieties — the plumosums, the pulcherrimums in angulare and aculeatum, the 

 A. f.-f. Clarissimas, the best polypodies both crested and plumose, the choicest 

 blechnums and aspleniums, have, with very few exceptions, come direct from the 

 great womb of Nature as wild finds. 



A Home for Horticulture.— A good deal of reference is just now being 



made to the proposal which enjoys so far-fetched an appellation. ^ The term is a 

 very ambitious one, and it seems to imply that poor horticulture is a sort of peri- 

 patetic Jew that has long been wandering in the desert for years, and now seeks 

 wings and needs a final resting-place. Happily no such condition exists. Horti- 

 culture lives and moves all the world over, and especially does it so all over Great 

 Britain. After all nothing more is meant by that much -too-pretentious appellation 

 than a mere show or exhibition hall for London, which is certainly a big centre, 

 although it may not be quite the " hub " of the universe. No one can find fault 

 because the subject is from time to time mooted. It has been so before, when so 

 powerful an aid as Baron Schroder did his best to create this 4 4 home" but failed. 

 Let the matter be mooted every year if desired, but who can hope to succeed in 

 raising the needful .£50,000 to ^60,000 where the Baron failed ? There is the 

 want undoubtedly, but to be of any real service the satisfying element must be very 

 large and very costly. Only a building twice the area of the James Street Drill 

 Hall, having also round it a very broad gallery easily accessible by flights of 

 stairs, and well-lighted and warmed, would at all meet the requirements of the 

 various societies it is proposed to accommodate ; and if, in addition, the basement 

 contained dry cellars, the ground floor were offices and shops, and the hall with 

 lifts were above, does anyone think— seeing how terribly costly land is in London 

 —that such a building could be erected under ,£100,000?— A. D< 



