I2 5 



NORTH LANCASHIRE 

 VARIETIES OF POLYPODIUM VULGARE: 



THE STORY OF A FAILURE. 



S. LISTER PETTY, 



I'lverston, North Lancashire. 



[The following- was written in December 1897. I have re- 

 examined the material, and although some of it is poor, yet 

 I think the naming- right. It stands, therefore, as originally 

 written. After the date mentioned -1884-5 — I raised hundreds 

 of plants of Scplopendrium and Polypodiunt, and these, as a 

 rule, proved the multiple parentage. Lowe's last book, ' Fern 

 Growing,' 1895, * s on m . v shelves. — December 1899.] 



In r 884-5 muc h of the year was passed in North Lancashire 

 (I then resided in Yorkshire), arid the theory of multiple 

 parentage of fern varieties was known to me, that is, I was to 

 some extent aware of the experiments of Mr. E. J. Lowe and 

 Colonel Jones in the subject.. As I was too ignorant to prove 

 the matter impossible, and my own feeling being in favour of 

 the theory, I tried if amongst the thousands of wild polypodies 

 which grew in the district the multiple parentage could be 

 traced in the wild varieties. More than this, was environment 

 (a troublesome way people then had of getting over difficulties) 

 a (actor in the variation, and had aspect anything to do with it? 



Many gardeners think that ferns growing in a west or south- 

 west aspect are more liable to 4 sport ' than in, say, east ; in 

 consequence better seedlings should be produced in such situa- 

 tions. Now, could this apply to the wild native? The choice 

 of the polypody was determined by the fact that the fronds rise 

 from a rhizome and not from a caudex, and the face or front of 

 the frond is generally, but not invariably, influenced by the 

 direction from which the light reaches it, i.e., it is more likely 

 to lace the light than otherwise, but from experience I won't 

 insist upon this, although il is generally so. Out of hundreds 

 of observations, compass in hand, I must own that there is very 

 little reliable material on which to strike an average, but the 

 story of the failure may be interesting to some. A representa- 

 tive frond was chosen from a plant, the aspect taken of the 

 majority of the fronds ; the frond was then gathered and 

 numbered, and the number booked with locality and aspect. 

 From this collection of several hundred fronds 0110 hundred 

 were selected with regard only to variation, fairly good speci- 



iqoo April 



