248 
THE FLORIST. 
and got a good many of the seeds to vegetate, they have all died off, 
except a few plants from cinnamomeum by Falconerii, which promise to 
become healthy vigorous plants. It is curious to observe the crosses 
between two other hybrids ; some will run back to one parent and some 
to the other, whilst there are others that take a leap and go clean away 
from both. Such is the case with the Star of England, which was raised 
from album elegans by pictum, and is as large again as either of its 
parents. 
Bagshol Nurseries. John Standish. 
FERN CLASSIFICATION.—No. I. 
The popularity enjoyed by the Ferns must be taken as a patent fact; 
and looking to the majority of them, one is not surprised that 
they should be held so high in public estimation. They are so full of 
grace and beauty, and so varied, withal, in their loveliness—so readily 
imported as to render novelties seldom wanting—so easy of manage¬ 
ment, where the principles of culture are at all understood; that it 
would be strange, indeed, if they were not favourites with the gentler 
sex; and, of course, once admitted to share their esteem, the good 
opinion of us inferior mortals is secure. 
If, however, there is no ground for surprise that Ferns are so popular, 
it is surprising that, being popular, so little should be really known of their 
names and the principles upon which they are classified, about which 
there is, in reality, no mystery whatever. It is not, indeed, to be 
expected that ordinary Fern admirers should become generally learned in 
this branch of botanical science, but there is no difficulty in the way of 
acquiring at least as much knowledge of the structure of these plants 
(which regulates the nomenclature) as will suffice to avoid the use of 
names involving an absolute contradiction ; as, for instance, confounding 
a Pteris with an Asplenium or a Poly podium. 
It may be said that there is confusion and discrepancy even among 
professing botanists and pteridologists as to the names of Ferns, and so 
there is; but their differences depend chiefly upon the limits assigned 
to genera and species, and not upon the principles upon which classifi¬ 
cation is based. Thus, if one botanist of conservative tendencies were 
to refer any given number of species to the genus Polypodium, and 
another, with opposite tendencies, were to distribute the same plants 
among twenty genera, he would not, by any possibility, call either of 
them a Pteris or an Asplenium; but they would be referred to genera 
which are offshoots from Polypodium ; and thus, though differing in 
their views, there would be no contradiction between the two. Now it 
is the principles upon which the classification of Ferns is based, and 
which serve to keep pteridologists from contradicting, even while they 
seem to oppose each other, that it is the object of this series of papers 
to make as intelligible as possible. Without entering into the minutiae 
of the subject, it may be stated that all Ferns are referable to one of 
the three undermentioned groups :—The Ophioglossaceae, the Marat- 
iaceae, or the Polypodiaceae. 
