JAN 1 - 1907 
111 
fntatarimi 
N HW YOj^fC 
botanical, 
GAi^DjBNo 
is generally considered tliat there are forty species of ferns fonnd in the British Isles; of these 
wi thirty-four are met with in Wales. Of the remaining six, one (Gymnogramma leptophylla) is 
confined to the Channel Islands; two are fonnd only in Scotland, (Cystopteris montana and Pseuda- 
thyrium alpestre); two (Aspidium cristatnm and Aspidinm rigidum) are fonnd in only two or three 
counties in the North of England; and the remaining one (Trichomanes speciosum) only in Ireland. 
Erom this it will he seen, that although the present Work illustrates the ferns of Wales in 
particular, yet that it embraces nearly every species found in Great Britain,—and all of those which 
are the most beautiful, and therefore most likely to he cultivated in the fernery. 
Although the present Work gives what are generally called thirty-four species, yet several of 
these so nearly resemble one another as to render it difficult to decide whether they are not merely 
varieties: these will he pointed out in their places, and it will he seen that the differences are so 
minute, as to make them scarcely worthy of being elevated from varieties into species. 
The tendency of cultivators has lately been to multiply varieties, and to give them names as if 
they were separate species, thus extending the nomenclature of Perns in an unnecessary and 
complex manner. 
In the rich fern districts of Wales the varieties are infinite; but in the present Work the 
specimens given are, as nearly as possible, the types of the several species; the varieties being 
briefly noticed in the descriptions. 
The directions for the cultivation of ferns, and the formation and position of the fernery, are 
given from the best authorities, and from the author’s own experience. 
-WAIFCYRCH, NEATH, 
Octobee, 1855. 
