144 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
subvariety is much commoner some years than others; the rule I have not yet 
satisfactorily established, and, therefore, I shall content myself with enumerating 
the species, leaving it to some other hand, or some other time to explain the laws. The 
variety ramosum , as, indeed, may be said of all varieties, is uniform, much rarer, and is 
found in fewer species than the subvariety. It is thus defined:—Variety, ramosum; 
constant; stipe, often bifid or multifid ; rachis, do., do.; segments rounded at edges 
and apices ; confluent often curled and crisped; veins generally terminating in a lash 
of branches ; generally fruitful. Examples—Phyllitis seolopendrium, var. ramosum 
(auc.) ; Lomaria spicant, var. ramosum (Mei); Athyrium Eilix Fsemina, var. ramo¬ 
sum (three forms)—Alpha, Beta, Gamma (as before), &c. All these forms are 
allowedly fruitful. 
The variations of this form are numerous, from the simple, curled, almost undi¬ 
vided apex of one form of Ph. Seolopendrium, to which the name Crista galli has 
been given, up to the extreme divisions seen in the forms of Phyll. Scolo- 
pendrium, var. multifidum. The subvariety multifidum is very extensively repre¬ 
sented; out of the twenty-four genera of British ferns, enumerated by Newman, 
being recorded in all but seven—viz., Adiantum, (vide list at end), Pseudathyrium, 
Hemestheum, Cystopteris Woodsia.* It runs through every stage from simple lobing 
of the apex of the frond, or of the ends of the pinnae or pinnules, down to the 
division of the stipe itself. In some species it is very common, in others 
very rare. Character—Subvariety multifidum; not uniformly constant; stipe 
sometimes dichotomous; rachis bifid or multifid; segments, following usual 
outline of frond, confluent or distinct, never curled or crisped; midvein terminating 
in a point at apex of each segment; generally fruitful. Examples of group—Ph. 
seolopendrium, subvariety multifidum; Lomaria spicant, subvariety multifi¬ 
dum ; Ath. Filix faemina, subvar. multifidum. There can but one form of this occur, 
and we can, hence, easily distinguish in description what axis of the plant is affected, 
using X to represent the primary, and Z the secondary, &c., axis; if thought 
proper, marking the divisions of the rachis as X 1, the division of the stipe as 
X 2. The same divisions might also be made in the variety; but they are particu¬ 
larly well shown in the subvariety (vide list). 
The form Z is most striking in compound fronds; but even in simple fronds 
something, to say the least, strongly analogous i3 to be found, at all events, in 
the variety in a form of Phyl. seolopendrium, called endivifolium by its discoverer, 
Mr. Young; and also, though in a less degree, in the form named undulatum or 
crispum, which is said to be merely a degenerated form of ramosum. (Vide second 
part.) In Mr. Young’s plant, we find the veins prolonged and thickened, and almost 
converted into branches, rendering the fern multifid along its edges. The same form 
is also seen in a more exaggerated state in another form, also forwarded me by 
G. B. Wollaston, Esq. (thanks to whose kindness I am enabled to illustrate this 
subject so well by specimens) ; he calls it Digitatum. In it we find regular midribs 
proceeding from the main midrib, and giving the frond a regular branched pinna- 
tifid appearance, yet manifestly but a modification of the ramose type. Indeed, for 
any one wishing to study these two forms there can be no better species than Scolo- 
pendrium. 
The subvariety multifidum is, as might be expected, found in many foreign 
genera and species. I show specimens of Mohria thuri fraga, and an exotic 
Asplenium and Polypodium, thus affected. The system pursued in naming these 
forms has been, when practicable, adopting the name given to the forms when 
first described, choosing the most typical. These were, in the two classes, 
considered Phyll. Scol. ramosum , and multifidum. For the first it has been 
suggested to use cristatum. This, though a most expressive and applicable name, 
was considered inadmissible, as being borne by a species; if Newman’s name 
of Lophodium callipteris is generally adopted for the species under consideration, this 
form should be called cristatum. 
I lay before you a list of the species in which these two forms occur, with their 
synonymes, as far as I have been able to trace them, so that you can judge of the 
* Newman figures a frond of Woodsia ilvensis, which appears to be multifidum. —Brit. Ferns, 
p. 137. Second edition. 
