i87y.] 
CROSS-BRED FERNS. 
oo 
corner have remained all but dormant, whilst those 
transplanted from it have, in a situation of stronger 
light, a forest of fronds, varying between one inch 
and six inches in length, according as they have been 
selected from the second or third cases. This is 
mentioned as a very curious fact. 
Most persons have observed what they call seeds on 
the under-side of the frond—though not necessarily on 
the under-side. Tliese are not seeds, but spores ; the 
first step towards the development of a fresh plant. 
It may be mentioned, brielly, that about the year 
1810, Professor Niigcli, of Zurich, auuonnccd that ho 
had made the discovery that in the marchautia-like 
germinal frond (f.e., whilst in the liverwort-like con¬ 
dition) were to be soon the organs of reproduction ; 
and about the year ISIS, the Count Sumiuski, of 
Berlin, confirmed the existence of these so-called 
authcridia, and noted that two kinds of cells existed 
on the yoimg germ frond, and that the male cells, 
on biu-sting, threw out spiral thread-like bodies, 
thickened at one end, and furnished with cilia 
about the thickened part, and these, from their 
activity, were called “ animalcules.” The Count 
further stated that ho had seen one of these 
spirals landed in a female cell. Hofmeister has 
since then distinctly observed the terminal bud of 
the new axis produced within the pistillidium (or 
female cell), and looked upon the globular cellule in 
its centre as itself the rudiment of the stem, the 
embryo originating from a free cell ijroduccd within 
it. Mettenius observed a nucleus within the globular 
cellule. Mercklin then declared that the spiral 
filaments swarmed about the pistillidium in numbers, 
and that ho had seen them on rare occasions pene¬ 
trate it. Professor Henfrcy, about 1850, wrote an 
interesting article on this subject. 
“ Spores, when they are sown, germinate, yet they 
need not necessarily produce the same form as the 
frond from which they arc taken. In their mar- 
chantiform stage of life they are said, as before 
mentioned, to flower, to have male and female organs 
or cells (more male than female colls), and these, be 
it remembered, are before there arc any fronds, and 
it seems probable that it really depends uiion how 
this impregnation is effected as to what kind of 
frond springs up from the germinal frond. The 
female organs arc described as cells, and the male 
organs as spiral filaments which arc tossed into the 
air, some of which, by landing in these cups, fertilise 
the plant in its caterpillar stage, and thus enable it 
to put on its butterfly-life or fronds. 
“ Lot an example be taken in the Lady Fern, where 
a number of varieties have been sown together, 
hiow if a hpiral filament from the variety Victoria: 
be tossed into one of these female cells, we may 
natiu'ally expect the fronds, when they do appear, to 
bo more or less cruciform, like those of the variety 
Victoria'; whilst if this filament had been thrown 
from the var. multifidum instead, the result would 
be quite a different plant, a multifid but not a cruci¬ 
form frond, unless the female cup belonged to a 
cruciform variety, under which circumstances there 
would probably result a combination of the two 
forms. Hence the endless variety that are now to 
be seen in a good collection. When once an abnormal 
form has been obtained, it seems only necessary to 
get a pedigree, i.e., three or four generations, and it 
becomes almost impossible to raise a seedling of the 
original normal form; whilst without this abnormal 
blood it is equally almost impossible to raise any but 
normal forms. 
“.A.S regards the various noi’mal forms that species 
will assume, it is a singular fact that most of our 
British ferns put on appearances closely in imitation 
of each other, that the varieties of each species have 
many characters in common, and that a certain law 
of form of variety seem? to extend more or less 
through both British and exotic species. The usual 
forms running through nearly all our British ferns 
are those having the fronds crested, crisped, imbricated, 
confluent, midtifld, acuminate, narrow, plumose, in¬ 
terrupted, depauperate, ramose, and dwarf; and not 
only this, but we have the multiple of these, or the 
combining together of two or three characters in one 
frond, such as the narrow-crisped,thcnmUifid-crisped, 
or the narrow midtifld, for example. In a wild state 
abnormal forms arc found most commonly where, 
from various causes, ferns do not grow luxuriantly, 
i.e., grow under difficulties. lYlien ferns flourish in 
a high degreo, it is almost useless to hunt for ab¬ 
normal forms. 
“ It seems that sjiores gathered from one portion of 
an abnormal frond will produce different varieties 
from those of spores gathered from another portion 
of the same frond ; so that if an accidental abnormal 
portion of a frond be fertile, it is not impossible to 
reproduce from its spores plants having fronds in 
imitation of the accidental abnormal form. 
“ The method adopted by the author of this pai)er 
in raising plants from spores is one that can be re¬ 
commended. Having carefully prepared the soil, 
and then roasted or boiled it, in order to destroy all 
animal and vegetable life, it is placed in a Wardian 
case or pan, having a glass cover. The soil, if 
roasted, will require to be wetted with boiled or dis¬ 
tilled water, in order to bo of a proper moistness. 
It is then pi'essed until there is a smooth siu'face, 
and after this sown with spores, which should not be 
covered with soil. All watering must be done from 
below, i.e., the pan placed in a saucer full of water, 
immersed about one-third of its depth, and this must 
either be boiled or distilled water, to prevent a cou- 
fervoid gi-owth on the surface, which would kill the 
young fern-germs. On the surface becoming green 
with growing ferns, transplant with the iwint of a 
knife into much larger pans; and this can be best 
done by making small indents in the surface, and 
placing in them small patches of the spores, and 
lightly pressing each wdth a finger, taking care to 
wipe the finger dry after every pressure, or the young 
plants will cling to it. To procure new varieties spores 
are scraped off portions of a number of curious fronds, 
or jjarts of fronds of the same species, and sown 
thickly together, and the reason for sowing thickly 
is that the germinal fronds, by being pressed closely 
together by each other, become more or less vertical, 
•—a position thought to be more easily fertilised by 
the male organs falling more readily into the female 
cells than when in a more or less horizontal position, 
as they woidd be if sown very thinly. Nature does, 
to some extent, provide for this by curling the 
thickened edges; yet under these circumstances, 
with thin sowing, the male spiral is more likely to be 
one from the same individual, and would therefore 
more probably produce a form identical with the 
pai'cnt germ-frond; whereas, if the spores of many 
forms be sown together, the chances seem to be 
much more in favour of the fertilisation by another 
variety being accomplished. After gathering the 
fronds for spores, it is better to place them in drying 
papers for a day or two, and then scrape off the 
spores and sow immediately. Freshly-gathered 
spores germinate much more quickly than those that 
have been kept for a time. 
“ It has been said,—Sow together only varieties of 
the same species, though oceasionally, but very 
rarely, two species may be crossed, and a hybrirl 
species produced. Still, it is so difficult to cross 
species, that we have at the most only a few' ex¬ 
amples to quote. These instances are jirobably :— 
First, Lustrea remota, a cross between Lasirca dilu- 
tahi, and Lastrea FiU.c-mas; second, A.splenium, 
