March 25, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
230 
Notes on the Illustrations in this Issue. 
Nephrolepis exallata Piersoni elegantissima. 
Wo here propose to outline the development of a recent 
warden form of Fern which has undergone a remarkable evolu¬ 
tion within the last few years. The ordinary N. exaltata is a 
very simple form with pinnate fronds attaining a height of 
•> ft. to 3A ft., with numerous lanceolate pinnae 1£ in. to 3 in. 
long. This, it will be seen, was a very simple form of division, 
and the species being an old inhabitant of gardens, no further 
comments are necessary. 
The next stage of development was that known as N. e. 
bostoniensis, the Boston Fern. Many people in this country 
were disinclined to regard it as particularly distinct or remark¬ 
able. It was characterised chiefly by dwarfer habit and rather 
longer pinnae, but its chief value consisted in its suitability 
for market purposes in pots. 
A sport originated from this named N. e. Piersoni, which 
was remarkably distinct in its way, and very 
soon found admirers in this country. It 
originated with Messrs. F. R. Pierson Co.,Tarry- 
town-on-Hudson, U.S.A. In this the fronds were 
greatly enlarged, the most marked distinctions 
occurring in the length, outline and division of 
the pinnae. The base of the pinnae remained 
undivided, forming a sort of handle, but the 
serratures on the upper portion of the pinnae 
developed into lanceolate pinnules. The un¬ 
divided portion at the base varied from J in. to 
A in. in length, as we noted in the specimens 
first brought before the public at the meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society on Aug. 4th, 
1903. The upper portion of the pinnules 
being again pinnate made the frond as a whole 
bipinnate. This form was not very constant in 
this countiy or in America. The typical form 
was both distinct and handsome, but plants were 
continually arising in which some of the pinnae 
reverted to the original or normal form of N. 
exaltata 
These undivided pinnae occur occasionally on 
any part of the frond, but are usually most 
numerous towards the apex of the frond. A 
remarkable feature of this variety is the fact 
that the frond seems to reach its full size and 
form, but after the pinnae are about fully grown 
the pinnules continue to grow and elongate, 
while retaining a fresh and young condition, 
altogether distinct from the rest of the frond. 
This is precisely on a par with what often occurs 
amongst Ferns in this countiy that attain an extraordinary 
amount of division, and the variety N. e. Piersoni is prac¬ 
tically a plumose variety such as we meet with in various forms 
of Athyrium Filix-foemfna, Polystichum angulare, Scolopen- 
drium vulgare, and other British Ferns which assume a plu¬ 
mose form. This form of development takes place vegeta- 
tively at the expense of the fertility of the frond. It' is prac¬ 
tically a development of the cellular tissue, and fronds which 
assume this condition do not bear spores as a rule, though 
there are exceptions amongst some of them. 
The newcomer also originated with Messrs. F. R. Pierson 
Company, and is named N. e. Piersoni elegantissima, or the 
Tanytown Variety. It has also received another name, 
although we are uncertain as to the origin of it. This is 
V. e. Piersoni compacta. 
Owing to the kindness of Mr. Thomas W. Brown, late of 
the British Royal Pavilion, World's Fair, St. Louis, we are able 
to reproduce the three forms in question, commencing with the 
Boston Fern on the right of the. picture, passing to N. e. 
Piersoni, and from thence to the Tanytown Variety. In dm 
scribing the latter, we should say the frond is ovate bipinnate- 
pinnatisect; that is, it is twice pinnate and the pinnules are 
divided again nearly to the base. The result is a frond of 
remarkable density. The internodos of the leaf-stalk bav. noi 
become developed in proportion t., the enla 
pinnae, consequently we find the latter greatly overlappi 
each other, and at the same time placed one over the otlu-i 
almost horizontally, so as to giVe thorn the proper qiai-o u, 
Batten out. The result is a frond of groat depth from hack to 
front, and this can only be appreciated by looking at the frond 
sideways. This form we have not reproduced, but the separate 
figure in another column gives the front view of the Tarn 
town Fern. 
We may still further notify our readers that wo have not yet 
seen the end of development, even in this remarkable plumose 
form of N. exaltata, for a fourth form has arisen in the nursery 
of the same firm, and is even more finely divided than the 
Tanytown A ariety which we figure. 
• Some of our readers may remember that they have already 
seen something similar to this in gardens. It is a different 
Fern, however—namely, N. rufescens tripinnatifida, which has 
been in cultivation in this country for a number of years, but 
is rather an unsatisfactory Fern from a gardener's point of 
view, for the simple reason that it is difficult to keep in a 
healthy condition during the winter, at least in large towns 
such as London, where the daylight is scanty in winter. It is 
an Australian Fern, more or less covered with rusty tomentum, 
so that this evidently accounts for the difficulty of cultivating 
it successfully except under very favourable conditions as to 
light. 
The Ferns which we have been describing are all of the 
easiest cultivation, like N. exaltata itself, which is widely dis¬ 
tributed in the tropics, and therefore subjected to conditions 
more like the artificial atmosphere of hothouses than would be 
the climate of Australia, which furnished the older, much- 
divided and plumose Nephrolepis rufescens tripinnatifida. 
Eranthis cilicica. 
The old form of the winter Aconite is a familiar harbinger 
of spring in many public and private gardens. E. cilicica was 
introduced so recently as 1893, and although yet scarce in 
gardens, we presume it will be common in a few more years, 
as the plant is of vigorous constitution, easy cultivation, and 
multiplies apparently as rapidly as the better-known form. 
The two large green leaves or bracts surrounding the flower- 
3 2 
1—Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis. 2—N. exaltata Piersoni. 
3—N. exaltata Piersoni elegantissima. 
