June 3, 1905. 
THE GARDENING 
WORLD 
453 
The Shield Ferns. (Polystichum.) 
Pinnule of^Shield Fkrne. 
Two out of the three species of Shield Fern 
native to Great Britain, viz., the Hard Shield 
Fern (P. aculeatum) and the Soft Shield Fern 
•(P. angulare), are fairly well distributed 
along our western counties in England, 
Wales, and Ireland, but the last named is 
only found in a few places in Scotland, 
though P. aculeatum is plentiful enough in 
many of the glens. The third species, the 
Holly Fern (P. Lonchitis), is a true mountain 
form, and is never found wild at low levels ; 
2,000 to 3,000 feet is its usual limits, though 
we have found it in Scotland at 1,200 in 
■quantity. 
It is clear therefore that in our ordinary 
country rambles we shall only make the 
acquaintance of the first two, hut, as we shall 
presently see, such acquaintance is well 
worth making, for both species have a faculty 
•of sporting into extremely beautiful varieties, 
though the soft form is far and away the 
more generous of the two. The Polystichum 
family is a fairly large one, and is invariably 
distinguished in its normal character by 
having the subdivisions of the frond, that is, 
the pinnae or pinnules (primary or secon¬ 
dary divisions) shaped like a mitten, with a 
distinct thumb-like projection on one side. 
The two common species are usually easily 
distinguished, the hard lorm being narrower 
in the frond, tougher, and more shiny on the 
surface ; its divisions are also bolder in make. 
Normally the fronds are only twice divided, 
the side divisions consisting of twin tapering 
rows of the mittens aforesaid, but in some 
of the varieties the mittens are divided and 
re-divided into smaller ones or otherwise 
varied, in some cases so much that the mit¬ 
tens lose their distinctive character alto¬ 
gether by attenuation. Another character 
by which the Shield Ferns may be discrimi¬ 
nated is the very scaly nature of their frond 
stalks, midribs, and crowns, these scales 
in the young state being often snowy white, 
rendering the rising fronds very beautiful 
indeed. These fronds, too, have a peculiar 
knack of turning their uncoiling ends back¬ 
wards, inside out as it were, forming a crozier- 
like terminal, while most other Ferns unroll 
inwards, making a simple hook. Hedgerows 
are a very favourite habitat of the Shield Fern, 
and in such positions in many of our coun¬ 
ties it grows in profusion in company with 
the Hartstongue. 
We may also find colonies of it on wood¬ 
land slopes, but it is a retiring Fern, and 
rarely courts the open like the Lastreas, its 
near relatives, from which, apart from the 
make of the fronds, it is differentiated by the 
spore cover, which is round or mushroom¬ 
shaped, and attached to the frond at its 
centre ; while that of the Lastreas is kidney- 
shaped with its attachment at the depression. 
All these species are truly evergreen, and in 
sheltered spots or under glass remain quite 
verdant through the winter. 
The Holly Fern, we may mention for the 
benefit of mountain climbers, is only once 
divided, the frond, no matter how large, con¬ 
sisting merely of two rows of undivided mit¬ 
tens, and strangely enough, though it is vari¬ 
able, yielding more than one tasselled 
variety, we know of no instance where it has 
sported like its relatives into finer divisions. 
If it did, however, it would be extremely diffi¬ 
cult to dissociate it from aculeatum. 
Having thus introduced what we may call 
the commoners of the family, we will now 
glance at the aristocracy, most of which, 
despite their blue blood in the connoisseurs’ 
eyes, originated in the hedges, ditches, or 
woodland side by side with their plebeian 
comrades, and beyond all doubt from equally 
plebeian parents. First and foremost among 
these are the plumose or extra feathery forms, 
the best of which, however, we owe to selec¬ 
tion from sporelings raised from good but 
inferior wild finds acquired by Fern hunters. 
A decomposite or thrice divided “ find,” for 
instance, yielded spores which when sown 
gave a batch of lovely plants, so densely 
feathery and so much more finely divided 
that the raisers (the late Col. Jones and Dr. 
Fox) could not credit the parentage at all 
until confirmed by a second trial. Some 
four or five distinct plumosums resulted, 
which are deservedly ranked with the more 
beautiful Ferns of the whole world. These 
are P. a. pi. densum, robustum, laxum, and 
last, but not least, the unique Baldwinii, in 
which the mittens are reduced to an infinity 
of silky threads. 
There are several others of a kindred type 
of obscure origin, such as Grimmondae, 
Esplan, and again last but not least, that 
marvellous one accidentally raised by Birken¬ 
head, P. a. plumosissimum, which eclipses 
all the rest by fringing the innumerable tips 
of its dense plumage until a frond resem¬ 
bles a mass of the finest moss. Apart from 
these cultural results some fine plumosums 
have been found wild. "W ollaston s is a 
grand form, Pateyi is better still while in 
aculeatum P. ac. pulcherrimum is unique, 
not so much in feathery detail as in grand 
constitution and beauty of make, whence its 
distinctive name. This must be seen to be 
appreciated, and yet, unique as it is, it was 
pulled out of a hedge by a farm labourer in 
Dorset who knew nothing of Ferns, though 
he thought it worth taking to Dr. W ills as it 
had something “ funny about it. 
Many beautifully tasselled forms have been 
found of various types, and several hundred 
distinct varieties are known, congested, 
dwarfed, revolute, cruciate, and differing in 
all sorts of ways in make, shape, and habits. 
Space precludes details of these; suffice it to 
say that the species are so attractive that 
most Fern fanciers sooner or later develop 
into Polystichum fanciers especially, and it 
is quite clear from what we have said that 
assiduous hunting may be well rewarded in 
such a Protean tribe. 
Culture is easy ; all three grow well in any 
good leafy compost, and given a sheltered 
position of northerly aspect they do well 
in the open. The Holly Fern, is, perhaps, 
the most dainty, and is therefore best grown 
under the lee of a mass of rock, so that the 
sun never reaches its crown; it is a denizen 
of cloudland, and must have its tastes con¬ 
sidered a little. There is a very pretty 
tasselled variety of this, which has been found 
more than once on the Scottish hills. 
Chas. T. Druery, F.L.S., V.M.H. 
■-♦- 
The Pipless Pippin 
has fairly been cornered. The “ Rural New 
Yorker ” disclosed the whole bubble after 
pricking it, and Mr. Spencer, of Colorado, 
will assuredly have a deal of trouble in selling 
his 100,000 trees. 
The American Press as well as our own 
has endeavoured to boom this rotten thing, 
and one Yankee trade paper even declared 
that King Edward had expressed delight with 
the quality of the fruit. 
Yet, as has been proved, this oecasionally 
seedless but not coreless apple is worse in 
quality than the average bad. It is said to 
be on a par with Ben Davis, which is 
America’s worst apple—a woody, tasteless 
fruit. 
Mr. N. C. White, late of Covent Garden, 
now in New York, declares the seedless Apple 
of no value whatever, and he is a leading 
expert. 
Now that a warning has been sounded it 
rests entirely with growers as to whether 
they waste tlieir money. Cal. 
[Photo. Maclaren and Sons 
A Garden-eaised Rhododendron (R. Luscombei). (See p. 457.) 
