Pteridologist 2009
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PTERIDOLOGIST 2009 Contents: Volume 5 Part 2, 2009 The First Pteridologist Alec Greening 66 Back from the dead in Corrie Fee Heather McHaffie 67 Fern fads, fashions and other factors Alec Greening 68 A Stumpery on Vashon Island near Seattle Pat Reihl 71 Strange Revisions to The Junior Oxford English Dictionary Alistair Urquhart 73 Mauchline Fern Ware Jennifer Ide 74 More Ferns In Unusual Places Bryan Smith 78 The Ptéridophytes of Réunion Edmond Grangaud 79 Croziers - a photographic study. Linda Greening 84 A fern by any other name John Edgington 85 Tree-Fern Newsletter No. 15 Edited by Alastair C. Wardlaw 88 Editorial: TFNL then and now Alastair C. Wardlaw 88 Courtyard Haven for Tree Ferns Alastair C. Wardlaw 88 Bulbils on Tree Ferns: II Martin Rickard 90 Gough-Island Tree Fern Comes to Scotland Jamie Taggart 92 Growing ferns in a challenging climate Tim Pyner 95 Maraudering caterpillars. Yvonne Golding 104 New fern introductions from Fibrex Nurseries Angela Tandy 105 Ferns which live with ants! Yvonne Golding 108 The British Fern Gazette 1909 – 2009 Martin Rickard 110 A Siberian Summer Chris Page 111 Monitoring photographs of Woodsia ilvenis Heather McHaffie 115 Notes on Altaian ferns Irina Gureyeva 116 Ferns from the Galapagos Islands. Graham Ackers 118 Did you know? (Extracts from the first Pteridologist) Jimmy Dyce 121 The First Russian Pteridological Conference Chris Page 122 Tectaria Mystery Solved Pat Acock 124 Chatsworth - a surprising fern link with the past Bruce Brown 125 Fern Postage Stamps from the Faroe Islands Graham Ackers 127 Carrying out trials in your garden Yvonne Golding 128 A national collection of Asplenium scolopendrium Tim Brock 130 Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Drummondiae’ Tim Brock 132 Fern Recording – A Personal Scottish Experience Frank McGavigan 133 Book Notes Martin Rickard 136 Gay Horsetails Wim de Winter 137 Ferning in snow Martin Rickard 139 Fern Enthusiasts do the strangest things. Bryan Smith 140 95 Cyrtomium falcatum Ken Trewren 141 Members gardens - Scarthwaite, Borrowdale. Alec Greening 142 Pellaea andromedifolia Cover Picture: Front The winning picture at the North West Group AGM photographic competition 2008. Croziers of Blechnum gibbum taken at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Photo: Linda Greening Cover Picture: Back The back cover is based on the adjacent picture of Blechnum brasiliense Photo: Linda Greening Unless stated otherwise, photographs were supplied by the author of the articles in which they appear DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in the Pteridologist are not necessarily those of the British Pteridological Society. Copyright © 2009 British Pteridological Society. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means) without the permission of the British Pteridological Society. Pteridologist 5.2. 2009 65 The first Pteridologist Alec Greening Pear Tree Cottage, Dalton, Burton-in-Kendal. Cumbria LA6 1NN e-mail: [email protected] 25 years ago, in 1984, the B.P.S. launched a new publication called the Pteridologist. The year was also significant as the 75th year of publication of The Fern Gazette, which was origionally dedicated to the fern grower and variety enthusiast. (See the article by Martin Rickard on page 110) The Pteridologist was seen as a way of improving the service to growers and other enthusiasts. Published in A5 this first edition ran to 48 pages with black and white illustrations and photographs. The cover was designed by Richard Rush, who also designed the cover for the Bulletin, hence the similarity. At first glance it would appear that things have hardly changed. Some member’s names are very familiar. Identification of species and sub species presented problems. ‘Pteridomania’ in Victorian times was blamed for species rarity and ferns appeared in unexpected habitats. Martin Rickard was the editor! In 1979 he had taken over as editor of the Bulletin from Jimmy Dyce and passed it on to Matt Busby in 1984 in order to concentrate on the Pteridologist. In his first editorial of this new publication he mentions a possible standard format being drawn up for the publication of new variety names and makes a particular request for news of new varieties, raised or found. Clive Jermy, President at that time, contributed an article entitled “The Scaly Male Fern – Problem Fern Number One” where he writes in some detail of the difficulties in allocating sub-species to Dryopteris affinis. He describes the work of Christopher Fraser-Jenkins that suggests that there were four sub- species; affinis, borreri, stilluppensis and robusta. An article about Cystopteris dickieana by Peter Marren traces the history of the discovery and decline of this rare fern and bemoans the Victorians for over collecting. His article, however, finishes with “The population (ofC. dickieana) has never sunk to a dangerous level in living memory, and its survival prospects would appear to be favourable.” Adiantum capillus-veneris was found on a disused railway bridge at Daventry, Northants. (Is it still there?) But, this first edition also shows that great changes have taken place. As expected, the Officers and Committee have altered over the years. In 1984 there were 25 people involved, today there are 32, with four members still serving! ( Matt Busby, Mary Gibby, Anthony Pigott and Martin Rickard.) The annual subscription was £7.00, and membership stood at 558. Of the seven fern nurseries advertised inside the back cover, only two (Fibrex and Fancy Fronds) have survived. Sadly, many of the contributors of this first edition are also no longer with us, notably Reggie Kaye and Jimmy Dyce. On page 121 I have reproduced some of the contributions from Jimmy Dyce that were scattered throughout this first edition - remember they were written in 1984! r 66 Pteridologist 5.2. 2009 Back from the dead in Corrie Fee Heather McHaffie, 180 Granton Road, Edinburgh EH5 1AH, Scotland e-mail: [email protected] Readers might recall the report last year of a very dead Woodsia alpina that was unfortunate enough to have been growing in an area in Corrie Fee where water regularly trickled across the rock face. When we saw the brown mass its identity was clear from the alpina-shaped pinnae (about as long as wide) in the wet crack. We had with us Andrew Ensoll, known to many as the fern grower at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Andy scooped up some fragments intending to dry them off and sow them. As the months went by I heard reports of the appearance of gametophytes, which was not surprising as the hillside would have been covered with a variety of spores. The next report was of two different Fig.1 Gametophytes and young plants of Woodsia alpina kinds of gametophytes, subsequently refined into the statement that some looked like Woodsia gametophytes. As anyone who has grown ferns from spores will know it is not usually very easy to distinguish different species of fern gametophytes, but Andy did have years of experience with growing Woodsia ilvensis. The next time I saw Andy he invited me to come and see nine plants of W. alpina and six pots full of gametophytes! (Fig.1) In less than a year from their first collection the earliest plants became fertile (Fig.2) and more have now grown from the remaining gametophytes. This is a good example of how a sporebank can allow plants to be grown when they might otherwise have disappeared. Whether it will happen naturally from the remaining fragments is yet to be seen, but this second very wet summer might have helped. It has Fig.2 Woodsia alpina - Sori produced on young demonstrated that for this individual plant, possibly sporelings for Woodsia alpina in general, there has been no problem for the gametophytes in self-fertilisation. With living plants now available (Fig.3) it does raise the possibility of a re-introduction but this would have to be carefully considered and discussed. Other W. alpina plants in the same area have died from unknown causes and there would be little point in new planting without understanding why the originals had succumbed. It might also be of limited benefit to plant a whole new population based on one original source. The plants will be useful for a garden which is being planned around the new visitor centre not far away at the end of the public road. Here we are hoping to show some of the local specialities which are in cultivation at the RBGE. There would be a mixture of flowering plants, including a range of montane willows, and we can provide both species of Woodsia, which would not have been possible Fig.3 Young Woodsia alpina plant. only a short time ago. r Pteridologist 5.2. 2009 67 Fern fads, fashions and other factors. Alec Greening Pear Tree Cottage, Dalton, Burton-in-Kendal. Cumbria. LA6 1NN e-mail: [email protected] In the last Pteridologist. (2008 Edition Volume 5. Part1.) I wrote about the top selling ferns of year 2007. Whilst the ‘Top Six’ lists of many nurseries proved very interesting, I found that the notes that several nursery owners provided were even more fascinating, showing an insight into the reasons why certain ferns sell well and the sort of clients that nurseries cater for. Three nursery owners, in particular, went to a great deal of trouble. Neil Timm, from the Fern Nursery, Binbrook, Lincolnshire, concentrated on what he sees as the main reasons that certain ferns sell.”What’s in a name?” appears to be very important! Athyrium filix-femina “When talking to many keen amateur gardeners, the main reason usually ‘Victoriae’ cited for not buying, or taking more of an interest in ferns, is the “difficult”, “unfamiliar” and “complicated” names Some ferns get asked for by name, in particular, the Athyrium filix- femina types, ‘Frizelliae’ ( as ‘Tatting Fern’), ‘Victoriae’ and ‘Axminster’, as well as “Hart’s Tongue”, “Holly Fern”, and “Parsley Fern”.