One of ten thousand

There are more than 10,000 different ferns growing naturally all over the world, many frost hardy and even more from tropical places. I love ferns of all kinds, whether natural species or odd and fancy forms which have been discovered and propagated, as were many in the UK in Victorian times.

This little fella is a native of Sri Lanka and of other parts of sub-tropical SE Asia, growing only a few inches high. I know it as Quercifilix zeylanica, but I read just now that as the name was originally published as Quercifilix zeilanica, with an 'i' instead of a 'y', then that is how it should be spelled! Rules are rules! Modern taxonomists, however, have now decreed that it should be placed in a different genus entirely, which is allowed in the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants, so I must now get used to calling it Tectaria zeilanica !

Whatever, as modern fern growers would probably say! I grew this from spores sown on 21st March 2007 and only one germinated. So you can tell that having grown only four small immature fronds in the last nine and a half years, fern growing can be a patient man's hobby! You can also see why I brought it with me when I retired from Arduaine!