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Polypodium cambricum 'Grandiceps Fox'



I have become quite fond of the various polypodies, even P.vulgare (or someting like it) quietly colonising tree trunks and the concrete walls of my garage. There are a number of selections and if I see them I get them so there is a small collection developing here.
'Grandiceps Fox' has been impressive. It took a couple of years to get going but it is now producing long fronds, crested at the margins and at their best in mid-winter.
For many years it grew in the snowdrop border but I kept hitting it with herbicide when I cleared the ground in summer after the snowdrops had died down. In the end I accepted that my incompetence was inlikely to change (the third time I sprayed it) and moved the plant to a tub by the house.

Martin Rickard writes:

"'Grandiceps Fox' AGM, 30cm (12in), was found at Grange-over-Sands in the Lake District by Mrs Fox in 1868. Similar to 'Cristatum Fosteri' except this is a more robust cultivar with larger crests on all terminals. Despite being named 'Grandiceps' the crest is often narrower than the frond lamina; however, this is a large cultivar and the crest is always big. Rare."



27th December 2013



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