l8o WOODWARDIA ANGUSTIFOLIA. NETTED CHAIN-FERN. 



was classed with Acrostichiim. By LInnseus it was described as 

 AcrosticJmm areoiahim, the latter name being derived from the 

 litde areas or pits formed by the uniting veins of the leaves. In 

 1/93 Sir James E. Smith distinguished it from AcrosticJmm and 

 named it Woodwardia. He says he had a specimen of our 

 present species given him by Sir George Staunton, who received 

 it first from Pennsylvania. He appears to have seen only the 

 ferdle frond, and not to have recognized that it was the same as 

 Linnseus' plant, or he might have called it W^oodzuardia areolata, 

 instead of angustifolia, the name it now bears. Comity and the 

 savino- of synonyms — points good botanists keep in mind — would 

 have dictated this. Strict law, however, gives the describer of a 

 new genus the absolute right over the name of the species, and 

 this is why the present name is right, though some authors call 

 the plant Woodivaj^dia areolata. Willdenow, following Smith, 

 did not seem to like the name because angusiifolia referred to 

 the fertile frond. He preferred to take a descriptive name from 

 the barren frond — and hence we have in his work Woodwardia 

 cnocleoides. Good botanists, as we have said, recognize the 

 necessity of adhering to strict canon law. Therefore, so long as 

 the plant is deemed a Woodwardia, its correct name will be 

 Woodwardia angiistifolia. 



The Sir George Staunton, who is connected with the history of 

 our fern, practised as a physician in the West Indies from 1762 

 to 1769, where he was captured in an attack on these islands 

 by the French. He afterwards became celebrated as the English 

 Ambassador to the Court of China about 1792, and died in Lon- 

 don in i3oi. Many of the leading men of these days were emi- 

 nent in botanical studies. It would be interesting to know what 

 correspondent Sir George Staunton had in Pennsylvania about 

 that time. 



Explanations of the Plate.— i. Barren frond taken in May. 2. Fertile frond taken in 

 July. 3. Rhizome. 4. Frondose apex of Rhizome. 5. Enlarged sketch of portion of 

 pinnule, showing the arcolate veins and fruit dots.. 



