Mnn Journal 



Vol. 3 JANUARY, 1913 No 1 



Polypodium speluncae L. A question of 



nomenclature 



CARL CHRISTENSEN 



During the preparation of a supplement to my Index 

 Filicum, which I hope will be issued within the summer 

 of 1913, I came upon several corrections to the nomen- 

 clature of the Index, pointed out by different pveridolo- 

 gists during the last six years. Many of these corrections 

 are right and will be taken up in the supplement, others 

 are in my opinion unjustified. I can not, of course, pro- 

 test against all false binomials, but shall confine myself to 

 protest against a single one, which has appeared in the 

 American Fern Journal. The case is very illustrative 

 because it shows: (1) how new combinations 



can 



very tedious manner 



and (2) on what superficial reasons a pteridologist, though 



commonly very exact and consequent, nas arrived at nis 



results. 



In an article on Bermuda ferns, H. G. Rugg 1 uses the 



name Dnjopteris speluncae (L.) Und. As far as I can find, 

 that combination was never used by Underwood in his 

 papers on ferns, but it may, of course, have been pub- 

 lished by another author in a publication unknown to me. 

 This being the case, Mr. Rugg is correct in using the name, 

 but I believe that the name appears for the first time in 



1 This Journal 2: lti-18. 1912. 

 [No. 4 of the Journal (2: 97-123) was issued Oct. 1912] 



1 





