TORREYA 



Vol. 7- 



October, 1907 



No. 10. 



THE NAMES OF SOME OF OUR NATIVE FERNS 



By Lucien Marcus Underwood 



The publication of a complete index of fern names * has nec- 

 essarily resulted in disclosing some overlooked duplications, some 

 of which affect the names currently used in American text-books. 

 For a European, Mr. Christensen has given a remarkably liberal 

 treatment, and follows not only the American system of cita- 

 tion, but in the main the principles adopted in America underly- 

 ing the selection of names. For example, homonyms are quite 

 uniformly rejected and treated after the American fashion. 



The unanimity of practice anticipated by some of our conserva- 

 tive friends as one of the benefits of " an authoritative interna- 

 tional Congress" has failed to materialize among the ferns at 

 least. Some recent publications professedly or supposedly in 

 accord with the rules of the Vienna Congress must have afforded 

 rude shocks to those whose expectations rose high in anticipa- 

 tion of " an authoritative standard." 



For example, while Mr. Christensen, Dr. Christ, Professor 

 Urban and Professor Hieronymus of Berlin, and Dr. Rosen- 

 stock have all taken up Dryopteris in accordance with correct 

 principles of nomenclatural priority, the New England botanists 

 have pronounced in favor of Aspidium, and the English botanists 

 have taken up Lastrea for the same group. Without question, 

 should the French make an official pronouncement, they would 

 use Polystichum, thus continuing their practice in more or less 

 recent manuals and botanical garden labels. 



At present the common male-fern bears five names which have 

 been announced since the appearance of the Rules of Nomen- 



* Christensen, Carl. Index Filicum. 1905-6. 



[No. 9, Vol. 7, of ToRREYA, Comprising pages 177-192 was issued September 

 21, 1907.] 



193 



