194 



clature of the Vienna Congress — a state of discord not entirely- 

 unexpected by those who took part in the proceedings of that 

 body. 



The current nomenclature of the male-fern is as follows : 



1. Dryopteris Filix-mas. — American usage since 1893 ; adopted 



by Professors Urban and Hieronymus (Berlin) ; Dr. Christ 

 (Basel) ; Dr. Rosenstock (Gotha) ; Mr. Christensen (Co- 

 penhagen). 



(Dryopteris Adans., 1763.) 



2. PoLYSTiCHUM FiLix-MAS. — French usage.* 



(POLYSTICHUM Roth, 1799-) 



3. AspiDiUM FiLix-MAS. — Cambridge (Mass.) usage. f 



(ASPIDIUM Swartz, 1801.) 



4. Nephrodium Filix-mas. — Fern Bulletin; Kew (ancient prac- 



tice). ^ 

 (Nephrodium Rich., 1803. ?) 



5. Lastrea Filix-mas. — British Museum. || 



(Lastrea Rory, 1826.) 



Following Diels (Die nat. Pflanzenf.) and Urban (Symb. 

 Antill.), Christensen combines all the reniform-indusiate, non-in- 

 dusiate, free-veined and connate-veined members of the tribe Dry- 

 opterideae in a single genus, Dryopteris. This would unite (in 

 our flora) the genera Phegopteris, Goiiiopteris, and Menisciwn with 

 the wood-ferns of the genus Dryopteris. Pending further study 



*As commonly seen in labels in botanical gardens; also in recently published 

 works as : Coste. Flore descriptive et illustree de la France 3 : 686-688. 1906. 

 In this work Polystichiitn and Aspidium are used for groups diametrically opposite 

 to New England usage. 



f Cf. Rhodora 9 : 81-86. 1907, where the allies of this species in the flora of 

 " the Boston District" are placed under Aspidium, and the Christmas-fern is retained 

 in Polystichum. 



% No recent official pronouncement of the Kew position on this genus has been 

 received ; we await with interest to see if there will be a change and if so whether it 

 will be aspidioid. 



\ The earlier and doubtful publication by Richard (?) in Marthe's Cat. pi. Jard. 

 med. Paris, 1801, in accord with strict rules will have to be set aside as ahyponym. 



II As expressed in the new Catalogue of British Plants (1907), " revised in accord- 

 ance with the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature adopted by the Botan- 

 ical Congress at Vienna, 1905." 



