DRYOPTERIS A SYNONYM. 225 
first quoted them. Whatever may have been the Thelypteris 
of Ruppius, or of the ancients, there can be no doubt that 
the Thelypteris of Schmidel is Dryopteris Thelypteris (Linn.) 
A. Gray, and therefore, the oldest name since 1753 for any 
segregate form Linnaean genera containing Acrostichum 
Thelypteris, Linn, 
Schmidel devotes four folio pages to the description, and 
history of the plant. A full page plate [Plate XII.], colored, 
of the plant is given. One-third of his plate XIII. contains 
illustrations with explanations of the arrangement of sori and 
sporangia. The description together with the exact plates 
showing spore dehiscence and other even microscopic charac- 
ters is so minute and convincing, that any one knowing the 
plant, Dryopteris Thelypteris (Linn.) A. Gray, would recog- 
nize it at a glance. I have reproduced the plates of Schmidel 
herewith. 
The function of annulus of the sporangium in dispersal of 
spores is perfectly described and illustrated, together with oth- 
er microscopie details. Considering the age of the work with 
its drawings and description the publication is certainly re- 
markable. 
Although, therefore, Thelypteris is the pre-Linnaean name 
‘for Pteridium and the valid one on the basis of absolute historic 
priority, the name as applied by Schmidel to Acrostichum The- 
lypteris, Linn., makes it the oldest for the genus Dryopteris, 
since 1753. Following is the synonymy of genera and species. 
As I have no sympathy for confounding names, nor feel any 
respect for codes, congresses, or systems of nomenclature that 
by contradictory rules bring about such confusion, I do not 
want to be responsible for even the new combinations, and 
only indicate a few for the sake of making clear the changes 
that may be followed by such as consider 1753 as the begin- 
ning of nomenclature in modern botany. : 
