INTRODUCTORY. 



recognised as distinct species, owing to the imperfection of the specimens or want of 

 full information as to their habits of growth ; and thus they will appear (if they have 

 not by this time done so) in a second appendix. In preparing the Synopsis, the rule 

 was laid down of assigning to each fern the name given to it by its first discoverer, or 

 at all events by the first person from whom specimens were received at Kew. It was 

 found that, in many cases, the same fern had been met with in different places by a 

 number of persons, each of whom supposed that he was its first discoverer, and there- 

 fore gave it a name. Thus the plant was in the Herbarium under a variety of names ; 

 and to avoid any appearance of favouritism, the rule of taking the first name was 

 adopted ; though, in some cases, a different subsequent one would have been more 

 ■descriptive of the plant. For instance, the old name " crispatum," applied to one of 

 the N. Z. Hymenophylla is beautifully descriptive of the plant ; while the adopted 

 name " Javanicum" does not describe it at all, but merely intimates that it was first 

 found in Java. It is quite possible, however, that the peculiar crisped appearance 

 which distinguishes the N. Z. plant is less noticeable in the tropical form of it found 

 in Java. 



In the following pages, though the names and classification of the Synopsis will be 

 .generally adhered to, the other names by which any particular fern is known to have 

 been called will be given as synomyms. Of course, the ferns not mentioned in the 

 Synopsis will be called by the names assigned to them by their discoverers, or which 

 have been given to them at Kew. Where two ferns have been confounded in that 

 work, they will be separately described ; and where two forms of one fern appear to 

 have been separately classed, the fact will be noted. By these means it is hoped to 

 make the book as complete and reliable as possible. The Synopsis will be my chief 

 authority as regards the other countries in which the New Zealand ferns occur ; and 

 in some few cases I have relied on Mr. Thomson's mention of them as occurring in 

 parts of the colony where I was not aware of their occurrence, either from my own 

 "knowledge or the information of friends, or the various papers in the Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute. My own fern-hunting has extended from beyond Auck- 

 land on the North to the Otago goldfields on the South ; and through the kindness of 

 friends I have specimens, and even living plants, from localities as wide apart as the 

 Three Kings and Stewart's Island. Four of my sons, too, are or have been on the 

 •Government Survey Staff, and both from them and other members of the staff, and 

 my two other sons, who also take interest in ferns, I have received many plants and 

 specimens from places that I have not myself visited. Few colonists, therefore, if 

 any, have had better opportunities of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the New 

 Zealand ferns in all their various forms. I have received, and gratefully acknowledge, 

 -very valuable information and assistance in the above ways from J. G. Baker, Esq., of 

 Kew ; the Ven. Archdeacon Stock, Professor Kirk, and Messrs. T. B. Kirk and H. F. 



