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priate, and are at a loss to understand why they were 

 bestowed. They cannot refer to any connection between 

 the habitats of the ferns and those of the trees, for, though 

 both ferns might possibly grow in company with the oak, 

 neither of them would be in the least likely to thrive in 

 company with the beech tree, since the latter generally 

 grows on dry and preferably on chalky land, while the 

 ferns love moisture and dislike lime. Carl Linne 

 (Linnaeus) is the accepted author of the names dry opt er is 

 and phegopteris , which are simply " oak fern " and " beech 

 fern " written in Greek. Whether Linne invented the 

 names himself or simply translated old popular names is 

 uncertain, but, in the absence of any evidence to the 

 contrary, it is fair to assume that for some reason he 

 bestowed them " out of his own head." His reasons can 

 only be matter for speculation, but I venture to make one 

 or two guesses which may be taken for what they are worth. 

 To take the oak fern first : its surface has a velvety bloom, 

 which is not unlike that upon the young leaves of the oak 

 tree in spring. We know that Linne was peculiarly 

 susceptible to the awakening of Nature in the spring, and 

 it is not unlikely that he may have had in mind the young 

 foliage of the trees when he named this fern. If this 

 suggestion be accepted, the name of the beech fern is 

 equally explicable, fcr its young fronds have a hairy 

 surface, which is quite comparable to that of the young 

 leaves of the beech tree. 



Another possible, but less probable, explanation, I 

 think, may be taken from the outline of the fronds when 

 they are dried (i.e. pressed). If we look at a dried frond 

 of the oak fern, its broad, soft, rounded form bears a certain 

 resemblance to the outline in profile of Quevcus robur. It 

 is true that the stipes of the fern are much too slender to 

 correspond to the sturdy trunk of the tree, but I think 

 names have been bestowed on the strength of resemblances 



