90 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



Nieuwland who discusses the matter in the June num- 

 ber of the Midland Naturalist. From this article it 

 appears that a year or so before Adanson proposed the 

 name Dryopteris, a certain Schmidel named the same 

 group of ferns Thelypteris. In connection with this he 

 published an illustration of the marsh fern (Nepht 'odi- 

 um thelypteris) with various features so clearly outlin- 

 ed that even a novice should instantly recognize it. All 

 the long list of ferns, that have recently been so active- 

 ly catalogued as members of the genus Dry'opteris must 

 now be arranged under Thelypteris. The author quot- 

 ed a list of a few species with synonomy to show how 

 the game begins, but adds "As I have no sympathy for 

 confounding names, nor feel any respect for codes, 

 congresses or systems of nomenclature that by contra- 

 dictory 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 beginning of nomenclature in modern bot- 

 any." Conservative botanists are likely to view this 

 matter in much the same light, but those interested in 

 the nomenclature game will no doubt rush to get un- 

 der cover and name anew all the species of the wood 

 ferns not appropriated by someone else. We who have 

 always contended for the name by which the wood 

 ferns are best known — Nephrodium — see no reason 

 why the new name Thelypteris should be taken up, even 

 if it is proven to be the oldest. We would rather com- 

 promise on Dryoptcris. much as we dislike it. than 

 start all over again under Thelypteris. Consider what 

 the latter would mean. It would render most of our 

 text-books out of date — the new Grays Manual, Brit- 

 ton's Manual, the Illustrated Flora, Small's Southern 



