12 
New Zealand Ferns 
Marattia fraxinea, ‘"Para” (pronounced short); Lygo- 
dimn articulatum, “Mange-mange.” Some of the popu- 
lar names have come to stay. Trichomanes reniforme, 
“Kidney-fern”; Cyathea medullaris “Black Tree-fern”; 
Cyathea dcalbata, “Silver King”; Adiantum aethiopi- 
cam, “Maidenhair”; Gleichenia Cunninghaniii, “Um- 
brella-fern”; Todca Supcrba, “Prince of Wales Feath- 
ers”; Marattia fraxinea, “King-fern.” 
When all is said, a name is not of vital importance, 
but it is as easy to select a good one as a bad one, a 
truth which the great European botanists do not seem 
to have realised. There is something revolting in calling 
such a dainty creation as a fern, a plant that cannot en- 
dure the least foulness of soil, air, or water, by such a 
name as “pustulatum” (covered with pustules) ; that its 
obvious perfections should be overlooked in favour of 
so repulsive a comparison. 
One does not expect much imagination in a German 
botanist; but Dr. Swartz might have managed some- 
thing better, when naming one of the noblest families 
of tree-ferns in the world, than an allusion to a micro- 
scopic peculiarity of the seed vessels ; a more dignified 
title for the “Silver King” tree-fern than “The white 
fern with a cup-shaped seed vessel”; something more 
inspiring for the monarch of the fern grove, a giant who 
towers to a height of 50ft., one of the loftiest in the 
world, than “The pithy fern with a cup-shaped seed 
vessel”; the imagination is not exalted by the mention 
of such a poor material as pith. 
Why should the most beautiful fern in New Zealand 
be called “Herr Tode’s superb”? to make a literal trans- 
lation; it smacks too much of labelling a cask of lager 
beer. This is a name which may very well be altered. 
No systematic plan has been followed in finding names 
for the 31 genera existing in New Zealand. Fourteen 
refer to the seeds, six are called after individuals, three 
from the frond, and one each from the habitat, medi- 
cinal properties, root, and stalk. In selecting the indi- 
