How many t's are there in matteuccia?

The fern is named after Carlo Matteucci, who lived from 1811 to 1868, worked on the electrical activity of muscle and nerve, and had nothing to do with ferns. Agostino Todaro published the genus in his honour in 1866. Everything difficult about the spelling is inherited from the man: Matteucci is an Italian surname, Italian doubles consonants freely and pronounces both of them, and English does not. An English speaker saying the fern's name gives the tt a single beat, so the ear counts one t and the page needs two.

A doubled letter said once, so the ear counts one and the page needs two.