Lady Gaga has had 19 species of a newly discovered fern named after her by scientists at Duke University in the US as they believe the plant and the pop star share a similar sense of "individuality".

The 'Born This Way' hitmaker - whose real name is Stefani Germanotta - has been honoured by scientists at Duke University in the US after they called a newly discovered genus of fern, which has 19 different variations, after her due to the plant and the pop star's similar sense of "individuality".

Kathleen Pryer, a biology professor at the educational establishment, said: "We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defense of equality and individual expression".

"And as we started to consider it, the ferns themselves gave us more reasons why it was a good choice."

The new varieties of fern have been named Gaga germanotta, which honours the singer's family name, and Gaga monstraparva - which translates to mean "monster-little", in honour of her fans who are known as Little Monsters - among other titles.

Kathleen admitted the fern - which was discovered in Arizona, Texas and Mexico as well as Central and South America - was also named after the 'Paparazzi' hitmaker because her songs are "enormously empowering".

She added: "We think that her second album, 'Born this Way', is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people and communities like LGBT, ethnic groups, women -- and scientists who study odd ferns!"