| SECOND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF PENNSYLVANIA - REPORT OF PROGRESS P. DESCRIPTION OF THE COAL FLORA OF PENNSYLVANIA AND OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES BY LEO LESQUEREUX; ©1879 |
Tables of Contents:
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All Four Volumes: Scans and Webpage ©George Langford III, 2011 |
| EUNEUROPTERIDS | PACHYDERMATE | ANOMALOUS | SPECIES INSUFFICIENTLY KNOWN |
| Filicites acuminates | Neuropteris smilacifolia |
| §3. EUNEUROPTERIDS. | |
NEUROPTERIS HIRSUTA, Lesqx., Plate VIII, Figs. 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12.
Frond bi, tripinnate; primary
pinnae very large, secondary divisions alternate, oblique, lanceolate;
ultimate pinnae trifoliate in the lower part of the branches; becoming
simple in the upper part; middle leaflets large, lanceolate, obtuse,
entire or undulate; cordate and sessile to the rachis when simple;
pedicellate when compound or bearing one or two small round or oval
leaflets at the base; lower surface hairy; costa distinct, strong, and
ascending to three fourths of the lamina in the middle pinnules only;
veins dichotomous, arched, thin and close, flabellate from the base in
the lateral or basilar leaflets, with rarely a trace of a mid-rib.Boston Journ. S. N. H., Vol. VI, p. 417. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 857, Pl. III, f. 6, Pl. IV, f.1-16. Geol. Rept. of Ill. II, p. 427; IV, p. 380. Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 445. This species is most polymorphous, not merely by the enlarging of the pinnules into cyclopterid leaves, extremely variable in form, generally round, unequilateral, sometimes with the point of attachment on one side; but especially by the multiplication and subdivisions of the small basilar leaflets, which, generally simple round or oval reniform in shape, become double in preserving the oval form of each division, or lanceolate, or variously cut into two or more linear obtuse lobes, and digitate as in f. 8. The medial leaflets of this species are sometimes broader at the base, and shorter, truncate, more rapidly narrowed upwards, but never pointed. The venation is close; the vein-lets average forty to fifty per centimeter on the borders, and are indistinct, or buried in the epidermis, which becomes inflated between them. The terminal pinnules, as seen, Plate VIII, f. 4, are lanceolate, obtuse, either entire or with a short obtuse lobe in the middle. The under face of the leaves is always supplied with rigid hairs one to three millimeters long, sometimes few, scattered here and there, and indistinctly seen, more generally numerous, close, and perceptible with the naked eyes. The cyclopterid divisions, at least the large ones, are often smooth. Except the villosity, the characters of this species are much like those of the following, and in some cases it is very difficult to ascertain the reference of the leaflets generally found detached from the rachis, and often mixed together. The main rachis deprived of the leaflets, Plate VIII, f. 12, is cylindrical, minutely lineate. It often bears the remains of the basilar support of the pinnules, broad at the base, triangular acuminate, resembling short spines. Sometimes, but rarely, as in Plate VIII, f. 5, part of the short basilar pedicel remains attached to the leaflets. [It is probably upon one leaf of this kind that Brongniart made his species, Neuropteris Scheuchzeri, Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 230, Pl. LXIII, f. 5. The characters are exactly those of Neuropteris angustifolia, a species commonly found at Wilkes-Barre, wherefrom the author received the American specimen which he refers to it. - according to Lesquereux's Errata page, this whole paragraph should be omitted - GL,III, ed.] Habitat — Most of the coal beds from the base to the upper part of the middle coal measures. Extremely abundant at the Pittsburgh coal, the Salem vein, etc., and there sometimes mixed with the following; less predominant in the low coal of Ill., Morris; very rare at Mazon Creek, where it is superseded by Neuropteris decipiens. I have never seen it from the sub-conglomerate measures. |
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NEUROPTERIS ANGUSTIFOLIA, Brgt.—Plate VIII, Figs. 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 11.
Primary pinnae dichotomous,
alternately forking in branches of a thick rachis; pinnae very long, in
a broad angle of divergence; pinnules simple or trifoliate, the medial
ones linear-lanceolate, obtuse, the basilar, small, reniform or oval;
venation same as in the former species.Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 231, Pl. LXIV, f. 3, 4. Neuropteris acutifolia? Brgt., ibid., p. 281, Pl. LXIV, f. 6, 7. Ett., Fl. v. Radnitz, p. 32, Pl. XVIII, f. 5. Gein., Verst., p. 22, Pl. XXVII; f. 8. Schp., Paleont. Veget. I, p. 433. Neuropteris cordata, Bunb'y, Fl. of Cape Breton, Pl. XXI. Neuropteris heterophylla, Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 859. The two pinnules figured by Brongniart as Neuropteris angustifolia, have the apex broken; but the shape is so exactly similar to that of a large number of leaflets observed in the Am. coal measures that it is scarcely possible to doubt their identity. Those representing Neuropteris acutifolia, also figured by Brongniart, are quite as numerous. The first are represented by Plate VIII, f. 6, the others by Plate VIII, f. 2, of our plate. A very large specimen of this species in the Cabinet of Mr. S. S. Strong, of Morris, represents part of a bipinnate frond more than thirty centimeters long, rather dichotomous than pinnately divided; for the rachis, half a centimeter broad, has the lateral branches of the same size, by the forking of the main axis. The pinnae are seven and a half centimeters distant, open and very long; none, however, is preserved whole. The longest part, the upper one, is fifteen centimeters. It bears distant alternate pinnules, rarely simple, more generally trifoliate, each of these composed, as in the former species, of a large medial pinnule and of one, more generally two basilar ones. The average size of the terminal leaflets is six centimeters long, longer in the middle of the pinnae, shorter and smaller towards the base, one and a half to two centimeters broad, all linear-lanceolate, obtuse, of the same form as in Atl., Plate VIII, f. 2, 3, 6. The basilar leaflets are small, oval or reniform, often enlarged laterally, all with the veins closer than in Neuropteris hirsuta. The leaflets are all smooth; without trace of hair. The main rachis bears also between the inn some pinnules generally simple and shorter. Therefore we have here the same kind of ramification and disposition of pinnules as in Neuropteris auriculata and Neuropteris Clarksoni, a disposition recognized also in Neuropteris Desorii and Neuropteris Loschii, as seen for this last species from the beautiful specimen figured by Roehl, Paleont., XVIII, p. 37, Pl. XVII, which shows not only the divisions of the fronds, but also the relative position of the cyclopterid leaflets. It is, therefore, presumable that all the species of Neuropteris have an analogous mode of branching and bear in the lower part of the fronds cyclopterid pinnules, either sessile upon the main rachis by a narrowed point of attachment, or placed at the forks and surrounding the base of the branches as in Neuropteris rarinervis, when they become enlarged and auricled. around their supports. I remarked in my description of Neuropteris angustifolia, Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 468, that I had received from Mr. Strong, of Morris, a splendid fragment, in a concretion from Mazon Creek, representing the top of a pinna of Neuropteris hursuta, in the process of unfolding or still curved in spiral, whose leaflets, very hairy on the lower side, are narrow, linear lanceolate, and equal at the base, like pinnules of Neuropteris angustifolia. This might provoke a doubt on the value of this last species. But as it has never been found represented with leaflets bearing hairs when fully developed, the characters taken from the shape of the pinnules when not yet quite opened are not reliable, and this unfolding pinna is, therefore, referable to Neuropteris hirsuta. The specimen is, however, very valuable as proving the true reference of the Genus Neuropteris to Ferns, a reference put in question by some authors. Habitat --- Found like the former in the whole thickness of the middle coal measures, but more abundant at the base; Cannelton, Morris, and Clinton; also at the Salem, Gate, and Mammoth veins of the anthracite. Not seen in the sub-carboniferous. |
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NEUROPTERIS CORDATA, Brgt.
Pinnules (ultimate pinnae)
large, short-pedicellate, deeply cordate at base, oblong, acuminate;
borders slightly undulate; medial nerve immersed, dissolved from the
middle; veins curved in diverging to the borders, repeatedly
dichotomous.Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 229, Pl. LXIV, f. 5. Ll. and Hutt, Foss. ft., I, Pl. XLI. Schp. Paleont. Veget., p. 482. Grd.'Ey, Fl. carb., p. 119. The above description is that of Schimper. That of Brongniart is less explicit and his species is represented by the figure of a single leaflet, a terminal one. Lindley and Hutton describe the large pinnules as oblong, cordate at base, acute at the apex, with perfectly entire margin and without any other midrib than what is produced by the united base of the veins. The English authors, however, represent, with the large leaves, a number of small, reniform or circular leaflets, scattered upon the same piece of shale, which they presume referable to the same species as basal leaflets of one of the pinnate divisions of the leaves. The numerous specimens found in the American coal measures, representing Neuropteris hirsuta, Neuropteris angustifolia and Neuropteris decipiens, some of them figured in the Atlas have exposed the peculiar characters of this group of Ferns, all bearing trifoliate pinnae, with deciduous pinnules rarely found attached to the rachis. This however does not afford any light on the identification of that Neuropteris cordata. I have always been and am still uncertain in regard to the true characters of this species. It seems to be a variety of Neuropteris angustifolia, from which it differs essentially by the broader terminal leaflets. For, this last species is generally represented in the same localities by both, narrow pinnules, like those of Plate VIII, f. 2 and 6, mixed with broader ones corresponding in shape to Brongniart's and Ll. and Hutt. figures of Neuropteris cordata. The venation of all these leaves is exactly the same, but none answer to some of the characters indicated by the European authors who say, of the pinnules, that they are acute, and of the costa, that it is very thin (Brgt.), or according to Ll. and Hutt., that it is no other than what is produced by the united base of the veins. In the American specimens the top of the pinnules is more or less obtuse, or sometimes obtusely acuminate, and the costa is always distinct, rather broad and flat to above the middle. In all the species of this group, the basilar pedicels remain sometimes attached to the terminal pinnules as a continuation of the costa. It is probably froth one leaf of this kind that is made Neuropteris Scheuchzeri, Brgt., l.c., p. 230, Pl. LXIII, f. 5. The characters of this species are in concordance with those of the leaflets of Neuropteris angustifolia, which sometimes pedicellate and rounded at the base, are, as the author says, neither truncate nor cordate (Atlas, Plate VIII, f. 2). The American specimens referred to Neuropteris cordata by Brongniart, are from Wilkesbarre, where both Neuropteris hirsuta and Neuropteris angustifolia are common. Habitat—Same as Neuropteris angustlfolia. |
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Fronds pinnate; ultimate pinnae
simple or trifoliate; leaflets large, of thick texture, the middle ones
oblong, more or less gradually narrowed to an obtuse apex, cordate at
the base, hairy; costa strong, continuous to near the apex; veins
dichotomous, curved, distinct, somewhat distant. The leaflets referable to this species resemble by their form and size the largest of those of Neuropteris hirsuta. The difference is in the still larger size of the middle pinnules, more rapidly narrowed to a more acute point, and especially in the more distant and distinct veins. The costa is a little more enlarged towards the base and the pedicel, often attached to it, is broader. However it would be impossible to separate the species without closely considering the lateral veins which, thin and more distinct, are nearly twice as distant. In counting the veins along the borders, in a given space, and upon a large number of specimens of as equal size as possible, they average, as seen above, forty per centimeter on leaflets of Neuropteris hirsuta and only twenty-eight on those of this species. The hairs are generally strong and closely spread on the lower surface. Habitat—Nodules of Mazon Creek where specimens of Neuropteris hirsuta are rare. I have also a few specimens of this species from the shale of Centralia Coal shaft, Ill. |
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NEUROPTERIS FASCICULATA, Lesqx., Plate XXIV, Figs. 5,6.
Bipinnate; leaflets of medium size, entire, cordate or oblong, acute
or acuminate; surface smooth; midrib thin, continued to the point,
veins thin, somewhat distant, dichotomous and arched.Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 381, Pl. V, f. 1-4. Schp., Paleont. Veget., III, p. 472. I have not seen of this species any pinna, but merely detached leaflets, and mostly terminal ones, generally fascicuulate by the sub-division of the pedicel. The pinnules, five to nine centimeters long, one and a half to four centimeters broad, are oblong, either tapering to a point, or abruptly contracted to an acumen, as in Plate XXIV, f. 5. The acuminate apex already separates this species from the former. The midrib is narrow, rather thin, but perceptible to near the point of the leaflets; the veins are about at the same distance as in Neuropteris decipiens, twenty-five in one centimeter, on the borders. The texture is thin, the leaflets sometimes split in the middle. The peculiar subdivisions of the rachis, as seen, Plate XXIV, f. 6, might be taken as casual, and therefore considered of no value as a character. I have however seen very few simple leaflets of this species, while a number of others present this peculiar mode of division as may be seen in three figures, 1, 2, 3, of the Geol. Rept. of Ill. quoted above. It would seem therefore that we have here some late and modified representative of a remarkable type of Ferns of the sub-carboniferous seen upon the same plate in Megalopteris fasciculata, Plate XXIV, f. 2, whose nervation is intermediate to Neuropteris and Alethopteris and whose rachis is similarly subdivided as support of the upper pinnules. The species are figured upon the same plate for comparison. Habitat— Mazon Creek, in nodules; Neleysville, Ill., first coal above the conglomerate. |
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NEUROPTERIS CLARKSONI, Lesqx., Plate IX, Figs. 1-6.
Frond trip innate; primary
rachis very large, dichotomous; pinnae open, long, lanceolate or
linear-lanceolate; pinnules simple, variable in shape from broadly
triangular, rent form, obtusely or acutely pointed, to lanceolate and
linear-lanceolate; costa thick, ascending to above the middle; veins
strong, distant, curved, dichotomous.Boston Journ. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 417. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 857, Pl. VI, f. 1-4. Geol. Rept. of p. 428. Schp., Paleont. Veget., 1, p. 446. The multiple forms of this species would render identification of the leaflets a very difficult task, if its venation was not of a distinct character. The cyclopterid leaflets are broadly triangular, with generally a long auricle or lobe on one side, which often bears a midrib, as well as the primary part of the lamina. As in Neuropteris angustifolia, the main rachis supports scattered leaflets of different size, Plate IX, f. 2, sometimes very large. The terminal leaflets are lance-shaped, deeply undulate on the borders, or cut in one or two irregular lobes on each side. The venation is very strongly marked, always clear and distinct, the middle nerve thick, especially at the base, abruptly dividing above the middle, and the veins, in an acute angle of divergence, moderately curved, generally twice forked, are thicker toward the point of attachment. This species has in its size, in the divisions of the fronds, in the form of the leaflets, variable according to their position either upon the main rachis, or upon its branches, a very intimate relation to Neuropteris auriculata, a species common in the European coal measures. The great difference in the character of the nervation is, however, easily ascertained, and sufficient to separate them. Mr. R. D. Lacoe, of Pittston, has in his cabinet a large slab covered with fragments of this Fern, especially part of a frond, fifty centimeters long, with the upper pinnve dichotomous or exactly forking, twenty-five centimeters long. The pinnae are separated by pinnules generally large and triangular, attached to the main radius. On the lower pinnae the inferior leaflets become larger, triangular, either broadly and deeply cordate or auricled; or even some ones are narrowed nearly abruptly, as if they were attached by the corner of a triangle. This specimen has a large number of pinnules, bearing the supposed fructification of Neuropteris. Habitat—This species is locally very abundant; for example, in the north of the Pennsylvania anthracite basin, Oliphant, Wilkesbarre, Pittston, Carbondale. It is, per contra, very rare in the Western coal basin. From Missouri I have received only one separate pinnule which seems to be referable to it. The specimen is in bad state of preservation. Mazon Creek has it in separate pinnules, well preserved in nodules. In Ohio I have not seen it. It has been collected in fine and numerous specimens at Cannelton, Pa., by Mr. I. F. Mansfield. |
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NEUROPTERIS PLICATA, Sternb.,—Plate X, Figs. 1-4.
Frond bi, polypinnate; rachis
thick, round, striate; pinnae linear, lanceolate to the apex; pinnules
open or in right angle, disjoined, oblong, obtuse, entire, flexuous on
the borders, sessile or short pedicellate; terminal pinnules
lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, lobed on one side; veins thin and
close, dichotomous, curving to the borders from a thin middle vein,
effaced near the point.St. Vers., II, p. 74, Pl. XIX, f. 1-3. Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 248. Neuropteris flexuosa, Lesqx. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 857. It is very difficult to separate from the descriptions and figures of the authors, and without specimens for comparison, some species of this group, especially this one from Neuropteris flexuosa. The description of Neuropteris plicata, by Sternberg, agree with the character of the plant figured here, which, in some of its forms, has the borders more distinctly undulate-plicate than seen upon the figures. The author describes the thin midrib, the very close, thin lateral veins, and the lanceolate terminal pinnule, which, from his figure, has the same form as that upon our specimens. Brongniart, Goeppert, and Unger have merely repeated the author's description, and Schimper does not even mention the species. On another side, of Neuropteris flexuosa, to which I was disposed to refer those specimen, Brongniart figures only one leaflet and a fragment of a pinna whose terminal pinnule is broken, and particularly remarks in the description that the leaflets are close and always imbricated along the borders. Schimper says of the same species that the primary nerve is indistinct, and dissolved near the base. Both these characters are at variance with what is seen upon the American plant, as also the character which gives the name to the species, the flexuous rachis. A terminal pinnule of Neuropteris flexuosa, with the same form as that of f. 2, of Plate X, is given by Gutbier, Abdr., Pl. VII, f. 1 and 1a; but the lateral leaflets are shorter without trace of a midrib, and thus far different from the characters indicated by Sternberg's description. I cannot, indeed, recognize in any American specimens the true Neuropteris flexuosa, Brgt., for, by comparison, a thin, distinct midrib in those which I formerly referred to this species in Geol. of Penn'a, l.c., --Neuropteris Leberti, Heer, Fl. foss. Helv., p.22 Pl. II, f. 8-10, seems really referable to Sternberg's species. Per contra, Neuropteris plicata, as figured by Roehl, foss, fl. Pl. XIII, f.8, with leaflets veined in right angle to the midrib, and Pl. XX, f.7, is far different from the plants which I refer to it. Habitat-- Especially found in the upper part of the middle coal measures. It abounds in the Pomeroy, also in the Pittsburgh coal. Numerous specimens have been sent by Prof. I. C. White, from a vein of coal four hundred feet above the Waynesburg coal. Seen also, but rarely, at Cannelton, and in the nodules of Mazon Creek. Sent by Prof. Worthen, from an upper coal of Fayette County, Ill. |
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NEUROPTERIS ROTUNDIFOLIA ? Brgt.—Plate XIII, Fig. 8.
Bipinnate; pinnules sub-opposite, imbricating on the borders, short,
broad, very obtuse, rather enlarging at the top, sessile; costa
distinct at the base; veins thin but distinct, close,
dichotomous, arched in passing to the borders.Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p.238, Pl. LXX, f.1. Gutb., Abdr., p. 56, P1. VII, f. 3, 4. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 428. Schp., Paleont. Veget., p. 441. The only fragment in my possession may be too imperfect to afford satisfactory evidence for identification. Comparing it, as it is, to the one quite as fragmentary, figured by Brongniart, under this name, no difference whatever is appreciable. The leaflets are in the same position, in right angle on one side of the pinnae, obliquely placed on the other; the nervation is of the same character. The author supposed that his specimen might represent a variety of Neuropteris flexuousa. By the close venation of the pinnules, it resembles an enlarged form of Neuropteris Loschii, while it by Geinitz to to Neuropteris auriculata. The fragment represented by Gutbier, l.c., though too small, agrees well enough in its characters with the figures and description of the species. But the pinnules referred to it by Roehl, foss., fl., p. 35, Pl. XII, f. 4b, are mere basilar leaflets of Neuropteris angustifolia, or Neuropteris cordata. Habitat—The specimen figured here is from Gate or Salem Vein, near Pottsville. Another specimen of the same character in the State Cabinet of Ill., is from Grayville, a high coal like the former. |
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NEUROPTERIS LOSCHII, Brgt., Plate XI, Figs. 1-4.
Frond pinnately dichotomous;
pinnae open, linear, slightly narrowed to an obtuse terminal pinnule;
pinnules oblong, sub-cordate, very obtuse, more or less enlarged on the
lower side of the base, sessile; costa distinct near the base, effacing
above; veins thin, close, dichotomous.Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 242, Pl. LXXIII and LXXII, f. 1. Gutb., Abdr., p. 55, Pl. VIII, f. 6. Roehl, Foss. fl., p. 37, Pl. XVII (splendid specimen). Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 858. Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 428. Schp., Paleont. veget., p. 437. Heer, Fl. foss., Helv., IV, p.23, Pl. III, f. 6-8. Gleichenites neuropteroides, Goepp., Syst., p. 186, Pl. IV and V. The species, as far as it is known from American specimens, has generally small pinnules, variable in size from one half to two centimeters long and four to ten millimeters broad. They very gradually shorten from the base of the pinnae to the apex. The lower basilar leaflet only of each pinna is longer, enlarging at the apex, even unequilateral and attached by one side as seen at the base of the lower pinna, Plate XI, f. 1. These dimorphous leaflets explain the characters of the unequilateral large leaves described by Brongniart as Cyclopteris obliqua. The terminal pinnule is oval, obtuse, unequilateral in the middle, or more enlarged on one side. In the upper part of the primary pinnae,as seen; Plate XI, f. 4, the secondary ones becoming shorter, pass gradually to simple pinnules by the diminution in size and number and the cohesion of the lateral leaflets. The veins are thin, close but distinct, slightly thicker towards the base, where they unite to a midrib more generally marked by a depression which is effaced above the middle as seen Plate XI, f. 3. Sometimes the lateral veins become undulate and united in oval meshes, as in species of Dictyopteris. One specimen from Cannelton has this variety very clearly marked upon a bipinnate branch of which all the leaflets are true Neuropteris by their dichotomous veins, while a single one, at the base of a pinna, has distinctly the venaation of a Dictyopteris. The mode of branching of this species is seen on the splendid specimen figured by Roehl, l.c., with the cyclopterid pinnules attached to the broader rachis, as remarked already. A detached cyclopterid leaflet of this species is observable upon the specimen Plate XI, f.1. It is equilateral and slightlt undulate on the borders. Others are generally found upon the shale bearing remains of this fine Fern. They are codate or auriculate, equilateral or unequilateral. Roehl refers these leaflets to Cyclopteris trichomanoides, Brgnt., a reference contradicted by the too great distance of the veins on the borders. This species closely resembles by the form of its leaflets Neuropteris tenuifolia, which however always differs by more distinct secondary veins and by the terminal leaflet lanceolate. Habitat---From the base, to the highest beds of the middle coal measures, passing above into into permo-carboniferous beds. I have found it in beautiful specimens in the red clay beds of Marietta, higher than the Pomeroy coal, generally associated with Pecopteris arborescens. Abounds in the horizon of the Pittsburgh coal in Ohio; not rare in the nodules of Mazon Creek; also at Cannelton, Pa., and Clinton, Mo. It is one of the finest, most common, and most distinctly characterized species of the group. |
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NEUROPTERIS VERMICULARIS, Lesqx., Plate X, Figs. 5-10.
Lesqx., D. Owens, Geol. Rept. of Ky., IV, p.434. Geol. Rept of Ill., II, p.428; IV, p.385, Pl. VI, f.1-3. Schp. Paleontol. veget. IV, p.474. Pinnately divided; pinnae linear, slightly narrowing upwards to a deltoid or oblong, obtuse terminal pinnule; lateral leaflets open, mostly in right angle, oblong, obtuse, sub-cordate, rounded or truncate at the base, with the inferior lobe slightly prolonged; midrib broad near the base, distinct to the middle; lateral veins forking two or three times, distincy, irregularly inflated, moderately curving in passing to the borders. This species has been observed in many specimens, all fragmentary, representing mere simple pinnae, and these not even entire, except one lately sent by Prof. Worthen. In all these specimens, the characters, as represented upon the plate, the peculiar form of the terminal pinnules and the venation are the same. The leaflets appear to have been of soft texture, with a thick epidermis, as the veins are sometimes immersed into it. More generally, the surface seems partly destroyed by maceration and the threadlike veins then exposed and salient, separate easily in fragments, looking like broken parcels of rain worms. The pinnules, close, contiguous by the borders and oblique in the upper part of the pinnae, are in right angle and distant in the lower part. They vary in size from three millimeters long, Plate X, f. 9, to four centimeters, Plate X, f. 7. Sometimes in specimens unaltered by maceration, the veins are visible only per place or pierce the epidermis by their sharp, cylindrical, hard texture. But, even upon one and the same specimen, a fragmentary deterioration of the surface expose them distinctly or detached in fragments. The rachis is half round, striate in the middle, smooth and flat on the borders. Habitat—Roof shale of the lower coal 1, of Ky. Nodules of Mazon Creek, and shale of Morris coal. I have from Cannelton a single leaflet apparently referable to this species. |
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NEUROPTERIS TENUIFOLIA, Brgt.—Plate XII, Figs. (1?) 2-9.
Leaf bipinnate; pinnae small,
sub-linear; pinnules variable in direction, open or oblique, close or
distant, alternate, oblong, either obtuse or narrowing to an obtuse
apex, cordate or more generally rounded and equilateral at the base;
costa thick, dividing above the middle; veins clearly marked, though
thin, inflated towards the base, forking twice or more in the large
leaflets.Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 241, Pl. LXXII, f. 3. Goepp., Syst p. 197. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 858. Geol. Rept. of Arks., II, p. 312, Pl. V, f. 2-6. Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 428. Schp., Paleont. Veget., p. 430. Cyclopteris elegans, Lesqx., Boston, Journ. S. N. H., VI, p. 416; Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 856, Pl. V, f. 4. Neuropteris flexuosa, var. tenuifolia, Heer, Fl. foss. Helv., IV, p. 21, Pl. III, f. 4, 5. Though I consider this form as positively representing Brongniart's species, there is still in the characters of our leaves some deviation from the European type. The lateral leaflets are either narrowed to an obtuse point, but quite as often oblong, obtuse, not generally close and imbricating along the borders, but often separated even distant. The terminal pinnule, however, is always lanceolate, comparatively long, and obtusely acuminate, exactly as it is figured by the author, and also the midrib. is thick and well marked to above the middle. Brongniart says of the veins, that they are close and very thin. Though very thin, a character which separates this species from the former, they are always distinct and more distant than in Neuropteris Loschii, Plate XII, f. 8 and 9, Atl., represent the cyclopterid pinnules of this species, always unequilateral, one of the sides being generally prolonged into a long auricle, while the other is rounded. This disposition is already remarked in the lower leaflets of the branch Plate XII, f. 4, rounded on the upper side and extending to an acuminate lobe on the other. Plate XII , Fig. 1, is doubtfully referred to this species. The pinnae are very long, not open, but curved inward; the pinnules, contracted in the middle, are equilateral and rounded at the base. At first I considered the specimen as referable to Neuropteris gigantea, St., but there is a great difference in the shape of the pinnules, which, in the European species, are oblong, oval, and evidently scythe-shaped. Neither the specimen on which Sternberg's species is made, nor this one, have any terminal leaflets, hence their form cannot be considered. The affinity is marked in the contraction of some pinnules in the middle, as in Plate XII, f. 1, clearly seen in Plate XII, f. 2 and 3, and in the distance between the leaflets which is the same ; those of f. 5, also, are rounded to the base, and equilateral, as in Plate XII, f. 1. The venation is of the same character. There is a difference only in the length of the pinnae and the form of the cylindrical rachis, which is rather smooth than striate. Prof. Heer, l.c., considers this species as a mere variety of Neuropteris flexuosa, Brgt. If the plant described here is the true Neuropteris tenuifolia, Brgt., it is certainly different from Neuropteris flexuosa by the nervation, the size of the pinnules, the shape of the terminal leaflet, and the consistence of the texture. As said above, I am unable to recognise in the American specimens any fragment referable to Neuropteris flexuosa, or answering to the characters indicated by the author, and seen upon European specimens preserved in the cabinet of Dr. D. Owen. Per contra, Neuropteris tenuifolia, is one of the more common plants of the coal measures of this continent. Habitat---The species follows about the same distribution as Neuropteris Loschii. It appears earlier, however, as I have found, in the sub-carboniferous coal of Arkansas, specimens still more positively referable to it than those figured in the Atlas. It is not rare in the low coal of Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and equally abundant in the upper anthracite beds.—Salem, Gate vein, etc. |
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Bipinnate;
pinnules in right angle to a narrow rachis, sub-opposite, oblong,
obtuse, more or less distinctly sythe-shaped, sub-cordate, and
equilateral at the base, contiguous, imbricated on the borders, or
distant; costa narrow, discernible to near the apex; veins close,
distinct, scarcely inflated, curving in passing to the borders, forking
two or three times.
Besides the fragments figured, I have seen still two other parts of pinnae, with smaller pinnules of the same characters. The leaflets vary from one to three and a half centimeters long, and from four to twelve millimeters broad. They are all more or less curved upwards, (scythe-shaped,) rounded or sub-cordate and equilateral at the base, either sessile or short pedicelled, generally close and imbricate, the specimen, Plate XIII, f. 6, being the only one with distant pinnules. The venation is close, more distinct, and slightly more distant than in Neuropteris Loschii. Except that the leaflets are imbricate and the midrib distinct, not immersed, these fragments might be still more than the one of Atlas, Plate XII, f. 1, considered as representing Neuropteris gigantea, St. The form of the leaflets of Plate XIII, f. 5 is the same, the ultimate rachis quite slender, the veins very close; therefore, the essential characters correspond with those of the European species. For Geinitz, Verst., p. 22, Pl. XXVIII, f. 1, describes and figures it with a distinct midrib. All the authors, however, admit as essential characters the great distance of the pinnules. I cannot, therefore, decide on the specific identity. It is, however, supposable that there may be a difference of relative position of the leaflets in some pinnae of a Fern which appear to have had a very large frond. Heer, Fl. foss. Helv., p. 22, Pl. VI, f. 22, has a species, Neuropteris montana, which seems to differ from the American form, merely by narrower leaflets. Habitat—Sub-conglomerate coal measures. Montevallo coal mines, Ala., locality indicated by Mr. T. H. Aldrich for the specimens not figured. The others sent by Prof. E. A. Smith, without labels, are upon gray shale of the same matter as those from the Helena coal. |
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NEUROPTERIS CAPITATA, Lesqx., Plate XXIII, Figs. 1-3.
Leaf bi-tripinnate; primary
pinnae triangular in outline; secondary, divisions open, linear;
pinnules close short, oblong, very obtuse or half round, joined to the
rachis by a short broad pedicel; terminal pinnules very large, deltoid,
obtusely acuminate; costa none; veins very thin and close, dichotomous
moderately curved.Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 383, Pl. VII, f. 1. Schp. Paleont. Veget., III, P. 473. This species is distinctly characterized by the peculiar form of the terminal leaflets, and the comparatively small size of the lateral pinnules which measure only about one third of its length. They are alternate or sub-opposite, truncate at the base, with the inferior lobe more or less distinct and prolonged. The veins sometimes come out of the enlarged point of attachment, wherefrom they diverge fan-like. By this character, the species is related to the section of the Nephropterids. Often however, the pinnules bear traces of a basilar midrib, which in some leaflets is marked to near the middle. The lateral pinnules of Plate XXIII, f. 2, show the venation straight from the enlarged base, similar to that of species of Odontopteris. But this enlarging of the base of the upper leaflets which become decurrent, is remarked on other species of the genus, especially in Neuropteris tenuifolia. Plate XXIII, f. 3 is very probably one of those pinnules of peculiar form, attached to the main rachis, like those of Neuropteris Clarksoni, seen Atl., Plate IX, f. 2. The veins are as close as in Neuropteris Loschii; the texture of the leaflet is rather thin. Habitat—Lower coal measures of Illinois; nodules of Mazon Creek, and roof shale of Murphysborough Coal. Represented at Cannelton by some specimens, with leaflets like Plate XXIII, f. 2, 3, and by cyclopterid leaves described as Neuropteris trichmanoides? This species is very rare. |
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Pinnately divided. Rachis thick, striate; pinnae short, linear, in right angle; lateral pinnules oval, obtuse, round or truncate at the base, sessile; terminal leaflets very large, oblong or ovate, obtuse; midrib distinct; veins forking twice, curved to the borders. By the large size of the terminal leaflets, compared to that of the lateral pinnules, this species resembles the former. It is clearly distinct not merely by the shape of the leaflets, the lateral ones rounded at the base, sessile, the terminal oblong, obtuse, but also by the nervation. The midrib is very distinct and prolonged ; and the veins not half as close and numerous. They are thin and thus intermediate in characters between those of Neuropteris Loschii and Neuropteris rarinervis. The imbricated lateral leaflets of Plate VII, f. 5 are by form and relative position exactly like those of Neuropteris rotundifolia. But in this last species the pinnules have no distinct midrib and a more compact venation. Habitat—Clinton, Mo. Communicated by Dr. John H. Britts, in three specimens. |
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NEUROPTERIS GRANGERI, Brgt., Plate XIII, Fig. 9.
Brgt., Hist. d. Veg., foss., p. 237 PI. LXVIII, f.1. Schp., Paleont. Veget., 1, p. 441. Neuropteris Cistii, Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 238, Pl. LXX, f. 3. Schp., Paleont. Veget., 1, p. 441. Bipinnate; pinnae long, alternate, very open; pinnules close or distant, alternate, oblong, obtuse, dilated near the base, sub-pedicellate; midrib indistinct, immersed; veins distinct and distant, moderately curved, forking twice. By the addition of the modified character on the relative position of the leaflets, close or distant, the above diagnosis describes both Neuropteris Grangeri and Neuropteris Cistii. Brongniart already supposed that these two species might be the same, and Schimper who examined the specimens is of the same opinion. Though this Fern is rare, I have seen a number of specimens, most of them now in the museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge. They clearly represent one species only, the characters of both being observable even upon a same specimen. The difference in the distance of the pinnules is remarked already upon Brgt.'s figure of Neuropteris Grangeri, l.c. , those of the lower pinnae being close and contiguous, while those of the upper are more or less distant. Pl. LXX of Brgt., l.c., represents a branch with still more distant leaflets,, similar to that of Atlas, Plate XIII, f. 9. The other characters are common to both. Generally the pinnules are enlarged near the base or rounded to a flat short pedicel; sometimes rounded or sub-cordate and sessile, they become slightly narrower to the obtuse point and vary in size from eight to eighteen millimeters long and from five to twelve millimeters broad, near the base, where they are the widest. The nervation is the same in both; a midrib, indistinct by immersion into the parenchyma, marked from the base to above the middle by a depression; and lateral veins sharply cut, generally forking twice, thus somewhat distant, moderately curving in passing to the borders. Schimper quotes as referable to this species Adiantites (Cyclopteris) heterophyllus, Goepp. Syst., p. 222, P1. XXXV, f. 1, 2. From the description of the author who characterizes the form of the pinnules as sub-orbicular, theupper ones obovate, decurring, and the veins very numerous (creberrimis), it -cannot be identified with Brgt's. species, which seems until now exclusively American. Habitat—Prof. Brongniart received the specimens of Grangeri from Zanesville, and those of Neuropteris Cistii from Wilkesbarre. My own specimens in the collection of the Museum of Cambridge are from Salem and Gate Veins, near Pottsville; the specimen figured here is from New Philadelphia, an upper coal of the same horizon. But I have found it also at the lowest vein of the Shenandoah basin, under the mammoth and seen a fine specimen of it obtained from the Raush Creek vein, the equivalent of the Mammoth, by Mr. Wetherell of Tremont. This shows the vertical distribution of the species to be a wide one. It is generally very rare and until now obtained in fragments of small dimensions. I have not seen any pinnae as large as the one figured by Brongniart. The species is allied to Neuropteris Loschii by the form and size of the leaflets and to Neuropteris tenuifolia by the venation. |
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Frond polypinnate, apparently large; primary divisions lanceolate, open from a broad, striate rachis; ultimate pinnae in right angle to a narrow rachis, linear, lanceolate to the apex; pinnules distant, small, broadly oval, or nearly round, sub-truncate or sub-cordate at the base; terminal pinnule large, oblong or broadly ovate; middle nerve distinct to near the point, deeply impressed into the. thick epidermis; lateral veins sharply marked, curved back to the borders which they reach in right angle, forking once at the middle, sometimes once more from the very base. This fine very distinct species had apparently a frond of large size. Though I have mostly small fragments of it like those figured, its leaflets with broken parts of rachis are spread upon the whole surface of large specimens. It is at once recognized by its small, oval or round thick leaflets, the terminal pinnules comparatively large, the deep midrib, and .the sharply salient veins. I do not know any European species closely allied to this. Neuropteris microphylla, Brgt., has leaflets of about the same size. But they are obtusely lanceolate, and according to the description of the author, the veins are indistinct. Neuropteris Lindleyana, St., has small leaflets and salient veins, at least as seen by the figures in Ll. and Hutt., Foss. fl., Pl. XLIX, under the name of Neuropteris Loschii. But neither by the shape of the pinnules, especially of the terminal one, nor by their position on the rachis, can it be compared to this. Habitat—Black Creek vein, New Castle coal, Ala., very abundant. Splendid specimens have been sent me from that locality by superintendent Thos. Sharp, and later by T. H. Aldrich. I saw it first in the collection of Prof. Eug. A. Smith. . The species has been discovered also in Virginia at the Quinnimont Coal by Prof. Wm. H. Fontaine,* there associated, as in Alabama, with Sphenopteris Hoeninghausi and other sub-conglomerate forms.
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Pinnae large; rachis smooth; divisions in right angle; ultimate pinnae linear-lanceolate; pinnules small, lance-late, obtusely acuminate; nervation and texture of the leaflets same as in the former species. Possibly this form may be a variety of N. Smithsii. The shape of the pinnules is however far different and as I have received most of its specimens from Indiana, without any leaflets like those of the former, its separation appears really legitimate. The rachis is smooth, not striate and the pinnules lanceolate and still more distant. These are the only characters which may be recorded as peculiar to it. It is closely related to Neuropteris Dluhoschi, Stur, Culm Flora, p. 183, Pl. XI, f. 9, whose leaflets of the same shape are still longer. The deep midrib is prolonged to near the point and the lateral veins reach the borders also at right angle. But the author describes them as very close, while in this species, they are comparatively distant. Habitat—Montevallo seam, Ala. T. H. Aldrich. The specimen figured is in the Cabinet of the Alabama State Geol. Survey, without labels. Sent mostly from the Whetstone grit of Orange county, Ind, by Prof. E. T. Cox. |
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Bipinnate; rachis broad, obscurely striate; pinnae open, close, alternate; pinnules variable in size and form, oblong, either very obtuse, even enlarged to the top, or longer, with both sides parallel, obtuse or narrowed to an obtuse apex, truncate at the base; venation obliterated by a thick hard epidermis; midrib inflated, effaced in the middle; veins obsolete when the epidermis preserved, distinct under it, very close and numerous, scarcely arched, dichotomous. The leaflets unite in their form and size the characters of both Neuropteris Loschii and Neuropteris plicata; they are, however, more variable in size, sometimes half round, sessile, broadly oblong, very obtuse, truncate at the base, with the lower lobe prolonged, and a terminal pinnule, short, obtuse, enlarged in the middle on one side, or oval, nearly equilateral, only more rapidly narrowed to the petiole on one side than on the other. On one of the specimens, the lateral leaflets measure less than one centimeter long, and are nearly as broad. On the reverse of the same, they are eighteen millimeters long, six millimeters broad, with parallel sides and obtuse apex, and upon another, the pinnules, two and a half centimeters long, eight millimeters broad at the base, are rounded to a short petiole, and lanceolate acuminate, exactly similar in shape to Neuropteris acuminata, Brgt., as figured by Ll. & Hutt., Foss. Fl. 1, Pl. LI. Separate leaflets present still other peculiar forms, one of them, apparently a cyclopterid pinnule, six centimeters long, is divided from a little above the unequilateral and oblique base in two lanceolate obtusely pointed and parallel lobes, each fourteen millimeters broad, and five centimeters long. The surface is a thin lamina of hardened coaly matter, opaque, or polished, through which the convex midrib is obscurely seen; the veins, however, are totally obscured. But when the epidermis is detached the venation is distinct. The lateral veins are very close, forking four or five times, numbering five per millimeter along the borders, only slightly arched and rough. All the parts of the plants are rigid. The main rachis is convex, obscurely lineate, as seen through the epidermis. The ultimate pinmae are open, parallel, close, and the pinnules are either very close, imbricated on the borders, or more distant, with a narrow interval between them. Until recently I had seen of this species only separate pinnules scattered upon pieces of shale of different localities. Though I recognized an evident affinity in the characters of these leaflets, especially in the nervation and the peculiar epidermis, I was unable to identify and determine, them, on account of their very variable forms, and they have been therefore, left undescribed until now. Habitat—St. Clairsville, Ohio, from a high coal, equivalent of the Pittsburgh bed. Mr. P. W. Emerson sent from that locality the specimens described above. The plate being engraved already, they could not be figured. I found the first pinnules of this species in a bed of hard shale, below Tamaqua, Penn'a. Later, some better ones, but still very fragmentary, were obtained from the Tunnel vein of Sharp mountain, below Tremont. This vein is the equivalent of the Salem vein, of Pottsville, wherefrom I had also a few scattered leaflets. A very rare species. |
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NEUROPTERIS RARINERVIS, Bunb'y., Plate XV, Figs. 2-5.
Bunb'y., Coal form. of Cape Breton, Quat. Geol. Jour., III, p. 425, Pl. XXII. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 859. Geol. Rept. of Ill., p. 428, Pl. XXXIII, f. 1-5; Pl. XXXIV, f. 1; IV, p. 386, Pl. VIII, f. 1 to 6. Schp., Paleont. Veget.,I, p. 440; III, p. 474. Frond large, polypinnate ; primary rachis thick; pinnae broad, triangular in outline; ultimate pinnae long, linear or linear-lanceolate; pinnules small, distant, alternate, sessile, cordate at base, oblong, slightly or gradually narrowed upwards, obtuse; midrib-enlarged at the base, dividing in the middle of the lamina; veins thick, distant, forking once or twice. The species though variable is easily recognized by the thick texture of its leaflets, the small cordate, or obscurely lobed pinnules, the terminal ones being comparatively long, lanceolate, obtuse, or blunt at the apex, generally lobed at the base. The veins are rather flat than thick, inflated on their borders by fascilles of vessels which, by maceration, become sometimes more divided or distant, the veins then appearing double. In order to show the relation of the cyclopterid pinnules by identity of the character of the veins, I have figured branches and leaflets of this species in Vol. 2, l.c., of the Geol. Rep. of Ill.; and in Vol. 4, I have represented a branch, Atlas, Plate XV, f. 3, which shows in its natural position a cyclopterid pinnule on one side, and on the other, a pinna with leaflets of the common shape. I have since received from Morris, where the species abounds, large fragments of stems of this species, one measuring -three and a half centimeters across, flattened, coarsely irregularly striate, covered with cyclopterid pinnules, seven to eight centimeters in diameter, nearly exactly round. They do not appear to embrace the stems but seem to be attached to one side of it by the central round point, the basilar auricles overlapping each other. Another specimen has these pinnules unequilateral with the lobes more prolonged one side as in those of the Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, Pl. XXXIII, f. 4 and 5, and others only cordate at the point of attachment, as Plate XV, f. 3, of the same plate. We may therefore follow them in a variety of contours and size which gives an idea of the dimension and the beauty of this Fern. The veins are in all these pinnules of the same character, distant, deeply impressed into the thick epidermis, which inflated in the intervals, appears ribbed or costate like the bark of Calamites. These leaflets seem to represent Cyclopteris obicularis, Brgt., and I should not doubt the identity if Neuropteris rarinervis had been found in the European Coal measures. Habitat—Very common in the lower beds of the Western Coal Measures of Illinois, Murphysborough and Morris, especially; of Missouri, Clinton; also in a shaft near Ellsworth, Kansas. In Pennsylvania, it is especially abundant at Room Run mines, above Mauch Chunk. Specimens from Oliphant, No. 1 vein and from Wilkesbarre, Oakwood colliery F, are in the cabinet of Mr. R. D. Lacoe. |
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NEUROPTERIS CORIACEA, Lesqx., Plate XVIII, Fig. 6.
Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 387, Pl. VIII, f. 7, 8. Schp., Paleont. Veget. p. 475. Pinnae lanceolate; pinnules linear-lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, the lower ones long, obscurely lobed or deeply undulate toward the base; medial nerve thick, continuous; lateral veins curved, forking twice; substance thick, coriaceous. Species intermediate between the former and the following one. The substance is very thick, the surface covered with a coating of coaly matter, through which the veins are obscurely seen. Under the epidermis, detached per fragments, the impression of the lateral veins, is distinct. They are distant, curved, forking generally twice. The venation is of the same type as in Neuropteris rarinervis, the veins only being more curved, simple, not divided or inflated on the sides. The form of the lateral leaflets much longer at the base of the pinnae, some of them slightly cuspidate, lobed or undulate; the thick texture of the pinnules, which leave a deep impression upon the stone, authorize a specific separation. A still more fragmentary specimen represents a terminal pinnule, which, shorter and twice as broad as that of Neuropteris rarinervis, bears on one side, above the middle, a deeply cut, oblong, obtuse lobe. This character has not been observed in any of the numerous specimens of the former species. Habitat—Mazon creek only. Collection of the Museum of Comp. Zool. Cambridge, N. 228, 229. |
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NEUROPTERIS DESORII, Lesqx., Plate XIV, Figs. 1-7; Plate XV, Fig. 1.
Boston Journ. S. N. H., vol. VI, p. 418. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 859, Pl. V, f. 11, 12; Pl. XX, f. 6-8. Geo. Rpt. Ill., II, p. 430. Schp., Pa. Veg. I, p. 447. Fronds large, pinnate or dichotomous; pinnae either long, open, inclined upwards, linear-lanceolate; or short, in right angle to the rachis; pinnules dimorphous, according to their position on the main rachis, or on its branches. On the pinnae they are opposite, generally lanceolate, gradually narrowed to an obtuse apex, undulate or lobed; on the rachis they are shorter, broader, deltoid, diversely cut in obtuse unequal lobes; costa distinct, either more or less enlarged at the base, effaced upwards, or thin and continuous from the base to the point; lateral veins distinct, thin, forking twice. The subdivision of the fronds and the shape of the pinnules of this species, are more variable than in any other of the group. The fronds pinnately dichotomous, like those of Neuropteris Clarksoni, bear also, like this Fern leaflets of variable shape, according to their position upon the pinnae or the main rachis. These are broader, shorter, more deeply lobed, and far different in size, as in Atl., Plate XIV, f. 4; the others more generally lanceolate, entire, as Plate XIV, f. 2 and 3 are undulate, lobed at the base, even pinnately lobed, as in Plate XV, f. 1; generally opposite, distant in the lower part of the pinnae, close towards the top, and then gradually connate, forming a compound lanceolate, pinnately lobed and obtusely pointed terminal pinnule. The cyclopterid leaflets, Plate XIV, f. 5 and 6, are cut, lobed or lacerated in various ways; sometimes, as in Plate XIV, f. 6, prolonged on one side at the base into an enlarged reniform dentate lobe. The veins distinct, thin and close, are not flattened, as in Neuropteris rarinervis, but cylindrical or sharply cut; the substance of the leaves is about of the same thickness, its surface is polished, and this, with the distinctness of the veins, gives to the fragments of the plant a peculiar facies which enables the student to recall them easily to the type. All the specimens described and figured in the Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, l.c., represent mere small fragments of this Fern, even mere pinnules. They were, however, all referred to the species before larger parts of the pinnae had been found. The rachis is flat, broad, distinctly striate. In considering the form of the pinnules, Neuropteris coriacea has more affinity to this species than to Neuropteris rarinervis. The only essential difference is in the more coriaceous texture, in the surface, which in Neuropteris coriacea is opaque, not shining, and in the more distant lateral nerves. Habitat—Upper beds of the anthracite; Salem and Gate vein, near Pottsville; Blakely vein near Archbald; Wilkesbarre, not rare at these localities; found also at Cannelton, by Mr. I. F. Mansfield ; not seen in Illinois. |
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NEUROPTERIS GERMARI, Goepp.—Plate XVIII, Figs. 3-5.
Filicites crispus, Germ. and Kaulf., Abdr., p. 229, Pl. LXVI, f. 6. Adiantites Germari, Goepp., Syst., p.218. Schp., Paleont. Veget., 1, p.426. Cyclopteris Germari, Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 856, Pl. V, f. 5. Pinnately divided; pinnules thick and flat, sessile, enlarged at the point of attachment, rounded in outline, entire or variously lobed or lacinate; veins flabellate from the base, dichotomous, distant and distinct. Schimper remarks on this species that it is unsatisfactorily known. Our specimens afford a little more light on its characters, but as they are all fragmentary, representing small parts of pinnae, there is still a degree of uncertainty about the true relation of this peculiar Fern. Atl., Plate XVIII, f. 3 is a separate pinnule, apparently cut in the middle into two large lobes, with borders diversely lobate or lacinate, and with the nervation of this species. Plate XVIII, f. 5, copied from the Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, is part of a pinna, with broad, striate rachis and pinnules opposite, round in outline, more or less cut in irregular accuminate lobes on the upper side, entire on the lower, enlarged at the base, with veins parallel, in emerging from the radius, or odontopterid, as in the leaflet figured by Germar and Kaulfus. Plate XVIII, f. 4 is a branch with broad flat striate rachis, like that of Plate XVIII, f. 5, bearing on one side seven pinnules, the two superior ones obtusely, irregularly lobate, the others with the upper borders lacinate, the lower merely obtusely lobed. This figure is so like that of Odontopteris Reichiana, as represented in Gein., Verst., Pl. XXVI, f. 4, that it seems positively referable to this species. The nervation, however, is more neuropterid, and the undivided lobes are all round or very obtuse, none of them pointed, as in the European plant. The thick substance of the leaflets also, as marked in our specimens and in Filicites crispus, Germ., and Adiantites Germari, Goep., species united by Geinitz to Odontopteris Reichiana, evidently separate these plants from Fucoides Crispus, Gutb., Abdr., pl. I, f. 11, and Fucoides dentatus, Gutb., ibid., f. 1, 2, 4, which, like Odontopteris Reichiana, are of a thin substance, and have a different nervation. I have not seen any European specimens representing these two last species, which I consider as referable to Rhacophyllum, without relation to Odontopteris Reichiana, of the same author, as figured, f. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7. Schimper, Paleont. Veget., adopts the same views, and cannot see how Filicites crispus, Germ., and Adiantites Germari, Goepp., may be identified with Odontopteris Reichiana. Neither can I see how the two last named forms, and the one which I have figured and described as Neuropteris Germari, might be put with Adiantites, a genus which has its affinity to Archeopteris, or to the Sphenopterids. Their place is between Neuropteris and Odontopteris, like that of Odontopteris alpina. Atlas, Plate XVIII, f. 4 is, however, essentially neuropterid. I have seen from Mazon Creek still another specimen which bears, on one side of the rachis, a leaflet divided in narrow acute laciniae from the base, like Rhacophyllum, while the pinnule on the other side is merely slightly lacerate or undulate on the borders. The leaflets are thick and coriaceous. Plate XVIII, Fig. 4 shows such a degree of relation to Neuropteris Desorii, that I was disposed to consider it as the same, and am still uncertain if it may not be a deformation of that polymorphous species. The venation has the characters of Neuropteris Germari, more distant veins inflated at the base, thinning near the borders, etc. Habitat—Salem Vein, Pottsville, specimens, Plate XVIII, f. 4. Nodules of Mazon Creek, spec. Plate XVIII, f. 5 and the other mentioned above, both in the collection of the Museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge. Specimen Plate XVIIII, f. 3 is from a sub-conglomerate shale or sandstone at the horizon of the Chester limestone, in Mercer Co., Illinois, communicated by Prof. A. II. Worthen. |
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Bipinnate; ultimate pinnae linear; leaflets alternate, sessile by a broad base, oblong or oval, obtuse; veins flabellate from the base, strongly marked, slightly curved; cyclopterid pinnules cordate at the point of attachment, unequilateral, polymorphous. This species is at once recognized by its thick subcoriaceous texture and its venation. The middle nerve is only marked by a depression; the, veins, somewhat thick, fork ing once or twice, slightly curved in ascending to the borders, come out from the enlarged base of the leaflets, which in small or top pinnae, as in Plate XVI, f. 1, are more or less decurrent. The cyclopterid pinnules, whose reference is clearly made by the characters of the nervation, are broadly reniform in outline, more or less equilateral at the base, with the borders entire or cut in short, obtuse or acute, irregular lobes. Plate XVI, f. 5 shows that palmate division already remarkable in leaflets of Neuropteris hirsuta and Neuropteris angustifolia. This species differs from the former by thinner, closer veins, not or little inflated towards the base, and from the following by the entire borders of the leaflets, a close venation, etc. Habitat—Upper Coal strata of Penna. and Ohio. New Philadelphia, between Pottsville and Tamaqua, from a vein of coal considered the equivalent of the Salem. More abundant at Pomeroy; two specimens of cyclopterid pinnules are from Wilkesbarre. All belong to the Museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge. |
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NEUROPTERIS CRENULATA ? Brgt., Plate XVI, Figs. 9-11.
Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 284, Pl. LXIV, f. 2, 2a. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 859, Pl. V, f. 6. Schp., Paleont. Veget, I, p. 441. Frond bipinnate; pinnae long, linear; pinnules open, sessile, distant, alternate or opposite, ovate, deeply cordate; borders more or less distinctly crenulate; veins dichotomous, distant, slightly curved towards the borders. If the plant figured and described here agrees in some of its characters with Brongniart's species, it is so different in others, that identity cannot be positively asserted. According to the author, the pinnules are contracted at the base, not cordate, and his figures show them pedicellate, not sessile. The venation seems to agree; for if the veins are described as thin and distant, they are figured thick, both characters apparently contradictory, but agreeing with what is seen upon the American specimens. As far as it is known, the pinnules vary little in shape and size; they average three centimeters in length and nearly two in width measured towards the enlarged base, ovate, obtuse, generally slightly contracted in the middle; and evidently sessile. The midrib is formed by confluence of the base of the veins, which fork twice and pass up with a slight curve to the crenulate borders. The veins generally thin, often appear thick by immersion into the epidermis which they cut into deep narrow furrows. Brongniart says of his enlarged f. 2a, that it represents the veins too thick. It is the same with f. 10a of Plate XVI, the veins are more exactly represented upon the pinnules of natural size. The crenulations of the borders are caused by immersion of the veins into the parenchyma, forcing it out and protruding between them; some of the leaflets where the epidermis is erased are entire, as seen in the upper fragment of Plate XVI, f. 9. This is also different from what is marked upon the enlarged f. 2, of Brongniart, where the veins are all ending into the teeth. I am not perfectly satisfied that the specimen Plate XVI, f. 11, represents the same species. It has the same characters of nervation; but the leaflets are longer, narrower, and the borders more irregularly crenate. It evidently shows two segments of upper pinnae bearing the terminal pinnules and a few of those underneath, none of them having the basilar part preserved. Habitat—Wilkesbarre. The leaflet figured in Geol. of Penn'a, l.c., is from Salem vein. It is narrowed to the point of attachment and more irregularly crenulate, having its affinity with Plate XVI, f. 11, made from a specimen from the Tunnel vein, near Tremont, same horizon as the Salem vein; where spec. of Plate XVI, f. 9 and 10 have been obtained. I have seen, also, a few specimens from Cannelton. |
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NEUROPTERIS EVENII, Lesqx., Plate XVIII, Fig. 7.
Geol. Rep. of Ill., p. 430, Pl. 36, f. 4. Schp., Paleont. Veget., III, P. 475. Pinnately divided; pinnules alternate, distant, ovate, cordate at base, short pedicelled; veins distant, flabellate from the base, or derived from a thin midrib; curved. This form is a remarkable one. By the shape of the leaflets, their thick substance and the venation, it is similar to the former species, and though the borders are evidently entire, it would be impossible to separate it, but for the short, curved, distinct pedicel, by which they are attached to the rachis, The veins also, clearly marked, though thin, are not immersed into the parenchyma. As no other specimen similar to this has ever been seen, I am unable to ascertain if the differences are constant, or if it represents a mere variety. Specimens from Cannelton referable to the former species have the borders of the pinnules entire, but the leaflets are sessile. Habitat—Mazon Creek. The specimen was formerly preserved in the cabinet of Mr. Jos. Even, of Morris. |
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Frond large; pinnae simple, linear; pinnules sessile, or short-pedicellate, reniform, semi-circular, or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, either smaller and undivided, or larger and lobed; borders entire or crenulate; veins flabellate and dichotomous from the base, curved backwards, thick, and distant. This Fern, the most beautiful of all those of this genus, is remarkable, especially by the peculiar divisions of its large pinnules, attached to a narrow cylindrical rachis. The pinnules are either simple, (not lobed), round or reniform, truncate, sessile or pedicelled at the base, two centimeters long, and two and a half centimeters broad, at least; or much larger, three to six centimeters long, two to five centimeters broad at the base, truncate and sessile, pinnately cut on the borders, in the direction of the veins, into two to four obtuse lobes, and half round at the top. The borders in the small leaflets are crenulate or nearly entire; in the larger pinnules the teeth are more distinct and generally tipped with a short point; the venation is cyclopterid in the small leaflets ; the large ones have, like crenulata, a medial nerve formed by continuity of the base of the veins, inflated downwards. The veins are thick, immersed into the parenchyma, or exposed at the surface; much curved backwards, forking twice, and distant. Prof. J. E. Teschemacher has figured a small fragment of this species in Boston Journ. S. N. H., vol. V, Pl. XXXIV, merely mentioning it, p. 383, as referable to Neuropteris or Odontopteris. This figure is copied, Plate XVII, f. 4. The same specimen bears some lanceolate leaflets, comparable by form and size to those of Odontopteris Alpina, with a cyclopterid nervation and entire borders. This species is not a true Neuropteris. With the two former ones and Odontopteris Alpina it constitutes a peculiar group, which need to be separated under a new generic name. Habitat — Mount Hope coal mines, near Portsmouth, Rhode Island, communicated by Mr. J. H. Clark, of Newport in numerous specimens, now in the museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge. Prof. Teschmacher had his specimen from the same locality. I have never seen any from another. |
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| §. ANOMALOUS. |
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Pinnately divided. Pinnae large, lanceolate; rachis broad, flat, striate; pinnules opposite, open, truncate to a very short pedicel, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; veins distant, curved, dichotomous, forked two or three times, irregularly sub-dividing into thin, sparse filaments; midrib thick at the base, distinct to the middle of the lamina. The fronds of this pecular species seem to have been very large. The specimen figured represents a simple pinna, twenty-five centimeters long, with seven pairs of opposite, distant pinnules, five to seven centimeters long and two to two and one half centimeters broad, in the middle. The terminal pinnule is free, short pedicellate, of the same form, only slightly smaller. The lateral pinnules abruptly rounded to the nearly equilateral base, are subtruncate, attached to the rachis by a short pedicel formed by the enlarged costa; the lower are generally ovate, more or less rapidly acuminate, the upper ones oblong and sometimes, as seen on a specimen not figured, linear from the base to above the middle. In this last specimen none of the leaflets are preserved entire, the longer fragment is six centimeters and its borders are parallel for the whole length. The venation is of a peculiar type. The middle nerve is a prolongation of fasciles of vessels which, parallel in the flat rachis, diverge into each pinnule, and from the midrib, by the same kind of sub-division, curve towards the borders. They generally fork twice and besides, are sub-divided in thread-like, thin filaments, which diverge obliquely across the laminae without uniting with other veins, though often crossing them before they become effaced. The epidermis is thin and pellucid when humected, and thus, the distribution of the veins is discernable in all its details as seen in the enlarged Plate VII, f. la. The other specimen has the lateral veins more compact but also flattened and subdivided, the thread-like vessels being closer and more generally parallel. The flat rachis is regularly striate by the parallel juxtaposition of the vascular bundles. Though, by the shape of the leaflets, this species is comparable to Neuropteris acuminata, Brgt., it is quite distinct from it by all the other characters. I have observed sometimes a like abnormal subdivision of the veins in thin threads, in specimens of Odontopteris Schlotheimii, when found in an advanced state of maceration. Habitat—The specimen figured, No. 430 of the collection of the Museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge, is from the gray roof shale of the coal of Morris, Ill., obtained by Mr. Jos. Even. Prof. Thos. C. Porter found the second specimen at the Tunnel Vein of Sharp Mt. below Tremont and kindly presented it to the Survey. |
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NEUROPTERIS VERBENAEFOLIA, Lesqx., Plate XVIII, Figs. 1, 2.
Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 431, Pl. XXXVII, f. 1; IV, p. 385, Pl. VI, f. 5, 6. Schp., Paleont. Veget., III, p. 476. Frond pinnate; rachis cylindrical, thinly striate; pinnae simple, apparently long; pinnules large, oblong, or ovate, rounded at the base to a short, fiat pedicel, serrate on the borders; midrib thin, effaced above the middle; veins thin, dichotomous, moderately curved in passing to the borders. The first leaflet found of this fine and remarkable species is larger than those figured here and split in the middle; its base is partly destroyed. Two others, found after at the same locality, represent exactly the characters observed on the first leaflet, and besides show the mode of attachment of the pinnules. They vary from ten to eleven centimeters long, and proportionally broad. The veins are thin, partly derived from the enlarged base, partly from the narrow midrib, generally divided three or four times. In the specimen Plate XVIII, f. 1, the pinnules by their form and the short teeth of the borders, somewhat resemble those of Neuropteris crenulata; but the enlarged base, the venation, as also the teeth, sharp though short, and entered by the veins, distinctly refer it to this species. The leaflets appear to have been of a delicate texture. The upper ones, in Plate XVIII, f. 2, are somewhat erased and punctulate, or spotted by maceration. Prof. Schimper, l.c., remarks that this splendid fern, easily recognizable by its leaflets, regularly dentate, and of a size unknown in the Genus Neuropteris, has no analogy to any species either of living or of fossil Ferns, except, perhaps, of some Marattiae. The form and nervation of the pinnules recall those of the genus Phyllopteris, Brgt. Habitat—Nodules of Mazon Creek, Ill. ---all the specimens. |
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Bipinnate; pinnae lanceolate; pinnules coriaceous, close and very oblique in the lower part, distant and in right angle, towards the top, lanceolate, obtuse, rounded on both sides to the midrib, and equilateral at the base; border undulate; middle nerve thick and persistent to the point; lateral veins curved backwards, close, and inflated, distinct, simple or forking once or twice. This fragment of a pinna is the only representative of the species. The substance of the leaflets is thick, coriaceous, with the surface shining; the pinnules close near the base and more distant in the upper part, give to the plant the appearance of being composed of two different species. The veins are curved backward, like those of an Alethopteris or Callipteridium, and but for the mode of attachment of the leaflets, the species would be referable to this last genus. The terminal pinnule, of which the base only is preserved, has the mode of attachment of an Alethopteris. Habitat—The specimen figured, No. 34 of the collection of Prof. Eug. A. Smith, of Tuscaloosa, is derived from the Alabama coal measures, but the locality is not marked. |
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| §. SPECIES INSUFFICIENTLY KNOWN. | |
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Pinnate; pinnules very oblique, narrowly lanceolate, accuminate; midrib thin, dividing near the top; lateral veins dichotomous, curved, close, salient. As positively answering to this description, I have seen of this Fern only the three small specimens figured. The facies of the leaflets is remarkable, on account of the very deeply marked, close, cylindrical, rough veins, which fork three to five times, and though very thin, are easily counted along the borders, numbering eight per millimeter. They come out of the midrib in an acute angle, and distinctly curve to the borders from the middle of the areas. The fragments may represent pinnules not yet fully developed at the top of opening pinnae. This supposition seems confirmed by the characters of another fragment of a pinna representing five linear-lanceolate pinnules, curved upwards, like those of Plate XIII, f. 11, about of the same form, bearing each two round leaflets at the base. The veins very distinct, sharp, but not as close as in the specimen described, number four per millimeter; the surface is hairy. This specimen apparently represents the top of a young pinna of Odontopteris Worthenii. Quite recently I have found in the Cabinet of Princeton College another specimen (M. 764) which affords some more evidence on these plants. It is a pinna nine and a half centimeters long, with the lower pinnules alternate, the four terminal ones fasciculate, all of them very oblique, curved upwards or falcate from the point of attachment, linear-lanceolate, obtusely accuminate, five and a half centimeters long, eleven millimeters broad at the base, with borders entire or slightly undulate. The medial nerve is broad, flat, very distinct; the lateral veins are also sharply cut, slightly curved, forking three to four times, distant on the borders; the surface is covered by a coating of rigid polished long hairs, generally disposed in the direction of the veins, longer than those of Neuropteris hirsuta, all characters indicating a close relation to Odontopteris Worthenii. Habitat—Murphysborough, Ill., low coal, in the same bed of shale with Odontopteris Worthenii. The last specimen is from Cannelton, Pa.—Mr. I. F. Mansfield. |
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Pinnule oval, obtuse, truncate or cordate at the base; borders undulate; veins dichotomous from a thin middle nerve, thin, distant, undulate, and slightly curving in passing to the borders, where they become effaced. The leaflet is split in the middle, by compression it seems. It cannot be compared, on account of its venation, to the cyclopterid pinnules of Neuropteris rarinervis, but may be related to Neuropteris dilatata, LI. & Hutt. The pinnule has a distinct costa, and therefore represents a true Neuropteris. Habitat—Gate vein, near Pottsville, Pa. |
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Frond bipinnate; pinnae short, linear, sessile upon a thick round striate rachis, pinnules oval, sessile, separated, or united in the upper part of the pinnae; terminal leaflets very small oval; veins thick, twice forked, obsolete. This species is apparently made from an erased specimen of Neuropteris Desorii. Habitat—Tamaqua, found by Prof. E. Desor. |
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NEUROPTERIS ACUMINATA, Brgt.
Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 229, Pl. LXIII, f. 4. Ll. and Hatt., foss. fl. I, Pl. LI. Filicites acuminates, Schloth., Petref., p. 412. Neuropteris smilacifolia, Sternb., Fl. d. Vorv., II, p. 29-33. Frond pinnate or bipinnate; pinnules alternate, short pedicelled, auriculate-cordate, symmetrical, acuminate, entire. I have seen only one specimen with three detached leaflets which might be referred to this species. They are enlarged at the cordate base one of them with a short pedicel and acuminate. They have exactly the shape of those figured by Brongniart, still more resembling those figured by Ll. and Hutt. The veins are thin but distinct, many times forking from a narrow costa effaced above the middle. The nervation is not described by the author. As these leaflets are detached and as I have never seen any other specimen in the coal measures, I am not certain about their reference. Habitat—Black vein of W. W. Wood, near Pottsville, specimen No. 276, of the Collection of the Museum Comp. Zool., Cambridge. |
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