| 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 |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIDS
Primary rachis forking near the base in diverging branches of equal size, or divaricate and dichotomous; branches polypinnate, ultimate divisions sometimes forked; pinnules connate or separated to the base, of various shape, oblong-obtuse or ovate-lanceolate, oblique or in right angle, decurring to the rachis and bordering it by a narrow wing; lateral veins oblique, generally forking once, the lowest pair twice. Professor Stur in a recent, very important work on the flora of the Culm* (subconglomerate coal measures), has separated under the generic name of Diplothmema a group of fossil ferns,
Though this last character has not been observed upon specimens of all the species referred to this group, it is put in evidence by other points of affinity which fix the mutual relation of the plants. The forking of the branches is seen in the figures of Pseudopecopteris Mazoniana, Pseudopecopteris biformis, Pseudopecopteris Newberryi, Pseudopecopteris muricata; especially Pseudopecopteris glandulosa, Pseudopecopteris decurrens and Pseudopecopteris speciosa. It is surmised by the position of the pinnae in Pseudopecopteris Owenii, Pseudopecopteris rugosa, Pseudopecopteris anceps. Of the last species I have specimens with dichotomous branches. The most remarkable representative I have seen of this kind of division is from a specimen of Pseudopecopteris nervosa in the cabinet of Mr. R D. Lacoe who had the kindness to prepare for a plate some diagrams which have not been figured for want of place. They show the primary rachis, apparently only mere divisions or branches of the fronds, for they are not thick enough for basilar stems, twelve millimeters in diameter, divided into two opposite horizontal branches of the same size, nine millimeters thick, diverging in right angle for a distance of three centimeters on each side, then dichotomous, forking under a divergence of 90°, each branch or pinna about fifty centimeters long, with alternate divisions bearing leaves and variable in length (six to twelve centimeters). From the oblique direction downward of the lower secondary branches, the top of these pinnae which are generally in right angle, descends towards the base of the primary rachis and cover them. It is exactly the same kind of subdivision observed upon Pseudopecopteris glandulosa. As for the other characters ascribed to the genus their evidence in regard to the relation of the species has been remarked in the description of each of them. | |
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Fronds large polypinnate;
primary pinnae very large, pinnate in the lower part, forked near the
top; ullimate divisions pinnately lobed as in Pecopteris; venation
pinnate. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS MAZONIANA, Lesqx., Plate XXXII, Figs. 1-7a.
Branches pinnately divided in
the tower part, dichotomous at the apex; main rachis canaliculatc in
the middle and striate, flat on the borders ultimate pinnae either
long, sublinear, gradually tapering to the apex, or short, more
distinctly linear, obtuse, pinnately lobed; medial nerve of medium
size, gradually thinner upwards, nearly reaching the apex; veins
oblique, distant, parallel, forking below the middle.Alethopteris mazoniana, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 391, Pl. IX, f. 1-8; Pl. XIII, f. 5, 6. Schp., Paleont. veget.,III, p. 499. The general facies of this Fern especially the form and size of the secondary divisions, refer it to Alethopteris. The lower ultimate pinnae, as Plate XXXII, f. 2, are long, with pinnules separated to the base, even distant, decurring upon the rachis, the basilar ones undulately lobed, indicating a bipinnatifid division of the branches toward their base. The middle pinnae, like Plate XXXII, f. 3, have the lobes or pinnules connate at their base, the lower ones indistinctly lobate on the inferior side, all oblong or linear-obtuse, gradually decreasing in length from the base where they measure twelve millimeters in length, to the very small half round terminal leaflets. The largest preserved specimen shows the upper part of a branch, fourteen centimeters long, bipinnately divided in the lower part in open pinnae, nearly in right angle to the rachis, the lower ones six and a half centimeters long, pinnately regularly lobate; lobes half round, entire, scarcely five millimeters long and half as broad, also in right angle to the rachis, connate at the base, with the venation obsolete. The pinnae become rapidly shorter the ninth pair from the base being only two and a half centimeters long with short pinnules connate to the middle and above this they are simple and are divided as in Plate XXXII, f. 5. Excepting the upper leaflets or the pinnae simple by the confluence of the pinnules, the facies of the Fern as represented by the specimen is that of a Pecopteris. Very like to the fragment in Atlas, f. 3, Plate XLIII, merely differing by close rigid ultimate pinnae and shorter pinnules. The nervation of this species is exactly the same in all the parts of the plant; the lateral veins are all on the same angle of divergence about 50° and consequently parallel, forking once from below the middle, the lower pairs of the large pinnules only have sometimes one of the branches forking again near the borders. As the veins are all derived from the midrib they leave at the base of each pinnule, by their divergence, an empty space, which, when the pinnules are distant, is prolonged into a narrow wing along the rachis, which is canaliculate in the middle, and flat on the borders. This gives to the species a peculiar appearance and render it easily recognizable, though different in shape and size may be the fragments which represent it. The fructifications are seen Plate XXXII, f. 7, in longitudinal simple rows of large round soli, nearer to the borders than to the midrib. On the specimen figured, the soli covered as they are by the epidermis, appear semi-globular or merely convex; but upon other specimens better preserved than those I had at my disposal in Illinois, the epidermis is detached and the sori are seen formed of three or four oblong sporanges, placed starlike around a central point, disposed, as far as can be seen, upon the upper branches of the veins. The substance of this Fern is coriaceous, the upper surface generally convex, furrowed by the impressions of the veins; the borders reflexed. The pinna Plate XXXII, f. 1 has some characters different from those described. Though distinctly observed upon the specimen, they do not seem weighty enough to authorize its reference to a different species. The pinnules are abnormally connivent, or some of them either geminate at the or deeply cut in one lobe at the upper side; the lateral veins are at a slightly more acute angle of divergence; the pinnules more distinctly oval and acute. Nevertheless, all the essential characters are the same as described above, the veins forked once; the rachis winged by the decurring base of the leaflets; the thick texture, etc. The form of the sori, their disposition in marginal rows upon the upper branch of the veins; that of the sporanges and the forked division of the upper part of the fronds, relate this species to the Gleicheniae. Habitat—Mazon Creek, in concretions, not rare; never found elsewhere until now. Among a large number of specimens of the sterile pinnae obtained from Mr. S. S. Strong, the Museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge has a few good fruiting ones, Al. 132 and 133. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS SUBCRENULATA, Sp. nov., Plate XXXVII, Figs. 7-8.
Pinnae linear, gradually
narrowed in the upper part, sessile; pinnules open, nearly in right
angle, connate at the base, bordering the rachis as in the former
species, oblong, or linear-obtuse, crenulate; middle nerve thin;
lateral veins slighlly curved, simple or forking.Pecopteris crenulata ? Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 300, Pl. LXXXVII, f. 1. Alethopteris crenulata, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 439, Pl. XXXIX, f. 2-4; IV, p. 392, Pl. XIII, f. 14-15. Schp., Paleont. Veget., III, p. 499. Neuropteris conferta, Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 467. By the shape of the pinnae, that of the pinnules, their mode of attachment and the forking of the veins, specimens representing the species have about the same appearance as those of the former. The pinnae are however narrower, enlarged in the middle, the pinnules flat, of a thinner substance; the veins more open at least in the sterile specimens where they are forked and the medial nerve not as thick. It seems, at first, from the two fragments figured, that they belong to two different species, on account of the veins, forked in Plate XXXVII, f. 7, simple in f. 8. This last figure represents part of a fructified pinna, as seen from the surface obscurely and undulately swelled by the sori which underneath occupy the middle of the space between the midrib and the borders. In pinnae of a more advanced stage of decomposition, the dots are more distinct or more salient through the epidermis and often the veins are forked between them as in the sterile pinna. The division of the veins is extremely variable in this species and seems due to mechanical action, like a splitting caused by compression in an advanced stage of maceration or perhaps to a peculiar composition of the tissue. In some pinnae, the veins are either regularly forked, or split in three or more branches or filaments, three of them diverging from the same point, the two lateral opposite, subdivided again in two or three thin threads, quite near the borders. The direction of the vein upwards or downwards is equally variable upon the same specimen. Hence it has not been possible for me to find any reason to separate into two species the forms represented by the numerous fragments which have lately passed under my examination. I considered them at first referable to Pecopteris crenulata, Brgt., but following the authority of Prof. Schimper, I have modified the name. He remarks, Paleont. veget., III, p. 500, that Brongniart's species is a doubtful one, and that its identity with the American plant is far from being ascertained. The European specimens are from the upper coal measures, near Saarbruck; ours are from the base of the middle Carboniferous. The difference in the geological horizon is of some weight in considering identity. Among the specimens which I have examined some have exactly the characters indicated by the French author, others greatly differ, as seen from the above diagnosis, even the borders, distinctly crenate in some specimens, appear nearly entire in others. A specimen in the Museum of Princeton College, No. 99 of the nodules, represents a large triangular pinna divided as in Pecopteris Mazoniana. The borders of the pinnules are slightly undulate; the midrib somewhat decurring and more inflated toward the base; the lateral veins are distant four to six pairs, alternate, the lower ones curved inward, forking at the apex, the upper ones straight or slightly curved back, either simple or split at the apex, being as remarked above composed of parallel close filaments either dividing at the top by splitting or preserving the same position and remaining simple to the contiguous borders where some of them are even slighly inflated. Habitat—Mazon Creek, in concretions. Rare. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS SHEAFERI, Lesqx., Plate XXXIII, Figs. 8-8b.
Leaf polypinnate; ultimate
pinnae linear-lanceolate, open; pinnules oblique, linear or Ungulate,
obtuse, connate and slightly decurring, with borders sinuate; medial
nerve thin, gradually effaced toward the apex; veins thin, in an acute
angle of divergence, once forked near the base, the upper branch
forking again; in the lower pair, both branches are sometimes forked.Pecopteris Sheaferi, Lesqx., Cat. foss., pl., Potts. sci. assoc., p. 11, Pl. 11, f.4. Alethopteris Sheaferi, Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 562. The characters of this species are recognized the same in the specimen figured in the Pots. Cat., l.c., of which the enlarged Plate XXXIII, f. 8b, showing the nervation is copied, and in that of Plate XXXIII, f. 8. They are distinctly seen also upon a fragment, part of a leaf, Al. 19, of the Collection of the Museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge, which represents the upper part of a primary pinna with secondary pinnae open, short, five to six centimeters long; pinnules oblique, unequal in length, averaging one centimeter, gradually shorter towards the end of the pinnae, with exactly the same nervation as described and figured here. The veins are very thin, in an acute angle of divergence, curving towards the borders. The relation of this species to Alethopteris aquilina, indicated by Schp., l.c., is distant and merely marked by the shape of the leaflets. It greatly differs by the thin lateral veins very oblique curved towards the borders, and by the absence of veinlets from the radius between the base of the medial nerves of the pinnules. Habitat—Salem vein, near Pottsville, Mr. P. W. Sheafer. The specimen quoted above is from Terris vein, Kentucky. | |
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Ultimate
pinnae diversely lobate; lobes entire, crenate or dentate, generally
decurrent; facies of the Sphenopteris comparable to the present
Dicksoniae. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS SPINULOSA, Lesqx., Plate LVI, Fig. 1.
Bi-tripinnatifid; ultimate
pinnae oblique, rigid, alternate; pinnules connate at base, ovate,
obtuse; borders sharply denticulate; midrib strong, effaced under the
apex; veins oblique, forking once in the middle, divisions entering the
teeth.Alethopteris spinulosa, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 396, Pl. XI, f. 1, 2. As seen from the fragment figured, the primary pinnae are broadly lanceolate, with a strong smooth rachis; secondary pinnae nearly linear, gradually narrowed to a small oval, dentate pinnule, as seen from another specimen; pinnules sharply toothed, the teeth, the upper ones especially, appearing spinescent. The specimen not figured has the leaflets lanceolate from the middle upwards, more obscurely dentate, the apex, however, sharply acuminate. The medial nerve enlarged toward the base is abruptly dissolved and divided at a distance from the apex, and the lateral veins four or five pairs, alternate, distant, parallel, at an acute angle of divergence, all from the midrib, are forked once only. In both specimens the characters, except the difference indicated above, are the same. The pinnules, ovate, narrowed upwards, and obtuse or pointed, connate to a distance above the rachis, are all about of the same size, less than one centimeter long, five to seven millimeters broad, at their point of cohesion, a little above the radius. Some of the characters, the shape of the pinnules, their venation, relate the species to the former section. But it has no relation to the Gleicheniae. It is rather allied to the Dicksoniae by the form and position of the leaflets and the nervation, comparable especially to Dicksonia Plumieri, Hook. Habitat--Roof shales of the coal of St. John, Perry Co., Ill. The specimen figured is from the collection of the museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge, Al., 116. The second, Al. 102, of the same collection is from Newport, Rhode Island. This specimen is not quite as good. It is disfigured by contraction on one side and expansion on the other from which results the more distinct pointed shape of the leaflets, which on the contracted side are positively obtuse. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS HYMENOPHYLLOIDES, Lesqx., Plate LVI, Figs. 2, 3.
Frond apparently large,
tripinnate; divisions lanceolate, sessile and decurring in a narrow
wing to the rachis; pinnules oblique, oblong-obtuse, connate at base;
borders sinuate or undulate; medial nerve thin, reaching to the apex,
lateral veins thin all derived from the midrib at an acute angle of
divergence, forking once.Alethopteris hymenophylloides, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 393, Pl. X, f. 1-4. Schp., Paleont. veget., III, p. 500. The different fragments obtained of this fine species indicate the subdivision of the frond. The lower secondary pinnae at least twelve centimeters long, alternate and oblique, have pinnules two and a half centimeters long, longer still towards the base, eight to ten millimeters broad, gradually shorter towards the apex, all decurrent and joined in acute sinusses near the rachis, very oblique, somewhat curved back from the middle, generally oblong, or lanceolate, obtuse, with undulate or sinuate borders; the rachis is narrow, flat; the midrib very thin, and the veins, five to eight pairs, slightly curved and forking once only at the middle. The upper part of the pinnae, as seen Plate LVI, f. 3, has shorter divisions; the lobes are either deeply undulate lobed, or towards the apex, pass by cohesion to small obtuse entire pinnules. The mode of attachment of the secondary pinnae to the rachis is marked Plate LVI, f.3. As in most of the species of this group, they are decurring along the rachis bordering it with a narrow wing. The relation of this fine Fern, which, like the former, has no affinity to any species known until now from the coal meaures, is also with the Dicksoniae; with Dicksonia barometz, Link, for exampple, and still more with Loxsoma Cunninghami, Br., which it resembles by the shape and position of the pinnules and nervation. Habitat—Mazon Creek, in concretions. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS NERVOSA, Brgt., Plate XXXIV, Figs. 1-3.
The species is locally abundant and easily recognized by the thick
substance of its leaflets, with a strong very distinct venation. The
midrib is often no thicker than the lateral veins and some of these are
casually attached to the rachis, but never passing through the whole of
the area between the base of the medial nerves. As seen Plate XXXIV, f. 3, the
species is sometimes represented by fragments with equal oblong obtuse
pinnules, like those of some Alethopteris.
The peculiar nervation and the shape of the lower pinnules generally
bi-lobed, recall easily the numerous variations to the type. Plate XXXIV, f. 1 is a
pinna with unequal alternate pinnae, those on the left side shorter,
with more distinctly acuminate pinnules, and the lower plume on the
same side replaced by one geminate leaflet like those remarked upon
species of Neuropteris and of Odontopteris. This is not the only character which relates the plant to Odontopteris;
for when somewhat effaced by erosion, the basilar veins, of the same
thickness as the midrib, appear joined to the rachis, fragments of this
Fern resemble those of Odontopteris Brardii.Pecopteris nervosa, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 297, Pl. XCIV; XCV, f. 1, 2. Ll. and Hutt., Foss. fl., II, Pl. XCIV. Alethopteris nervosa, Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 865, Plate XVIII, f. 3; Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 442. Schp. Paleont.veget., I, p. 513. Pecopteris Sauveurii, Brgt., ibid., p. 299, Pl. XCV, f. 5. Fronds
tripinnate, or compound dichotomous and multifid; primary pinnae large,
broadly lanceolate; secondary divisions open, linear, lanceolate
towards the apex; pinnules oblique, connate from the base or above,
ovate-obtuse or lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, the inferior one, on
the lower side, generally bilobate; the terminal ovate-lanceolate,
entire or lobate by the confluence of the upper pinnules; medial nerve
divided at the apex; lateral veins in an acute angle of divergence,
generally forking once.
Habitat—Very abundant in the intraconglomerate measures of Alabama, the Helena, the Black veins. Also common in the lower beds of the Anthracite fields; Shamokin, Wilkesbarre. There are large and splendid specimens of the species in the cabinet of Mr. R. D. Lacoe, of Pittston, from the subconglomerate ledge and from Oliphant. The species is rare at Cannelton, still more so in where I found only a few specimens at Murphysborough low coal; not seen in the specimens from Clinton, Mo. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS SUBNERVOSA, Roemer.
Frond tripinnate, primary
pinnae lanceolate; secondary divisions open, alternate, sublinear,
pinnatified; pinnules oblique, ovate, acuminate, connate from the
middle, the upper ones gradually connivent to near the apex, the
inferior larger, entire, not lobate; medial nerve broad and flat;
lateral veins flexuous, tending upwards in reaching the borders; forked
once, some of the basilar derived from the rachis.Paleont., IX, p. 192, Pl. XXXI, f. 11. Roehl, Paleont., XVIII, p. 90, Pl. XIII, f. 5 (copied from Roemer). I have for examination a larger better preserved specimen than the one on which Roemer made his figure and diagnosis. It represents the upper part of two parallel pinnae, with alternate secondary branches, slightly oblique from a flat rachis grooved or wrinkled crosswise; the pinnules are shorter, broader than in the former species, all very oblique, curving upon each other towards the apex, with a slightly obtuse acumen, none of them bilobate. The venation is peculiar. The midrib flat and scarcely distinguishable from the lateral veins, though broader, is straight towards the apex of the pinnules and effaced by dividing under it; the basilar veins of the inner side (the side toward the main rachis) are derived from the rachis, decurrent at the base, bent upwards from the middle and reaching the borders in an upward direction. Those derived from the midrib are very oblique and also curved upward to the borders, all forking once only. The peculiar character of the venation as also the shape of the lower leaflets, entire at the point of conjunction of the pinnae to the rachis, separate this species from the former. In my specimen, the veins are much less impressed than in Alethopteris nervosa, and by the upper pinnules closely joined on the borders, whose apex only is disconnected, and whose medial nerve is scarcely distinct, the plant has exactly the facies of Odontopteris Brardii. Habitat—Communicated from Cannelton Coal by Mr. I. F. Mansfield; one specimen only. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS PLUCKNETI, Schloth, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 4; Plate XXXV, Fig. 7.
Frond very large, compound,
pinnate and dichotomous; secondary pinnae large, oblong or
ovate-lanceolate in outline, narrower toward the base; tertiary pinnae,
open, linear, with a lanceolate obtuse apex; pinnules oblong, ovate,
obtusely acuminate, either larger, disjointed to near the base, with
borders undulate, or short, triangular, entire, oblique, connate to
above the middle, confluent toward the apex; medial nerve thin or
immersed, divided near the apex; lateral veins very oblique once forked.Filicites Pluckneti, Schloth., Flor. d. Vorw., Pl. X, f. 9? Pecopteris Pluckneti, Brgt., Hist. d. veget. foss., p. 335, Pl. CVII, f. 1-3. Alethopteris Pluckneti, Gein. Verst. p. 30, Pl. XXXIII, f. 4-5. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 395, Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 511; III, p. 495. Our two figures of this species show its essential characters. It would have been impossible however to represent a whole pinna, for, like Pseudopecopteris nervosa, this species has very large fronds differently composed in their branches either pinnate or dichotomous with pinnm of large size also. A fragment from Cannelton, twenty centimeters square, is covered with parts of a secondary pinna and the base of another, both obliquely diverging from the top of a primary one, whose rachis is not broader than that of its divisions. The pinnae and pinnules of this form are represented, Plate XXXIV, f. 4. The pinnae are close, nearly in right angle, four and a half centimeters long, all equal in length, with pinnules slightly oblique, disconnected to near the rachis, equally pinnately undulate, or marked each by two or three indistinct lobes on each side. This form exactly agrees with f. 2 of Brgt., 1.c. These lateral lobes of the pinnules are generally inflated, at least the lower ones, as by fructification or sori underneath. The surface of the leaflets is covered with a thick epidermis where the immersed veins appear thick as in Plate XXXIV, f. 4a, but are really thin when the epidermis is destroyed. The rachis is half cylindrical sinuous, irregularly slightly striate or slightly punctate. In the upper part of the secondary pinnae, the divisions become rapidly shorter, Plate XXXV, f. 7, the pinnules entire and triangular. The terminal pinnules at the apex of both the primary and secondary pinnae are small oval obtuse. Habitat—Like Pseudopecopteris nervosa, the fragments of this species are locally very abundant on account of the large size of the plants. It is one of the most common species at Cannelton. The Cabinet of Mr. Lacoe, at Pittston, has specimens from Wilkesbarre and other localities of the Anthracite. It is not rare at Newport, Rhode Island. It has not been remarked until now below the millstone grit. | |
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Frond divided like that of the
former; ultimate pinnae long sublinear; pinnules disjoined to the base,
generally distant, oblong, obtuse, more or less distinctly undulately
lobed; slightly decurrent by the narrowed base, unequal in size on each
side of the pinnae; medial nerve thick, divided under the apex;
venation distinct, of the same character as in the former. The frond was evidently large, and, as seen Plate XXXV, f. 4, irregularly divided or dichotomous. The primary rachis as seen in the same figure is large, comparatively to that of the pinnae which, though very long, have a narrow half round rachis. The pinnules, taken altogether, are much larger than in the former species and generally distant; the lower, on the inferior side of each pinna is more or less distinctly lobed as in Pseudopecopteris nervosa. The leaflets are also of different size on each side of each pinna, contracted, larger and obtuse on one side, elongated and lanceolate acuminate on the other. As all the specimen are from the Coal of Rhode Island where this peculiar deformation is remarked upon other species, it may be omitted or mentioned as of casual occurrence. But the size, the distance of the pinnules, more distinctly lobate, especially the lower ones, seem to be valid and permanent characters. The fragment, Plate XXXV, f. 6, is however very like f. 1 of Pseudopecopteris Pluckneti, in Brgt., l.c. Habitat—Coal of Mount Hope near Newport, Rhode Island, communicated by Mr. J. H. Clark. Specimens Plate XXXV, f. 1-5 are in the collection of the museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge, Al., 25 and 25b. The others are in the Cabinet of of Amherst College, Mass. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS NEWBERRYI, Lesqx., Plate XXXVII, Fig. 1.
Sphenopteris Newberryi, Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. H., v. VI, P. 420. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate IX, f 4. Pecopteris Newberryi, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 448. Fronds apparently simple; rachis divided in two diverging pinnae or dichotomous, primary branches lanceolate; secondary pinnce alternate, short narrowly lanceolate, sessile, decurrent at base to a narrowly winged, half round rachis; pinnules connate to the middle, inclined outside, ovate obtuse or obtusely acuminate, entire or slightly undulate-crenate. The specimen figured here is better than the one represented in Geol. of Penn'a, l.c. At least it shows the venation quite distinctly. Other specimens have been obtained from Cannelton, all with the same characters; a simple naked radius, supporting at the top two branches, divirging crescent shaped, merely differing by the more or less open degree of their divergence. One of these specimens is especially interesting. It represents a small pinna which does not seem fully developed; the main rachis is twenty-three millimeters long, four millimeters broad, flattened, nearly smooth, with two pinna diverging in right angles, 90°, each four and a half centimeters long, broadly lanceolate in outline or nearly triangular, the lower secondary pinnm two centimeters long, the following pairs, fourteen in number, becoming rapidly shorter toward the apex. The pinnules are all of the character represented by the figure; connate to the middle, lanceolate, obtuse or cuneate, obliquely truncate, inclining outside as in some forms of Pseudopecopteris Pluckneti, only somewhat longer and more or less deeply undulate toward the apex. All the basilar pinnules are entire, none lobed. The venation is also similar to that of Pseudopecopteris Pluckneti, the veins somewhat more crowded and more numerous, being all derived from the thin midrib, forking once, at or above the middle. Though closely allied to Pseudopecopteris Pluckneti, the species is always easily recognized by its ramification, and the rachis, convex or half round, flattened on the borders, or narrowly winged by the decurring base of the primary pinnae. As far at the plant is known until now, it seems to have a simple small frond. The radius is indistinctly punctate, as in most of the species of this section. Habitat--The first specimen seen and figured in Geol. of Penn'a l.c., was found by a miner near Summit Lehigh, Pa., and communicated without any other indication. A small specimen has been obtained later from Mazon Creek in nodules; a third from Wilkesbarre is in the collection of the museum of Comp. Zool. of Cambridge; S.S. 7. The others which have more recently come under my examination are from Cannelton, communicated by Mr. I. F. Mansfield. One from Oliphant No. 1 vein, is in the cabinet of Mr. R. D. Lacoe. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS ABBREVIATA, Lesqx.
Sphenopteris abbreviata, Lesqx., Boston, Jour. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 419; Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 861, Plate IX, f. 1, 1b. Fragment of leaf bipinnate; pinnce in right angle, alternate, short, flexuous, pinnately, deeply lobed; pinnules joined to the rachis by their whole base, disconnected, slightly decurrent, oblong, narrowed to the obtuse apex, undulate-crenate on the borders; primary nerve thick at its base only, thin and effaced upwards; lateral veins dichotomous, the lower divided in three branches from the Middle, the upper ones forked. This Fern is related to this generic division by the shape of the undulate leaflets, by the radius flattened on the borders or winged as in Pseudopecopteris Newberryi, and by the nervation, as in Pseudopecopteris cordata-ovata. It is intermediate between these two species. Habitat—Gate vein, near Port Carbon, Pa., the only specimen found. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS MURICATA, Brgt., Plate XXXVII, Fig. 2.
Pecopteris muricata, Brgt. Hist. d. Veg. foss. p. 352, Pl. XCVII. Pecopteris laciniata, Ll. and Hutt., II, Pl. CXXII. Alethopteris muricata, Goepp. syst., p. 313. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 865; Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 395. Schp„ Paleont. veget., I, p. 514. Fronds very large decompound, dichotomous, or polypinnate; secondary pinnae long, linear-lanceolate; tertiary divisions open, distant, flexuous; pinnules generally distant, very variable inform, lanceolate, acuminate, the lower ones enlarged at the base, more or less distinctly lobed; primary nerve thick, more or less decurrent at base, thinning upwards, dissolved above the middle; veins thick, more inflated towards the borders, the upper forked once, the lower twice; substance coriaceous; rachis smooth or muricate. It would be difficult to give an idea of all the forms of this species, so variable it is, especially in the shape of the pinnules. The plant was a very large one, some rachis, apparently of pinnae only, are one and a half to two centimeters broad. Generally the ultimate pinnae and the pinnules are distant, these attached to the rachis by an enlarged base, decurrent and joined together by a narrow band forming a wing on the rachis. When close to each other, as in the specimen figured, they are connate at base, more distinctly so in the upper part of the pinnae, where they become oblong, more obtuse, connivent at the base of the small narrowly oval, or lanceolate-acuminate terminal pinnules. They are generally divided in various ways, deeply undulate, sub-lobate, or enlarged at the base and distinctly lobate on the lower side as in Pecopteris nervosa, or pinnately lobed from below the apex to the base, the lobes even separated as distinct round pinnules. Generally lanceolate acuminate in the upper part, the lower leaflets are sometimes shorter than the superior ones broadly ovate and regularly trilobate as in Pseudopecopteris trilobata. The rachis also, though sometimes distinctly punctate or muricate, is often smooth, the largest rachis generally so. The best figure of this species is that of Roehl, Paleont., XVIII, Pl. XI, f. 1. Ll. and Hutt. have represented the leaflets more divided than they are generally seen. It is however possible that the pinnules of the lower branches of large pinnae may have this character, so multiplied are their variations. Habitat—This species is rarely found in large frgments. Some fine and remarkably well preserved specimens have been sent from the Black Vein of the New Castle coal fields of Ala., kindly presented by Mr. Thos. Sharp. A few have been found in the debris of a tunnel crossing a number of coal veins of Sharp Mountain, near Pottsville; later in the concretions of Mazon Creek, and also, more abundantly, in the shale of Newport beach, Rhode Island. I have not seen it in the collections from Clinton, nor in those from Cannelton. It is also not in the cabinet of Mr. Lacoe, of Pittston. The species appear therefore especially limited to the subconglomerate measures of Alabama, passing up to the lower coal of Mazon Creek. The geological horizon of the shale of Newport is not positively known. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS CORDATO-OVATA, (Weiss), Lesqx., Plate XXXVII, Figs. 4, 5.
Neuropteris cordato-ovato, Weiss, Foss. fl., p. 28, Pl. I, f. 1. Pecopteris Sillimanni, Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 867. Frond bipinnate; rachis comparatively thick; ultimate pinnae, distant, sublinear, gradually narrowed toward the apex, alternate, nearly in right angle; pinnules slightly oblique, close, ovate, rounded and narrowed to the decurrinq base united by a narrow wing along the slender rachis; medial nerve divided above the middle; veins oblique, slightly curving to the borders, forking once. The pinnules are uniform in shape and scarcely different in size; the basilar pinnules only are sometimes lobate, on the upper side quite as frequently as on the inferior; but in most of the specimens the leaflets have all the same form, being about exactly ovate, a little more enlarged on the back towards the rachis, and thus very slightly scythe-shaped. They average half to one centimeter in length and four to six millimeters in width in the middle. Comparing this species to Neuropteris cordato-ovata, Weiss, l.c., differences are scarcely noticeable. The pinnules are of the same size and form, only none of the basilar ones are lobate in the European specimens, and the veins as described by the author are twice-forked. From the position of the leaflets, and their mode of attachment to the rachis, the species cannot be placed in the Genus Neuropteris. I was formerly disposed to consider this plant as referable to Pecopteris Loschii, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 355, Pl. 96, f. 6, which has leaflets of about the same form sometimes lobate, the inferior pinnae disposed about as in Atlas, Plate XXXVII, f. 5, and the veins also simply pinnate. But Brongniart's figure shows the pinnules merely sessile not decurrent and not bordering the rachis, mostly connate at the base, more distinctly lobate, etc. I have never been able to see a Fern of our coal measures satisfactorily representing this species, as described by the French author from specimens from Wilkesbarre. Habitat—The fragments figured on our plate are also from Wilkesbarre. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS SILLIMANNI, Brgt., Plate XXXVII, Fig. 3.
Pecopteris Sillimanni, Brgt, Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 353, Pl. XCVI, f. 5. Lesqx. Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 401. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 515. Frond tripinnate; pinnae short, linear-oblong, the lower pinnately deeply lobed, the upper ones simple; pinnules or lobes five to seven pairs, oval, connate at the base, the lower nearly round, sometimes lobed, the terminal ones short, broad, ovate; medial nerves distinct, marked by a deep groove, substance coriaceous, thick; veins undiscernible, very thin, forked once or twice. The last sentence of the above diagnosis is from Brongniart's description. In our specimen, the only one which seems to distinctly represent the species, the surface is a rough thick epidermis under which the veins are scarcely discernible. As far as can be seen, they appear, however, as figured by the author. Like the former species, this one is very rarely represented in our Coal measures, at least under the same form which was examined by Brongniart from specimens sent to him from Zanesville. It is very probable that both these forms represent different parts of one species only, intimately allied to the following if not identical with it. Habitat—Subconglomerate ledge of Pittston, Mr. R D. Lacoe; found also in more imperfect specimens in the nodules of Mazon Creek; very rare. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS ANCEPS, Lesqx., Plate XXXVIII, Figs. 1-4.
Sphenopteris squamosa, Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 420. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate X, f. 2, 3. Frond compound, multifid, dichotomous or quadripinnate; primary rachis broad; pinnae of the third order, oblique, distant, rigid or, flexuous; ultimate pinnae short, inclined upwards, lanceolate or oblong, obtuse, pinnately lobed; pinnules short, round, ovate or subquadrate, connate at the base, the lower generally free, the upper joined to the middle; upper pinnae simple, undulate, by the gradual cohesion of the lobes; veins forking twice, curving to the borders, all derived from a thin midrib of the same size as the veins. This species is extremely polymorphous and may represent two or three others described under different names. Very large pinnae seen in the collection of Mr. R. D. Lacoe are dichotomous in the inferior part; their rachis is large, smooth or narrowly striate, one and a half centimeters broad. The primary pinnae are broadly lanceolate as also the secondary ones like that figured here. The tertiary, very variable in length and in their divisions are sometimes open or oblique, parallel, rigid; sometimes with a narrow rachis, flexuous, curved in various ways; the ultimate divisions are also extremely variable, more or less distant, two to three centimeters long, lanceolate or gradually narrower to the half round or ovate terminal pinnule; leaflets oblong or broadly ovate, obtuse, even truncate at the apex, the lower ones disconnected at the base, the upper gradually more and more connate. The rachis is slightly punctate. The substance of the leaves is subcoriaceous, the epidermis of the upper surface is thick, generally obscuring the nervation, sometimes but rarely marked by points or small dots, as Plate XXXVIII, f. 2; while on the under surface the veins are distinct, Plate XXXVIII, f. la. In the lower pinnae of large specimens the pinnules are longer, enlarged at the base, even lobed on each side, or sinuous along the border (Atlas, Plate XXXVIII, f. 2) This form is represented in the Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate X, f. 1, as Sphenopteris Lesquereuxii, Newby. It may be a different species but the intermediate transition of forms are many and the point of separation indefinite. Some of the numerous specimens of this Fern, compared to the fragment, Atlas, Plate XXXVII, f. 3, referred to Pecopteris Sillimani, Brgt., are also in close relation. In this last species, however, the upper surface is quite smooth, the pinnules more distinctly coriaceous, more inflated, and the place of the medial nerve clearly marked through the thick epidermis. This is not the case in Pecopteris anceps, for indeed though the midrib is obscurely indicated upon the figure, it is generally impossible to see any trace of it, on the upper surface of the leaflets. Plate XXXVIII, f. 3, enlarged f. 4, (Atl.), represents a small fragment found among numerous specimens of this species obtained at Cannelton. The borders are inflated and recurved all around as in the fructified pinnae of Alethopteris, This small fragment is the only one of this character among an immense number of specimens from the same locality. The border is quite flat, the duplication obscure, not even marked around all the pinnules and therefore the character is as yet too indefinite. It is moreover the only trace of fructification remarked in the section of the Dicksoniae of the genus. If more evidence should confirm this character it would prove the close, relation of this second section to Alethopteris while the fructifications of Pseudopecopteris Mazoniana must show the affinity of the Gleicheinites to Pecopteris. Habitat—First seen in the fragments derived from the tunnel of Sharp Mt., near Pottsville; also at Wilkesbarre and from the Brown Colliery at Pittston. It is in the shale of the Cannelton Coal in great profusion and in the low coal of Illinois; Mazon Creek, Morris and Colchester. I have not seen any specimen of it from the subconglomerate measures nor from coal of Clinton, Mo. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS DECURRENS, Lesqx.
Pecopteris decurrens, Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. H., v. 6, p. 424. Geol. of Penn'a, p. 867, Plate XI, f. 5a. Pecopteris alata, Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 531.*
Leaf bipinnate, dichotomous or forking in two branches at the apex; rachis flat and broad, irregularly striate; lower pinnae opposite, linear-lanceolate, open and distant; pinnules distant, oblong, obtuse, entire or slightly undulate, decurring at the base and joined to the inferior ones by a border along the rachis; medial nerve thin, flexuous; lateral veins generally once forked, some of them simple, all curved to the boarders in a broad angle of divergence. This remarkable Fern is represented only by the fragment figured, the upper part of a pinna or frond, bearing three pairs of lateral opposite pinnae, the upper ones diverging as branches of a dichotomous rachis, a division similar to that of Pseudopecopteris Mazoniana. The pinnules, five millimeters long, two to three millimeters broad, with the same distance between them, are decurring and joined to each other by a linear border forming a wing more than one millimeter broad on each side of the rachis. The venation is distinct, but not thick, the midrib thin and fiexous, deflected at its point of union to the rachis; the veins forking in the middle rarely simple. The division of the frond at its upper part, the rachis winged by the decurring pinnules, are characters which authorize the reference of the species to Pseudopecopteris. It is altogether a peculiar Fern which until now has no distinct relation to any other of the coal measures. Habitat—Gate vein, near Pottsville; same specimen with Pecopteris concinna. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS CALLOSA, Lesqx.
Pecopteris callosa, Lesqx. Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 442, Pl. XXXV, f. 1-5. Schp., Paleont, veget., I, p. 516. Frond tripinnatifid; pinnae linear, gradually narrowed in the upper part to a large trilobate deltoid or rhomboidal leaflet; pinnules oblong or ovate, obtuse, rounded and narrowed at the base, decurrent on the narrowly winged rachis, small and undulate or large and pinnately undulate or lobed, distant; medial nerve broad and flat, abruptly dissolved above the middle; veins all derived from the midrib, forking once below the middle. This plant has been found only in fragments. The larger one is a part of a bipinnately divided branch, with small distant pinnules, deltoid in outline, obtuse, four to seven millimeters long, undulate and enlarged toward the abruptly contracted and decurring base. Another fragment, a simple pinna, has the pinnules longer, one and a half centimeters, oblong-obtuse, pinnately undulate on the borders, also rounded at the base to a narrow point of attachment half as broad as the inferior part of the lamina. Other fragments show the upper part of the pinnae with the terminal compound pinnules more or less deeply and irregularly lobate by the cohesion of the upper leaflets. Schimper rightly remarks on this species, that it resembles Pseudopecopteris Sillimanni, by the general facies and the size of the pinnae, which however are more distant. It differs still more by the form of the leaflets, the largest ones always regularly pinnately lobed or undulate, and the small, nearly triangular, enlarged on the sides near the base. The substance of the leaflets is coriaceous, the upper surface polished. Habitat—I found this species only at Murphyshorough and in the shale of the Morris Coal, both localities at the same horizon. The specimens, S.S. 921, are in the Museum of Comp. Zool., Cambridge. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS GLANDULOSA, Lesqx.
Sphenopteris glandulosa, Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 420. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate IX, f. 2. Frond dichtomous and tripinnatifid; primary pinnae in right angle to a broad rachis, or inclined backward; secondary divisions alternate, also in right angle; pinnules distinct to the base, small, ovate in the upper pinnae, trilobate in the lower, with the terminal lobes lanceolate, sharply acuminate, the basilar ones half round, all convex, coriaceous, glandular on the surface. The specimen figured l.c. is the only one I have seen of this fine species. It represents a primary pinna, with a rachis one centimeter in diameter, dichotomous, divided or forked at the top into two open branches, five millimeters thick, diverging nearly in right angle from the main rachis, which, underneath, is enlarged at the joints of three pair of lateral secondary pinnae, reflexed or in right angle. The shape of the pinnules is peculiar, the lower, one centimeter long are three or five lobed, the middle lobes tapering to a sharply pointed acumen, while the upper pinnae have small oval round pinnules two to three millimeters in diameter. By the shape of the lobate leaflets, this plant is related to Pseudopecopteris acuta, Atlas, Plate XXXVII, f. 6. The ramification, the form and distribution of the pinnae and pinnules, the coriaceous substance, refer it to this group. Its affinity to Pseudopecopteris anceps is also easily recognized. Habitat—I found the specimen at Shamokin, west of the village. The geological station of the coal bed from which the fragments were thrown out is uncertain. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS IRREGULARIS, St., Plate LII, Figs. 1-3b, 8.
Sphenopteris irregularis, St., Flor. d. Vorw., II, p. 63, P1. XIII, f. 4. Gein. Verst., p. 14, Pl. XXIII, f. 2-4. Lesqx., Geol. Dept. of Ill., II, p. 435. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 373. Sphenopteris latifolia, Ll. & Hutt., II, Pt. CLVI; III, Pl. CLXXVIII. Sphenopteris trifoliata ? Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 202, Pl.LIII, f. 3. Frond polypinnate; rachis comparatively large, alate; secondary pinnae open, long, narrowly lanceolate; tertiary divisions more oblique, pinnately divided in two to five pairs of reniform or rhomboidal-obtuse, irregular small lobes or pinnules, coriaceous, entire, or the inferior round sublobate; terminal pinnules small, oblong-obtuse; midrib of the same size as the lateral veins, dichotomous; veinlets forking once near the base. The shape of the leaflets is variable. The American specimens represent them as they are figured in Sternberg, l.c. In Geinitz, 1.c., the lobes are more crowded, generally ovate or obovate, all of the same form, none of them trilobate like those of Atlas, Plate LII, f. 2, 3, which, are exactly similar to the figures of Sphenopteris trifoliata in Brgt., l.c. I therefore consider these specimens as representing both Sphenopteris irregularis, Stenb., and Sphenopteris trifoliata, Brgt. The venation of this Fern is obscure on account of the thick epidermis of the leaflets. The surface seems to have been covered by short hairs or villous. When the epidermis is destroyed by maceration, the veins are distinct, inflated, as in Plate LII, f. 3 b. I had at first considered Plate LII, f. 8 as representing a different species. But after renewed comparison I believe that it merely represents a larger form of the same. The substance of the plant is of the same thickness and the lobes, though larger and less deeply cut, are absolutely of the same form as in Plate LII, f. 2. The essential difference is in the rachis which is stronger and not alate, but Plate LII, f. 8 probably represents inferior divisions. Better specimens are needed, however, to fix the degree of relation of these two fragments. Roemer, Paleont., IV, Pl. XXVIII, f. 5, refers to Pseudopecopteris irregularis, a part of a pinny with a narrow naked radius and pinnules trilobate, the lobes, as large as in Atlas, Plate LII, f. 8, and also broadly obtuse. The species is extremely variable. Habitat—The best specimens I have seen are from Clinton, Mo., communicated by Dr. I. H. Britts. The variety Plate LII, f. 5, is from the same place. A few fragments of the, species have been found at Colchester, Ill. | |
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Leaf tripinnatifid; primary pinnae broadly lanceolate, secondary divisions linear, broader in the middle, close, alternate; rachis flat prolonged and naked beyond the apex; pinnules slightly inclined outside, ovate, sessile, three or five lobed; lobes equal, small, round or oval, free to near the base; veins thin more or less decurring, forked once; substance coriaceous. Of the two specimens representing this Fern, one is a primany pinna seven centimeters long, With very open secondary divisions, close, slightly curved upwards, four and a half centimeters long; the other a separate secondary pinna with pinnules seven millimeters long in the middle of the pinna, only five millimeters at the base, and gradually shorter toward the apex, the two upper ones very small, confluent with the terminal small half round leaflet. The essential character of this Fern distinctly separating it from all the others of this group is the subdivision of the pinnules in equal oval or round entire small lobes, five in the lower pinnules, three in upper ones, all of the same form and size, disconnected to near the base, averaging two millimeters in diameter. The lowest pair is slightly larger, but none of the lobes are either crenate or sublobate. The rachis of the pinnae is flat and comparatively broad, one and a half millimeters, excurrent, the upper pinnules being merely simple, a pair of round lobes on each side of the radius, which, naked and linear, is prolonged beyond the upper pair of pinnules in a blunt acumen five millimeters long. This peculiar termination of the pinnae resembles that of some of the lobes of Sphenopteris spinosa, Goep. The epidermis is thick, and the veins distinct only, when it is destroyed. They are derived from the midrib, either parallel and joining it separately or united at the base, all more or less decurring and generally forked once. The primary rachis is obscurely striate, flat, neither winged nor rugose. By the form of the pinnules, their subdivisions in round lobes, their mode of attachment to the rachis, this species is closely allied to Sphenopteris pentaphylla, Roem., Paleont., IV, p. 180, Pl. XXXI, f. 4, and equally so by the same chararters to Sphenopteris stipulata, Gutb., as figured by Roehl, Foss. fl., p. 58, Pl. XVI, f. 6. Roerner's specimen is a mere fragment of the top of a pinna. Roehl's figure shows the base of the lower pinnules prolonged into stipules which give the name to the plant; in both the rachis of the secondary pinnae is narrow, and bears a terminal pinnule, not a naked prolongation of the rachis. In any case, by the regular form of the round lobes, close together, separated to near the base, in right angle to the midrib, the species is different from Sphenopteris stipulata, Gutb., as described and figured by the author and by Geinitz. Habitat—Shale of the Cannelton Coal, Mr. I. F. Mansfield. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS DECIPIENS, Lesqx., Plate LII, Figs. 9, 9a, 10, 10a.
Sphenopteris decipiens, Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 420. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate XVIII, f. 2. Geol. Rept. of Arks., II, p. 312, Pl. V, f. 1. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 401. Sphenopteris dilatata, Lesqx., l.c., p. 310, Pl. II, f. 3. Frond tripinnatifid; ultimate pinnae alternate, open, linear, pinnately divided in three to six pairs of obovate, decurrent lobes, connate at or near the base; medial nerve broad; veins distinct and distant, decurring, joined at the base, or parallel and derived from the midrib, twice forked. This Fern known from too small fragments is coriaceous, at least as seen from specimen Plate LII, f. 9 which may however represent a different species. The rachis is narrowly winged, the lobes half round or obovate, five to six millimeters long and four to five broad near the apex, where they are generally enlarged, inclined to the outside and imbricated from the middle. The veins, coarsely and obscurely marked on the upper surface but distinctly printed upon the mould, are either joined at the base to a decurring vein as in Plate LII, f. 10a, or separate, parallel at the base inclined downwards to the point of union to the midrib. As the difference in the length and shape of the pinnae and their lobes is as marked as that of the venation, the fragments may represent two species or both pertain as branches of diminutive size to Pseudopecopteris Speciosa described below. Habitat—The specimen figured in the Geol. of Penn'a, l.c., is from the lower coal under the Conglomerate in the Gap of Shamokin, Penn'a. The two described in the Arks. Rept. are subconglomerate as also the other fragments of Plate LII, f. 8, sent by Prof. Eug. A. Smith, from Helena coal mines, Ala. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS LATIFOLIA, Brgt., Plate LII, Figs. 4, 4a.
Sphenopteris latifolia, Brgt., Inst. d. veg. foss., p. 205, Pl. LVII, f. 1-4. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862; Geol. Rept. of Ill., p. 435. Schp, Paleont. veget., I, p. 399. Frond tripinnate, bipinnate toward the apex; secondary pinnae long, with a thin alate rachis; pinnules alternate, distant, inclined outside, ovate-lanceolate in outline, obtuse, deeply lobed; lobes half round, entire, the lower ones sometimes irregularly dentate; middle nerve flexuous; lateral veins dichotomous, curved, forking once or twice. The substance of the pinnules is coriaceous, very thick; the borders generally reflexed, the veins prominent, distinct and strong. The divisions of the pinnules are variable; sometimes the lower ones are obtusely bilobate. Habitat—Rare in our coal measures. Tunnel of Sharp Mountain, near Pottsville; seen only, in reliable specimens, from the Alabama coal mines of Helena. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS ACUTA, Brgt., Plate XXXVII, Fig. 6.
Same characters as the former.Sphenopteris acuta, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p.207, Pl. LVII, f. 5. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, p. 862. chp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 400. This species merely differs from the former by the acuminate terminal pinnule, and the veins forking one or twice, not more. This difference is remarked upon a large number of specimens from the Whetstone beds of Indiana. The likeness of this Fern to both the former species is so great, that it is difficult to consider it otherwise than as a variety. Though most of the pinnules are simple the lower are sometimes obtusely lobed as in Brgt. figures l.c. of Pseudopecopteris latifolia. This subdivision is seen upon the right side of the pinna, Atlas, Plate XXXVII, f. 6. Habitat—The identity of habitat of both this and Pseudopecopteris latifolia, renders their specific separation more objectionable. Both are subconglomerate. Most of the specimens are from the Whetstone quarries of Indiana a formation overlaying the Chester limestone (subconglomerate). The fine small specimen figured is from Dr. Britts upon a piece of hard sandstone, locality not marked. It seems to be derived from the same formation. | |
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Frond dichotomous, or divaricate-polypinnate; pinnae very large, with a strong, half round, broadly alate, flexuous rachis; ultimate pinnae open, lanceolate; pinnules distant, oblique, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, the lower ones three to five lobate, the upper entire by the gradual cohesion of the lobes; medial nerve thick; primary and secondary veins decurring, curved toward the borders, once or twice forked. From the forking of the rachis on the left side of the figure, this fine species is evidently dichotomous or divaricate-pinnate like Pseudopecopteris nervosa, to which it has an evident relation in the subdivision of the pinnules, the lower pair in each branch being irregularly lobed with the inferior lobe larger and undulate. In this species both the lower pinnules have this abnormal division while in Pseudopecopteris nervosa it is marked on the inferior only. The rachis is broadly winged in all its divisions, the base of the pinnules is somewhat de-current. In the lobate pinnules the veins are derived from simple oblique decurring divisions of the broad medial nerve as in Plate LI, f. la, enlarged, and are forked once only, but in the upper part of the pinnules when entire, as also in the entire pinnules towards the apex, all the veins are derived from the medial nerve, parallel and simple at the base, as Plate LI, f. lb, enlarged, generally forking twice, once near the base and the branches once again near the borders. The substance of this Fern is coriaceous, the veins inflated or distinct. The surface is generally polished. In the counterpart of the specimen when the epidermis is left attached to the stone as a pellicle of coal, the veins are seen upon it, thin but distinct. The relation of this fine species to Pseudopecopteris latifolia and Pseudopecopteris acuta, Brgt., is quite as intimate as it is to Pseudopecopteris nervosa. From all these species, it essentially differs by the large size of the leaflets. Habitat—Helena coal mines, Ala. Communicated by Prof. Eug. A. Smith. Specimen No. 12 of the State cabinet originally labeled under the name of Sphenopteris amoena, Sp. nov., (1875). | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS VIRGINIANA (Meek). Lesqx.
Cyclopteris Virginiana, Meek, Bull. Phil. soc. of Washington, Dec., 1875; Appendix, p. XVIII, Pl. I, f. 3, a, b, c. Frond apparently large, probably tripinnate; primary pinnae with rather stout, rigid, smooth or slightly striate rachis; secondary pinnae long, lanceolate, regularly alternating, close, nearly or quite in right angle to the rachis; pinnules more oblique, alternate, the lower ones shorter and broader, abruptly narrowed or subcordate at base, attached to the rachis by an extremely short petiole, more or less distinctly trilobate, the lobes being obtuse and broad, ovate; upper pinnules gradually longer, five lobed or obtusely sublanceolate, more oblique and less abruptly tapering to the base, becoming simple, merely undulate on the margins, even some quite simple near the extremities of the pinnae; nervation distinct; veins slender, palmately spreading and bifurcating several times. The above clear description from the author indicates, as it is seen also by the figure, the close affinity of this and the former species. They only differ by the smooth striate naked (not alate) rachis, for even its smaller branches are not margined by the decurring of the pinnules; by the mode of attachment of the shorter broader pinnules which are merely sessile, not jointed to the rachis by a broad decurring base, and by the close rather neuropterid nervation. The author compares this Fern to species of Triphyllopteris, Schp. Habitat—Lowest strata of the Carboniferous of W. Virginia, in close proximity to the Chemung, at Lewis tunnel, Prof. B. F. Meek. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS TRIFOLIATA (Brgt.), Lesqx.
Sphenopteris trifoliata, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 202, Pl. LIII, f. 3. Lesqx., Geol. Rept., of Ill., IV, p. 410. Schp., Paleont., veget., I, p. 371. Fragment of leaf bipinnate; pinnae in right angle, parallel, distant, rigid, sublinear; pinnules distinct, equidistant, triangular in outline, rounded and narrowed to the point of attachment, distinctly and equally trilobate; lobes very obtuse, the middle one larger and broader at the apex; epidermis thick, smooth or punctulate; veins indiscernible, buried into the epidermis. The specimen from which the species is described represents it as figured and described by Brongniart with this exception only, that all the pinnules are trilobate, while the French author describes the lower ones as five lobed, the upper ones only three lobed. But our specimen is a fragment of the upper part of a primary pinna, where the lateral pinmae are much shorter and the pinnules, accordingly, divided as they are in the upper part of the plant figured by Brongniart where the pinnules are trilobate only. Prof. Schimper remarks, l.c., p. 372, that the specimen figured by Brgt. does not appear referable to the species of Artis, though quoted by him as synonym. Like other related congeners, the species is extremely variable and some of the numerous authors who have quoted and described it, represent it like our specimen or like that figured by Brongniart. Its substance is coriaceous, the upper surface of the lobes convex, the borders reflexed, and the veins hidden. Habitat—Coal measures of Alabama, Helena mines; communicated by Prof. Eug. A. Smith. Mentioned in Geol. Rept. of Alabama, 1875, p. 75. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS POLYPHYLLA, (Ll. and Hutt.), Lesqx.
Sphenopteris polyphylla, Ll. and Hutt., Foss. fl., II, PI. CXLVII. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 375. Fragment of leaf bipinnate; pinnce open, sublinear, close, parallel; pinnules alternate, short pedicelled, ovate in outline, the lower ones pinnately lobed, obtuse; primary nerves distinct near the base, effaced upwards; lateral veins in acute angle of divergence, dichotomous or merely forking, thin. This species resembles Pseudopecopteris trifoliata, especially in the upper part of the pinnae, where all the leaflets are trifoliate. In the lower part however they are pinnately divided in five or more lobes. The substance of the leaves is not as thick; the veins distinct; the pedicel narrower, slightly decurring to the rachis. The more marked difference is in the middle or terminal lobe which is obovate entire, much larger and longer than the lateral ones. Habitat—Helena veins, Alabama, rare. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS MACILENTA, (Ll. and Hutt.), Lesqx.
Sphenopteris macilenta, Ll. and Hutt., Foss. fl. II, Pl. CLI Gein., Verst., p. 14, Pl. XXIII, f. 1. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 400. Sphenopteris lobata, Guth., Abdr., p. 44, Pl. V, f. 11, 13-15; P1. X, f. 1-3. Leaf tripinnate; rachis thick; primary pinnae slightly oblique or in right angle, divaricate, distant; secondary pinnae pinnately divided in alternate decurring leaflets, the lower ones irregularly trilobate, the upper more or less entire by the confluence of the lobes, broadly ovate, obtuse; primary nerves thick, effaced from the middle upwards; lateral veins in acute angle from an obscure secondary midrib, forking or dichotomous and flabellate. This species has two differrent forms. The one, described above, represents it as Sphenoptoris lobata, Gutb. l.c. The secondary pinnae are short, two centimeters, divided in four to five pairs of alternate pinnules, nearly all of the same size, five to seven millimeters in diameter, oval in outline, irregularly three to five lobate, the upper pair only entire or connate forming an enlarged, terminal pinnule, more or less deeply lobed at its very obtuse or sub truncate apex. This form is comparable to Atlas, Plate LII, f. 1; with this difference, that the pinnules are larger, the lobes more distinct and irregular, and the veins as distinct as in f. 4a of Plate LII. The other form is represented by a single ultimate pinnae nine centimeters long, pinnately divided in nine or ten pairs of leaflets, gradually smaller from the base to the apex; the lower ones broadly ovate, fifteen millimeters in diameter, irregularly bi- or trilobate, with lobes round and entire, some nearly quadrate or rhomboidal entire, narrowed to the base and decurring to the rachis; the upper oblanceolate or cuneiform obtuse, becoming near the apex, connate to a terminal small pinnule which is thus also irregularly indistinctly lobate. This form is the same as that described and figured by Ll. and Hutt., l.c. Our specimen shows the upper surface of the leaflets with veins immersed into the epidermis and obsolete. This species is closely allied by its characters to Pseudopecopteris irregularis and its multiple varieties. It differs by the larger size of its decurring irregular lobes and its more distinct nervation. The lobes are diversely cut, generally curved down or decurring at the base, often divided at the top or lacerated in one or two divisions. Some of the specimens seem to represent Sphenopteris adiantoides, Ll. and Hutt., while others are scarcely distinguishable from Sphenopteris latifolia. Habitat—The first specimens described were sent from the Black seam of Jefferson coal mines, Ala., by Mr. T. H. Alrich. The second, a single one, is from Cannelton, Pa. | |
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PSEUDOPECOPTERIS PUSSILLA, Lesqx.
Pecopteris pussilla, Lesqx., Boston Journ. S. N. H., v. VI, p. 424. Geol. of Penn'a,1858, p. 866, Plate XI, f. 4. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 519. Frond bipinnate; primary rachis flexuous, with flat borders; secondary pinnae distant, narrowly linear, pinnately equally lobed; lobes connate to the middle, obtuse; surface villous. Nothing is known of this Fern but the small fragment figured. It is part of a pinna four centimeters long, with lateral pinnae oblique, narrow, five millimeters broad, linear, as far as can be seen, the pinnae being all broken at a distance from the base. The flexuous alate rachis seems to indicate its relation to this group. But the veins obscurely seen through the villous surface appear merely simple, though curved back to the borders. Except for the winged rachis and the villous surface I should have taken this as a variety of Pecopteris arborescens, Brgt. Habitat—Salem vein, near Pottsville, Pa. | |
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