| 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 |
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All Four Volumes: Scans and Webpage ©George Langford III, 2011 |
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Fronds bi, tri, polypinnate; divisions open or in right angle; pinnules narrowed at base, often decurring or cuneiform, pinnately lobed; lobes rarely entire, crenulate, dentate or laciniate; primary nerve (medial nerve of the pinnules) slender, alternately dichotomous, simple branches entering the base of each lobe to pass by branchlets into the subdivisions of the lamina. In the genus Eremopteris, the lateral veins enter the lobes in acute angle of divergence from the midrib and, passing up to the borders, are flabellate, dichotomous, parallel and close, as in species of Neuropteris. Little is known until now of the fructifications of the Sphenopteris of the coal. We have few species described with their fruits in this Flora, and they are mostly of different type. The descriptions of the species of this genus are, therefore, generally derived from the subdivisions of the fronds, the shape of the pinnules, and their venation. These, especially the forms of the leaflets and the distribution of the veins, are so extremely diversified, even on fragments of the same species, that it difficult to find common and permanent characters applicable to a grouping of these Ferns. In order to facilitate their determination, I have separated the Sphenopterids in three sections. 1. Sphenopteris (Pecopterid). Fronds with ultimate pinnae pinnately deeply lobed, the lobes connate to the middle or higher, the veins pinnately divided, as in Pecopteris. Some of the species of this group were referred to Pecopteris by Brongniart. 2. Sphenopteris (proper). Pinnae more deeply divided in lobes or pinnules narrowed and decurring at base, generally dentate or crenate at the apex. 3. Sphenopteris (hymenophyllites.) The characters are indicated and detailed in the description of the group which has been considered with reason, I think, as a distinct genus. [Species of Uncertain Relation - GL,III, ed.] 4. Eremopteris, separated from Sphenopteris, by Schimper is a transitional division, passing to Triphyllopteris, of the same author, or to the peculiar order of the Adiantites, which has been more generally united to the Neuropterids. The fructifications of Archaeopteris, the more important genus of the Adiantites are far different from those of the Neuropterids, indeed from any other of the Ferns of the coal, excepting only those described and figured by Stur as Calymnotheca Strangeri, a species of Sphenopteris related to Sphenopteris Hoeninghausii. But considering moreover the shape of the leaflets narrowed to a decurring base, the affinity of the plants seems more distinctly marked with Sphenopteris. Indeed the species described as Archcaeopteris Bockschiana is sphenopterid by the divisions of the pinnae and the form of its pinnules; it could be described as Sphenopteris, but not as Neuropteris. | |
| §1. SPHENOPTERIS (PECOPTERID.) | |
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Leaf bipinnate; pinnae lanceolate; pinnules open, connate by a decurring base, pinnately lobed; lobes distinct, to the middle, deltoid, acute or blunt at the apex; borders equally dentate; medial veins pinnately forking; veinlets simple or the lower sometimes forking, curved inward; divisions entering the teeth. This species is not sufficiently known. The shape of the pinnules narrowed at the base and decurring to a marginate rachis, refer it to Sphenopteris. The veins simple or forked, straight or curved inward relate it to Goniopteris. The pinnules are linear-lanceolate, more rapidly narrowed toward the apex; the lower three centimeters long and one centimeter broad or less. In Plate LV, f. 4, the lobes of the pinnules are smaller, more deeply cut, and the lateral veins, all simple, are straight up to the point of the teeth or somewhat curved upward. In Plate LV, f. 3a the lower veins are forked. The lower pinnules are alternately six to seven lobed; the lobes, deltoid at the apex, acute and gradually shorter upward, become confluent into mere teeth in passing to very small obtuse terminal pinnules. Habitat—Cannelton, Penn'a, Mr. I. F. Mansfield. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS CHAEROPHYLLOIDES, St.,
Fl. d. Vorw., II, p. 131. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 398. Pecopteris chaerophylloides, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 357, Pl. CXXV, f. 1-2. Leaf bipinnate; pinnae open, long, linear or lanceolate in the upper part; pinnules linear-lanceolate, oblique, close and parallel, deeply pinnately lobed, lobes distinct to the middle, obscurely dentate; primary nerves distinct to the apex, flexuous; lateral veins forked. One of our specimens, apparently the base of a large frond, has the primary pinnae in right angle, sixteen centimeters long, and linear to the point where they are broken, parallel. Primary and secondary rachis narrow, rigid, the last with a very narrow border, preceivable only at the base of the pinnules. Other specimens represent the species with shorter lanceolate pinnae, and the lobes of the pinnules more deeply cut and narrower, as in. f. 2 of Brongniart, l.c. Fructified pinnae have the same characters as the sterile fragments, the pinnules are only shorter and narrower and the lobes less distinctly dentate, rather merely undulate-crenate; all the veins are thick, the medial flexuous, the lateral forking in the middle, and the fructifications, round sori, are placed upon the lower branches which abruptly end in the middle of the laminae. The specimen, a very fine one, shows the upper surface, not only bossed, but very often pierced through by compression upon the sori, which, where the epidermis, is destroyed, appear as composed of four or five large cuneiform poranges placed around a central point, as represented for Oligocarpia Gutbieri by Goeppert and Geinitz, Atlas, Plate XLVIII, f. 3a, 3b. Brongniart says that the substance of this Fern is thin. In all the specimens preserved in the nodules, it appears on the contrary thick, rather coriaceous, and positively so, for the fructified pinnae. He describes also the secondary radius as flexuous, margined by the decurring base of the pinnules, while all the divisions of the Fern which I refer to the species, are rigid and the borders of the rachis are scarcely preceivable except at the point of union of the pinnules. Therefore the American form may represent a species different from that of Europe. In the nodules, however, where the remains of plants have been preserved in their original shape, and not deformed by prolonged decomposition and compression, the rigidity of the branches and the substance of the leaflets, cannot be considered as important characters. In a more advanced stage of decomposition, the rachis may become more distinctly margined by compression, and the pinnae flexuous. This species related to the former, differs by the broader more obtuse lobes of the pinnules, the lateral veins generally forked, the secondary radius scarcely or indistinctly margined, etc. Habitat—Nodules of Mazon Creek in good specimens; found also in the coal shale of Morris, Ill. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS MEDIANA, Lesqx.
Leaf bipinnate; primary rachis
thick, obscurely channeled; pinnae oblique, parallel, close, on a
narrow smooth naked rachis; pinnules distinct, oblique, parallel,
sessile, linear, abruptly narrowed to the apex, equally pinnately
lobed; lobes half round, cut to the middle, crenulate; medial veins
three or four times dichotomous, very thin, branches simple.Sphenopteris intermedia,* Lesqx., Boston Jour. S. N. II., v. VI, p. 419. Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 862, Plate VIII, f. 8-9a.
This species is distinct from the former by its shorter, more obtuse lobes and the medial nerve less divided. The pinnules are more distinctly linear and abruptly narrowed to a very small, ovate, crenulate terminal lobe. Habitat—It is not rare in the lower beds of the Anthracite fields of Penn'a. Also found in the nodules of Morris. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS PSEUDO-MURRAYANA, Sp. nov.
Pecopteris Murrayana, Lesqx., Geol., Rept. of Ill., II, p. 443. Leaf bi, tripinnatifid; primary pinnae in right angle, linear or oblong-lanceolate, with a narrow rigid rachis; pinnules alternate, open, abruptly narrowed at base and decurring on the rachis by a narrow border, pinnately lobed; lobes cut to below the middle, entire, obtuse, primary nerves straight, lateral veins flexuous, alternate, forking four times in the lowest largest lobes, thrice or twice only in the upper ones; veinlets simple. Except that the rachis is not flexuous, and that the pinnules, abruptly narrowed at the base, are decurring to a narrow border, this Fern is exactly similar to Pecopteris Murrayana, Brgt., as described Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 358, Pl. CXXVI, f. 1, la and has the same character of nervation. None of our specimens, however, have the lobes of the pinnules cut to the base and distinct as in f. 2 and 3, of the same plate. The pinnae are variable in length and the pinnules also accordingly, the lobes, three to six pairs on each side, being generally separated to the middle and there confluent or merely joined in a narrow sinus. Brongniart remarks in his description, that he has received from true carboniferous measures, fragments of a Fern which appear identical with his species described from Jurassic sterile specimens and which now, known by its fructification, is a plant of a far different type than any of those of the coal measures. It is probable that the one described here and which, as seen, from specimens of different localities has always identical characters, is the same observed by the French author from imperfect specimens of the European carboniferous. The first four species of this group intermediate in their characters between Pecopteris and Sphenopteris are especially related to the genus Oligocarpia. Habitat—Nodules of Mazon Creek, Ill.; shales of Mount Hope coal, Rhode Island. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS SUBALATA, Weiss., Plate LV; Figs. 1, la.
Weiss, foss. fl., p. 57. Schp., Paleont. Veget., p. 466. Hymenophyllites alatus ? Gein., Verst., p. 18, Pl. XXIV, f. 15. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 437, Pl. XXXIX, f. 1. Frond tripinnate, dichotomous in the upper part, triangular in outline; primary rachis large, distinctly punctate, winged in its ultimate divisions; primary pinnae open, curved upward, lineal-lanceolate; pinnules in right angle or oblique, contracted and decurring at base, ovate, obtuse, pinnately lobed; lobes dentate; divisions of the lateral veins entering the teeth. This plant has been for a long time referred to Pecopteris alata, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 361, Pl. CXXVII. As may be seen in comparing our Plate LV, f. 1 with the one in Brgt., made from New Holland specimens, there is no other perceivable difference except in the smaller size of the pinnules, the rough rachis and the furcate division on the upper part of the fronds. The form of the pinnules and the nervation are the same. The lower lobes are generally shorter in the American plant, but the difference as also the small size of the pinnules, were supposed to be merely casual or from different parts of the frond. Variations of this kind are observed upon a number of specimens from Cannelton where the species is not rare. The rachis also though generally punctate appears sometimes smooth. The points marked upon it are equally distinct upon the whole upper surface of some specimens, rachis and pinnules. They are acute, distinct, round dots, irregular in position, like those seen upon the surface of some living Ferns. The division of the fronds is the same as in species of Pseudopecopteris, with sori placed at the point of the veinlets, top of the teeth. At least Geinitz' s figure, 1.c., represents a fructified specimen with this character. As this is the only European specimen positively referred to this species by Weiss and Schimper—for the sterile plant, described as the same by Geinitz, is evidently of a different character, we have no sufficient means of comparison. Habitat—Mazon Creek, in nodules, and Cannelton, in shale, not rare. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS CRISTATA, St.
Flom d. Vorw., II, p. 131. Schimp., Paleont. Veget., 1, p. 397. Pecopteris cristata, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 356, Pl. CXXV, f. 4, 5. Frond bipinnate; pinnae slightly oblique, sub-linear, lanceolate, close, parallel; pinnules oblong or lanceolate, obtuse, contracted at the base, pinnately lobed, lobes short, obtuse, tridentate at the apex, the lower ones quadridentate; veins tri- or quadrifid. This species has some of the characters of the former. It is much smaller in all its parts; the rachis both primary and secondary are rigid, though very narrow; the secondary one is narrowly winged by the decurring base of the pinnules. These, five to six millimeters long only, are pinnately four to five lobed, the lobes very short, cut at the top in three, rarely four obtuse short teeth, entered by the divisions of the veins. Except that the pinnae are shorter, our specimen very distinctly preserved in all its parts agrees in full with the description and figure of Brongniart. The fragment, however, described under this name by Geinitz, Verst., p. 16, Pl. XXIV, f. 1, does not appear referable to it, being especially different by its very thick primary and secondary rachis. Habitat—The best specimens are from the nodules of Mazon Creek. Found also by Prof. A. H. Worthen, under the subconglomerate coal of Mercer Co. Some obscure specimens from Newport, R. I., are less positively identified with this species. | |
| §2. SPHENOPTERIS (PROPER.) | |
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SPHENOPTERIS GRAVENHORSTII, Brgnt.
Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 191, Pl. LV, f. 3. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a 1858, p. 861. Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 378. Leaf tripinnatifid; rachis flat, smooth; pinnae long, sublinear or gradually narrower to the apex, curved or Ilexous, alternate; pinnules (tertiary pinnae) oblique, sessile, pinnately lobed; lobes cut to near the rachis, joined by the decurring base, the lower more deeply three or four toothed, the upper ones gradually more obscurely and less divided; medial nerve forking two to four times; veinlets forked again in the lower divisions, simple in the upper ones. I have seen a number of specimens more or less obscure, referable to this species, mostly from the coal of Rhode Island. These are deformed by expansion of some of their parts, and have the veins generally obsolete. The lobes are quite distinct as described and figured by the author, but their subdivisions or teeth are generally more or less effaced. A finer specimen from Clinton, is distinct in all its parts. The pinnae are very long, eleven centimeters or more, with a flat broad naked flexuous rachis; pinnules short, the lower two centimeters, less deeply divided, joined by a broader decurring base with teeth also more obtuse. This specimen has a remarkable appearance; half of it, especially the lower part of the pinnae has the epidermis totally destroyed by maceration, the veins however distinctly preserved, so that the pinnules appear as mere bundles of veins and vinelets, exactly as in Brongniart's f. 2 of the same plate, l.c., described as Sphenopters myriophyllum. The author rightly remarks that it represents merely the skeleton of a frond, whose pinnules have been deprived of epidermis by maceration. Our specimen shows the characters of both species in full evidence on the same pinna. Habitat—Newport, Rhode Island. There is from this locality a good large specimen in the Cabinet of Amherst College. It has been figured, but omitted from want of place. Found also in the shale of the coal of Clinton, Mo., by Dr. J. H. Britts. Rare. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS DUBUISSONIS, Brgt.
Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 195, Pl. LIV, f. 4. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 861. Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 378. Leaf tripinnate; rachis broad, rigid; pinnae short, lanceolate; pinnules oblong, lanceolate, pinnately lobed; lobes distinct to below the middle, wedge form, obscurely tridentate; lateral veins tripartite. This species, of which I have seen only one specimen, seems like a diminutive representation of the former. The rachis and its divisions are quite as thick, even stronger; but the pinnae and pinnules are much shorter as also the teeth, mostly generally obscure. This specimen is fragmentary and may represent the same species as the former. Habitat—Clinton, Mo. Dr. J. H. Britts, No. 145 of his collection. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS MIXTA, Schp., Plate LIV, Figs. 1-3a.
Schp. Paleont. Veget., I, p. 381. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 409. Pl. XV, f. 7. Sphenopteris rigida, Lesqx., Ibid., II, p. 435, Pl. XXXIX, f. 5, 5a. Frond large, tripinnate; primary and secondary rachis thick, rough; divisions linear-lanceolate and in right angle; secondary pinnae with a very narrow flexuous rachis, pinnately divided; pinnules sublinear, obtuse regularly undulately pinnately lobed; primary veins inclined to the rachis, not decurring, branching into each lobe; veinlets forking near the borders, the upper ones simple; texture rather membranaceous surface smooth or polished. The great thickness of the primary and secondary rachis is striking, compared to the narrow winged rachis of the small secondary divisions. These, only five to six centimeters in the lower part, are very gradually shorter towards the apex of the pinnae, which were apparently twice as long as the fragments figured, or forty to fifty centimeters long. The pinnules are also comparatively very small; the lowest, one centimeter long and only two to three millimeters broad, are joined by a decurring base bordering the flexuous rachis, deeply undulately and pinnately lobed, gradually shorter, trilobed and then entire, toward the obtuse terminal leaflet. In other parts of the fronds, the simple pinnae are longer and deeply pinnately divided in round crenulate lobes, separated to near the rachis, as in Plate LIV, f. 3 and 3a. Habitat—Clinton, Mo. Also Morris, Ill., shale above coal. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS GRACILIS, Brgt.
Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 197, Pl. LIV, f. 2. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 408, Pl. XV, f. 3-6. Frond bipinnate; rachis very slender and narrow; secondary divisions distant, parallel, curved upwards, somewhat flexous, narrowly lanceolate; pinnules distant and distinct, sessile upon the very narrow naked rachis, pinnately four to five lobed; upper lobes confluent, the lower distinct to near the base, oblong or ovate, entire or irregularly bi or tri-dentate; lateral veins very thin, pinnately forking in simple branches. This plant somewhat differs from the figure in Brgt., l.c. by the more irregular teeth of the lobes and the form of the pinnules, a little more enlarged at the base and less deeply lobate. It agrees however well enough with the description. The essential character from which the specific name is taken, the very narrow slender rachis is still more marked upon the American specimens than in the representation of the European plant. In some of the pinnae, the pinnules are narrow, and as seen in the enlarged f. 4, l.c., they become sometimes cut to near the rachis. This species like the former is extremely variable in the shape and subdivisions of the leaflets. The nervation, the shape of the pinnules, the narrow rachis without any trace of margin, separate them easily. Habitat—Shale of Morris Coal, Ill. | |
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Leaf large, rachis of medium size, rough or scaly; primary pinnae alternate, open, close and parallel, linear or sublanceolate; rachis punctate, obscurely regularly striate when decorticated; secondary divisions either long, linear, obtuse, pinnately divided in long sublinear pinnules, cut into six to ten pairs of half round or truncate lobes, connate from the middle, tridentate, at the apex, or short, obscurely five lobed; medial veins of the pinnules pinnately forked; veinlets simple; epidermis thick, surface somewhat rough, sometimes irregularly dotted. The specimen figured has been until lately the only one I knew of this species; its characters are not sufficiently definite from a number of others communicated later by the discoverer Dr. Britts, to whom this fine species is legitimately dedicated, the pinnae present two different aspects according to their relative position. The large pinnae have a primary rachis half a centimeter broad, punctulate, even with a few short scales, bearing alternate, slightly oblique branches, averaging six centimeters long, with a rigid rachis, two millimeters broad and alternate linear pinnules, one centimeter long, divided as described above. Other fragments have the pinnules ovate, decurring as seen Plate LV, f. 2, but twice as large, merely irregularly five lobed, as marked Plate LV, f. 2a, which though an enlarged representative of Plate LV, f. 2, is much like the natural size of some of the fragments. The venation varies according to the size of the pinnules and of their divisions, the medial vein being either curved down as in Plate LV, f.2b, or, as in the large pinnae with multiple short lobes, where it is in right angle and merely divided into three branches. Compared to Sphenopteris mixta, the relation of both species is easily remarked; the facies is about the same, but in the pinnately lobed leaflets of Sphenopteris Brittsii, the lobes are distinctly tridentate at the apex. Even towards the upper parts of the pinnae, the lamina becomes more deeply cut along the vein-lets, and the lobes appear as if palmately divided, much like those of Sphenopteris tridactylites, the subdivision being however more irregular and merely casual. Besides this the texture of the epidermis is coarser, the veins and veinlets thick, the radius, even of the smallest divisions, rigid, never flexuous, etc. I refer to this species, from similarity of characters in the broad rough rachis, in the shape of the fronds and of its divisions, a fructified specimen, with pinnules marked upon the medial veins by large round sori, one millimeter in diameter, nearly covering the surface of the lobes. As they are attached to the lower face, their outline only is distinct on the upper. One of the sporanges only discovered by abrasion, appears as formed of a central mammilla, from which nine narrow rays pass star-like to the circumference. Others less distinct have on the borders very small, globular, apparently loosened sporanges. Habitat—Clinton, Mo., Dr. J . H. Britts. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS PAUPERCULA, Lesqx.
Leaf bipinnate; pinnules open,
distant, oblong, obtuse, slightly narrowed at the subdecurring base;
borders pinnately regularly undulate-crenate; primary veins distinct to
the apex, pinnately branching, lower veins quadripartite, the upper
ones forked, somewhat flexuous.Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 435,Pl. XLI, f. 4, 4a. Schp. Paleont. Veget., I, p. 880. The radius is remarkably large (two millimeters), compared to the size of the pinnules, the lower ones only one centimeter long and half as broad, gradually smaller towards the apex, all equally distant, three millimeters. The pinnules, in form and size, are about like those of the large pinnae of Plate LIV, with borders less deeply lobed. This species is insufficiently known. Habitat—St. John, Perry Co., Ill. A few other still more fragmentary specimens have been found in the anthracite of Pa., upper beds, near Port Carbon. | |
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Frond tripinnate; rachis thick in all its divisions; primary pinnae lanceolate, long, curved downward from the main rachis; secondary divisions short, in right angle; pinnules connate at the enlarged base, lanceolate, more or less obtusely acuminate, with borders irregularly crenate by compression of marginal son or tubercles (base of scales); surface of the whole plant very scabre. The primary radius, half a centimeter broad, is regularly distantly striate or ribbed, but like all the other parts of the plant, its thick cortex is covered with verrucose dots, evidently points of insertion of scales or hairs which covered this Fern, and which are still distinctly seen on some fragments of the secondary rachis. The primary pinnae, fifteen centimeters long or more (the upper part being destroyed) bear alternate, distant, comparatively short, linear-lanceolate secondary divisions, the lower, three centimeters long, gradually shorter toward the apex, all with thick rachis one millimeter at base, and small pinnules in right angle, averaging three millimeters long, and half as broad. The exact shape of these leaflets is not quite distinct; they are lanceolate, but the borders are deformed by compression and the flattening of dots or sori placed on the lower surface, and they appear, therefore, irregularly crenulate. No trace of venation is observable. I compared this species, l.c., to a Cheilanthes, and indeed the irregular borders of the pinnules appear as if groups of sori were irregularly distributed under them, and covered by recurved lobules of the margins, as are the fructifications of this genus. Habitat—Roof shale of the coal of Morris—very rare. | |
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Frond quadripinnatified; rachis in all its divisions flexuous and winged; primary and secondary pinnae in right angle, short, lanceolate, distant; pinnules oblong or lanceolate, narrowed at base, pinnately lobed; lobes distinct to the middle, ovate, blunt or acute, the lower ones slightly dentate; medial nerve flexuous, pinnately forked ; lateral veins tripartite from above the middle or forked; sori very small at the end of some of the branch-veins, in the teeth of the border. The fragment of this Fern, upon the same specimen as Plate XLVI, f. 1, of the same plate, may represent the upper part of a frond of large size. The primary pinnae become rapidly shorter toward the apex; the secondary divisions, with about the same shape, and also as remarkably distinct, follow the same degree of decrease. They are subdivided into four pairs of pinnules only; the basilar, half a centimeter long, are distinctly lobate, while the upper are merely simple and connate to the terminal one. Each of the small obtuse teeth or indentations on the borders of the lobes has, at the top of one or two of the veinlets, small round elevated dots, which, seen with a glass, appear like sori. I consider them as fructifications, comparable, by their position at least, to the fruit dots of some Davalliae of our time --- Leucostega, for example. Habitat—Helena coal mines, Ala. | |
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Fronds polypinnate; axis of the
ultimate and penultimate divisions composed of a narrow linear fascicle
of veins, mostly united into a simple, rarely double nerve, bordered by
a linear narrow lamina, repeatedly dichotomous; lobes entire, linear,
obtuse or narrowly lancolate, acuminate, rarely cuneiform. This group, very distinct in some of its species, is, however, so intimately allied by others to Sphenopteris that it is scarcely possible to limitate it exactly into a separate genus. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) SPINOSA, Goepp.
Frond devaricate-polypinnate; primary pinnae reflexed, large;
secondary divisions ovate or broadly lanceolate in outline, pinnately
lobed; lobes pinnately or palmately cut in linear or wedge-form,
obtuse, generally bifid laciniae; surface squamose; veins buried into
the epidermis, very thin, double, following the subdivisions to the
apex.Gatt., III, IV, p. 70, Pl. XII, f. 1. Hymenophyllites spinosus, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 436, Pl. XXXIV, f. 3, 3a. Scph., Paleont., Veget., I, p. 405. This Fern receives its specific name from the peculiar shape of the terminal lobes of the pinnules, which are often simple, long, linear, obtusely acuminate. These lobes of a peculiar form are not spines, but mere elongations of the lamina, which is flat, inflated in the middle by fascicles of veins which divide, as in the other species of this group. As said above, the veins are buried into the squamose epidermis, but become observable, even distinct, when the surface is humected, the substance being membranaceous. The average length of the pinnules is two centimeters; the axis or rachis is two millimeters broad same width as that of the lobes. Habitat—It is extremely rare in the American coal measures. Found until now only at Colchester, Ill. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) SPLENDENS, Lesqx. Plate LVI, Figs. 4., 4a.
Frond large divaricate; pinnae
in right angle, lanceolate; pinnules confluent to the alate rachis,
pinnately or palmately lobed; lobes short, cuneiform, two or three
dentate; teeth large, acute, entered by veinlets.Hymenophyllites splendens, Lesqx. Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 413, Pl. XIX, f. 2a, 2b. This species, in its essential divisions and its facies, has a likeness to the former. It differs, by the smooth shining surface, the shorter teeth of the lobes, none of them prolonged into a linear point. The lobes are indifferently, either pinnately or palmately lobed, upon the same pinnae. The veins are very thin, divided from a double facicle, already at the base of the pinnules, and curving, either simple or dividing again, in passing out to the points of the lobes. Plate LVI, f. 4a, enlarged, erroneously marked 4 upon the plate, clearly elucidates the mode of subdivision of the fascicle of veins, in passing to the point of the lobes or teeth, in all the species of the group. The epidermis of this species is easily detached in pellucid lamellae, whereupon the venation is easily studied. This epidermis is generally of a reddish color. However, I have specimens from Clinton which are black colored, with a dull surface. Habitat—Common in the coal shale of Colchester and Morris, Ill. Also found at Clinton, Mo. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) FURCATA, Brgt.
Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 179, Pl. XLIX, 4, 5. Hymenophyllites furcatus, Goepp., Syst., p. 259. Gein., Verst., p. 17, Pl. XXIV, f. 8-13. Schp., Veget., I, p. 406. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., IV, p. 470. Sphenopteris flexuosa, Gutb., Abdr., 33, Pl. IV, f, 3. Sphenopteris alata, ibid., p. 34, Pl. V, f. 16, 17. Sphenopteris membranacea, ibid., p. 35., Pl. XI, f. 2. Frond bipinnate; rachis flexuous, subgeniculate, concave on the upper surface, carinate on the lower, alate; pinnae in right angle from the bents of the rachis; pinnules oblique, pinnately or palmately deeply lobed, wedge form, deeply subdivided in two or three linear-lanceolate laciniae, blunt at the apex, oblique or diverging. This species, rare in the American coal measures, could be compared to the former in representing it with all its divisions narrow, linear, cut to the base of the pinnules. The basilar pinnules, one and a half centimeters long, are generally palmately lobed from near the base, the lobes about half as long, are more or less deeply cut into linear laciniae, simple or deeply bifid, either slightly enlarged in the middle, or linear-lanceolate, obtusely pointed or acuminate. The veins, as in the other species of this group, follow the subdivisions of the pinnules with simple branches ascending to the apex of the as indicated by the synonmy of this species, it is extremely variable, especially in the length and shape of the ultimate divisions of the pinnules. Habitat—Merely found, until now, in the subconglomerate coal measures, opposite Mauch Chunk, Penn'a. I have seen also good specimens from the subconglomerate coal of Tennessee, in the cabinet of Prof. Jas. M. Safford. | |
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Leaf polypinnate; rachis narrow; pinnae more or less oblique, pinnately divided; pinnules oblique, decurring to the winged rachis, ovate in outline, pinnately lobed; lobes cut to the base or to the middle in two to five linear, acute laciniae; primary nerves divided according to the subdivisions of the lobes, each entered by simple branches. This species is much like the former, from which it differs by the radius narrower, not geniculate, the pinnules all pinnately lobed, none palmately; the laciniae shorter, more distinctly lanceolate-acute. Habitat—Coal shale of the Kenawha, Salines, Kentucky. Communicated by Dr. Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) FLEXICAULIS, Lesqx.
Hymenophyllites flexicaulis, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ark's, II, p. 309, Pl. I, f. 1, la. Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 409. Frond pinnately dissected or repeatedly subdichotomous; primary rachis and all its divisions flexuous, winged; ultimate pinnae divaricate, geniculate, pinnately divided; pinnules small, oval-oblong in outline, confluent to the rachis by the decurring base, palmately lobed; lobes short, entire, obtusely pointed, open; primary veins pinnately forking; veinlets simple. A remarkable species, whose characters are difficult to fix, on account of the multiple divisions of the pinnae which, interlaced together, cover the specimen with branches, branchlets, and pinnules, superposed in every direction, in a confused mass. All the branches diverge in an acute angle, as if dichotomous, with the subdivisions of the axis gradually narrower and flexuous. The ultimate pinnae, about two centimeters long, have the narrow rachis distinctly and regularly geniculate or in zigzag, the pinnules fixed to the bent of the flexures, very small, three to four millimeters long, half as broad, all, even the terminal leaflets, equal and equally distant, three millimeters apart, ovate in outline, wedge form to the decurring base, pinnately or palmately cut in five linear slightly acute lobes joined in obtuse sinusses, disposed about like the fingers of a hand. The lateral simple veins ascend to the point of the lobes, as in the other species of this group. Habitat—I found abundant specimens in the shale of the Males coal, on the middle fork of White river, Washington county, Arkansas, somewhat lower than the base of the Millstone grit. Not seen elsewhere. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) TRIDACTYLITES, Brgt., Plate LV, Figs. 8, 8a, 9-9b.
Frond tripinnate; primary and
secondary rachis naked, generally punctulate; pinnae open; primary
divisions lanceolate; pinnules equidistant, gradually shorter toward
the apex, sessile and mostly perpendicular to the rachis, lanceolate in
outline, pinnately lobed; lobes cuneiform, the lower trifid, the middle
ones oblong, bifid, the upper simple; lacinae more or less disjointed,
linear-obtuse; veins once or twice forking, according to the divisions
of the lobes; fructifications in round sori, irregularly grouped,
generally covering the whole lower surface of the lobes.Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 181, Pl. L. Gein., Verst., p, 15, PI. XXIII, f. 13, 14. Schp., Paleont. Veget., p. 396. Sphenopteris quadridactylites, Gutb., Abdr., p. 86, Pl. XI, f. 5. Hymenophyllites pinnatifidus, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., II, p. 436, Pl. XXXIV, f. 2, 2a. The fragments figured represent the characters of this species as they are more generally seen upon the American specimens. The lobes and their divisions are sometimes slightly longer or cut deeper into the lamina, as in the form described as Hymenophyllites pinnatifidus, Lesqx., l.c. which has also the upper lobes even the terminal ones bifid. From the European form, as described and figured by authors, the American plant differs by the primary and secondary rachis generally punctulate. The points are scattered, but easily seen with an enlarging glass, as well upon the cortex of the rachis as upon the surface deprived of it. The tertiary radius are generally without a border; in the upper part only, the pinnules are somewhat decurring at the base and the rachis is bordered by a narrow membrane. The sori are quite distinct; but their position in regard to the veins is not ascertainable, as they cover generally in flakes the lower surface of the leaflets whose lamina is mostly invisible, as seen on the pinnule, Plate LV, f. 9a, right side. When part of the lamina is preserved the scattering of the sori is local, either in the middle or on one side of the lobes. The only affinity I can find between this species and living Ferns, in considering the mode of fructification, is in the Grammittaceae, Gymnogramma Calomelanos, Kaulf., for example, an affinity in opposition to the other characters of the Ferns of this tribe. Per contra, the Cheilanthae and the Hymenophylleae to which this plant is related by its nervation and the mode of division of the pinnae, cannot be compared to it by their fructifications. Habitat—From the subcarboniferous measures, to the first coal above the Millstone-grit. A splendid specimen sent by Prof. E. T. Cox is from the Whetstone quarries of Indiana, horizon of the Chester limestone. The secondary pinnae are twenty-four centimeters long, the pinnules oblong-obtuse, trilobate on each side, the rachis smooth, thus corresponding to Brongniart's plant, but with short laciniae, and the tertiary rachis winged. Prof. A. H. Worthen has sent specimens from the coal No. 1, in Mercer county, Ill., subconglomerate. The specimen figured is from Clinton, communicated by Dr. J. H. Britts. I have seen some fragments also from the shale of Morris, Ill. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) TRICHOMANOIDES, Brgt.
Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 182, Pl. XL VIII, f. 3. Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 404, Pl. XXX, f. 3. Leaf tripinnatifid; rachis flexuous, canaliculate and alate; pinnae long, distant, flexuous, curved down or pending; pinnules oblique, pinnately lobed; lobes deeply cut, bifid, trifid or quadrifid; laciniae diverging, linear, obtuse, each entered by a single branch of the veins. This species is comparable to the former, differing by the lobes more divided, the laciniae longer, narrower, and more diverging. It is easily recognizable by its yellowish membranaceous thin substance, often destroyed by maceration, so that in some specimens the black veins and their branches only are discernible. The American form has the laciniae generally shorter than figured by Brongniart, more resembling the following. Habitat—Morris, Ill. Helena vein, Ala.---rare. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) QUERCIFOLIA, Goepp.
Syst., p. 252, Pl. XIV, f. 1, 2. Schp., Paleont. Veget., III, p. 403. Oligocarpia quercifolia, Stur. Culm. fl., p. 206, Pl. XV, f. 7-12. Frond large, tripinnate; primary pinnae lanceolate, the upper ones short, oblique, oblong-lanceolate; the lower much longer, curved down, linear; secondary pinnae short, lanceolate, rigid; pinnules in right angle, joined at the base by the narrow wing of the rachis, ovate, obtuse, pinnately more or less deeply lobed; lobed crenate or laciniate; lateral vein in each lobe dichotomous, branches simple, passing up to the divisions of the border. This Fern is like the former of a yellowish membranaceous texture, on which the veins appear distinctly in black when the surface is humected. It is extremely variable in the size and form of the divisions of its pinnules. The lobes are ovate, either nearly entire or crenulate, sometimes more deeply cut, either into short obtuse, or in long wedge-form sparingly dentate like the fragments represented f. 7 and 8 of Stur, l.c. Our specimens do not represent any like this; I have also not seen any with the pinnules as large as figured by Goeppert, l.c., which average four millimeters long and two and a half millimeters broad, while the largest seen upon American specimens are nearly entire, two and a half millimeters long and scarcely two millimeters broad. The primary and secondary rachis half round or keeled, have a thick polished epidermis. Habitat—Helena mines, Ala. I have not seen any specimens from other localities. There they are not rare and mixed with those of the following species. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) ELEGANS, Brgt., Plate LV, Figs. 6, 6a.
Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 172, Pl. LIII, f. 1, 2. Schp., Paleont. veget., I, p. 389. Acrostichum Silesiacum, St. d. Vorw., I, p. 29, Pl. XXIII, f. 2. Cheilantites elegans, Goepp., Syst., p. 283, Pl. X, f. 1; XL, f. 1, 2. Deplothmema elegans, Stur., Culm Fl., p. 130, Pl. XIII, f. 5; Pl. XIV, f. 1-6. Frond polypinnate, secondary and tertiary rachis alate, flexuous; pinnae in right angle, narrowly lanceolate; pinnules round-ovate in outline, the lower pinnately lobed, the upper merely bi, trifid or simple, oblong, cuneate to the base, obtuse, mostly entire at the apex; veins buried into the epidermis, obsolete. The species varies in the size of the pinnules, sometimes with a longer pedicel than in our figure; but the difference is not very marked. According to Goeppert, Schimper and Stur, the primary rachis is wrinkled across as in many subcarboniferous species. Habitat—Helena coal mines. The specimens all fragmentary are in the State Cabinet of Alabama. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) LARISCHII, Stur, Plate LV, Figs. 7, 7a.
Tertiary pinnae lanceolate, in
right angle to the narrow flexuous margined rachis; pinnules slightly
oblique, pedicelled, pinnately lobed; lobes short, linear, truncate or
bifid; veins branching according to the divisions.Calymnotheca Larischii, Stur, Culm. Fl., p. 168, Pl. X; XI, f. 1. I have seen only the fragment figured, too small for satisfactory determination. By the short mostly simple, rarely trifid divisions of the lobes, its relation is more distinctly marked with Diplothmema Mladeki, of the same author, l.c., p. 145, Pl. XVIII, f. 1, which has however shorter, closer pinnules, more generally trifid than pinnate, and the rachis more rigid and not winged. Habitat—Woodsworth seam of Helena, Ala., Mr. T. H. Aldrich. | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (HYMEN.) HOENINGHAUSII, Brgt., Plate LV, Figs. 5, 5a.
Frond large tri, quadripinnate;
primary rachis or stipe very thick, covered with scales or with
tubercles, scars of their base; primary pinnae lanceolate; secondary
divisions in right angle, close, opposite or alternate,
linear-lanceolate, gradually acuminate; tertiary pinnae also in right
angle, linear, obtuse, the basilar ones a little longer, pinnately,
regularly divided; pinnules half round, contracted at the base, connate
by the margin of the rachis, trilobate; lobes broadly cuneiform,
obtuse, entire; lateral veins entering the lobes, simple or forking.Brgt., Hist. d. Veg. foss., p. 199, Pl. LIL Gein., Verst., p. 14, Pl. XXIII, f. 5-6. Andrae, Vorw. Pflanz., p. 13, Pl. IV, V. Schp., Paleont. Veget., p. 385, Pl. XXIX. The stipe or basilar rachis of this species is very thick, three centimeters or more, covered with scales or with rhomboidal oblong tubercles, scars of their points of attachment, similar to small narrow scars of Lepidodendron. The pinnae are very large. Though I had for examination a considerable number of specimens, I have not seen any in its whole, only fragments measuring sometimes twenty centimeters across. The figured specimen is part of a secondary pinna, with long tertiary branches and pinnules more distant than they are generally; for in most of the specimens the secondary pinnae are shorter, the close tertiary divisions averaging one centimeter long with eight pairs of close contiguous pinnules. It is difficult to exactly see the details of the subdivision of the pinnules and their venation, on account of the coriaceous substance of the leaflets, wherein the veins are buried and whose borders are always more or less curved under the convex surface. Prof. Stur, in his Culm flora, has described as Calymmotheca Strangeri, p. 151, and splendidly illustrated, Pl. VIII and IX, large fragments of a Fern which, considering its characters without taking into account the fructifications, seem to represent this species. I am unable to find any difference either between the American subcarboniferous form which I refer to Sphenopteris Hoeninghausi, Brgt., or that represented by the French author, and Calymmotheca Strangeri. Among the large number of specimens all from the same locality sent for examination, I did not find any trace of the fructifications referred to this last species and figured in the Culm flora. They are sporanges with a long pedicelled indusium composed of six linear lanceolate valves, six to seven millimeters long, related by their shape and disposition in simple racemes to the fructifications of Archaeopteris. In these specimens also, all the fragments are pinnately divided, none of them forking even in the upper part of the pinnae. In his comparison with Sphenopteris Hoeninghausi, Prof. Stur enumerates differences which may be very clear from his specimens, but which I am unable to discern from my own. He considers Sphenopteris Hoeninghausi as a more recent form derived from Calymmotheca Strangeri. Perhaps I do not know the true Sphenopteris Hoeninghausi, for all the specimens from which the species is described here are from the subcarboniferous or subconglomerate measures. I have not seen any from the true coal measures of this continent. Habitat--Helena Coal mines, Ala., there extremely abundant, Prof. Eug. A. Smith. Wetstone beds, Ind., Prof. E. T. Cox. | |
| SPECIES OF UNCERTAIN RELATION. | |
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Frond pinnately dichotomous; pinnae distant, alternate, oblique, with a thick rachis; pinnules numerous, small, simple, linear-obtuse or bi, with lobes diverging linear-lanceolate acuminate; veins thin, dichotomous, each division ascending to the apex of the lobes. The species has no relation to any other of this group. The main rachis, three millimeters broad at the base of the fragment, is not much stronger than the branches, and is covered with leaves, also, especially in the upper part. The pinnae, opposite or alternate, are in acute angle, like dichotomous divisions, somewhat thicker in the middle; the pinnules two to five millimeters long, are open, some of them simple, linear, obtuse; others divided into two or three lobes or laciniae to half the length of the lamina, are slightly enlarged and decurring at base, and only one to two millimeters broad. Habitat— Subconglomerate measures, Perry County, Ohio, Prof. E. B. Andrews. | |
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Frond pinnately dichotomous; primary rachis thick; divisions decurrent, half round or convex, flexuous, longitudinally striate; primary pinnae oblique, linear-lancelate; secondary divisions sessile, the lower open, the upper erect, linear-obtuse in outline; pinnules four to six pairs, alternate, cuneiform to the decurring base, curved back, enlarged in the middle, three to five lobed; lobes wedge form, truncate or obtuse; veins simple in entering the lobes, dichotomous; forking near the apex. This plant as described above from a large finely preserved specimen appears to be referable to Brongniart' s species whose diagnosis is made from a mere fragment, the upper part of a primary pinna. Our specimen represents two different forms. The first, with primary pinnae fourteen centimeters long, has its secondary divisions three centimeters long, the lower ones a little shorter, open, the upper gradually more oblique, with the pinnules broadly cuneiform, obtuse, seven to eight millimeters long, three to four millimetres broad in the middle, the lobes wedge-form and more diverging than in the figure of the French author. In this, the primary veins only are discernible. The reverse of the specimen represent the species with the same general characters, but with pinnules narrower, lobes deeply cut, much narrower and the veins quite distinct. The pinnules with their nervation resemble those of the fragment Atl., Pl. LIII, f. 4; even the lobes appearing sometimes denticulate at the apex; but the plant is only half as large in all its parts. Habitat--Aetna mines, Tennessee, subcarboniferous measures; collection of Prof. Jas. M. Safford. | |
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Rachis thick, flexuous, with, decurring branches; ultimate pinnae ovate-lanceolate in outline, pedicellate, nately divided; pinnules cuneiform, lobes short, obtuse, truncate or bifid; veins dichotomous. Allied to the former species, this one differs by the narrower shorter lobes of the pinnules, less enlarged towards the apex, simple or bifid. The ramification is of the same type; the rachis is half round, striate, like twisted or passed through a draw-plate, flexuous and often wrinkled crosswise, forking, with branches decurring to the main rachis. In our specimen, the veins are distinctly marked, the veinlets close and more numerous than in the figure of the Belgian author. Both this and the former species are intermediate between Sphenopteris and Eremopteris or the Hymenophyllites and the Adiantites. Habitat—In the Vespertine (No. 10 of the Penn'a Reports), Sideling tunnel, Huntingdon Co., Pa., Mr. W. C. Ashburner. A number of specimens especially stems with branches and pinnules are identifiable with Prof. Crepin' s plant. This one was found in the Psammites of Condroz, together with Archaeopteris hibernica and other subcarboniferous species. | |
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Pinnae linear, pinnately divided; pinnules connate in obtuse sinusses near the rachis, inclined upwards, oblong, obtuse, with borders undulate crenate; veins obsolete. This species without relation to any other known to me, is made from two fragmentary specimens. As the venation is unknown, it cannot be more specially considered until better materials are procured. Habitat—Old shaft behind New Philadelphia, Pa. | |
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Upper part of the fronds dichotomous; pinnae open or oblique, irregularly pinnatifid; lacinice long, obovate or wedge form, the lower ones deeply cut. Prof. Schimper who has separated this genus from Sphenopteris says that the plants which compose it have no analogy with any Ferns living now hence its name [greek] isolated, without relation to others, and [greek] a Fern. | |
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Pinnae open, the lower in right angle, oblong-lanceolate in outline, decurring to the winged rachis, pinnately laciniate; lower segments bi or trifid, the upper bifid, the terminal simple; laciniae cuneiform, curving back, and crenulate at the apex. The lacini seen with the glass appear distinctly crenulate or dentate, at the apex, as seen Plate LIII, f. 2; without enlarging power, they appear merely crenulate. This and the broader more diverging basilar laciniae separate this species from Eremopteris artemisiaefolia. Habitat—Helena mines, Shelby County, Ala., Prof. Fug. A. Smith. | |
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Rachis flexuous, geniculate, narrowly winged; pinnae in right angle, oblong, truncate at the apex, deeply pinnately lobed; lobes broadly wedge form, entire or merely undulate, the terminal truncate. Differs from the former by the lobes less or scarcely laciniate, not dentate, nor crenulate. Habitat—Same as the former species. | |
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Pinnae oblique, the upper ones erect, the lower long, pinnately lobed; lobes laciniate, segments narrow, sharply bi, tridentate. Closely related to the former. Its rachis is also narrowly winged, somewhat flexuous, the segments much narrower, not curved backwards, the veinlets pointing out into the teeth at the truncate apex. Though in comparing the specimens, all fragmentary, as figured, the difference in the characters seem very marked, these three species may perhaps represent only branches of a same Fern. Habitat—Same locality as the former. | |
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EREMOPTERIS ARTEMISIAEFOLIA, Brgt., Plate LIII, Figs. 5, 5a, 6.
Frond large, dichotomous;
pinnae oblique, pinnately laciniate; lower segments large, deeply
divided, lobes somewhat diverging, long, obtuse, narrowed downward or
subcuneate, the upper ones oblanceolate, mostly simple.Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 416, Pl. XXX, f. 5. Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ala., 1.c., p. 75. Sphenopteris artemisiaefolia, Brgt., Hist. d. veg. foss., p. 176, Pl. XLVI and XLVII. St., Fl. d. Vorw., I, p. 44, Pl. LIV, f. 1. Lesqx., Geol. of Penn'a, 1858, p. 868; Geol. Rept. of Ky., IV; p. 484. Sphenopteris crithmifolia, Ll. and Hutt, Foss. fl., I, Pl. XLVI. Sphenopteris stricta, St., l.c., p. 45, PI. LVI, f. 3. As seen from the figures of Brongniart, l.c., the species varies considerably in the size of the lobes, sometimes narrow, as in our specimens, sometimes twice as broad, scarcely divided. Sphenopteris crithmifolia, Ll. and Hutt., has the lobes still much narrower, nearly linear, club shaped, very entire. It seems to be a different species. The American form is always, as far as it is known, represented as we have it in the Atlas, from the best specimens seen as yet, though we have many fragments of mere simple pinnae, from different localities. On the upper surface the veins immersed into the epidermis are rather obscurely defined. Habitat—Helena mines, Ala. Hazlegreen coal, Morgan Co., Kentucky. Shale of Morris Coal, Ill., of Cannelton, and of the Hollenback mines of Wilkesbarre, Pa. Always rare. | |
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EREMOPTERIS ELEGANS, Ett., Plate LIII; Figs. 7, 7a.
Asplenites elegans, Ett., Fl. v. Strad., p. 15, Pl. III, f. 1-3; IV, f. 1-3. Sphenopteris asplenites, Gein.,Verst., p. 17, Pl. XXIV, f. 6. Rhacopteris elegans, Schp., Paleont. Veget., I, p. 482. Rachis strong, canaliculate; pinnae linear; pinnules oblique, oblong or rhomboidal, narrowed to the rachis and attached to its flattened border, deeply pinnately lobed; lobes curved outside, separated to below the middle, cuneate to the base, truncate or subcrenate at the top; veins dichotomous, diverging fan-like from the base. If this species, as Schimper remarks it, has an affinity with the group Asplenites and is closely related to the Archaeopteris, it is also intimately allied to Artemisiaefolia. My specimens are as good as any of those described and figured by European authors, and distinctly shows the top of the laciniae obtusely crenulate, notched or split, and the veins as distant and as much curved as in the former species. They are not as rigid nor as straight and distinct as in the Asplenites. The difference from the former species is marked in the rachis, not winged in our specimens, flat and merely narrowly channeled; in the mode of attachment of the pinnules by a narrow base slightly decurring to the borders of the rachis, and in the nearly equal lobes of the pinnules; but taken altogether the species has with Eremopteris points of relation distinct enough to be allowed a place in this genus. Habitat—One of the specimens of this fine species was discovered by Mr. I. H. Southwell in the lowest coal strata of Ill., near Port Byron, Subcarboniferous; the other in the bituminous shale of Cannelton, Pa., by Mr. I. F. Mansfield. | |
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Frond bipinnate; pinnae linear or oblong, narrowed at base; pinnules oblique, decurring to the alate rachis, lanceolate, longest in the middle of the pinnae, very small towards the base, pinnately lobed; lobes cut to the middle, the lower bi, trifid, the upper ones entire; divisions broadly linear or oblanceolate, notched at the apex; veins thin, sharply marked, dichotomous from the base, straight or slightly curving in the diverging lobes. A peculiar species of which I have seen only the fragment figured. The general characters are those of this genus, the veins only being more rigid, more sharply defined, close and slender. At the top of the laciniae, as many as ten to twelve veinlets can be counted with the glass. The middle pinnules are about one and a half centimeters long, while those of the two basilar pairs are scarcely three millimeters long and as large, trilobate, thus representing on the same pinnae Eremopteris and Triphyllopteris. Habitat—The remarkable specimen comes from the coal of Clinton, Mo., communicated by Dr. J. H. Britts. | |
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Leaf tripinnate; primary rachis thick, wrinkled across, flat; pinnae nearly in right angle; secondary rachis narrowly winged; pinnules five to six pairs, subopposite or alternate, joined to the rachis by a broad base, distant, trilobate; lobes nearly equal, enlarged upwards, entire, the upper ones truncate or irregularly notched; medial veins distinct at base, dichotomous and flabellate; branches curved to the borders, forking as in Neuropteris. This species like the former seems rather referable to the genus Triphyllopteris of Schimper though it has the lobes more distinct. The rachis is transversely rugose as in some species of this Genus and of Archaeopteris; the veins, of the same character, divided from the base, are very close, twice in number to what is marked Plate LII, f. 7a. A small specimen from Kentucky has the pinnae decurring to the rachis, which is a little flexuous, but wrinkled across like that of the figure. These pinnae are somewhat longer, the two lower pairs of pinnules trilobate, the upper ones entire, broadly ovate, abruptly contracted to a broad decurring pedicel, the veins dichotomous. The medial vein is marked upon the trilobate pinnules, but in those which more entire have no lobes, all the veins are dichotomous and diverging from the base. The veins are very close but sharply cut and quite distinct under a magnifier. Habitat—Helena mines, Ala., Prof. Eug. A. Smith. Haddock cannel coal vein, Osley Co., Ky. (Subconglomerate.) | |
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SPHENOPTERIS (EREMOPTERIS ?) MARGINATA, Andrews.
Geol. Rept. of Ohio, Paleont., II, p. 422, Pl. LII, f. 1, 2. Leaf pinnately divided, dichotomous; primary rachis thick, flexuous, bordered in its lower part by a crenulate margin; divisions alternate, decurring, simple, with a strong medial nerve or narrow rachis, linear-lanceolate, pinnately cut to the middle of the lamina in alternate lanceolate obtuse or acuminate distant lobes turned upwards; veins all from the medial nerve or partial rachis, equal, thin, parallel, dichotomous and straight, or more or less curved in passing to the borders. F. 1 of the plate, l.c., represents the species as described. F. 2 is a pinna with the lateral divisions impaired or corroded by maceration in such a way that the lamina cut into flexuous linear acute laciniae, is thus irregularly fringed. The base of the specimen, f. 1, already present traces of the same kind of laceration. It may be a normal subdivision of the plant in its upper pinnae, as f. 1 seems to represent a basilar branch or a subdivision of the short main rachis, which flat and grooved in the middle, is bordered by a peculiar crenate membrane, apparently inflated at the borders. The relation of this species to Eremopteris is doubtful. The nervation is neuropterid, of the same type as in Megalopteris, as are also the subdivisions of the pinnae in decurring lateral lobes. It could be described as a new genus following Megalopteris, from which it differs essentially by the lobate borders of the pinnules. Habitat—Subconglomerate coal measures, Perry County, Ohio, Prof. E. B. Andrews. | |
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