374 ARTHUR J. MASLEN [may 1899 



fronds of Cycadeae rather than of ferns, the absence of fructification 

 lending some support to this view, while Dr. Scott points out that 

 many of the most characteristic forms of so-called fern-fronds from the 

 Carboniferous rocks cannot be accepted as true ferns, but really belong- 

 to these intermediate synthetic forms. 



We thus see that palaeo-botany, now that it is entering on a stage 

 of its development in which anatomy is taking a leading place, has 

 already yielded positive results, the value of which is only beginning to 

 be recognised by botanists in general. The value of the direct evidence 

 thus obtained may be trusted to throw much light on the phylogenetic 

 history of the groups of living plants, and in no instance is this better 

 seen than in relation with the Cycadeae. That the modern cycads 

 represent an offshoot of a very old cycado-filicinean stock there is no 

 longer any doubt, although the direct links in their phylogenetic 

 history are by no means easy to make out ; and this difficulty will 

 remain until much more palaeontological evidence is forthcoming. 



In anatomical characters the modern cycads show great variation, 

 and appear to retain many primitive characters, the meaning of some 

 of which is now to a certain extent known. As Dr. Scott points out : 

 " The Cycadales may even be polyphyletic, having perhaps sprung 

 from the Filicineae at various points. The Lyginodendreae, Proto- 

 pityeae, and Medulloseae all combine Filicinean with Cycadean 

 characters, but they appear to join on to very different groups of 

 ferns." 



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