of the Rocks associated with the Coal of Australia. 147 



on the number of leaves in a whorl. The leaves themselves are 

 flat, rather thick, dilated at the tip in such proportion that there 

 is no space left between the edges of the adjacent leaves. 



It is very possible that together with Sphenophyllum these may 

 have been freshwater aquatic plants allied to the recent Marsilea, 

 in which we see a quaternary arrangement of cuneiform leaves 

 with dichotomous veins, but the affinity is not very strong. The 

 Australian species seems distinct from either of those occurring 

 in the Indian beds by the smaller number of leaves in the whorl, 

 which is perfectly constant in all the examples I have seen. I 

 would propose to name and characterize our species as follows : — 



Vertebraria australis (M'Coy). PI. IX. fig. 1. 

 Sp. Char. Leaves constantly eight in each whorl. 



The fragments are of various lengths, but with a pretty uni- 

 form diameter of about seven lines. The radiating dichotomous 

 veins are never strongly marked, apparently from the original 

 softness of the texture of the leaf; in many cases we observe be- 

 tween them an obsolete concentric plication, probably from the 

 same cause, and which may explain the nature of certain vertical 

 striae visible on the perpendicular fracture, crossing the hori- 

 zontal lines which mark the edges of the leaves. 



This species is abundant in the whitish shales and clays of 

 Mulubimba, N. S. Wales. 



[Al. Filices.) 



Ord. GleicheniacejE. 



Gleichenites odontopteroides (Mor.) sp. 



Syn. Pecopteris odontopteroides (Mor.) in Strzelecki's N. S.Wales. 



Having obtained a finely preserved frond of this plant distinctly 

 forked in the manner of Gleichenia, I have removed it from Pe- 

 copteris, in which it was placed by Mr. Morris, and transferred 

 it to the order Gleicheniacece without hesitation ; and taking the 

 verbal characters of Goppert's genus Gleichenites — " Frons di- 

 chotoma pinnata. Fructificatio hucusque ignota," — I think there 

 can be no objection to placing it in that genus, although very 

 distinct from his two species G. artemisiafolius and G. critmi- 

 folius. I might also suggest its relation to the Lias and Keuper 

 genus Heptacarpus, with some of the German species of which it 

 generically coincides. 



In the sandstone of Clark's Hill, N. S. Wales. 



Ord. Neuropterides. 



Odontopteris microphylla (M'Coy). Not figured. 

 Sp. Char. Bipinnate; pinnse alternate, oblique, narrow, about 



11* 



