70 The Plant World. 



Triassic Pleuromeia, about which we know so little, the herba- 

 ceous species of fossil Lycopodiales are briefly passed in review. 

 A long chapter is devoted to Lepidodendron and the genus Lepido- 

 phlois is merged with it, although the justification for chis is not 

 altogether clear. Another chapter is devoted to Sigillaria, a 

 type which has received renewed attention in late years. Stig- 

 maria, the subject of so many morphological cobwebs occupies 

 an entire and well written chapter, and still another chapter is 

 devoted to the Bothrodendreae. The latter will prove to be the 

 most interesting reading to plant anatomists and physiologists. 

 Chapter xix is devoted to Lepidocarpon and Miadesmia, those 

 two remarkable ^ypes which .he author denominates "seed- 

 bearing plants closely allied to members of the Lycopodiales." 

 Many will question the propriety of terming a sporangium with a 

 retained megaspore "a true seed", as well as the statement that 

 "the Lycopodiales were not always distinguished from Gymno- 

 sperms by the absence of seeds," and a still larger number of 

 students will fail to see in these curious I\Jeozoic forms an argu- 

 ment for the derivation of the Araucarian conifers from the 

 Lycopods. 



The next seven chapters, or abouc half the book, are devoted 

 to fern-like plants, and include a very good account of the recent 

 ferns. An objectionable feature is the separation of the Psaron- 

 ieae from the Marattiales. for , while no one will dispute the au- 

 thor's assertion that "it is not impossible that Psaronhis stems 

 bore fronds vv'hich produced Pteridosperm organs of reproduc- 

 tion", this seems to be simply another illustration of the upset 

 mental balance of paleobotanists which the author writes about 

 on p. 282. I presume that it would be unscientific to deny the 

 possibility of Psaronius stems having borne artichokes, but one 

 would scarcely conceive such a thing to be within the range oi 

 probability. 



A new name, che Coenopterideae, is proposed for the Pal- 

 eozoic ferns familiarly known as the Botryopterideae and the 

 same name is also used at times in a more general sense (Primo- 

 filices of Arber). A brief chapter is devoted to the Hydro- 

 pterideae and the author admits the probability of such an 

 affinity for the widespread ^lesozoic forms referred to the genus 

 Sagenopteris, a view which has been widely accepted in recent 

 years. The concluding chapter treats of "genera of Pterido- 



