208 Hollick: Status of Ophioglossum Alleni L. 



In 1894 I had occasion to examine the figures and kiescriptions 

 of this and other fossil species described under, or referred to, 

 the genus Salvinia, and in a paper on the subject I referred 

 Lesquereux' species to the genus Tmesipteris* and incidentally 

 compared it with Salvinia reticulata (Ettingshausen) Heer, 

 above mentioned, which Heer had suggested was, apparently, 

 specifically identical with a fragmentary leaf or pod originally 

 described by Ettingshausen under the genus Dalbergia;\ but 

 the resemblance to a pod did not impress me at the time. 



In 1913, Professor T. D. A. Cockerell,* in a discussion of the 

 fauna and flora of the shales in which the species was originally 

 discovered and from which the specimens subsequently collected 

 were obtained, remarked: 



The so-called Tmesipteris alleni (Lx.) Hollick, although common, can 

 not be referred to any genus known to those who have examined it. It has 

 nothing whatever to do with Tmesipteris, nor does it belong to Salvinia or 

 Ophioglossum, as placed by Lesquereux. It may be known for the present 



as Carpolithes alleni (Lx.). 



Thus it was given its fourth generic appellation — one that 

 suggested similarity in appearance to a carpel or capsule or 

 pod-like organism of some kind. 



In 1919 Florin, § in a paper on fossil Salvinias, expressed an 

 opinion similar to that expressed by Cockerell — to the effect 

 that the taxonomic status of Lesquereux' species was too un- 

 certain to warrant its reference to any well-defined genus — and 

 relegated it to the comprehensive fossil genus Phyllites, under the 

 name P. alleni (Lesquereux) Florin (loc. cit. p. 254). The fifth 

 generic name was thus applied in connection with the species — a 

 name, apparently, meant to indicate that the author intended to 

 suggest that it probably represented a foliar organ. 



* Fossil Salvinias, including description of a new species. Bull. Torrey 

 Club 21: 253-257. pL 205. 1894. 



f Dalbergia reticulata Ettingshausen, Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Fossilen 

 Flora von Tokay. Sitzb. K. Akad. Wiss. [Wien.] Math.-Naturwiss. CI. II 4 : 

 813. pi. 4, f. 5. 1853. Reproduced on Plate 10. fig. 5. 



J The Fauna of the Florissant (Colorado) Shales. Am. Jour. Sci. 36: 

 498-500. 19 1 3. 



§ Eine Uebersicht der Fossilen Salvinia- Ar ten, mit besonderer Beriick- 

 sichtigung eines Fundes von Salvinia Formosa Heer in Terti/ir Japans. Bull. 

 Geol. Inst. Upsala 16: 249-260. pi. 11. 19 19. 



