Fossil Floras of Cape Colony. 61 



represent the lower and gradually tapering portion of Tcenioptcris 

 carriithersi. Compare Feistmantel's figures of narrower fronds 

 referred to this species."' 



Plate VIII., fig. 4 (1). 



This specimen differs from that shown in fig. 6 (497d) in the 

 greater inclination of the secondary veins and in the texture of the 

 lamina, which gives the impression of being woolly. Possibly it 

 would be wiser to distinguish this form by another specific name, 

 but the apparent difference in texture may be due merely to the 

 manner of preservation, and in any case the material is too meagre 

 to be described under a new specific title. 



Otlier Sijecimens : 2e and 3, half of a leaf lamina, similar to the 

 specimen shown in fig. 4, but the veins are more clearly preserved 

 and given off at a wider angle from the midrib ; 9e, pieces of fronds, 

 a broader fragment like that shown in fig. 6, and a narrower speci- 

 men with crowded veins ; lOe, 27e, 466d, 498d, three pieces, one 

 showing the gradual decrease in breadth of the lamina towards the 

 base of the leaf. 



Genus CHIROPTEEIS Kurr. 



This genus, instituted by Kurr for a leaf from Keuper beds near 

 Stuttgart, is thus defined by Schimper : — f 



" Frons petiolata, simplex, irregulai'iter inciso-digitata, coriacea. 

 Nervi numerosissimi e basi radiantes, tenues, omnes, sequales vel 

 loborum nervo medio distinctiore, repetito-dichotomi, anastomosantes, 

 reteque anguste rhomboiderm efficientes." 



We possess no satisfactory evidence as to the affinity of this 

 genus. In form and venation Chiropteris agrees with the recent genus 

 Ophioglossum, and on the strength of this resemblance it has been 

 placed by some authors in the Ophioglossacese.]: 



Zeiller j has also referred to the resemblance between Chiropteris 

 and Ophioglossum, but a comparison based on form and venation 

 only is in this case of little or no botanical value. The genus may 

 at present be included provisionally among the ferns, with the 

 reservation that w^e lack satisfactory evidence as to its taxonomic 

 position. The leaves from the Kootanie group referred by Newberry 



* Feistmantel (89), fig. 7. t Schimper (69), p. 643 ; Atlas, pi. xliii. 



\ Schimper ami Schenk (90), p. 152 ; Potonie (99), p. 91. 

 § Zeiller (00), p. 55. 



