74 ON THE FOSSIL FLORA OF THE COAL DEPOSITS OF AUSTRALIA, 



(Damuda division) with the leaved stems many without leaves or 

 partly so. Most of these stems were generally designated as 

 Phyllotheca. My opinion, however, is that they mostly belong to 

 Schizoneura" When we have leaved specimens closely associated 

 with such stems their similarity quite justifies us in placing 

 them with Phyllotheca. But when the stems have been 

 found in widely distant localities and from certainly different 

 horizons, such as Mount Victoria, Dubbo, Geelong, Clarence 

 River and Ipswich, near Brisbane, I think that without the 

 distinct Phyllotheca leaves we are not justified in saying that the 

 stems are Equisetaceous. For my own part, after a careful search, 

 I have never found any true and characteristic Phyllotheca in the 

 Ipswich coal beds, though such plants are always stated to be 

 there ; and I have myself taken it for granted that the stems I 

 found belonged to that genus. In the Proceedings of the Linnean 

 Society, N.S.W., vol. vii., p. 95, I have quoted Phyllotheca 

 (indica ?) as from the Cooktown and Burrum River coal beds, and 

 I now wish to state that, after a careful examination, there is no 

 evidence that these specimens belong exclusively to Phyllotheca. 



As far as my knowledge goes, perfectly reliable species of 

 Phyllotheca are rarely found except in Lower Australian or 

 Paleozoic coal measures. In Queensland, the Ipswich coals are 

 characterized by Equisetum. I do not say that Phyllotheca does 

 not occur amongst the strata indicated ; but except in the 

 Hawkesbury shales no leaved specimens have been found to place 

 the matter beyond a doubt. 



P indica and P. hooheri are quoted by Mr. Jack as occuring in 

 the Bo wen River (Q.L.) coal beds, associated with Paleozoic fossils.* 



P. australis ¥. M'C (sic) is quoted by Mr. R. Brough Smyth, 

 in the Progress Report of the Geology of Victoria,! as from the 

 Bellerine beds, near G-eelong, which, according to Prof. M'Coy, are 

 Upper Mesozoic. No description is given, nor figures. The 

 specimens seen by me had no leaves upon them. 



* Rep. on the Bowen River Coal Field. Parliamentary Paper, Queens- 

 land, 1879, p. 33. 

 + Melbourne, 1874, p. 35. 



