52 



GLOSSOFfEKIS. 



The characters which chiefly distinguish G. Browniana from other 

 species are the spathulate, linear, or approximately oval shape, the 

 obtuse apex, and the fairly open network with polygonal meshes. 



The fronds of G. Browniana appear to he much more abundant in 

 Australasia than in India. In New South Wales, especially, this 

 species is far more common than any other, and every gradation 

 in size and shape, from small linear fronds barely more than 

 2 - 5 cm. in length to leaves of spathulate or sub-oval form, as much 

 as 15 cm. long, may be found, often on the same slab of shale. 

 There are several specimens in this collection which are worthy 

 of study in connection with these variations. Some of the smaller 

 fronds are doubtless immature leaves which have not reached their 

 fall development. In any case it appears to me to be impossible 

 to distinguish clearly between the smaller and the larger fronds. 

 For this reason I have included under the name G. Browniana 

 the smaller, narrower, and more linear fronds, similar to that first 

 described by McCoy 1 as G. linearis, of which the type-specimen is 

 preserved in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge. 



Glossopteris Browniana was first described by Brongniart in 1828. 

 Two years later he figured under this name two varieties which he 

 termed Glossopteris Browniana, var. australasica, and G. Browniana, 

 var. indica. In 1869 Schimper raised the Indian form to specific 

 rank as G. indica, Schimper, and the name G. Browniana is now 

 confined to fronds with a more open network, i.e. the variety 

 australasica of Brongniart. 



It should be noticed that Brongniart's 2 original figure of this 

 species is incorrectly drawn, as Feistmantel has already pointed out. 

 The secondary veins anastomose quite to the margin of the frond. 



Feistmantel 3 has figured a fragmentary frund from the Baniganj 

 group of the South Rewah Coalfield, India, as G. cordata. Only 

 a single specimen is known, and this appears to have had a cordate 

 base, and sub-auriculate basal lobes. It is questionable whether 

 these characters are not imaginary rather than real, since the lower 

 portion of the frond is manifestly fragmentary and imperfect. In 

 any case Feistmantel's specifio name is inadmissible, since it had 



1 McCoy (47), p. 151, pi. ix, figs. 5, 5a. 



• Brongniart (28 3 ), pi. lxii, fig. 1. 



3 Feistmantel (82-), p. 34, pi. xx, fig. 1. 



