332 



SHOETEB CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENEKAL GEOLOGY, 1916. 



Several of the specimens, notably those illus- 

 trated in figures 7 and 9, show the fruit, though 

 this fact was not detected until it was pointed 

 out by W. R. Maxon, of the United States 

 National Museum, to whom the specimens were 

 shown. The sori are apparently somewhat 

 immature, bemg very long and narrowly linear, 

 hardly more than doubhng the normal thickness 

 of the vein. 



This species imdoubtedly is most nearly 

 related to Asplenium hemionitis Linne, now 

 living in Spain, Portugal, and the adjacent At- 

 lantic islands. A. hemionitis is usually five- 

 lobed, having a large triangular acute terminal 

 lobe and two shorter similar acute lateral lobes 

 which are bluntly or sometimes acutely lobed 

 at the base ; the basal sinus is deep and rounded, 

 and the basal lobes overlap the stipe. 



Occurrence: Kirtland shale, 3 inches below 

 base of Ojo lUamo sandstone, U miles east- 

 northeast of Pina Veta China, San Juan County, 

 N. Mex. Lot 40 (6966). 



Onoclea neomexicana Knowlton, n. sp. 



Plate LXXXIV, figures 1, 2. 



Size and outline of whole frond unknowm, 

 though evidently it was rather large and at 

 least bipinnatified; main rachis thin, ridged; 

 pinnae apparently alternate, rather widely 

 spaced, apparently comiected by a broad wing; 

 pinnae short, broad, deeply cut into several lobes, 

 those near the base rather obtuse and provided 

 with a few teeth, the outer lobes acute and 

 entire; nervation very strongly marked, reticu- 

 lated throughout, the reticulations or areas 

 inclosed by the veins somewhat irregular but 

 in general about four times longer than broad. 



The available material representing this form 

 is so scanty and imperfectly preserved that 

 ordinarily to attempt a characterization of it 

 would hardly Ije worth while, but it is so clear 

 as far as it goes that it can undoubtedly be 

 recognized if found in the future, and moreover 

 it furnishes a valuable biologic step in the inter- 

 pretation of the geologic history of this genus. 

 As may be seen from the figures, which repre- 

 senj/ all but a few uaconsequential fragments, 

 it is impossible to form any adequate idea as to 

 the size of the whole frond, as there is no means 

 of Icnowing what part of the frond is repre- 

 sented. So far as can be made out the pinnae 

 are alternate, a considerable distance apart, and 

 apparently connected by a broad wing. The 



best-preserved pinna was about 4.5 centimeters 

 long and at least 2.5 centimeters wide. It is cut 

 into four or more lobes having rather large 

 teeth. The other figured specimen is probably 

 the tip of a pinna, but it may be the extreme 

 tip of the whole frond. It is cut mto large, 

 sharp-pointed lobes. 



The nervation, as may be seen from the 

 figures, is very distinct. It is completely anas- 

 tomosmg, the inclosed areas being somewhat 

 irr(^gular, though in general they are three or 

 four times longer than broad. No trace of 

 the fruiting frond was detected. 



This species is undoubtedly most closely re- 

 lated to the living Onoclea sensibilis Lmne, 

 which, so far as can be determined, has also 

 been found abundantly and widely distrib- 

 uted, in a fossil state, in the Fort Union for- 

 mation. The fossil form, under the name O710- 

 cha simsibilis fossilis, was first described and 

 figured by Newberry^ from specimens obtained 

 at Fort Union, on Yellowstone River near the 

 Montana-North Dakota hue. This form and 

 Onoclea neomexicana are so close together that 

 with the material available it is not easy to pomt 

 out essential differences between them. It 

 appears, however, that in Onoclea neomexicana 

 the piniue are shorter and relatively more deeply 

 cut into lobes, wliich are themselves more or less 

 toothed. The nervation is more completely 

 reticulated tlu-oughout than in Onoclea sensihilis 

 fofisilis, but more and bettor preserved material 

 must be available before it will be possible to 

 determine definit(>ly its distinctness or identity. 



Occurrence: Kirtland shale, 3 inches below 

 base of Ojo Alamo sandstone, IJ miles east- 

 northeast of Pina Veta China, San Juan County, 

 N. Mex. Lot 40 (6966). 



Family SCHIZIACE.E. 

 Anemia hesperia Knowlton. n. sp. 



Plate LXXXIV, figure 3. 



Fronds presumably dimorphous; sterile frond 

 roughly deltoid, 2.5 centimeters long, 3 centi- 

 meters broad, dipinnate, the racliis slender, 

 pinnae tliree or four pau-s, alternate, lanceolate, 

 decreasing toward the apex; pinnules confluent, 

 cuneate, erose-dentate at apex; nerves few, 

 slender, at an acute angle, once or twice forked; 

 fertile frond not known. 



1 Newberry, J. S., New York Lyceum Nat. Hist. Armals, vol. 9, p. 30, 

 1868; U. S. Geol. Sur\-ey Mon. 35, d. 8, pl.23,fig. 3; pi. 24, flgs. 1-5, 1898. 



