Fossil Floras of Cape Colony. 45 



sents another very abundant and widely distributed type of frond 

 met with in rocks ranging in age from Ehyctic to supra- Wealden. 

 Taken by itself this almost ubiquitous form of fern does not atibrd 

 conclusive testimony of age, but it is chiefly characteristic of the 

 Upper rather than the Lower Jurassic series, and of Lower Cre- 

 taceous rocks. 



Sphcnopteris fittoni Sew. A less widely spread type and 

 a safer criterion of age, indicating Wealden rather than a lower 

 horizon. 



Sphcnopteris sp. Too fragmentary a specimen to serve as a safe 

 guide. 



Tceniopteris sp., cf. T.arctica (Heer.). Another common type, but 

 on the whole nearer to a species of Lower Cretaceous age than to 

 Jurassic types of Tcenioptcris. 



Zamites recta (Tate). The fronds of this species are very similar 

 to those of WiJliamsonia gigas (L. and H.), a characteristic Jurassic 

 plant. The separation of pinnate cycadean fronds of the form 

 represented by Zamites recta into well-defined species is hardly 

 possible; but whether Tate's species be distinct, or identical with a 

 European type, it undoubtedly agrees more closely with Jurassic 

 than with Wealden cycadean fronds. 



Zamites morrisii (Tate). The type-specimen of Tate is the only 

 example so far obtained ; it may be a distinct species, but it is by no 

 means unlikely that it may prove to be identical with Z. recta. It 

 throws no further light on the question of age. 



Zamites africana (Tate). Too fragmentary to be used as evidence 

 of age, but resembling a W^ealden species, Zamites huchianus (Ett.), 

 perhaps more closely than a Jurassic type. 



Zamites ruhidgei (Tate). Fronds are known of both Jurassic and 

 Wealden age which bear a close resemblance to the single specimen 

 on which this species was founded by Tate. 



Nilssonia tatei sp. nov. On the whole species of Jurassic age 

 from Indian and European localities exhibit the closest resemblance 

 to this form. 



