632 PROCEEDINGS OF THE \ ITIONAL UUSEl I/. vol.38. 



Sphenopteris dissectiformis of fcheAptieri I \),SpTienopteristenuijissa l 

 of the Alhien and Sphenopteris jlabellina, c also of the Albien. 



Occurrence. - - Patuxent form vtion. Fredericksburg, Trents 

 Reach, Dutch (Jap, Virginia; New Reservoir, District of Columbia. 

 Patapsco formation. Hell Hole, 72d milepost, near Brooke, Vir- 

 ginia. (?) Overlook Inn, Maryland. Lakota formation. Bar- 

 rett, Wyoming. — Fusom FORMATION. Pine Creek, Wyoming. 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



THE GENUS TAENIOPTERIS OF BRONGNIART. 



Brongniart gives the following diagnosis of Taeniopteris in his 



Prodrome:'' 



Fronde simple, entiere, 6troite, a bords paralleles, transverse^ par une nervure 

 moyenne, forte, 6paisse, qui s'^tend jusqu'd l'extr£mete; aen urea secondares presque 

 simples ou bifurqia'es a la base, presque perpendiculaires sur la nervure moyenne. 



The type was the Jurassic species Taeniopteris vittata; which was 

 compared with Danaea and Angiopteris of the modern Marattiacese. 



This diagnosis is repeated in Latin without material change in the 

 Histoirc/ In a later^ work the same author institutes various com- 

 parisons with modern ferns, and points out that the genus probably 

 includes forms of diverse botanical affinities. Three groups are 

 recognized: (1) Those with simple fronds like Taeniopteris vittata, 

 which suggests modern forms of Acrostichum, (2) those with pinnate 

 or bipinnate fronds with articulated pinnae like T. miinsteri, which 

 Brongniart is positive is a member of the Marattiacese, and (3) those 

 with nonart iculate pinnate fronds like T. bertrandi. 



The genus has been ably discussed in its Mesozoic aspects bySaporl a, 

 Zingo, Schenk, Schimper, Seward, and other authors, the former 

 especially, while following Brongniart 's original characterization of 

 fronds usually simple, considerably extends his diagnosis." Saporta's 

 diagnosis is quoted in a recent work by Seward'' and need not he 

 repeated. The latter author uses the genus in a wide sense following 

 Nathorst in including under it such other genera as Oleandridium, 

 Anglo pUrldhi m, Maratbiopsis, Danaeopsis, etc., in which the evidence 

 of relationship seems insufficient for the use of names implying affinity 

 with the respective modern genera. His characterization may he 

 quoted with profit: "Frond simple or pinnate, usually lanceolate or 



<*Saporta, Flora Foss. Portugal, L894, p. 68, pi. r>. fig. L8; pi. Id. figs. 22, 23. 



6 Idem, p. L61, pi. 28, fig. I. 



■ Idem, |>. L60, pi. 29, fig. Id. 



«' Prodrome, L828, p. 61. 



t Brongniart Bist. vegSt. foss., L831, ]>. 262. 



i Brongniart, Tableau, 1849, p. 21. 



ySapnria. PI. Jurass., vol. I. L873, p. 130 



^Seward, Wealderl Flora, pi. I. 1894, p. 122. 



