MancJiester Memoirs, Vol. Iv. (191 1), No. Vt. 



IX. On an Abnormal Spike of O/^/n'flglossum 7'nlgafttiu. 

 By H. S. HOLDEN. B.Sc, F.L.S. 



( Leitttier ill Botany in the Uiii^'Cfsity College, Nottingham ). 



{Communicated by Professor F. E. IFeiss, D.Sc, F.L.S.) 



Received and Read, /annai-y lotli, rgii. 



The Ophioglossales, comprising- the genera Ophio- 

 glossunt, Botrychiujii, and HelniititJiostachys, have long been 

 a subject of considerable interest to the botanist, a fact 

 largely due to their extreme peculiarity and modification, 

 and also to their comparative isolation from the remaining 

 pteridophyte groups. 



Tlie question of the affinities of the group has 

 always been a thorny one. Bower has considered their 

 affinities to be with the Sphenophyllales : Tansley leaves 

 the matter open but suggests a common ancestry with 

 the remaining megaphyllous pteridophytes : Lady Isabel 

 Browne considers them to show near relationships with 

 the ferns proper, a view which receives considerable 

 support from the most recent work, notably that of 

 Chrysler, which brings forward the strongest evidence for 

 this view. Their characteristic megaphylly, their stelar 

 anatomy, and their undoubtedly fern-like antheridia and 

 multiciliate sperms all lend support to filicinean relation- 

 ships. The evidence afforded by Botrychioxylon, a fossil 

 form described by Dr. Scott in his " Studies," is also of 

 some interest. This is a Botryopteridean axis showing, 

 apart from the internal wood, a striking resemblance to 

 the modern genus Botrychiiim in stelar structure, and 

 is considered by Scott to be distinctly in favour of the 

 close relationships of the two groups. 



March. 21st, igii. 



