[MATTHEW] A REVIEW OF THE LITTLE RIVER GROUP 127 



Anxdlaria acicularis, Dawson sp. Plate V, Figs. 1, 2, 3. 



Dawson, Asteropliyllites aeicularis, Acad. Geol. p. 537, figs. 194, H.H^ 

 Dawson, Asterophyllites aeicularis, Foss. Plants Dev. U. Sil. Can. p. 28, pi. 

 V. figs. 54 to 57. 



The following is Sir William Dawson's description of this species. 



Stem slender, striaAe, thicJcened at the nodes, leafy. Leaves one- 

 nerved linear, slightly arcuate, ten to fifteen in a whorl, longer than 

 the internodes. Length of leaves one-half (12 m7n.) to three-fourths 

 of an inch (19 mm.). 



" This plant is abundant in some la5'ers of shale in the Little Eiver 

 group. It resembles A. foliosa, L. & H./ but the leaves aje longer, 

 less curved, and more numerous in a whorl. Some of the specimens 

 show that the stem was leafy as well as the branches, and I have a 

 specimen, apparently the termination of the main stem, showing the 

 whorls diminishing in size toward the apex." 



In his later work on tlie Devonian and U. Silurian Plants of 

 Canada Sir William has added the following remarks : " In some of 

 Mr. Hartt's specimens this and the last species [.4. latifolia-minor'] 

 are associated in such a manner on the same slabs as to suggest the 

 suspicion that they may have been portions of one species. I have 

 failed, however, to trace any connection or intermediate gradations; 

 and on the other hand there are orgaus of fructification associated with 

 the present species, which are quite distinct from those of the last. 

 They arc smal^ oblong strobiles, with narrow leaves or scales, and some- 

 times in groups of two or three together. The specimens recently 

 obtained show that the species was similar in its habit of growth to 

 the last [A. latifolia-minor'\, and it grew apparently in the same 

 places." 



" Tliis species in general form resembles A. equisetifor-rnis, Brong., 

 and in its fructification A. rigidus, Sternb., as figured by Geinitz. The 

 species is closely allied to A. radiata, Brong., differing principally in 

 the form and number of the leaves. It has a stiff or rigid stem, with 

 r stout vascular axis, and though the leaves sometimes seem united at 

 the base, they fell off separately, and in some beds, great numbers occur 

 detached." 



The leaf is rather thick in this species and the mid-rib only faintly 

 marked. As many as sixteen leaves have been observed in a whorl. 



Horizon and Locality. — Very plentiful in Hartt's Bed ISTo. 1, and 

 also occurring in Bed ISTo. 2 at Fern Ledges, Lancaster, IsT.B. 



In the same beds with A. aeicularis occur occasional examples of 

 a Palaeostachya of small size, with rigid linear bracts, which we sup- 



^ A synonym of A. radiata Brong. fide R. Kidston. 



