SPHENOPTERIS. 107 
2.—Sphenopteris Fittoni, sp. nov. 
Peyton. 2); PL. vil. head] 
1836. Sphenopteris gracilis, Fitton, Trans. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. ser. ii. pt. ii. 
p- 103. 
1849. Pachypteris gracilis, Brongniart, Tableau, p. 107. 
1852. Pachypteris gracilis, Ettingshausen, Abh. k.-k. geol. Reichs. vol. i. 
Abth. iii. No. 2, p. 24. 
1864. Asplenium paleopteris, Unger, Reise Fregatte Novara, vol. i. Abth. 
Hesped; ple i fig. 4. 
1893. ? Sphenopteris Delgadoi, Saporta, Rey. gen. bot. vol. v. 1893, p. 270, 
pl. iv. fig. 5. 
Type. Part of afrond. British Museum. Pl. VI. Fig. 2. 
Frond ovato-lanceolate, bipinnate; pinne linear acuminate, 
alternate; pinnules alternate, ovate acuminate to deltoid, de- 
current, with entire, slightly dentate or deeply lobed margin. 
Venation of the Sphenopteridis type. 
in a paper read before the Geological Society in 1827 Dr. 
Fitton briefly described a Wealden fern from near Tunbridge Wells, 
which he subsequently figured under the name of Sphenopteris 
gracilis." At the time when Fitton’s paper was read no species of 
that name had been described, but before his work appeared in the 
Geological Transactions, Brongniart had referred a Carboniferous 
fern to the genus Sphenopteris under the name S. gracilis. 
In a later work Brongniart refers Fitton’s species to Pachypteris 
gracilis. The specimen which Fitton figured as the type of 
Sphenopteris gracilis is in the Museum of Practical Geology, 
Jermyn-street. No doubt the impression has suffered to some 
extent since 1836; the specimen no longer shows the form of the 
pinnules with the clearness of outline represented in the figure. 
The general habit of the frond is, however, faithfully reproduced. 
In some of the pinnules there are slight indications of a midrib, 
and an occasional suggestion of dentate margins. 
I propose to retain the original generic name Sphenopteris, and, 
in view of the fact that the term gracilis has been applied to 
1 Fitton, Trans. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. ser. ii. pt. ii. p. 108. 
