10 CYCADACE-E. 



blance of leaf form is to be trusted at all, we must admit the 

 existence in Upper Palaeozoic rocks of a few fossil fronds, which 

 have as much claim as those from Jurassic strata to be classed 

 among the Cycadacece. In reviewing the evidence in favour of 

 Palaeozoic cycads, we may for convenience sake consider Permian 

 and Carboniferous specimens together. 



In 1848 Gutbier 1 figured and described a Rothliegende plant 

 from Rheinsdorf, near Zwickau, which he designated Pterophyllum 

 Cottceanum. The figure reminds one to some extent of Ctenis 

 falcate, L. and H., but the pinnae show no trace of any anasto- 

 mosing venation ; the specimen cannot well be excluded from the 

 provisional cycadean genus Pterophyttum. Eichwald 2 has figured 

 a portion of a frond from the Carboniferous rocks of Konznetzk 

 in the Altai Hills, under the name of Pterophyllum inflexum ; this 

 also seems to conform to the recognized characters of Pterophyllum. 

 Carruthers 3 has referred to some stems described by Eichwald from 

 Russian Permian rocks, but is of opinion that they cannot be 

 accepted as satisfactory examples of Palaeozoic cycads ; the same 

 author also calls attention to the specimens described by Presl and 

 Guillard as cycadean stems, and shows that they have no claim to 

 be placed among fossil cycads. Schmalhausen 4 has more recently 

 figured a stem fragment from the Permian of Kargala in Orenburg, 

 which he refers to Schimper's species Clathraria strigata, but 

 regards the specimen as a stem of Cordaites lancifolius, Schmalh. 

 In 1864 Sandberger 5 recorded a species of Pterophyllum, P. 

 llechmodes, from the Upper Coal-Measures of Holzplatze, near 

 Oppenau ; the specimen seems to have been reasonably placed 

 among cycadean frouds. Goppert, 6 in 1843, described what he 

 considered to be the oldest known cycadean frond ; this imperfect 

 fragment from Konigshutte, in Silesia, he named Pterophyttum 

 ffonorrachis. Two other specimens were recorded by the same 

 author from Palaeozoic strata as Cycadites gyrosus and Cycadites 

 taxodinus ; 7 the former is a small and imperfect specimen which 



1 (A.) Verstein. Roth. Sachsen, p. 21, pi. viii. fig. 7. 



2 Vol. i. p. 215, pi. xv. figs. 5, 6. 



3 (1), p. 675. 



4 (1), p. 37, pi. v. figs. 4 and 5. 

 8 (1), p. 34, pi. ii. figs. 1-4. 



6 (1), p. 50, pi. i. fig. 6. 



7 (2), p. 131, pi. ii. figs. 1-34. 



