116 CONIOP1EEIS. 



1874. Pecopteris Lindleyana, ibid. vol. iii. p. 498. 



1875. Pecopteris Lindleyana, Phillips, Geol. Yorks. p. 209, lign. 22. 

 P. serrata, ibid. p. 210, lign. 24. 



P. acutifolia, ibid. p. 210. 



1892. Pecopteris arguta, Fox-Strangways, Tab. Foss. p. 132. 

 P. acutifolia, ibid. 



Frond tripinnate. Pinnae linear and tapering, given off from 

 the rachis at a wide angle ; on the lower pinnae the linear pinnules 

 have a crenulated margin and reach a length of T2 cm. The 

 smaller pinnules are entire and slightly falcate. The fertile 

 pinnules differ in a marked degree from the sterile segments ; 

 each fertile pinnule consists of a midrib with a narrow laminar 

 border tapering towards the apex, where it bears a circular 

 cup-like indusium 1 mm. in diameter, with a central receptacle 

 to which the sporangia were attached. 



The drawing by the late Professor Williamson in the Fossil 

 Flora of Lindley & Hutton illustrates the difference between the 

 comparatively long and straight pinnules borne on the lower 

 pinnae, and the small, acutely pointed, and curved pinnules in 

 the upper part of the frond. The ferns named by Lindley & 

 Hutton Pecopteris acutifolia and SpJienopteris serrata, I believe 

 to be specifically identical with their species Neuropteris arguta. 

 There is a fairly close resemblance between the pinnae of 

 Coniopteris arguta, bearing small pinnules, and the pinnae of Klulcia 

 exilis, but in the former species the pinnules are more acutely 

 pointed and attached more obliquely to the pinna axis. 



The name Pecopteris Lindleyana was applied by Presl in 1838 

 to a plant which he regarded as identical with Neuropteris arguta 

 of Lindley & Hutton ; Royle also described a fern from India 

 under the name Pecopteris Lindleyana, specifically distinct from 

 Presl's species. 1 



Presl' s specific name is adopted by Phillips, who figures 

 a specimen in which fertile and sterile pinnules arc shown on the 

 same pinna ; the original of Phillips' figui-e is in the Leckenby 

 Collection, Cambridge. In the absence of the characteristic fertile 

 segments, it is practically impossible in some cases to determine 

 the species of ferns of the Cladoplilebis type bearing small 



1 Koyle (39), pi. ii. (Royle's type-specimen is in the Geological Department 

 of the British Museum.) 



