FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. M9 



times dichotomous. This is one of the most perfect and beautiful 

 of the St John Ferns. It resembles at first sight Sphenopteru 

 macilenta, L. and H. | but on examination it differs materially in 



details. It is an elaborate and ornate example of the peculiar type 

 of Cyclopteris already referred to as characteristic of the Upper 

 Devonian Period. 



Cyclopteris varia, Dawson. Pinnate (or bipinnate). Pinnae with 

 a thick petiole. Pinnules decreasing in size to the terminal one, 

 which is ovate and lobed. Pinnules oblique, decurrent on «>nc side. 

 Nerves frequently dichotomous. This Fern has been found only 

 in fragments. It seems to have been a thick fleshy frond, but 

 the specimens are insufficient to show its habit of growth. Its 

 nearest allies seem to be C. Villiersi, Sternberg [Nenropteris ViUierai, 

 Brongn.), and Cyclopteris helcrophylla, Gocppert ; but it differs 

 from both. 



Cyclopteris, s. n. (?) Many fragments occur in Mr Ilartt's col- 

 lections of a very large Cyclopteris which may possibly have re- 

 sembled C. Brownii of Perry in Maine, but the specimens are not 

 sufficient for its full description. 



Cyclopteris Bockshiana, Goeppert. Fragments referable to this 

 species (if it is really a distinct species from C. obtusa), are found 

 rarely in the St John shales. I retain the generic name Cyclopteris 

 for all these ferns, so eminently characteristic of the Devonian as 

 distinguished from the Carboniferous ; not that I have any certainty 

 that they belong to one natural genus, but because they resemble 

 each other in venation, and the attempts to arrange them in such 

 genera as Adiantites and Nceggerathia arc evidently injudicious. 



Neuropteris polymorpha, Dawson (Fig. 192, C). Pinnate or bipin- 

 nate. Rachis or secondary rachis irregularly striate. Pinnules vary- 

 ing from round to oblong, unequally cordate at base, varying from 

 obtuse to acute. Tenninal leaflet ovate, acute, angulated or lobed. 

 Midrib delicate, evanescent. Nervures slightly arcuate, at acute 

 angles with the midrib. This fern is very abundant in the shales 

 near Carlton, at St John. At first sight it appears to constitute 

 several species, but careful comparison of numerous specimens shows 

 that all the various forms may occur on the same frond. In its 

 variety of forms it resembles N. heterophylla, Brongn., or N. Itirsuta, 

 Lesquereux; but it differs from the former in its delicate midrib and 

 acutely angled nervures, and from the latter in its smooth surface. 

 In the more recent collections of Mr Ilartt there arc very fine and 

 perfect examples which I hope at some future time to figure. The 

 fragment here figured is a part of a terminal pinna. 





