LIGN. 6. SPHENOPTEHIS 



MAN TELL i. WEALDEN. 



(Natural size.) 



32 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. I. 



species of this genus, and these resemble 

 the living ferns of the genera Lonchitis 

 and Woodwardia ; two occur in the Coal 

 deposits ; the other, the one under con- 

 sideration, in the Wealden and Green- 

 sand. The latter appears to have been 

 a delicate plant, for though vestiges of 

 the carbonized foliage are very generally 

 distributed through the Wealden de- 

 posits, it is rarely that any considerable 

 portion of a frond can be obtained. 

 Sphenopteris. The other character- 

 istic Wealden plant is the Sphenopteris 

 (S. Mantelli), or wedge-leaf fern, re- 

 markable for its elegant and simple 

 fronds, as shown in the annexed figure. 

 (Lign. 6.) 



ANOMOPTERIS MOUGEOTTI. Case B. On the front of one 



of the middle shelves, on 

 a block of fawn-coloured 

 sandstone, are remains 

 of the foliage of a large 

 species of fern, labelled as 

 above. These fossil leaves 

 are remarkable for their 

 peculiar structure and 

 great size : some speci- 

 mens are estimated to 



\ V//A V,/A7*/ have been three or four 



feet in length ; they are 

 supposed to be the foliage 

 of an arborescent fern. 

 Thisspeciesis only known 

 in the Triassic formation 

 of the Yosges. The spe- 

 cimen in the Museum 

 shows the fructification, 

 2 and was collected and 

 LIGN. T.-ANOMOPTERIS MOUGEOTTI. THE TRIAS, presented to me by the 



NEAR SALTZBURGH. Iat6 M 



Fig. 1. Portion of a frond in fructification. , 



2. A part of the same magnified. burg. 



