V] FERNS 91 



with confidence be assigned to the Matonineae. A 

 single fossil has, however, been described from Queens- 

 land which may be a piece of a Laccopteris frond. 



There is some evidence that ferns very similar to 

 INIatonia existed in North America during the Meso- 

 zoic period. It would be in the highest degree rash 

 to assume that the Matonineae played no part in 

 the Jurassic vegetation of India, South Africa, and 

 other southern lands, but there can be little doubt 

 that the family was especially characteristic of 

 European floras during a portion of the Mesozoic 

 era. It would seem that subsequent to the Wealden 

 period the ancestors of Matonia dwindled in numbers 

 and their geographical range became much more 

 restricted. 



The records of Tertiary rocks have hitherto added 

 nothing to our knowledge of the distribution of the 

 family subse(pient to the Cretaceous period. All 

 we can say is that the existing species of INIatonia 

 are the last survivoi's of a family which in the 

 Jurassic period overspread a wide area in Europe 

 and probably extended to the other side of the 

 Atlantic. Exposed to unfavourable climatic con- 

 ditions and possibly affected by the revolution in 

 the plant world consequent on the appearance of 

 the Flowering Plants, the Matonineae gradually 

 retreated beyond the equator until the two surviving 

 species found a last retreat in the Malayan region. 



