508 



FILICALES 



f 



in the same way as in Marattia or Angiopteris. Their reference to 

 a Marattiaceous affinity has been further confirmed by the proof of their 



relations with Pecopterid foliage, bear- 

 ing characteristic fructifications. 1 Such 

 stems were not only of arborescent 

 stature, but also of considerable thick- 

 ness. The leaves were in some cases 

 distichous (Megaphyton), in others 

 tetrastichous, in others again spiral 

 on a more complex plan : the latter 

 correspond more nearly to the leaf- 

 arrangement seen in the living genera. 

 The general character of such stems 

 is suggested by Fig. 280. The con- 

 clusion seems clear that certain Fern- 





FIG. 276. 



Diagrammatic representation of the end of a 

 rhizome of Kaulfussia. w = wings of stipule; 

 co m = transverse commissure. (Af 

 Vaughan. ) 



fter Gwynne- 



like plants, of Marattiaceous affinity, 

 but of more aborescent habit than the 



living Marattiaceae, existed in Palaeozoic times, a conclusion which 

 borne out by the study of the leaves and fructifications. 



s 



A. 



B. 





FIG. 277. 



A , young sporophyte of Danaea simplicifolia still attached to the gametophyte, pr. 

 X 3. B, an older sporophyte of the same species. C, gametophyte of Angiopteris evecta 

 with young sporophyte. (A, B, after Brebner ; C, after Farmer, from Campbell's Mosses 

 and Ferns. ) 



The latter in the modern genera are always intra-marginal, on the 

 lower surface of the leaf : the sori are distinct, seated each upon a vein. 



1 Zeiller, Element 's, p. 1 20. 





