DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. PP. 43 



and smooth ; pinnae long, linear-lanceolate, alternate, going 

 off at almost a j'ight angle, somewliat arched ; pinnules, ob- 

 long-ovate, alternate, incisely-lobed, the lobes more or less 

 dentate, the lowest lobe on the upper side being larger 

 than the others and projecting along the secondary rachis 

 imparts an auriculate character to the pinnule ; mid-nerve, 

 strong, and well marked ; lateral nerves, branching dicho- 

 tomously, a branch x^assing into each tooth of the lobes. 



This plant seems more closely related to Sj^henopter is crts- 

 tata, Brongt, than any other described Sphenopteris, and 

 like the latter, as remarked by Brongniart, it possesses 

 characters which ally it with Pecopteris. 



Some of the pinnules, like that shown in Fig. 36, have no 

 denticulations on the lobes, and then their resemblance to 

 Pecopteris is more marked. These occur in the lower por- 

 tion of the plant. 



Habitat — Roof Shales of the Waynesburg Coal, Cassville, 

 West Virginia. 



Splienopteri% ininuU-secta^ Sp. nov., PL V, Figs. 1-4. 



Frond, quadrii)innate ; secondary pinnae, short, and tri- 

 angular, going off at nearly a right angle from the stout 

 primary rachis ; tertiary pinnae, oblong-linear ; quaternary 

 divisions (pinnules) small, alternate, narrowed at the base, 

 and decurrent on the rachis, obliquely inserted and cut into 

 very small, almost microscopic lobes, which in the lower 

 pinnules are notched at the extremity, and in the upper 

 ones entire and tooth-shaped ; mid-nerves of the pinnules, 

 rather stout at the base, and soon becoming attenuate. 

 Lateral nerves, slender, passing into each lobe of the pin- 

 nule, forking in the lower lobes, and single in those toward 

 the extremity of the pinnule. 



The ultimate divisions of this plant are so fine that they 

 can be followed only with the aid of a lens. The texture of 

 the pinnules is thin and delicate. We were fortunate in 

 finding it in shale of great fineness and evenness, so that 

 it is most beautifully preserved, the impressions being as 

 distinct as if engraved on stone. The plant differs widely 

 from any Sphenopteris hitherto described in the extreme 



