On the Species of the Genus Palseoxyris. 57 



Stiehler, in 1861, proposed the name of Sj^orlederia for the 

 plants included in Palxoxyris, Brongniart/ as there was no 

 proof that the fossils had any affinity with the recent Xijris. 

 He also regarded as distinct from his Sporlederia Ettings- 

 hausen's Falccohromelia, which has been shown to be only an 

 uncompressed condition of Pcdceoxyris. 



Schenk was one of the first to seriously question the 

 Monocotyledonous nature of Pcdceoxyris, but he does not 

 venture on any suggestion as to the affinities of these 

 " mysterious plants." ^ 



In 1870, Lesquereux noted the discovery of three species 

 of Pcdceoxyris in the Carboniferous rocks of the United 

 States.s 



To Schimper's remarks on Pcdceoxyris, reference has already 

 been made. This author proposed for these fossils the new 

 generic name of Sjnrangium, as that proposed by Stiehler 

 (Sporleclericc) had previously been applied to a genus of 

 Mosses. His genus Sijiranginm he places among the " Genera 

 classis incertse," but he, like most previous writers, regarded 

 these curious fossils as seed-vessels.* 



More recent writers, including Grand' Eury,^ Lesquereux,^ 

 and Kenault and Zeiller,^ have refrained from expressing 

 any opinion as to the affinities of these fossils, nor, after ex- 

 amining many specimens of Pcdceoxyris, can I throw any 

 light on their relationships either to recent or fossil plants. 

 All the specimens which have come under my notice are 

 isolated individuals, and none has shown any attachment to 

 a stem or branch, but twice I have seen two individuals on 

 the same slab, so placed in relation to each other, that one 

 might suppose they diverged from a common point of attach- 



1 Die Bromeliaceeii der Vorwelt. Bericlite d. iiatur. Vereines des Harzes 

 zu Blaukenburg. "Weniigerode, 1861. 



' Die Fossile Flora des Keupers iind Lias Fraiikeus, p. 195. Wiesbaden, 

 1867. 



3 Report, Geol. Survey of Illinois, vol. iv., p. 464. 



^ Traite d. paleont. veget., vol. ii., p. 514. 1872. 



5 Flore carbonifere du Dep. de la Loire et du centre de la France, p. 307. 

 1877, Paris. 



6 Coal Flora of Pennsylvania, vol. ii., p. 518. 1880. 

 '' Comptes Rendus, 2d June 1884, 



