October 13, 1910] 



NATURE 



475 



.>^~' 



Cretaceous of Japan, which in several respects appear to 

 be quite analogous to our English coal-balls. In their 



_^ paper published a few 



' , _ months ago, they Ac- 



"--'^ ■''■" scribe a varied series 



of fossil plants from 

 these nodules, such as 

 the sporangia of a 

 fern of Schizaeaceous 

 f-v-j; affinities, a leaf, 



S?Si>»; I Niponophyllum, with 



parallel nerves, several 

 stems and cones of 

 Gymnosperms, especi- 

 ally Yezonia, a trunk 

 in which the wood 

 consists of thick- and 

 thin -walled tracheids 

 arranged on the same 

 radii, and which is 

 regarded as a repre- 

 sentative of a new 

 family of Coniferge. 

 Among the Angio- 

 spermous remains are 

 woods allied to the 

 Saururacese, to the 

 JuglandaceiE, t h e 

 SabiaceEE, and Cupu- 

 lifera;. But perhaps 

 the most interesting 

 specimen is that dis- 

 cussed as being a 

 flower of Liliaceous 

 affinity, and termed 

 Cretovariufn japoni- 

 cum (Fig. 5). This 

 is regarded by the 

 authors as the first 

 fossil flower known in 

 the petrified state. It is described as a trilocular ovary 

 with axile placentation, though the ovules are absent. 



-The 



2 



iinphi^poransoii 



Nathorst, 

 from the Rha;tic of Sweden, (i) The 

 axis with the "palisade-ring" of male 

 sporophylls helow, (2) Tne ring oi 

 male sporophylls enlarged. After 

 Nathorst. 



Crgiovarium japonttumy S. and r ., the first flower to be discove 

 in the petrified state. / and /2, perianth. After Stopes and Fujii 



Traces of a perianth (?) are seen fused to the lower part 

 of the carpels, which were slightly inferior. 



E. A. N. A. 



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