134 Mr. H. Kidston on the Relationship 



believes that tlie Ulodendroid scars bore detachable bulbils. 

 As to the organs which were attached to the large scars, he 

 draws into the discussion the figure of Lepidophloios laricinus 

 given by Goldenberg in his ' Flora Sargepontana fossilis,' 

 pi. xvi. fig. 6. Of this figure Stur says (p. 263) : " Golden- 

 berg has made known to us the under portion of the bulbils 

 of Lepidodendron. In the cited figure he has brought to our 

 knowledge a bulbil-bearing Lepidodendron-s>itxn^ under the 

 name of Lepidophloios laricinus, Sternberg." 



So far as immediately concerns Ulodendron, L. & H., the 

 figure of Lepidophloios laricinus given by Goldenberg and 

 referred to as above by Stur must be omitted from the dis- 

 cussion, for on no account can hcpidojphloios be united with 

 Lepidodendron as now defined, or with Ulodendron as defined 

 by Lindley and Hutton — LepidopJdoios forming, in fact, a very 

 distinct genus, which is separated from Lepidodendron by 

 well-marked characters, its leaves being attached to down- 

 ward directed cortical cushions whose leaf-articulating surface 

 is placed at the lower extremity of the cushion, and is not 

 surrounded by a "field" as in Lepidodendron'^. 



Ulodendron has two rows of large, depressed, oval or circular 

 scars, whereas the fruiting portion of Lepidophloios [Halo- 

 nia, L. & H.) has four or more rows of tubercles, which in 

 structure are also quite distinct from those of Ulodendron. 

 Therefore, when considering the affinities of the genus Ulo- 

 dendron, L. & H., the introduction of the genus Lepido- 

 phloios into the discussion can only further complicate the 

 subject, as Lepidodendron, Siigillaria, and Ulodendron are 

 essentially distinct, generically, from Lepidophloios. The 

 statement made by Stur (p. 370), "that the bulbil-buds do 

 not in all Lepidodendra occur exactly in two rows, but may 

 also occur on the stem in more rows, the above-mentioned 

 figure of G oldenberg proves, on which the bulbils are arranged 

 in four rows," appears to be founded on a misconception of the 

 true generic characters oi Lepidodendron. 



1880. Schimper, in Zittel and Schimper's ' Handbuch der 

 Palaontologie,' Band ii. Lief. ii. p. 191. — The views men- 

 tioned in this work by Schimper are similar to those stated 

 in his ' Traite de paleontologie v^g^tale.' He recapitulates 

 the evidence on which he has founded his opinion tliat the 

 Ulodendroid scars mark the position of abortive branches, 

 resulting from unequal dichotomy, and which have been modi- 

 fied for the purpose of fructification, in a similar manner to 



* See fig. 7, PI. IV., and fi^s. 14 and 15, PI. VII., and explanations of 

 these figs, in Explanation of Plates. 



