Dr. F. H. Knowlton — The Name fur the 'Dragon-tree'. 467 



V. — The Correct Technical Name for the 'Dragon-tree' of 

 the Kentish Rag. 



By F. H. Knowlton, M.S., Ph.D., United States Geological Survey, 

 Washington, D.A., U.S.A. 



! I )HAT curious fossil organism, long known as the ' Dragon-tree ', 

 _L has been a puzzle to palseobotanists for almost three-quarters of 

 a century. Bandied about among various monocotyledonous genera, 

 then thought to be possibly related to the Cycads, and finally given 

 a non-committal name that was without implication of kinship, 

 though placed among the Cycads, it has at last, through the admirable 

 research of Dr. M. C. Stopes, 1 been definitely allocated among 

 the Conifers, and even among the higher members of that group. 

 Dr. Stopes is certainly to be congratulated for having worked out its 

 affinities in such a conclusive and convincing manner. It is to be 

 regretted, however, that the scientific name she has finally adopted 

 for the ' Dragon-tree ' is not the one that is likely to meet the 

 requirements of nomenclatorial permanency. The nomenclature of 

 systematic palaeobotany does not differ essentially from that of living 

 plants, and must abide by the same rules. 



The nomenclatorial history of the ' Dragon-tree ' is briefly as 

 follows : The first and most remarkable example was discovered in 

 1839 by W. H. Bensted, 2 and by him presented to the British 

 Museum, where Konig gave it the manuscript name Draccena Benstedi, 

 apparently written on the specimen itself. This name was taken up 

 by Morris 3 and by Mantell, 4 but it appeal's to have been first described 

 and figured by Mackie 5 in 1862. In 1868 Carruthers 6 expressed the 

 opinion that these stems were " more like those of a Pandanus than 

 a Draccena,", but he did not change the name, nor did Gardner 7 in 

 1886 when he opined that they might belong to the Cycads. Apparently 

 the status remained as above outlined until 1896, when Professor 

 Seward 8 instituted for their reception the new genus Bemtedtia, 

 which he later tentatively placed among the Cycads. Seward 

 described his new genus fully, but did not directly associate it with 

 a species, though by citation its type was Draccena Benstedii, Konig. 



In 1900 Professor Fliche, 9 of Nancy, described under the new 

 generic name Coniferocaulon certain casts of stems from the French 

 Lower Cretaceous, which Seward 10 says "are, I believe, identical 

 with those referred to Bemtedtia". This generic identity of the 

 French and English specimens is confirmed by Dr. Stopes, who, 

 though calling the English stems Benstedtia throughout her paper, 

 reaches the conclusion in the final paragraph that "Our plant, then, 



1 Geol. Mag., n.s., Dec. V, Vol. VIII, pp. 55-9, 1911. 



2 See his account, Geologist, vol. v, p. 336, 1862. 

 s Cat. Brit. Fossils, 1st ed., 1843, p. 7. 



4 Petrifactions and their Teachings, 1851, p. 49. 



5 Geologist, vol. v, pp. 401-4, pi. xxii, 1862. 



6 Geol. Mag., Vol. V, p. 154, footnote, 1868. 



7 Ibid. (3), Vol. in, p. 201, 1886. 



8 Annals of Botany, vol. x, p. 219, 1896. 



9 Bull. Soc. Sci., Nancy, (2), vol. xvi, p. 16, 1900. 

 10 Annals S. African Museum, vol. iv, p. 35, 1903. 



