A Tree-fern from the Greensand. 487 
an extreme heat without moisture as in several tropical regions, and 
other causes, may produce a season of rest in plants like that result- 
ing from winter in our temperate region. The small size of the 
frond, indicated by the smallness of the scar, would favour the 
opinion that Caulopteris punctata inhabited a temperate region. 
Corda describes four species of the genus Caulopteris ( Protopteris, 
Corda), viz.: C. punctata, C. Singeri, C. Cottei, and C. microrrhiza. 
It is possible that these are all the same species, the differences 
considered as of specific value by the author depending on the por- 
tion of the stem to which the specimens described belong. The fern- 
stem is the type of the acrogenous method of growth. This is too 
often held as meaning that the older part of the stem undergoes no 
change, the life and change being confined to the growing point. 
But this is not the case, for as long as the fern lives the older por- 
tion of the stem continues to elongate, and the leaf scars to separate 
more and more from each other, so that the base and the apex of 
the same stem present very different appearances. The closely 
packed scars of C. punctata indicate that the specimens on which this 
species is founded belong to the upper portion of the stem. C. Sin- 
geri and C. Cotée@i have the same stigma on the scar as C. punctata, 
but differ from that species and from each other in the distribution 
of the scars on the stem: they may be founded on specimens from 
near the base. ‘The scars of C. microrrhiza are unknown, being 
hidden by the mass of small roots which envelope the stem at its base. 
I have adopted Goeppert’s name, Caulopteris, because it was esta- 
blished prior to Protopteris of Presl. Independently of this, it is the 
best designation—the one that would be adopted if fitness were the 
criterion, as it indicates all that it is safe to affirm regarding the 
fossil, while Protopteris, as applied to this Greensand fern, is evi- 
dently erroneous. J add the synonymy with references to the works 
where they were established. 
Lepidodendron punctatum, Sternberg, Flora der Vorwelt, Fase. I., pp. 19 and 23. 
Tab. VI. and VIII., fig. A.; Fase. IV., p. xii. 
Filicites punctatus, Martius, De Plantis Antediluvianis, in Denkschr. Regensb. 
Gesellsch. Vol. Il., p. 130. 
Sigillaria punctata, Broneniart, Hist. Veg. Foss., Vol. I., p. 421. t. 141, fig. 1 (a 
copy of Sternberg’s fioure), 
Caulopteris punctata, “Goeppert, Foss. Farrnkrauter, p. 449. 
Protopteris punctata, Presl in Sternberg’s Flora der Vorwelt, Vol. II., p. 170. 
t. 65. fig. 1, 2, 3. 
Protopteris Sternbergi, Corda, Beitrage Flora der Vorwelt, p. 77, t. 48, fig. 1. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII. 
A.—Portion of the stem of Caulopteris punctata, Goepp., reduced one-half. 
From the Greensand of Shaftesbury, Dorsetshire. B.—A single scar of 
same, natural size. C.—A portion of the stem of Dicksonia antarctica, 
Labill., from New Zealand. 
Notr.—The name of Caulopteris Dicksonioides must be considered as with- 
drawn, having been printed on the plate before the age of the Kaunitz 
deposit had been ascertained. The description in the ‘ Ziva’ being written 
in Bohemian, I am indebted to Thomas Watts, Esq., and Russell Martineau, 
Esq. of the British Museum Library, for a translation of M. J. Krejéi’s 
descriptions. 
