E. A. N. Arher — Fossil Plants from India. 547 



however, it is in other respects nearly related. Feistmantel/ for 

 these, and for other reasons which M. Zeiller and Mr. Seward^ 

 have since shown to be untrustworthy, supported Koyle in assigning 

 the Indian plant to a separate genus, Trizygia. But M. Zeiller ^ has 

 further shown that the unequal size and arrangement of the leaves 

 in such specimens is not a constant feature of either generic or 

 specific value, and that it sometimes occurs among such European 

 species as S. ohlongi folium and ^S*. filiculme, from the Upper Coal- 

 measures and Permian. M. Zeiller therefore rejects the genus 

 Trizygia, a view which Mr. Seward ^ has supported in his textbook 

 on Fossil Plants. 



The occurrence of such a typical Coal-measure genus as Spheno- 

 phyllum, in association with members of the Glossopieris flora in the 

 Lower Gondwanas of India, is a point of special interest, as showing 

 that in India, as in similar beds in South Africa, and in South 

 America, there occur plants which are typical of the flora of Europe 

 and North America in Permo-Carboniferous times. 



Vertebraria indioa, Eoyle. [V. 4,189.] 



1839. Vertebraria indica, Eoyle: ibid., p. xxix*, pi. ii, figs. 1-3, 5-7- 

 1881. ,, ,, Feistmantel : ibid., pi. xii«, figs. 10, 11; pis. xiii «, 



xiv a, fig. 11 ; pL xiv a bis, fig. 3. 



Royle says "the shales of Eanigunj and Chinnakooree contain 

 abundant vegetable remains of the Ranigunj Eeed, Vertebraria 

 indica, and Vertebraria radiata." It is now known that both these 

 species represent different views of the rhizome of Glossopteris ; ^ 

 V. radiata, the transverse section, and V. indica, the surface view. 



Three specimens of each of these are figured by Eoyle. I have 

 only been able to identify one large specimen ^ figured as V. indica. 

 This is 5f inches long, and f inch across. It is composed of two 

 regular longitudinal rows of small square (f X f inch), or slightly 

 oblong (1 X s inch) areas. 



As seen in transverse section, judging by Eoyle's figures, the 

 structure of Vertebraria indica is very similar to that of Vertebraria 

 australis (McCoy). In surface view, however, there is less resem- 

 blance. The areas, which represent the broad outer edges of the 

 wedge-like segments composing the fossil, are in the Indian specimens 

 small, and fairly regular, in size. From other Indian specimens 

 figured by Feistmantel, this would seem to be a constant characteristic. 

 In Australian specimens' they appear to be often very irregular, 

 and to vary greatly in size. Oldham ^ has pointed out that the 

 Vertebraria described by Zeiller from South Africa also differs from 



1 Feistmantel: Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 1879, xii, p. 163. 



- Seward: Mem. and Proc. Lit. Phil. Soe. Manchester, 1889, vol. iii, p. 1. 



^ Zeiller: Bull. Soc. geol. France, 1890-91, ser. iii, vol. xix. 



* Seward: " Fossil Plants," vol. i ; Cambridge, 1898. 



* Zeiller: Bull. Soc. geol. France, 1896, ser. in, vol. xxiv, p. 349. 

 •■• PI. ii, fig. 1. 



' Feistmautel: Mem. Geol. Surv. N.S. Wales, Palscont., No. 3, 1890, pl. xiv, 

 tig. 6 ; pl. XV, figs. 1-3. 



8 Oldham : Bee. Geol. Surv. India, 1897, vol. xxx, pt. 1. 



