﻿1861.] 



BTJNBUEY FOSSIL PLANTS, NAGPUR. 



335 



look to me rather like a Cycad than a Fern. All these reasons, how- 

 ever, are far from conclusive ; and I must admit that, to me, it still 

 remains a matter of much doubt to which of the two families this 

 plant should be referred. If a Fern, it must from its technical charac- 

 ters be placed in Cyclopteris, although it evidently has no natural 

 affinity to any of the plants comprehended under that name. It 

 might be named Cyclopteris Hislopii. 



The dichotomy of the veins, their equality and uniformity, and the 

 absence of any trace of transverse connecting veins, plainly show 

 that it is not a Palm. 



A small leaf or leaflet in sandstone from Kampti agrees with this 

 in venation, and evidently belongs to an allied species, perhaps not 

 to the same ; for the outline is different, being in the Kampti plant 

 lanceolate and nearly symmetrical, instead of cuneiform and oblique. 

 This specimen is better preserved than those from BharatwaeM, and 

 shows the form of its base, though not its actual connexion with the 

 stalk or stem ; there is an appearance of thickening at the base, as 

 is seen in several of the Gycadeoi, and some indication of its having 

 been connected with the stalk by an articulation. The leaf appears 

 to have been of a thick and leathery texture ; the veins are rather 

 indistinct • the surface appears minutely granulated, but I am not 

 quite certain whether this is really owing to the texture of the leaf 

 itself. This specimen may probably belong to a distinct species ; 

 but our materials being so very imperfect, I do not think fit to give 

 it a separate name. 



A specimen, apparently belonging to this plant, from Tondakheiri, 

 has been labelled " Cyclopteris with fructification." It is not in a 

 good state of preservation ; the apex appears wrinkled or thickened ; 

 the veins (or the spaces between the veins) swollen and distorted, 

 and as it were knotty or granulated at their extremities. This ap- 

 pearance has been taken for fructification ; and if it were so, there 

 coidd be no doubt of the plant being a Fern. But I confess that, on 

 a close and careful examination, I can see nothing sufficiently distinct 

 and definite to satisfy me that this peculiar appearance can be re- 

 ferred to fructification. The specimen unfortunately is ill-pre- 

 served ; it exhibits merely an impression — and not a sharp or clear 

 one — of the original in a sandstone not of very fine grain ; and I 

 think it possible that the swollen and wrinkled appearance at the 

 apex of the leaf may be produced accidentally by something in the 

 nature of the stone or the process of fossilization. The evidence of 

 its being the fructification of a Fern is not at present sufficiently clear 

 to me to overcome the reasons which induce me rather to refer the 

 plant to Cycadeai, or a neighbouring family. 



Plants of doubtful Affinity. 



11. Phtllotheca Lctdica, C. B. PL X. figs. 6-9 ; and PI. XI. 

 figs. 1 & 2. 



Specimens are numerous in the fine-grained sandstone from 

 BharatwacZa ; all very fragmentary, but some of the fragments deli- 



VOL. XVII. PART I. 2 A 



