A HOMOSPOROUS AMERICAN LEPIDOSTROBUS brs 
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE HULL BOTANICAL LABORATORY 283 
JOouN, M; (COULTER AND: W: jf. G. Lanp 
Strobili of Lepidodendron so perfectly preserved that they can 
be sectioned and their minutest structures studied are common in 
European coalfields. Many of these strobili show heterospory, 
the megasporangia being at the base of the strobilus, the micro- 
sporangia above. The extensive literature of the subject is fully 
cited by Scott’ and SEWARD,’ and need not be repeated here. 
The extensive American coalfields, with but two exceptions, have 
yielded nothing but casts as yet. Perhaps the reason for this 
seeming scarcity of petrified material is that it has not been looked 
for carefully by competent observers. 
In 1911 there came to this laboratory from Professor JOHN L. 
TittoNn, of Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, a well preserved 
fragment of a strobilus from the coalfields of Warren County, 
Iowa. This fragment, from above the middle of the strobilus, 
showed small spores, but of course nothing concerning heterospory 
could be determined. This specimen, the first American Lepi- 
dostrobus to be sectioned, was fully described by CouLTER and 
LanD.’ TILTON reexamined very carefully the place where the 
first fragment was found, and discovered several fragments of 
cones in a very good state of preservation, and evidently the same 
species as the first fragment. These he kindly sent to this labora- 
tory. A few fairly well preserved stems of Lepidodendron also 
have been received from the coalfields of western Indiana. No 
cones were found, but it is evident that these fields will repay 
intelligent search. 
Among the later fragments obtained from Titron were four 
pieces which matched perfectly, showing clearly that they were 
t Scott, D. H., Studies in fossil botany. London. 1909. 
2 Sewarp, A. C., Fossil plants. Cambridge. rgro. 
3 CouLTeR, J. M., and Lanp, W. J. G., An American Lepidostrobus. Bot. GAz. 
51:440-453- figs. 23. I9II. 
Botanical Gazette, vol. 72] {106 
