part 3 J ON jrEASsic plants teom ceylon. 273^ 



FILICALES(?) or CYCADOPHYTA. 



TiENioPTERis SPATULATA McClelland. (PI. XII, figs. l-4ib, 5y 

 6a & 6b, 7,8a So 8h, 9,10a, & 10 h.) 



Although it has been customary to regard Tceniopteris as a 

 genus of ferns, the evidence brought forward by Mr. Hamshaw 

 Thomas, 1 in support of his contention that the European Jurassic 

 species Tceniojjteris vittata is a Cycadean frond, leads one to 

 suspect that some other sterile T<jenio])ieri8 leaves may also be 

 Cycadean. The species T. sjyatulata was founded by McClelland ^ 

 on leaves which he spoke of as abundant in the Jurassic plant-beds- 

 of the Kajmahal Hills in Bengal. He described them as ' linear, 

 2-3 ins. long, narrow at the base, becoming broader towards the 

 apex, or sub-spatulate.' McClelland's figure of the type-specimen, 

 as Zeiller ^ says, does not suggest accu.racy in details. There is, 

 however, no doubt of the identity of McClelland's leaf with those 

 subsequently figured by Oldham ^ from the same locality as 

 Stangerites spatulata and by Feistmantel ^ from the Grodaveri 

 district and the Madras coast as Angiopteridium spathulatum. 



T(sniopteris leaves are the most abundant fossils in the Tabbowa 

 Beds. The leaves are simple, entire, linear, 2 '5 to at least 5 cm. 

 long, 0*25 to 1'5 cm. broad. Some of the fragments are probably 

 from leaves longer than that shown in PI. XII, fig. 1. The apex 

 is acuminate or bluntly rounded, the lamina tapers very gradually 

 towards the base, a strong midrib gives off lateral veins, almost at 

 right angles, which are dichotomously branched, usually once close 

 to the midrib or occasionally near the margin. There are 25 to 40 

 veins per centimetre of lamina (figs. 4 J, Qh, Si, & 10&). The 

 lamina of the fragment seen in fig. 5 appears to be lobed, but this 

 may be accidental. The curved form shown in fig. 9 is j)robably 

 an abnormality, and may be the result of injury. 



In 1860 M'Coy ^ named some leaves from Yictoria Tceniopteris 

 Daintreei, which (it is generally acknowledged) are identical with 

 T. spatulata-, but M'Coy's designation was afterwards employed by 

 W. Carruthers for a larger and almost certainly a distinct species 

 from Queensland. One of us, in an account of a collection of 

 Jurassic plants from Yictoria,''' used M'Coy's specific name, in 

 place of the older designation of McClelland, without any adequate 

 reason, for specimens which are indubitably identical with the 

 Ceylon leaves. Dr. Walkom^ has more recently figured T. spatulata 



1 Thomas (15) p. 127. 



2 McClelland (50) pi. xvi, fig. 1. 



3 Zeiller (03) p. 76. 



4 Oldham & Morris (63) pi. vi, figs. 1-7. 



5 Feistmantel (77^) pi. i, figs. 6 b & 7 b ; (79) pi. i, figs. 8-13 & pi. ii, figs. 3, 

 5-6. 



6 M'Coy (60) Proc. p. x. 



'' Seward (04) p. 168. In this paper a synonymy is given. 



8 Walkom (17) p. 30 & pi. v, fig. 2 h. See also Dun (98) p. 390. 



