556 PTERIDOSPERMS, ETC. [CH. 



ferns. Grand'Eury'si supposed fertile pinnules of Odontopteris 

 do not afford any satisfactory evidence of the sporangial nature 

 of the small swellings which he figures at the ends of the veins. 

 This author pointed out several years ago that the petioles of 

 some species of Odontopteris possess the anatomical features of 

 Myeloxylon, a type of leaf-stalk which is now known to belong 

 to Pteridosperms. In a recent paper Grand'Eury'' records the 

 association of Odontopteris fronds with small seeds (Odontoptero- 

 carpus), a discovery which leaves little or no doubt as to the 

 Pteridospermic nature of the genus. The fronds of Odontopteris 

 are very similar in habit to those of Neuropteris, another 

 Pteridospermic genus. 



The similarity between some Odontopteris and Thinvfeldia 

 leaves, to which attention has already been called, is well illus- 

 trated by 0. genuina Grand'Eury', a pinnule of which is repre- 

 sented in fig. 366, A. Odontopteris is a fairly widespread genus 

 in Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian rocks, and is recorded 

 also from Triassic strata : it is represented in the Coal-fields of 

 North America and in several parts of Europe*. 



In some fronds included in Odontopteris the pinnae are 

 characterised by a broad irregularly lobed lamina which also 

 forms a winged border to the rachis. Examples of this form are 

 afforded by Odontopteris Browni Sew." from the Burghersdorp 

 Series (Triassic ?) of Cape Colony, and 0. Fischeri described by 

 Brongniart" from the Permian of Russia. The Russian species 

 would perhaps be more appropriately placed in the genus 

 Callipteris, as Weiss' suggests ; the absence of venation in 

 0. Browni renders generic identification unsatisfactory. 



' Grand'Eury (77) A. PI. xiii. 2 Grand'Eury (08). 



' Renault and Zeiller (88) A. PI. xxiv. 



* Weiss, C. B. ((59); Goeppert (64) A.; Potonie (93) A, (04); Lesquereux 

 (80) A., p. 124; White (99) p. 125. 

 6 Seward (08) p. 97, PI. viii. 



^ Brongniart, in Murchison, Verneuil, and Keyserling (45) PI. A. 

 ' Weiss, C. E. (70) p. 871. 



