AEOIBES. 1 sa- 



lt is highly probable that the suddenness with which the 

 Dicotyledous took their place in the vegetation of the world is^ 

 exaggerated by the scantiness of our fossil records. "We should 

 expect to obtain evidence pointing to the gradual increase in the 

 number of Angiosperms as we investigate the plant-bearing strata 

 below those in which these plants are richly represented. There 

 is, in short, no a priori improbability that Dicotyledons existed 

 ages before they attained to a position of overwhelming importance, 

 and indeed it is highly probable that this was the case. 



I have recently ventured to call the attention of botanists to the 

 importance of undertaking a thoroughly critical revision of the 

 records of fossil Angiosperms.^ Species quoted by writers as 

 evidence bearing on questions connected with the phylogeny of 

 floweriug plants have in many cases been determined by authors 

 whose lack of botanical knowledge renders their records of doubtful 

 value, if not positively misleading and pernicious. The custom of 

 describing some of the oldest known Angiosperms as Proangio- 

 sperms and generalised types is likely to mislead those who are not 

 familiar with the fragmentary and doubtful nature of the records. 

 We require an organised exploration of the later plant-bearing beds 

 and of the wealth of material already collected, which should be 

 taken in hand by experienced palaeobotanists in conjunction with 

 botanists who possess wide and accurate knowledge of recent 

 Angiosperms. 



SUPPOSED MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANT. 

 Aroides Stutterdi, Carruthers. 



[Geol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 146, pi. viii. fig. 2, 1867.] 



1867. Aroides StiMerdi, Carruthers, Geol. Mag. vol. iv. pi. viii. fig. 2. 



1871. A. Stutterdi, Phillips, Geol. Oxford, p. 168, Diag. xxxii. figs. 12-13. 



1873. A. Stutterdi, Zigno, Flor. foas. Oolit. vol. ii. p. 2. 



A. Stutterdi, Sharp, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soo. vol. xxix. p. 295. 



1875. A. Stutterdi, Judd, Geol. Eutland, p. 165. 



1886. A. Stutterdi, Gardner, Geol. Mag. vol. iii. p. 200. 



1894. A. Stutterdi, Woodward, Lower Ool. p. 195. 



1896. A. Stutterdi, Seward, Annals Bot. vol. x. p. 212. 



' New Phytologist, Decemher, 1903. 



