SPHENOPHYLLEAE in 



of Sphenophyllum. In particular, the structure of the 

 complex sporangiophores, each bearing two sporangia, 

 showed that these organs cannot be regarded as mere 

 sporangial stalks, but that they are rather comparable 

 to the peltate scales of the Equisetales. At the same 

 time, their structure and position go far to confirm 

 Zeiller's opinion that the sporangiophores of Spheno- 

 phylleae may be interpreted as ventral lobes of the 

 leaf, the bract itself representing the dorsal lobe. On 

 all these points much further light has been thrown by 

 the still more recent discovery of other new types of 

 fructification, now to be described. 



A recently discovered fructification {Sphenophyllum 

 fertile, Scott *) from the Lower Coal-measures of Shore 

 Littleborough, in Lancashire, resembles Bowmanites 

 Romeri in having peltate, bisporangiate sporangiophores, 

 but is peculiar in the fact that both the dorsal and 

 ventral lobes of the sporophyll are fertile ; the sterile 

 bracts, which in other Sphenophyllaceous strobili re- 

 present the dorsal lobes, are here replaced by addi- 

 tional sporangiophores. The sporophyll is also more 

 complex than in other species, its lobes, both dorsal 

 and ventral, dividing in a palmate manner into several 

 branches, each of which constitutes a sporangiophore 

 (Fig. 47). The anatomy of the axis of the cone is in 

 all respects that of a typical Sphenophyllum, so that in 

 this case there can be no doubt as to the attribution 

 of the fructification. 



It is only in a few cases, of which the three types 

 already described are the chief, that the preservation of 



1 Scott, " On a New X v P e °f Sphenophyllaceous Cone ( S. fertile) from 

 the Lower Coal-measures," Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B, vol. 198, 1905. 



