FERNS— FRUCTIFICATIONS 



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and with the central receptacle ; higher up they 

 become free, and dehiscence appears to have taken 

 place on the inner side, where the sporangial wall was 

 thinnest. Strasburger's remarks on the affinities of 



Fig. no. — Scolecopteris polymorpha. A. Lower surface of a fertile pinnule, showing 

 numerous quadrisporangiate synangia (sj>). Note the cruciform receptacle at the 

 centre of some of the synangia. X about 8. B. Transverse section of half a 

 pinnule, passing through a synangium. £■, vascular bundle of pinnule ; f, infolded 

 margin of pinnule ; a, wall of sporangium ; c, receptacle, fused to the sporangia. 

 X about 18. After Renault. 



this fossil may be quoted, for they apply to the genus 

 as a whole, and express the view still generally held. 

 " Zenker's Scolecopteris elegans, according to the forma- 

 tion of its sorus, certainly belongs to the Marattiaceae, 

 and, in fact, comes nearest the genus Marattia in the 



