428 STUDIES IN FOSSIL BOTANY 



are known. The nature of the proof will be given 

 later, after describing the anatomy of the stem, but 

 while considering this, it is necessary to bear in mind 

 that we are dealing with plants which possessed a 

 highly compound Fern-like foliage, and which, in some 

 forms, at any rate, must have had a habit not unlike 

 that of some of the existing Tree-ferns. We will first 

 describe the anatomy of various representatives of the 

 family, beginning with the type genus Medullosa, and 

 will then go on to the evidence which we now possess 

 as to the reproductive organs, especially the seeds. 



Anatomy — Medullosa. — The anatomical description 

 will be based, in the first instance, on a British species, 

 which is of greater geological antiquity than most other 

 known members of the genus, and is likewise simpler 

 in structure. As this form is now known with a 

 considerable degree of completeness, it will best serve 

 to give an idea of the essential anatomical characters 

 of the group. 



Medullosa anglica is derived from the Lower Coal- 

 measures of Lancashire, at the same horizon to which 

 most of our British Coal-plants, with structure preserved, 

 belong. The original specimens were found in nodules 

 from the coal-seam at the Hough Hill Colliery, Staly- 

 bridge, at dates ranging from 1892 to 1898, by the late 

 Mr. G. Wild and Mr. Lomax. 1 It is a curious fact that 

 these specimens were the first stems of a Medullosa to 

 be found in this country, though the petioles of plants 

 belonging to this genus had long been familiar among 



1 For a fuller description, see my paper, "Structure and Affinities of 

 Fossil Plants from the Palaeozoic Rocks, iii. Medullosa_ anglica, a New 

 Representative of the Cycadofilices, " Phil. Trans, vol. 191, B, 1899. 



