part 3] fossil plants from the Falkland islands. 321 



has recorded similar specimens as Equisetaceous stems from strata 

 in China considered by him to be of llhsetic age. A type of Equi- 

 setaceous stem having a smooth bark practically identical with 

 that shown in our fig. 10 (PI. XX) is figured by Zalessky ] from 

 Permian rocks of the Petchora district. 



Glossopteris. Qlossopteris indica Schimper. 



Glossopteris leaves are among the most abundant and widely- 

 distributed of all fossil plants, but our knowledge of the mor- 

 phology and affinities of the genus is very incomplete. It is 

 probably not a true fern. In several localities, though not as yet 

 in the Falkland Islands, Glossopteris leaves have been found in 

 association with seeds, and this is almost certainly not merely 

 accidental. In a paper communicated to this Society Dr. A. B. 

 Walkom 2 made out a good case for connecting Glossopteris leaves 

 with certain seeds which he named Nummulospermum, although 

 proof of actual union is lacking. For several years palseobotanists 

 have favoured the inclusion of the genus in the extinct group, 

 the Pteridospermse, which pla} r ed a prominent part in Palaeozoic 

 vegetation, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. 



A thorough ly satisfactory determination and specific separation 

 of the numerous and, nearly always, incomplete leaves obtained 

 from the different Permo-Carboniferous localities in the Falkland 

 Islands is, we feel, a hopeless task. Most of the Falkland speci- 

 mens, as Halle also found, belong to Glossopteris indica Schimper. 

 A fairly large number agree more closely with the nearly allied 

 type G. Brown iana Brongniart. These two species cannot always 

 be distinguished with confidence, and, until we know more about 

 the range of variation on the same plant in the form and size of 

 the leaves, in the pattern formed by the anastomosing lateral veins, 

 and in the degree of differentiation of the median vascular strands 

 into a well-defined midrib, our determinations must be, to some 

 extent at least, provisional. 



A full account of Glossop>teris indica and G. Broivniana is 

 given by Dr. Halle, who records also G. august if olia Brongniart 

 and G. damudica Feistmantel. 



Fig. 9 (PI. XX) shows a typical leaf of Glossopteris indica, 

 do cm. long, with a maximum breadth of 2 - l cm. The midrib is 

 well marked, and the lamina tapers gradually towards the proximal 

 end : the apex is not preserved. The meshes formed by the approxi- 

 mately parallel lateral veins are long and narrow, characters clearly 

 represented in Zeiller's drawings of the type-specimen. 8 In the 

 piece of leaf reproduced in fig. 5 (PI. XIX) the midrib is an obvious 

 feature, and the specimen shows an obtuse apex. An imperfect 

 impression in Dr. Baker's collection illustrates the individuality of 



1 Zalessky (13) pi. iii, fig-. 2. 

 - Walkom (21). 

 :t Zciller (96). 



