﻿G. 
  R. 
  Wieland 
  on 
  the 
  Cycadophyta. 
  393 
  

  

  produced 
  on 
  foliar 
  organs. 
  In 
  the 
  fossil, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  it 
  

   is 
  borne 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  axis. 
  In 
  this 
  respect, 
  however, 
  it 
  

   agrees 
  with 
  Taxus, 
  except 
  that 
  it 
  possesses 
  innumerable 
  seeds; 
  

   it 
  must 
  be 
  considered 
  to 
  hold 
  the 
  same 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  

   Cycadece 
  that 
  Taxus, 
  with 
  its 
  succulent, 
  cup-shaped 
  pericarp, 
  

   does 
  to 
  the 
  cone-bearing 
  Coniferm." 
  

  

  So 
  rested 
  the 
  central 
  problem 
  in 
  the 
  classification 
  for 
  

   the 
  next 
  twenty 
  years. 
  Saporta 
  (1875) 
  had 
  made 
  as 
  little 
  

   direct 
  progress 
  with 
  the 
  material 
  he 
  held 
  in 
  hand 
  as 
  had 
  

   Goeppert 
  (1853), 
  but 
  was 
  led 
  to 
  certain 
  interesting 
  sug- 
  

   gestions 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  forerunners 
  of 
  the 
  angiosperms. 
  So, 
  

   too, 
  Nathorst's 
  earlier 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  Rhsetic 
  forms 
  but 
  

   vaguely 
  foreshadowed 
  the 
  brilliant 
  results 
  that 
  later 
  fol- 
  

   lowed. 
  Solms, 
  however, 
  after 
  restudying 
  the 
  cone 
  of 
  

   "Bennettites 
  gibsonianus" 
  came 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  direct 
  con- 
  

   clusion 
  (1887) 
  : 
  

  

  "It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  the 
  seed-stalks 
  may 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  carpo- 
  

   phylls 
  of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  kind 
  ; 
  in 
  that 
  case 
  we 
  should 
  be 
  obliged 
  to 
  

   separate 
  the 
  Bennettiteag 
  altogether 
  from 
  the 
  Cycadeae, 
  and 
  to 
  

   regard 
  them 
  as 
  an 
  intermediate 
  group 
  between 
  Gymnosperms 
  

   and 
  Angiosperms. 
  AVe 
  should 
  then 
  have 
  a 
  typical 
  case 
  of 
  that 
  

   which 
  Saporta 
  and 
  Marion 
  call 
  proangiospernry, 
  though 
  we 
  could 
  

   not 
  perhaps 
  assume 
  a 
  direct 
  derivation 
  of 
  Angiosperms 
  from 
  this 
  

   plant, 
  and 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  development 
  

   which 
  never 
  reached 
  our 
  era. 
  ' 
  ' 
  

  

  Then 
  Potonie 
  in 
  Engler 
  and 
  Prantl's 
  Natiirlichen 
  

   Pflanzenfamilien 
  (1897) 
  separated 
  all 
  the 
  fossil 
  trunks 
  

   from 
  the 
  cycads 
  as 
  the 
  Bennettitales. 
  This 
  separation, 
  

   be 
  it 
  noted, 
  was 
  not 
  based 
  on 
  renewed 
  study, 
  or 
  new 
  mate- 
  

   rials. 
  It 
  was, 
  however, 
  at 
  once 
  adopted 
  by 
  Ward 
  (1899), 
  

   though 
  he 
  had 
  at 
  first 
  included 
  the 
  petrified 
  trunks 
  in 
  the 
  

   Cycadacese, 
  as 
  had 
  been 
  done 
  in 
  practice 
  for 
  fifty 
  years. 
  

   But 
  Ward 
  (as 
  he 
  remarked 
  to 
  me) 
  was 
  much 
  impressed 
  

   with 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  foliage, 
  the 
  flowers, 
  and 
  so 
  much 
  of 
  

   the 
  structure 
  remained 
  unknown 
  ; 
  while 
  Zeiller 
  and 
  Scott 
  

   (1900) 
  adhered 
  to 
  the 
  earlier 
  Cycadean 
  grouping. 
  In 
  

   this 
  I 
  followed 
  a 
  year 
  later. 
  The 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  

   Cycad-like 
  foliage 
  of 
  C. 
  ingens 
  (1899) 
  had 
  completed 
  the 
  

   vegetative 
  parallel; 
  and 
  (1901) 
  it 
  was 
  urged 
  that 
  the 
  

   staminate 
  frond, 
  despite 
  campanulate 
  emplacement, 
  

   afforded 
  an 
  analogue 
  to 
  the 
  carpellary 
  leaf 
  of 
  Cycas. 
  

   These 
  features 
  were 
  also 
  held 
  significant 
  by 
  Zeiller. 
  

   Their 
  discovery 
  was 
  in 
  fact 
  easily 
  the 
  most 
  signal 
  since 
  

   Carruthers 
  sectioned 
  Cycadeoidea 
  gibsoniana; 
  though 
  

  

  