Berry — A Pseudocycas from British Columbia. 185 



in length by about 3 mm. in maximum width. There is 

 practically no diminution in the size of the frond in mate- 

 rial showing 13 cm. of rachis. The texture is coriaceous, 

 and each pinnule shows very clearly a well defined longi- 

 tudinal depression on its under side bounded on either 

 side by a thin ridge, dividing the pinnule into three longi- 

 tudinal areas of which the median is the widest as shown 

 in ^g. 2. This structure gives to impressions the appear- 

 ance of having an extremely stout midrib. 



The British Columbia material does not permit the out- 

 lines of the epidermal cells or the position of the stomata 

 to be determined, but in Pseudocycas insignis and other 

 species Halle"^ has corroborated the work of Nathorst* in 

 showing that the stomata are practically confined to this 

 central groove on the lower surface of the pinnule, and 

 that the epidermal cells have sinuous walls. 



A number of Mesozoic species of Cycadites have been 

 examined by these authors as well as by Holden,^ and in 

 all cases the epidermal walls have been shown to have 

 been sinuous and not like those of the modern Cycas. It 

 is, of course, possible that all of the known fossil species 

 from the Mesozoic that have been referred to Cycadites 

 may belong to Pseudocycas and represent William- 

 soniales or Cycadeoidales instead of Cycadales, but until 

 such time as all of the forms can be studied microscop- 

 ically, it seems advisable to retain the term Cycadites for 

 similar appearing forms of undetermined relationship. 

 In the case of Cycadites unjiga, the demonstrated median 

 groove and double midrib renders its transfer to Pseudo- 

 cycas eminently desirable. 



No less than six other species have now been trans- 

 ferred to this genus. Two of these are Wealden forms 

 aiid the other four come from Greenland beds that have 

 generally been correlated with the Cenomanian stage of 

 the Upper Cretaceous. One of the latter has been tenta- 

 tively identified by Krystofovich^ from Sakhalin Island. 

 The horizon from which Pseudocycas unjiga was col- 

 lected is interesting since it is within the Colorado Group 



' Halle, T. G., Geol. Foren. Forhandl., 37, pp. 493-520, pi. 12, 13, 1915. 

 ^ Nathorst, A. G., Kgl. Sv. Veten.-Akad. Handl., 42, No. 5, pp. 1-11, pis. 1, 

 2; pi. 3, fig. 1, 1907. 



^ Holden, R., New Phyt., vol. 13, pp. 334-340, tf . 1, pi. 3, 1914. 



« Krystofovich, A., Jour. Coll. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, vol. 40, art. 8, p. 37, 1918. 



