GENUS GRANULATI-SPORITES 



19 



mens. They average 20 to 21 microns in 

 length without a pronounced commissure 

 or lips. The spore coat is 2 to 3 microns 

 thick. 



Holotype. — Maceration 694 Slide 5, 

 Shelbyville coal bed, Shelby County, Illi- 

 nois. 



Discussion. — This species is characterized 

 by a vague trilete mark and does not appear 

 to be closely related to any existing species 

 of the genus. 



PUNCTATI-SPORITES VERMICULATUS Sp. 



nov. 



Plate 2, figure 4 



Description. — Spores are radial, trilete, 

 nearly spherical in outline, and folding of 

 spore coat is rare. The holotype measures 

 67 X 63 microns; the known size range is 

 from 57 to 73 microns. The spore coat 

 is vermiculate (spore coat inlaid somewhat 

 like worm tracks) to reticulate. The 

 vermiculate indentation extends from 2.5 

 microns to 3.2 microns into the spore coat. 

 The trilete rays are usually not sharply de- 

 fined due to the ornamentation. They are 

 always present however, and rather long. 

 The rays of the holotype measure from 24 

 to 28 microns in length. The commissure 

 and lips are poorly developed. The spore 

 coat including the ornamentation measures 

 5.5 to 6.5 microns. 



Holotype. — Maceration 600 Slide 2, La- 

 Salle coal bed, Bureau County, Illinois. 



Discussion. — The term vermiculate most 

 accurately describes the ornamentation of 

 the spore coat. Perhaps this term should 

 be used in connection with P. grandiver- 

 rucosus Kosanke, 1943. 



GENUS Granulati-sporites (Ibrahim, 

 1933) emend., S. W. and B., 1944 



Plate 3, figures 1-11 



Schopf, Wilson, and Bentall recognized 

 15 species from pre-existing literature from 

 which they gave their generic definition 

 (1944, p. 32). Their conclusions are 

 supported by the present investigation, and 

 the following 11 new species add to our 



knowledge concerning the variation within 

 the genus. 



The 1 1 new species are : 



1. G. commissuralis 



2. G. concavus 



3. G. adnatus 



4. G. convexus 



5. G. grandis 



6. G. levis 



7. G. pallidus 



8. G. granulans 



9. G. aculeolatus 



10. G. spinosus 



11. G. pellucidus 



The following is a description of the 

 genus: Spores are radial and trilete, sub- 

 triangular to triangular in transverse plane. 

 The margin between the radii is either con- 

 cave or convex, and the corners opposite 

 the radii are generally rounded, but in some 

 species they are bluntly pointed. Folding of 

 the spore coat is frequently limited to the 

 corners. The known size range is from 

 25 to 75 microns in the mean diameter. 

 This extends the previously known size 

 range by 30 microns. The ornamentation 

 of the coat may be levigate, granulose, 

 punctate, verrucose, spinose, setaceous or 

 reticulate. The trilete rays are always 

 long, usually two-thirds the distance to the 

 spore wall, and in rare cases they extend to 

 the spore wall. The commissure frequently 

 is distinct, whereas the lips are usually not 

 so distinct. The contact area, area con- 

 tagionis, is known only in G. adnatus sp. 

 nov. The spore coat is generally less than 

 2 microns thick but in G. grandis sp. nov. 

 it is 4 to 4.5 microns thick. The only 

 suggested affinity of the spores of this genus 

 is with the Filicales. 



In general, species of this genus are likely 

 to be found in any portion of a coal bed. 

 In a few exceptional instances certain species 

 appear to be restricted to the lower portion 

 of a particular coal bed. The genus is most 

 abundant in Caseyville and lower Trade- 

 water strata, reaching an abundance climax 

 in the Babylon coal bed of Western Illinois. 

 Throughout the remainder of Pennsyl- 

 vanian beds in Illinois Granulati-sporites 

 is present but never abundant. 



