52 



PENNSYLVANIAN SPORES OF ILLINOIS 



may be above the Shoal Creek coal bed of 

 western Illinois which also contains this 

 species. 



Discussion. — This species is character- 

 ized by a distinct trilete mark, two bladders, 

 and the lack of a clearly defined cap and 

 furrow. This species is similar to Para- 

 sporites maccabei Schopf, 1938, even to 

 the shortening of one ray, but it is about 

 one-fourth the size and shaped differently. 



Illinites elegans sp. nov. 

 Plate 1, figures 1-2 



Description. — The grains have an ellip- 

 soid shaped body in transverse section, and 

 two large bladders placed opposite each 

 other. The grains are compressed in ex- 

 cellent proximal-distal orientation which 

 results in a certain amount of folding and 

 overlapping of the bladders. The bladders 

 nearly surround the body and are somewhat 

 wider than the body, which may be due to 

 compression. The holotype measures 51.4 

 X 63 microns in the overall dimensions and 

 the body measures 29.4 X 46.2 microns. 

 The bladders overlap the body except for 

 6 to 7 microns in the center of the proximal- 

 distal surfaces. The known size range in 

 the largest diameter is from 56 to 67 mi- 

 crons. The body is levigate, externally 

 the bladders are levigate, and the internal 

 bladder ornamentation is coarsely punctate 

 to finely reticulate. The trilete mark is 

 distinct and presumed to be functional. The 

 rays average 12 microns in length. The 

 coat is at least 2 microns thick and the 

 bladders are 1.5 to more than 2 microns 

 thick. 



Holotype.— Maceration 490-A Slide 5, 

 McCleary's Bluff coal bed (3 J/4 inches), 

 Wabash County, Illinois. 



Discussion. — This species shares the dis- 

 tinctive trilete mark with the previous 

 species in addition to the wings; however, 

 the bladders overlap the body to a greater 

 extent. The bladders are larger and the 

 body is shaped differently. 



GENUS Schopfites gen. nov. 

 Plate 13, figures 1-4 

 The generic name Schopfites is proposed 



for spores of the following character: 

 Spores are radial, trilete, originally spheri- 

 cal, and flattened owing to compression in 

 poor proximal-distal orientation. Schop- 

 fites ranges in diameter from 78 to 115 mi- 

 crons. The proximal surface is distinctly 

 levigate for approximately four-fifths of 

 the area. In some specimens the entire 

 proximal surface is levigate. The distal 

 surface of the spore is ornamented by a 

 mass of closely spaced, imbricating, blunt to 

 round projections. The projections range 

 in length from 2 to 12 microns. The spore 

 coat is up to 3 microns thick on the proxi- 

 mal side, and thickens to 4 microns at the 

 juncture of the two types of ornamentation. 

 It is rather difficult to measure accurately 

 the distal thickness of the spore coat be- 

 cause of the ornamentation. Folding of the 

 spore coat is rare except on the thinner 

 proximal surface. The trilete mark is 

 plainly visible and in one species it is fre- 

 quently broken open. The lips and com- 

 missure may be developed or rather thin. 



The origin of the distal portion of the 

 spore coat can hardly be haptotypic in view 

 of the definition of this term by Wode- 

 house (1935). It is possible that the levi- 

 gate portion of the spore coat might be 

 due to the contact with its other members 

 of the tetrad, and thus haptotypic in origin. 



Schopfites is commonly found in the No. 

 2 coal bed in Illinois, and is characteristical- 

 ly restricted to the lower portion of the bed. 

 A similar distribution has been noted from 

 one maceration from Ohio. The spores 

 from the Ohio coal beds are not well 

 enough known to make a long range corre- 

 lation on the basis of one maceration. 



The following two species are from Illi- 

 nois coal beds and the first serves as the 

 genotype : 



1. S. dimorphus sp. nov. 



2. S. colchesterensis sp. nov. 



Schopfites dimorphus sp. nov. 



Plate 13, figures 1-3 



Description. — Spores are radial, trilete, 

 spherical, and somewhat flattened in poor 

 proximal-distal orientation. The spores 



