McLEANSBORO GROUP 



81 



21. L. granulata sp. nov. 



22. L. punctata sp. nov. 



23. Raistrickia crinita sp. nov. 



24. /?. pilosa sp. nov.* 



25. "Sphcrites" sp. 



26. Gen. nov. (see 5-A coal bed)* 



The dominant genus is Lycospora, and 

 L. parva sp. nov. is the most abundant 

 species. This species usually represents 

 about 40 percent of the total spore content. 

 L. granulata sp. nov. and L. punctata sp. 

 nov. are somewhat variable in abundance 

 but always represent five to 10 percent of 

 the total spore population each. Thus 

 Lycospora represents 50 to 60 percent of 

 the total spore population. The two coal 

 bed cores, macerations 536-D and 537-E, 

 were divided equally into four samples 

 each. Separate macerations of each of the 

 samples revealed that Lycospora is domi- 

 nant throughout the entire bed. Laevigato- 

 sporites represents 28 to 33 percent of the 

 total spore population, and when consider- 

 ing the bed as a whole L. pseudothiessenii 

 sp. nov. is the most abundant species for 

 it represents 16 percent of the total spore 

 population. However, this abundance is 

 restricted to the upper half of the bed in 

 macerations 536-D and 537-E. The upper 

 half of the bed contains 26 to 27 percent of 

 L. pseudothiessenii sp. nov. but the bottom 

 half contains only five to seven percent of 

 the total spore population and L. desmoi- 

 nensis (Wilson and Coe) S. W. and B., 

 1944, L. minutus (Ibrahim) S. W. and B., 

 1944, and L. punctatus sp. nov. become 

 important numerically. In a diamond-drill 

 core from Franklin County, maceration 

 553-D, the Cutler coal bed is only one 

 foot thick. It contained 28 percent L. 

 pseudothiessenii sp. nov. and this suggests 

 the possibility that only the upper half of 

 the coal bed is present. The only evidence 

 of genus zonation is the restriction of 

 Cirratriradites to the lower three-fourths 

 of the bed. This further suggests that only 

 the upper portion of the Cutler coal bed is 

 present in maceration 553-D since Cirratri- 

 radites appears to be lacking. 



The remainder of the spore population is 

 of minor numerical importance when con- 

 sidering the coal bed as a whole, except that 

 Punctati-sporites represents six to seven 



* Not observed in Perry County sample. 



percent of the spore population and Cala- 

 mospora three to five percent. 



Danville (No. 7) Coal Bed 



The No. 7 coal bed is the lowermost coal 

 bed of the McLeansboro group in Ver- 

 milion County, and is believed to be absent 

 in southern Illinois by Wanless (1939) 

 and Weller and Wanless (1939). Cady 

 (1942, p. 10) suggests that the Cutler coal 

 bed of southern Illinois may be equivalent to 

 the Danville (No. 7) coal bed. 



One of the following coal beds in south- 

 ern Illinois may be the equivalent of Dan- 

 ville No. 7 coal bed: Jamestown, Banks- 

 ton, Cutler, and even the first Cutler-rider 

 coal bed. Genera and many species dis- 

 crepancies exist between the spores of the 

 No. 7 coal bed and those of the Jamestown 

 and of the Bankston coal beds. Further- 

 more, the rarity of Laevigato-sporites 

 pseudothiessenii sp. nov. in these two beds 

 from southern Illinois contrasts markedly 

 with its prominence in the No. 7 bed. The 

 Cutler coal bed appears to lack the genus 

 Wilsonia gen. nov., but only one specimen 

 of this genus has been isolated in the No. 7 

 bed. Species discrepancies are more nu- 

 merous, particularly species of minor numer- 

 ical importance. Genera and species of 

 numerical importance in the two beds are 

 essentially identical. The first Cutler-rider 

 coal bed has two genera discrepancies of 

 minor numerical importance and many 

 species discrepancies. The dominant genus 

 is Laevigato-sporites as contrasted to Lyco- 

 spora in the No. 7 and Cutler beds. The 

 evidence seems to indicate the equivalence 

 of the Cutler coal bed and No. 7 bed of 

 the Danville district. 



Two column samples and one random 

 sample of the Danville (No. 7) coal bed 

 from Vermilion County (macerations 514, 

 590 A-D, and 591 A-D) contained the 

 following genera and species: 



1. Punctati-sporites fenestratus sp. nov. 



2. P. obliquus sp. nov. 



3. P. orbicularis sp. nov. 



4. P. triangularis sp. nov. 



5. P. latigranifer (Loose) S. W. and B., 1944 



6. P. sp. 



7. Granulati-sporites commissuralis sp. nov. 



8. G. verrucosus (Wilson and Coe) S. W. 

 and B., 1944 



