FEKNS AND FLOWEKING PLANTS. . 183 



from the researches of Carruthers, Solms-Laubach and 

 others, strongly resembled Cycadeae in habit and in their 

 vegetative anatomy ; their fructifications, however, were 

 of a highly complex character, consisting of a receptacle 

 bearing numerous seeds on long pedicels, with intermediate 

 scales, the whole being enclosed in a kind of pericarp, 

 and surrounded by bracts. The seeds were perfectly 

 preserved, and were found to be exalbuminous (unlike 

 those of any Gymnosperm) and to contain a large Dicoty- 

 ledonous embryo. The fructification thus approached 

 that of an Angiosperm, but at the same time Bennettites 

 and its allies retained Fern-like characters in their 

 ramenta, or scale-hairs, which were identical with those 

 so common in Ferns, and quite different from anything in 

 existing Cycadeae. The facts indicated that the Bennet- 

 titeae (which were probably an extensive family) though 

 possessing clear Cycadean affinities, were not on the 

 same line of descent with recent Cycads, but rather 

 indicated a " short cut " from Filicineae towards Angio- 

 sperms. Here again a warning was necessary against the 

 assumption of direct ancestry. "While Bennettites certainly 

 showed an approach to Angiospermous organization, it 

 was probably not directly related to any of the existing 

 groups of Angiosperms. 



It appeared then that the existing Cycadeae represented 

 a surviving offshoot of what was once an important 

 stock, connecting the Filicineae with various groups of 

 Flowering Plants. Only a small part of the question, 

 however, could be dealt with in the time available. 



The lecture was illustrated by between 40 and 50 

 lantern-slides, representing existing Cycadeae, and the 

 structure of the various fossil plants described. Some 

 diagrams, the work of the late distinguished Paloeo- 

 botanist, Prof. W. C. Williamson of the Owens College, 



