FOSSIL FLORA OF THE STAFFORDSHIRE COAL FIELDS. 77 



For some time I have suspected the specific identity of Dictyopteris obliqua, Bun- 

 bury, and Dictyopteris sub-Brongniarti, Grand' Eury. M. Zeiller has kindly com- 

 municated to me specimens of the latter species from Lens and Bully-Grenay, from 

 which I identified the Staffordshire fern as Dictyopteris sub-Brongniarti, and under this 

 name included it in the list given by Mr Ward in his " North Staffordshire Coal 

 Fields." # 



More recently I have received from Mr Lacoe specimens of Dictyopteris obliqua, 

 Bunbury, from near Pittston, Pa. It is true that this is not the original locality for 

 Bunbury's species, but careful examination of Mr Lacoe's specimens with Bunbury's 

 figures and description has convinced me that the Pittsburg fossils are identical with 

 Bunbury's Dictyopteris obliqua. On the other hand, I have compared the French 

 specimens of Dictyopteris sub-Brongniarti, Grand' Eury, with the American examples, 

 and cannot discover any point by which they can be separated either in the form of the 

 pinnule or their nervation. I am therefore led to the conclusion that Dictyopteris sub- 

 Brongniarti, Grand' Eury, must be regarded as a synonym for Dictyopteris obliqua, 

 Bunbury. 



At figure 3 I give a drawing of a small pinnule of a specimen from the Great Eow 

 Rock, Longton. In form the pinnules of Dictyopteris obliqua are sub-falcate or straight, 

 sometimes gradually narrowing, as in that figured, or oblong with more obtuse points, 

 their form varying somewhat according to their position on the frond. A drawing pre- 

 pared with the camera lucida, enlarged eight times, is given at fig. 3a, to show the 

 nervation of the species. 



Dictyopteris obliqua is distinguished from Dictyopteris Brongniarti, Gutbier,t by its 

 smaller size and somewhat coarser nervation, which also bends out more directly to the 

 margin of the pinnule. 



Middle Coal Measures. 



Horizon and Loccdity. — Great Row Rock. Longton. 



,, ,, Chalky Mine Ironstone. Fenton. 



Odontopteris, Brongt. 

 Odontopteris, sp. 



Upper Coal Measures. 



Horizon and Locality. — About 300 yards above Bassey Mine Ironstone. Railway 

 Cutting, Florence Colliery, Longton. 



Middle Coal Measures. 

 Horizon (?) and Locality. — Fenton. 



* "The Geological Features of the North Staffordshire Coal Fields, their Organic Remains," &c, Trans. North 

 Stafford. Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, vol. x. 1890. 



t Abdrucke u. Vers. d. Zwiclc. Schwarzk, p. 63, pi. xi. figs. 7, 9, 10, 1835. 



