304 MR K. C. DAVIE ON 



trace of Hypolepis tenuifolia relates that of the Cyatheacese to that of certain species 

 of Pterin. His contrast of an Aspidium- Asplenium type with that of the Cyatheacese 

 finds an echo among the pinna-traces. So, too, does his opposition of the Aspidium 

 leaf-trace to that of Asplenium. 



A wider and more ambitious treatment of the leaf-trace is given by Bertrand 

 and Cornaille. No account of Fern-leaf anatomy can give other than a careful and 

 grateful consideration of this exhaustive work. It abounds in curious details of 

 minutest observation, many of them tucked away, unfortunately, in little corners 

 where they easily lurk unnoticed. The Osmundean trace (that of O. regalis) is 

 regarded as the prototype from which those of other Ferns are derived. The traces 

 of Todea barbara, T. Fraseri, T. superba, T. hymenophylloides, Aneimia collina, 

 A. phyllitidis, Mohria eaffrorum, Gleichenia dichotoma, and G. rupestris are taken 

 as variations of this Osmundean trace. The Cyathean trace of Dicksonia antarctica 

 and D. squarrosa is the Osmundean trace with refolded adaxial arcs. Its variations 

 occur in Matonia pectinata, Dicksonia regalis, Cyathea medullaris, Alsophila 

 australis, and Hemitelia Smithii. Then comes the Onoclean trace of Struthiopteris 

 germanica. A variant on it in Onoclea sensibilis prepares for Polypodium phego- 

 pteris and Lomaria spicant, while it appears, greatly reduced, in Nephrodium molle 

 and Doodia aspera. 



Within the wide range of variations of this type come the traces of Davallia 

 repens, Scolopendrium officinale (the " polypodian hippocampus"), Davallia fmni- 

 culacea, Asplenium ruta-muraria, A. tricliomanes (reduced in Marsilia and Pilularia), 

 A. Nidus-avis, Onychium japonicum, Davallia tenuifolia, and Pellea geraniifolia. 

 Amplified variations of the same type appear in Gymnogramma tatarea, Blechnum 

 brwsiliense, Lithobrochia vespertilionis, Microlepia platyphylla, Polypodium Hera- 

 cleum, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Goniopteris proliferum, Dennstaedtia davallioides, 

 and Pteris aquilina, while a very much reduced form appears in Lygodium japonicum, 

 L. scandens, Tricliomanes radicans, and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense. A Poly- 

 botryan trace, isolated in character, occurs in Lomariopsis fraxinifolia. 



In contrast to these types is a Marattian trace of Marattia fraxinea, M. Lancheana, 

 Angiopteris evecta, and Kaulfussia sesculifolia. The Ophioglossean trace of Hel- 

 minthostachys zeylanica, Botrychium rutaceum, B. virginicum, and Ophioglossum 

 vulgatum is derived from the Marattian trace. 



Obvious situations for tourney-fields lie in the announcement of the Osmundean 

 trace as the primitive type and in the assortment of heterogeneous leaf-traces under 

 the Onoclean banner. 



No early leaf I have examined shows a leaf-trace like that of Osmunda regalis ; 

 many show outlines not unlike that of Aneimia collina and Lygodium scandens. 

 A in I a classification of Doodia aspera and Blechnum brasiliense alongside of Asplenium 

 ruta-muraria and Scolopendrium officinale, with Onoclea sensibilis, Polypodium 

 phegopteris, ami Microlepia platyphylla not far off, gives no clue to the widely 



