The Fossil Plants. 
161 
Fro. 40. — (1) Rhacopterix iiia’qirilatera, 1 (Gopp). A Carboniferous 
fossil fern from Stroud. (la) A leaflet enlarged. 
Some species have been found in strata of nearly the 
same ago in India. They were evidently strong ferns, 
with large fronds and thickly-wooded stems. The 
peculiar character of the leaf is entirely different from 
any ferns of the present day, so that botanists at first 
1 FeisUn&utel ; Coal ami Plant-bearingr Heda of Eastern Australia and 
Tasmania, 18110, Plate vii. 
medium rib, but it vanishes towards the apex ; the 
veins emerge at an acute angle, but spread out as they 
lengthen, forking into venules, all of which reach the 
margin. This is entirely a Mesozoic genus, and all 
the European examples belong to the Kinetic or Lias. 
C4 
