Notes. 
183 
in the evolution of such a perfect organization of that of Trifolium 
or Cytisus — a stage not to be found in our familiar Papilionaceous 
flowers. That a nearly actinomorphic genus such as Pelargonium 
should have produced this form is certainly a matter of interest. 
I. H. BURKILL. 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 
ON MEDULLOSA ANGLIC A : A NEW REPRESENTATIVE 
OF THE CYCADOFILICES h By D. H. Scott, M.A., Ph.D., 
F.R.S., Hon. Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Gardens, Kew. 
— The existence of a group of fossil plants combining in their organ- 
ization certain characters of the Ferns and the Cycads, has been 
recognized of late years by several palaeobotanists, as, for example, 
by the late Professor W. C. Williamson, Count Solms-Laubach, 
Mr. Seward, and the author. The convenient name, Cycadofilices, 
has recently been proposed by Professor Potonie to designate the 
group in question, which now includes several somewhat heterogeneous 
genera, among which Lyginodendron, Heterangium , and Medullosa 
may be mentioned. 
Several species of the genus Medullosa (founded in 1832 by Cotta) 
have been already described, from the Permian and Upper Coal- 
measures of the Continent. They agree in the extraordinarily 
complex structure of the stem, which, as shown by Zeiller and Solms- 
Laubach, resembles in the ground-plan of its organization that of 
a highly differentiated Fern of the usual polystelic type, but with the 
addition of a zone of secondary wood and bast, sometimes reaching 
an immense thickness, developed around each stele. The mature 
stem thus acquired a Cycad-like character. The structure, however, 
has been extremely difficult to interpret owing to the comparative 
rarity and incomplete character of the specimens hitherto known. 
No stem of a Medullosa has hitherto been recorded from this 
country, though specimens of Myeloxylon , now known to have been 
the petioles of Medullosa , are frequent in the calcareous nodules of 
the Lower Coal-measures. 
The author has recently had the opportunity of investigating 
several excellent specimens of a new species of Medullosa from the 
Ganister Beds of Lancashire. These fossils are of special interest on 
1 Abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society, January 26, 1899. 
