2 1 2 Seward. — Notes on the Geotogical 
has since been figured by Gardner 1 , who quotes a suggestion 
by Williamson 2 that it maybe a portion of an arborescent 
monocotyledonous stem. Unfortunately the original specimen 
has not been found, but the drawing is rather more suggestive 
of an imperfect cast of an Equisetites stem. 
The Jurassic fossils figured by Heer 3 as species of Eam- 
busium, and the Cretaceous specimens referred by Hosius 
and von der Marck 4 to a liliaceous genus Eolirion, do not call 
for special discussion ; these forms, and the fossil described 
under the name of Piteairnia, which as Schenk remarks is no 
doubt a coniferous twig, and other indeterminable examples 
of fossil plants, cannot be accepted as authentic records of 
Monocotyledons. There are numerous other instances of fossil 
stems and leaves described by different writers as Monocoty- 
ledons, but to deal with them seriatim would be a tedious 
and unprofitable task. There remain, however, a few ex- 
amples of fossils recorded as monocotyledonous, which it is 
important to consider rather more fully. 
Aroides. In 1867 Carruthers 5 described a small cylindrical 
fossil from the Stonesfield slate as Aroides Stutter di, and 
expressed the opinion that it might reasonably be regarded 
as part of an aroid spadix similar to that of the recent genus 
Xanthosoma. It has since been suggested that the fossil 
may possibly be a portion of the anal sac of a Crinoid 6 . 
Mr. Bather, of the British Museum, who was good enough to 
examine the specimens, considers that this view cannot be 
accepted ; he is unable to recognize any trace of Echinoderm 
structure. There are two specimens of this so-called Aroides 
in the British Museum collection 7 ; the larger of the two 
1 Geol. Mag. 1886, PI. IX, Fig. 3. 2 Loc. cit. , p. 4. 
3 Flora fossilis Helvetiae, Zurich, 1877, p. 86, PI. XXX, &c. ; also Heer, 
Contributions a la flore fossile du Portugal [Secc. Trav. Geol. Portugal, 1881], 
p. 22, PI. XIX. 
4 Palaeontographica, Vol. xxvi, 1879-80, p. 9, PI. XXIV, Fig. 6 ; and p. 93, 
PI. XLIV, Figs. 210, 2 1 1. 
5 On an Aroideous Fruit from the Stonesfield Slate, Geol. Mag. Vol. iv, 1867, 
p. 146. 
6 A suggestion quoted by Gardner (loc. cit.), p. 198. 
7 Numbers V. 3442 and 52871, in the Museum Register. 
