70 
Records of ike Geological Survey of India. 
[vot. IX, 
b .— SPHENOPHYLLUM, Brgt. 
In the Damuda formation, both in the upper portion and in the lower, some equise¬ 
taceous fossils occur, which were described by Royle as Trizygia speciosa , 1. c., p. 
431. There is no doubt that these fossils belong to the well known genus Sphenophyllum, 
Brgt and we find them described in Unger's ‘ Gen. et sp. plant, foss., p. 70, under the name 
of °Sphenophyllum trizygia, ting. Mc'Clelland (1. c., p. 54) described the same formas 
Sphenophyllum spedosum, Mc’Clell., and pointed out quite distinctly that there was no doubt 
about its being a real Sphenophyllum, Brgt. But whilst there is no doubt about the iden¬ 
tity of Sphenophyllum and Trizygia, I prefer Unger’s name Sphenophyllum trizygia, as 
there is a constant character in the arrangement of the leaves in three pairs, each of two equal 
leaves on one side of the articulation, the lowest pair of leaflets being the shortest, the middle 
burner and the highest the longest. There are, therefore, never more than six leaflets which 
do not form an entire whorl, but are arranged on one side. This arrangement is quite different 
from that found in all carboniferous forms, in which the leaflets are all nearly 
equal and form an entire whorl round the articulation ; besides this, the stem of the Indian 
Sphenophyllum is in all casos very thin in relation to the size of the leaves There can 
be no doubt about the nature of this species, which must have been a water-plant, expanding 
its leaflets at the surface of the water. 
This Sphenophyllum, is therefore different from all Carboniferous and Permian 
forms, and I adopt' Unger’s name Sphenophyllum trizygia, Ung. I have specimens from 
Burdwan (from the upper portion of the Damiidas, Ramganj), and from Ta lchir near 
Cuttack from the Barakars. I think there is only one species. 
Besides these two well marked fossils, various stalks with articulations, ribs and furrows, 
are common, and are generally known as Phyllotheca indica, Bunb I must say I have 
seen the real Phyllotheca such as Zigno described from the Oolitic formation, and as 
are known from the upper portion of the coal-strata in Australia (Newcastle), but I am very 
much inclined to consider a great proportion of the stems found m India as stalks of Sehizo- 
nenra, Schimp.; some others may be indeed internal casts of mesozoic species ot Equxsetum. 
In Australia there is in the upper portion of the coal-strata also a real Phyllotheca in 
Ziguo’s sense (Newcastle) ; the Phyllotheca in the lower portion may be Calamites or 
Equisetum. 
The very doubtful form, called Vertebraria, I consider to consist of roots and rootlets 
(Rhizomes), most probably of some equisetaceous plants, in the same way as tie 
genus Pinularia, Lindl. and II., in the carboniferous strata, consists also of rootlets, most 
likely of Asterophyllites, Brgt. 
Vertebraria abounds in the Damiidas, and appears to be characteristic of them as a 
series but it cannot be quoted for the determination of the age, for which only Sclnzoneura 
Gondioanensis, Fstm., can be used. As far as I can tell from the literature, and from what 
I have seen of Australian fossil plants, Vertebraria is also known only from the upper 
portion of tlie coal-strata, 
JB — FILICJES. 
In the same way as amongst the Equisetacece, the genus Schizoneura, Schimp. and 
Moim,, is the prevailing form, so also amongst the Filices one genus is especially prevalent. 
ThisVenus, however, cannot be directly employed as evidence of the age of the Damuda; 
