164 
The species Coniopteris hymenophylloides , founded by Brongniart under the 
name Sphenopteris hymenophylloides, had a wide geographical distribution 
during the jurassic period ; it is recorded from England, France, Portugal, 
Poland, Bornholm, Italy, the Arctic regions, North America, Japan, China, 
and India. The material from the English plant-beds of the Yorkshire coast 
is especially rich, and it is on this that the following diagnosis is based :— 
Frond tripinnate ; pinnae linear acuminate, attached to the rachis at a 
wide angle ; the pinnules vary considerably in size and shape, in some forms 
they have a few broad and rounded lobes, and in others the lamina is deeply 
dissected into narrow linear segments. The fertile pinnules bear the sori at 
the ends of the veins ; the lamina is usually much reduced, and in extreme 
cases the fertile segments agree closely with those of Tliyrsopteris elegans, 
Kze., or Dicksonia Bertevana, Hook. The sori are partly enclosed in a cup¬ 
shaped indusium ; the sporangia appear to have an oblique annulus of the 
cyatheaceous type. The two lowest pinnules of the pinna are often character¬ 
ized by their unusual shape, the lower half of each pinnule consisting of long 
spreading and irregular aphlebia- like lobes. 
Venation and form of the frond of the Sphenopteris type. 
The specimens from Victoria agree so closely with English examples that 
to distinguish the two forms by a different specific designation would be to 
allow a wide geographical separation to outweigh other and more important 
considerations. I am unable to recognize any essential differences between the 
Australian and European types ; the latter are much more abundantly repre¬ 
sented and exhibit a wider range as regards the form of the pinnules. The 
fertile pinnae of the European fern are often characterized by a considerable 
reduction in the lamina, but in this respect there is not a little variation ; in 
the Victorian specimens the fertile pinnae are practically identical with the 
sterile, except in the occurrence of sori at the tips of the lobes. 
The occasional occurrence in the English specimens of long aphlebia-Wke 
lobes at the base of the pinnae* is a feature which is not shown in the Australian 
fern, but this may be due to lack of material. We may describe the Australian 
type as apparently specifically identical with the European Coniopteris hymeno¬ 
phylloides, but characterized by a greater resemblance between sterile, and 
fertile pinnules, and, perhaps, by the absence of the peculiar modified pinnules 
at the base of the pinnae. 
These slight differences, though probably of no essential importance, 
together with the fact of the wide separation in space between northern Europe 
and Victoria, render it advisable to add the term australica as a distinguishing 
designation for the Southern type. 
Various species of Sphenopteris have been described from Australian 
localities by Morris, McCoy, and other authors, but as the fragments are 
usually small and sterile it is difficult to decide as to their identity with Coni¬ 
opteris hymenophylloides. Morris’s species, S. lobifolia,'] from the Newcastle 
beds is of similar habit to C. hymenophylloides. McCoy’s, S. hastata, J represents 
a frond comparable with the Victorian fern, and can hardly be distinguished 
from S. germanus of the same author. These two species of McCoy may be 
* Seward (00), PI. XXI., Figs. 1-4. 
t Morris (45), p. 246, PI. vii., Fig. 3. 
t McCoy (47), p. 149, PI. x., Fig. 1. 
