394 University Geological Survey of Kansas. 
Sphenopteris BRONGNIART. 
Filicites sec. Sphenopteris Brongniart, Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat., vol. 8, p. 233, 1822. 
Sphenopteris cf. biturica Zeiller. Pl. XLIV, figs. 6-8; pl. LVIII, fig. 2. 
Fronds tri- or quadripinnate. Rachis woody, finely striated. 
Penultimate pinnz alternate, oblique, going off at an angle of 
about 45 degrees, lanceolate-pointed. Rachis prominent, round, 
and winged in its upper part by a narrow membrane.  Ulti- 
mate pinnee alternate, oblique, broadly lineate, obtuse, nearly 
sessile, divided by acute shallow sinuses into numerous pointed, 
forward-projecting lobes, and ending in a very small terminal 
pinnule. Ultimate pinne passing into pinnules above, becom- 
ing at the top connate with the small terminal pinnule. Mid- 
vein of the small ultimate pinnze decurrent; lateral veins dis- 
tant, oblique, nearly straight, and running to the apex of the 
lobes, simple or once or twice forked. In general habit this 
fern has a likeness to Zeiller’s species with which it is com- 
pared. The figures given by Zeiller in Flore de Brive as S. 
decheni are much like the Kansas plant, but the types of S. 
decheni as figured by Weiss are clearly distinct. 
Formation and locality: Le Roy shales, Upper Coal Meas- 
ures. 
Sphenopteris sp. Pl. XLIV, figs. 9, 10. 
Some specimens of a very delicate Sphenopteris have been 
obtained from the Le Roy shales. The species is remarkable 
for the wide angle at which the veins fork, and the flexuous 
character of the midvein. 
Sphenopteris pinnatifida (Lx.) D. W. Pl. XLIV, fig. 5; pl. LIV, fig. 3. 
Hymenophyllites pinnatifidus Lesquereux, Report Geological Survey 
Illinois, vol. 2, p. 436, pl. 34, figs. 2, 2a, 1866. 
Sphenopteris (Hymenophyllites) trydactylites (Brong.) Lesque- 
mew, (Copil ito, soll, il, jo, PEM jole iH, ies, OY Go, weraR, iersh)g 
atlas, 1879. 
Sphenoteris pinnatifida (Lx.) D. W. David White, Flora of the 
Lower Coal Measures of Missouri, p. 45, pl. 18, figs. 3, 4; pl. 19, 
fig. 1, 1899. 
Several of the Kansas specimens show small puncte on the 
rachises of the secondary and tertiary pinne; these are dis- 
tantly placed, as remarked by Lesquereux (Coal Flora, p. 285), 
scarcely visible to the unaided eye, not always distinct even 
with a lens, sometimes apparently not present. A large slab 
of shale from Thayer, Kan., containing parts of this species 
and of Aloiopteris winslovti D. W., has an instructive specimen 
showing the at least quinquepinnate character of S. pinnatifida. 
