The Geological History of PlantsDawson, John William, Sir
Science
The Geological History of Plants
Dawson, John William, Sir
Paleobotany
The only species known to me in the Devonian of Europe is the
_Caulopteris Peachii_ of Salter, figured in the "Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society" for 1858. The original specimen of this I had an
opportunity of seeing in London, through the kindness of Mr. Etheridge,
and have no doubt that it is the stem of a small arborescent fern, allied
to the genus _Caulopteris_, of the coal formation.
In my paper on the Devonian of Eastern America ("Quarterly Journal
of the Geological Society," 1862), I mentioned a plant found by Mr.
Richardson at Perry, as possibly a species of _Megaphyton_, using that
term to denote those stems of tree-ferns which have the leaf-scars in
two vertical series; but the specimen was obscure, and I have not yet
obtained any other.
More recently, in 1869, Prof. Hall placed in my hands an interesting
collection from Gilboa, New York, and Madison County, New York, including
two trunks surrounded by aërial roots, which I have described as
_Psaronius textilis_ and _P. Erianus_, in my "Revision of the Devonian
Flora," read before the Royal Society.[BF] In the same collection were
two very large petioles, _Rhachiopteris gigantea_ and _R. palmata_, which
I have suggested may have belonged to tree-ferns.
[BF] Abstract in "Proceedings of the Royal Society," May, 1870; also
"Report on Erian Plants of Canada," 1871.
My determination of the species of _Psaronius_, above mentioned, has
recently been completely confirmed by the discovery on the part of Mr.
Lockwood, of Gilboa, of the upper part of one of these stems, with its
leaf-scars preserved and petioles attached, and also by some remarkable
specimens obtained by Prof. Newberry, of New York, from the Corniferous
limestone of Ohio, which indicate the existence there of three species of
tree-ferns, one of them with aërial roots similar to those of the Gilboa
specimens. The whole of these specimens Dr. Newberry has kindly allowed
me to examine, and has permitted me to describe the Gilboa specimen,
as connected with those which I formerly studied in Prof. Hall's
collections. The specimens from Ohio he has himself named, but allows me
to notice them here by way of comparison with the others. I shall add
some notes on specimens found with the Gilboa ferns.
It may be further observed that the Gilboa specimens are from a bed
containing erect stumps of tree-ferns, in the Chemung group of the Upper
Devonian, while those from Ohio are from a marine limestone, belonging to
the lower part of the Middle Devonian.
1. _Caulopteris Lockwoodi_, Dawson.--Trunk from two to three inches in
diameter, rugose longitudinally. Leaf-scars broad, rounded above, and
radiatingly rugose, with an irregular scar below, arranged spirally in
about five ranks; vascular bundles not distinctly preserved. Petioles
slender, much expanded at the base, dividing at first in a pinnate
manner, and afterwards dichotomously. Ultimate pinnæ with remains of
numerous, apparently narrow pinnules.
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