USNM 37322

Cladophlebis septentrionalis Hollick  

Notes

Hollick (1930)

Pl. 2 Fig. 1

 

 

Locality

From Hollick (1930) (p. 39-40)

"Port Moller, 2 miles up the canyon west from Mud Bay, Alaska Peninsula (original No. 35); collected by W. W. Atwood and H. M. Eakin in 1908 (lot 5187) (pl. 2, figs. 1-2). Chignik Bay, about 2 miles northeast of Alaska Packers Association cannery, Alaska Peninsula (original No. 958); collected by T. W. Stanton in 1904 (lot 3521) (pl. 2, fig. 3)."

 

Locality Map

 

Description

From Hollick (1930) (p. 39-40)

"Plate 2, Figures 1-3"

"Size and shape of frond not known, pinnae linear-lanceolate, pinnatifid toward the extremities, pinnate toward the base; pinnules alternately arranged; contiguous, triangular-falcate, entire, decurrent throughout, venation pinnate, the veins once forked."

 

Remarks

From Hollick (1930) (p. 39-40)

"These fragments of pinnae apparently represent a fern identical with or closely resembling specimens from the Atane beds of Greenland figured by Heer (1882) (p. 29, pl. 16, figs. 5, 6; pl. 28, figs. 1 - 3; pl. 46, figs. 22 - 24) and described under the name "Pteris? albertsii Dunk sp." (= Neuropteris albertsii Dunker (1846) (p, 8, pl. 7, figs. 6, 6a)), but a compar- ison between Heer's figures and those of Dunkel does not indicate specific identity, as the latter show pinnules that are much narrower, strictly opposite instead of alternate in arrangement, and distinct from instead of contiguous to one another.

Another fragmentary fern specimen, from the island of Sakhalin, that is almost identical with ours is described and figured by Kryshtofovich (1918) (p. 33, fig. 3) and referred to Pteris frigida Heer (1882) (p. 3, pl. 2, fig. 13; p. 25, pl. 6, flg. 5b; pl. 10, figs. 1-4; pl. 11, figs. 1- 4, 5a, 6, 7a, 8a, 9 - 11; pl. 12, fig. 2; pl. 13, figs. 2, 2b ; pl. 16, figs. 1, 2; pl. 18, fig. lOb) of the Kome and Atane beds of Greenland, but the resemblance to this species appears to be too remote to require discussion.

A third specimen, from the Lower Cretaceous of the Canadian Rocky Mountain region, that also appears to be identical with ours, is figured by Dawson (1892 [1893]) (p. 85, fig. 5) and referred provisionally to Aspidium fredericksburgense Fontaine, of the Potomac group of Virginia; but again a comparison fails to show satisfactory indications of specific identity. The Greenland, Sakhalin, Canadian, and Alaskan specimens may therefore be regarded as probably representing one and the same species - a species heretofore known under the names Neuropteris albertsii Dunker, Pteris frigida Heer, and Aspidium fredericksburgense Fontaine and probably referable to the genus Cladophlebis Brongniart (1849) (p. 25). In this connection it is pertinent to mention the work of (Berry 1911) (pp. 307 - 332) in the revision of this genus, in which an effort is made to segregate these and some 30 other cognate species under 8 specific names; but whether or not our species is to be included in one or another of these groups is properly a matter of individual opinion."