174 Prof. Don’s Descriptions of two new Genera of the 
rina, parva, adpresse 4-faridm imbricata, ovata, obtusa, coriacea, lævis- 
sima, nitida, viridia, 1—2 lineas longa, hinc obsoletè carinata, inde con- 
cava, basi lata adhærentia, margine perangusto scarioso. Amenta mas- 
cula in ramulorum apice solitaria, sessilia, laxé capitata, basi squamis 
(foliis mutatis) pluribus, oblongis, obtusissimis, inde concavis, margine 
scarioso-membranaceis involucrata. Squame antherifere pauciores et 
majores, ellipticæ, obtusæ, inde concava, rufescentes, margine membra- 
naceæ : ungue anguste lineari, compresso. Antherarum thecæ 2, ovate, 
obtuse, ad periphæriam inferam rimá bivalvi dehiscentes. Amenta Jæ- 
minea subrotundo-ovata, omninò ut in præcedente, sed squamæ pauciores 
et paulló latiores. Strobili duplò minores, subrotundi: squamis cuneato- 
lanceolatis, lignosis, stipitatis, regione placentiferà maxim? protuberanti, 
quasi subpeltata, trigonà, superficie inzequali : stipite compresso-tetra- 
gono: apice triangulari-ovato, acuto, incumbenti. 
The habit of this singular genus recalls to mind the Lepidodendra, those 
forms which at present exist only in a fossil state; the axis is studded with 
the persistent adherent bases of the leaves, resembling the lozenge-shaped 
marks on the stem of the fossil genus above-mentioned, and the ramification 
frequently presents a dichotomous appearance, which arises from the nonde- 
velopment of one of the lateral branches, the normal arrangement being a 
primary axis with two opposite lateral branches. The bases of the leaves of 
Lycopodiaceæ being so completely continuous with the axis would not pre- 
sent such marks as those mentioned, and I am therefore inclined to consider 
Lepidodendron as allied rather to Coniferæ than to that family, and the in- 
teresting genus above described appears to present us with an evident link of 
connexion. I have not had an opportunity of examining the internal struc- 
ture of Lepidodendron, but it is a subject well deserving investigation to 
ascertain whether the vessels composing its woody tissue present that uni- 
formity and dotting which prevail throughout Coniferce. 
The female spike in Athrotaxis, unlike that of most of the other genera of Cu- 
pressinec, forms a regular strobilus as in Pinus, and the scales are very thick, 
woody and persistent, as in the normal group of that genus. I have assumed 
that they are composed of a bracte and pericarpium, which are here completely 
