FIFTY YEARS OF PALEOBOTANY, I906-1956 SQI 



In short, the last fifty years in paleobotany have been the most productive 

 and influential, as definite outward signs attest. 



The first and oldest organization of paleobotanists is represented by the 

 Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America. Membership in 

 this Section does not depend upon membership in the parental society. During 

 the Eighth International Botanical Congress in Paris in 1954 an international 

 paleobotanical organization was formed and affiliated with the International 

 Association for Plant Taxonomy. An institute devoted solely to paleobotanical 

 research was founded by the late Professor Birbal Sahni in Lucknow, India. 

 The Palynological Laboratories, Pennsylvania State University, will soon oc- 

 cupy a separate building. Two scientific journals carrying only paleobotanical 

 contributions are currently being published, Palaeontographka (Section B) 

 and The Palaeobotanist. More universities and colleges in this country and 

 abroad offer courses in paleobotany than ever before. More paleobotanists are 

 gainfully employed in academic positions, in government service, and in in- 

 dustry. More and better paleobotanical collections are being built up. Fossil 

 plants are gaining increased recognition and wider use as index fossils. More 

 financial aid, both private and governmental, is available in support of paleo- 

 botanical research. In the United States alone we have two national monuments 

 and one state park in localities where fossil plants were found or are still to be 

 seen, namely, the Petrified Forest National Monument in Arizona, the Fossil 

 Cycad National Monument - in South Dakota, and the Ginkgo Petrified Forest 

 State Park in Washington. Thus the influence of paleobotanical research has 

 certainly transgressed far beyond its own borders. 



In paleobotanical studies structurally preserved material is always most 

 desired as it furnishes the detailed information needed to appraise the nature 

 and character of the fossil being studied. In fact, some fossil plants described 

 during the last fifty years are anatomically far better known than many living 

 plants. The chronological sequence of appearance of all fundamental tissues 

 has also been worked out. Remarkable details such as nuclei, gametophytes, 

 and parasitic fungi have been demonstrated and illustrated. Although assimila- 

 tory tissue in Cordaitean leaves has long been known, spectroscopic proof of 

 the presence of chlorophyll during Ordovician times has now been furnished 

 {fide Magdefrau, 1953). Practically all major groups of the plant kingdom are 

 now represented in the fossil record, and the known age for many is constantly 

 being extended, notably that of the vascular plants from the Silurian to the 

 Cambrian and that of the angiosperms from the Jurassic to the Paleozoic. 

 The groups that have been studied most intensively are the fossil represent- 

 atives of the pteridophytes and gymnosperms. As a result, our ideas regarding 



2 According to a news release dated August 29, 1956, issued by the Department 

 of the Interior, this monument was to be abolished effective September 1, 1957, and 

 the area then administered as a public domain. 



