XXIV INTRODUCTION. 



in the case of the species found in Asia Minor, and here we must 

 confess that the resemblance to a Calamitean strobilus of the 

 Catamostachys type is very striking. On the other hand, the cone 

 of P. deliquescens, although not so well known, appears to he of 

 a somewhat different nature. But so far as it is possible to form 

 any opinion on the present evidence, Phyttotheca would seem to 

 differ from Catamites chiefly in habit, and especially in possessing 

 a well developed leaf - sheath. Even in the latter respect, as 

 Mr. Seward ' has pointed out, the vegetative differences are not so 

 marked as have been supposed. Thus we may, I think, safely 

 conclude that Phyllotheca was, on the whole, nearly related to 

 Catamites, and that it in all probability sprang from the same 

 ancient stock, of which Archatocala mites is the earliest known 

 representative. 



In Schizoneura we have a more distinct type, and one almost 

 entirely confined to India during the Pernio -Carboniferous period. 

 In fact, this genus does not appear to have reached its maximum 

 development and distribution until later times. Two species 

 occur in India, of which S. gondwanensis is the more important. 

 This plant is also known from Australia, where, however, it 

 appears to be very rare. The genus is also probably represented 

 in South Africa, but it is unknown, so far, from South America. 

 We may regard Schizoneura, unlike Phyllotlieca, as essentially of 

 Indian origin, where it first appeared in the earlier Ghssopteris- 

 bearing series, and later spread to more distant regions. It 

 probably did not reach ]Sew South Wales until near the close of 

 the Permo-Carboniferous period. It is in Triasso-Rhsetic times 

 that the genus attained to its maximum distribution, when it 

 survived not only in India (Panchet Series), but in South Africa 

 (Stormberg Beds), and, further, had spread to Europe (Germany, 

 Sweden, etc.), Persia, Tonquin, China, and elsewhere beyond the 

 limits of Gondvvanaland. 



In vegetative habit, Schizoneura is more unlike Catamites than 

 Phyttotheca. The details of the structure of the strobili, however, 

 are unfortunately unkuown, and until this information is available 

 it is idle to speculate as to its precise affinities. The late period at 

 which the genus appears to have attained to its maximum develop- 



Seward (OS 1 ), p. 28<J. 



