Until very recently (1988), the only structurally pre- 
served strobili attributed to the Cordaitales were derived 
from the late Carboniferous (Stephanian) rocks from the 
region of Grand Croix, especially near Comb’ Rigolle in 
central France. Only three or four well preserved speci- 
mens had been found elsewhere. Doctor Rudolf Florin 
of the Natural History Museum at Stockholm is at pres- 
ent preparing an exhaustive monograph of the Grand 
Croix material. The discovery of geologically older cor- 
daitean strobili in American coal balls from Towa and 
Kansas affords an opportunity to add considerable infor- 
mation toward an understanding of these ancient plants. 
The Cordaitales are a natural order of extinct gym- 
nosperms not intimately related to any existing plants, 
but are believed to be next-of-kin to the Ginkgoales, and 
somewhat more distantly to the living conifers. As far as 
we know, they were the first forest trees, attaining in many 
species a height of thirty meters or more. In general ap- 
pearance, they must have closely resembled the existing 
conifer 4 gathis, having broad linear leaves rather than 
needle-like foliage. 
The detached strobili of the Cordaitales are designated 
by the artificial form-genus name Cordaianthus. ‘The 
strobili are monosporangiate; consequently there has 
been some confusion over generic and specific designa- 
tions. In the older papers, the name 4 ntholithus is some- 
times applied to male Cordaianthus, though the name is 
also used to designate male inflorescences of other plants. 
In order to introduce the terminology relevant to 
Cordaianthus and the interpretation of the strobilar con- 
struction, a new species from the late Carboniferous of 
the United States is here described. 
Cordaianthus shuleri Darrah sp. nov. with five 
plates, twenty figures. 
[2] 
