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FOSSIL ANGIOSPERMS. 197 
Fossin Nrmpuex. Lign. 66, sig. 4. — Those magnificent 
aquatic plants, the Water-Lilies (Vymphee), that adorn our 
rivers and lakes with flowers and foliage which partake more 
of the characters of an exotic flora than any other of our 
indigenous plants, are also found fossil in the lacustrine marls 
and limestones of the tertiary formations of France ; but the 
nature of these remains could only be recognized by a pro- 
found botanist, for they consist of impressions of the internal 
Structure of the stems, which, however, is so peculiar, that 
no reasonable doubt of their origin can be entertained. Two 
_ imprints on a piece of limestone from Lonjumeau, presented 
to me by the late M. Alex. Brongniart, are figured in Lign. 66, 
_ fig. + ; some minute seed-vessels (Lign. 66, fig. 3), found with 
_ them, closely resemble those of Vymphec, and are supposed 
to belong to the same plants (Class. Vég. Foss. p. 72). 
Fossit FLowrrs.—The tertiary limestones of Monte Bolca 
(Wond. p. 565), so rich in ichthyolites, and other fossil 
remains of great interest, contain leaves, and even flowers, 
of liliaceous plants. The specimen figured (Lign. 67, jig. 3) 
is in the Museum at Paris, and described by M. Brongniart 
under the name of Antholithes (stone-flower) Jiliaceus ; it 
consists of the corolla and calyx : the anthers and pistils have 
not been observed in any example. The discovery of this 
fossil should excite the young collector to search diligently 
for such objects in the tertiary strata of England. 
Fosstz Anetosperms.— The fossil remains of the class 
which constitutes the grand features of the existing floras 
of most countries, the Hxogenous Angiosperms, are now to 
be considered ; and though our survey of fossil botany has 
partaken but little of a geological arrangement, yet the 
reader may have observed, that a large proportion of the 
vegetables composing the floras of the ancient secondary 
formations, belonged to the Cryptogamous and Gymnosperm- 
ous classes. A striking contrast is presented in the geo- 
