472 PAL.^OBOTANY. 



plants, including the first examples of the great and im- 

 portant group of the Palms. It is thus a matter of interest 

 to reflect that plants closely related to those now inhabiting 

 the earth, were in existence at a time when tlie ocean was 

 tenanted by Ammonites and Belemnites, and when land and 

 sea and air were peopled by the extraordinary extinct Eep- 

 tiles of the Mesozoic period. 



Eocene Plants. — The plants of the Eocene period ap- 

 proximate on the whole to the existing vegetation of the 

 earth. They are, however, in the main most closely allied 

 to forms which now are found in tropical or sub-tropical 

 regions. In the London Clay occur 

 numerous fruits of Palms {Nipadites, 

 fig. 719), along with various other 

 plants, most of which indicate a warm 

 climate as prevailing in the South of 

 Eno-land at the commencement of the 

 Eocene period. In the Eocene strata 

 of North America occur numerous 

 plants, such as palms, conifers, mag- 

 ^ „,„ , , , „ , nolia, cinnamon, fig, dog-wood, maple, 

 en,. London Clay of shep- hickory, poplar, plauc-trees, &c. Upon 

 the whole, the Eocene flora of Xorth 

 America is nearly related to that of the Miocene strata of 

 Europe, as well as to that now existing in the American 

 area. We may conclude, therefore, that " the forests of the 

 American Eocene resembled those of the European Miocene, 

 and even of modern America " (Dana). 



Miocene Plants. — The deposits of the Miocene period 

 have yielded an extraordinarily large number of plants, only 

 a few of the more important of which can be indicated here. 

 Our chief sources of information as to the vegetation of the 

 Miocene period are derived from the Brown Coals of Germany 

 and Austria, the Lower and Upper Molasse of Switzerland, 

 and the Miocene strata of the Arctic regions. The lignites 

 of Austria have yielded very numerous plant-remains, chiefly 

 of a tropical character ; one of the most noticeable forms 

 being a Palm of the genus Sahal (fig. 720, b), now found in 



