96 PAL^ONTOLOGICAL BOTANY. 



Dr. Oswald Heer'" has examined the plants preserved in 

 the lignite beds of Bovey Tracey, in Devonshire, and he finds 

 that they belong to the Miocene formation. There 

 is a remarkable coincidence between this and several 

 of the continental fossil floras, such as those of Salz- 

 hauser in the Wetterau, Manosque in Provence, and 

 of some parts of Switzerland. Bovey Tracey has no 

 species in common with Iceland, although the Tertiary 

 flora of Iceland belongs to the same period. Two of its 

 species (Corylus MacQuarrii and Platanus aceroides) 

 have been found in the Miocene of Ardtun Head. 

 Even the genera are distinct, with the exception of 

 Sequoia and Quercus. The Bovey Tracey flora has a 

 much more southern character, corresponding entirely 



Fio", 102. 



with that of the Lower Miocene of Switzerland. It 

 contains three species of Cinnamon, one Laurel, evergreen Figs, 

 one Palm, and large Ferns, thus manifesting a subtropical 

 climate. One of the most important plants is Sequoia Coutt- 

 si^, a Conifer which supplies a link betAveen S. Langsdorfii 

 and S. Sternbergi, the widely-distributed representatives of 

 S. sempervirens and S. gigantea (AYellingtonia), which are Cali- 

 fornian trees. Among other characteristic plants may be men- 

 tioned Cinnamomum lanceolatum and C. Scheuchzeri ; Quercus 

 Lyellii, an evergreen oak ; species of evergreen fig (Ficus Fal- 

 coneri and F. Pengellii), Palmacites Da3monorops, a prickly 

 twining Rotang-palm ; species of Vine (Yitis Ilookeri and V. 

 Britannica) ; Pecopteris lignitum, a large tree-fern ; species of 

 Nyssa, at present confined to North America. Among other 

 plants recorded by Heer in his paper are the following : — Lau- 

 rus primigenia, Daphnogene Ungeri, species of Dryandroides, 

 Andromeda, Vaccinium acheronticum, Echitonium cuspidatum, 



Fig. 102. Equisetum Camphellii, a stem like that of an Equisetum of 

 the present day. 



* Philosophical Transactions, R. Soc. Lond., vol. clii. p. 1039. 



