110 CORDAITEAE. 



cylinder of other kinds of plants, and this seems to find support in Corda's 1 

 belief that he has observed Artisiae occupying the centre of the stem of 

 his Lomatofloios crassicaulis, which certainly belongs to Lepidodendreae ; 

 at the same time, when we examine the figure of the stem in question 2 , we 

 cannot help doubting whether it really belongs to Lomatofloios. These 

 same Artisiae in conjunction with Araucaroxylon have rightly determined 

 Grand' Eury 3 to claim the numerous cylindrical main stems of trees found 

 in the quarries in the neighbourhood of St. Etienne, in an upright position 

 and still rooted in the ground, as belonging to Cordaitae. The fragments of 

 roots with the normal structure of Coniferae, discovered by Renault 4 in the 

 pebbles of Grand' Croix, must also no doubt be referred to the same group. 



Before proceeding to consider the structure of the flowers and seeds of 

 Cordaitae, it will be advisable to say a few words respecting the distribution 

 of the leaves and stems of these plants in the different formations. There 

 can be no doubt of their existence in the Devonian beds ; beautiful leaves of 

 Cordaites Robbii are figured by Dawson 5 from Canada ; the same author 

 states that he has found Artisiae inside petrified stems of his Dadoxylon 

 (Araucaroxylon) Ouandongianum c from the Middle Devonian. The 

 Cordaitae are found throughout the Coal-measures, being extremely 

 common in the uppermost beds of the formation, and are still abundant in 

 the Rothliegende. 



Whether the type of Cordaiteae was continued into the later forma- 

 tions, and for what length of time, we are unable to say. Leaves of similar 

 character to those of Cordaiteae are found as high up as the Tertiaries, as 

 may be seen by referring to Feildenia which is discussed with Taxineae. 

 Among these doubtful forms must be reckoned a genus described by O. 

 Feistmantel 7 as Noggerathiopsis and confined to India and Australia. In 

 this genus we may place a form first introduced to notice by Dana 8 under 

 the name of Noggerathia prisca from a deposit known as the Newcastle 

 beds, in which the character of the fauna is said to be Palaeozoic and that of 

 the flora Mesozoic, and which according to O. Feistmantel is one of the lowest 

 beds of the Trias. Another form, Noggerathia Hislopi, Feistm., occurs in 

 the Lower Gondwanas of India, which are said to be the equivalent of 

 the European Trias. Noggerathia obovata, Carr. 9 , from the coal fields of 

 Southern Brazil, should perhaps be placed in the same genus. The leaves of 

 Noggerathiopsis greatly resemble those of Cordaitae with short broad leaves. 

 O. Feistmantel distinguishes sharply between the two genera, apparently 

 on account of the bifurcation of the nerves in Noggerathiopsis, but this 

 according to Grand' Eury is not unknown in Cordaites. Feistmantel con- 



1 Corda (1). 2 Corda (1), t. 5, f. 2. 3 Grand' Eury (1), tt. 29, 34. 4 Renault (1), t. 15. 

 4 Dawson (1), t. 14, f. 156. * Dawson (1), t. 21. 7 O. Feistmantel (1), and Pal. Ind., ser. xii. 

 8 Dana (1), p. 715. 9 Carruthers (7), t. 6, f. i. 



