THE EVIDENCE 57 



During all this time Ferns were numerous, and a 

 few Club-mosses and Horsetails have been 

 found, but the greater and more prominent part 

 of the land vegetation was Gymnospermous. 



The Gymnosperms belonged to three main 

 groups the Conifers, the Ginkgoales (Maiden- 

 hair-trees), and the Cycads. We will dismiss 

 the first two families hi a few words, for, im- 

 portant as they are in themselves, their fossil 

 members have no bearing on our immediate 

 problem. 



The Conifers were very well represented in 

 Mesozoic times; remains attributed to all the 

 living families Araucarias, Pines, Cypresses, 

 Yews, etc. have been discovered in various 

 Secondary rocks. The material is abundant and 

 varied, though often difficult of determination. 

 On the whole, however, the Secondary Conifers 

 at present known were not so very different from 

 those of our own day, and certainly there is 

 nothing to suggest any relationship to the higher 

 Flowering Plants. 



The curious Maidenhair-tree (Ginkgo biloba), 

 so named because its leaves closely resemble 

 the leaflets of the Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum), 

 is now a perfectly isolated species, without re- 

 lations in the living Flora. Geological evidence 

 shows that it is the last survivor of an ancient 

 family, which flourished during Secondary times, 



