EVOLUTION OF SEED-PLANTS 133 



It is clear that Saporta in a general way was 

 right; the two groups are distinct, as shown 

 especially by the seeds of the former, which 

 are of the Cycadean, not the Coniferous type. 

 On the other hand, in habit and the structure of 

 the wood the Cordaitese come nearer to the 

 Araucarian Conifers (i. e. the family to which 

 the Kauri Pine and the Puzzle Monkey belong) 

 than to any other plants; the stamens of the 

 latter, with their numerous and long pollen-sacs, 

 recall in a certain degree those of the Palaeozoic 

 family. A detailed comparison between the 

 two groups would take us too long; there are, 

 however, so many points in common between 

 them that there seems little reason to doubt 

 that there was a real affinity, as was believed by 

 the botanists to whom our present knowledge 

 of the Cordaitese is due. The Coniferae them- 

 selves appeared in late Palaeozoic times, and 

 their earliest representative, the Permian genus 

 Wcdchia, was probably an Araucarain. The 

 most tenable view appears to be that the Coni- 

 ferse sprang from the same class to which the 

 Cordaiteae belonged, though not from that par- 

 ticular family. 



The Palaeozoic period was once called the 

 Age of Cryptogams. If we could see the luxu- 

 riant forests of the Coal period, we should prob- 

 ably fancy this description just; the vegetation 



