56 Linnaan Society : — 



tained in the anthracite coal ; and a still less significant portion to 

 the Lepidodendrons , the Ferns, and the remaining members of the 

 flora of the Carboniferous period. 



" A diligent study of the extinct flora has demonstrated that the 

 Palms occur more rarely than was thought in the transition rocks 

 and the Carboniferous formation, and more frequently than was 

 believed in more recent formations. Generally speaking, we know 

 at present only trunks, leaves (both fan-shaped and pinnatisect), 

 and a few fruits of fossil Palms ; flowers have as yet not been 

 discovered, and the spathes collected have hitherto not been satis- 

 factorily proved to belong to the natural order under consideration. 

 These fragments, remnants of members of former creations, have 

 been distributed under nine genera and seventy -eight species. For 

 the trunks, there have been adopted the genera Palmacites, Brongn., 

 and FascicuUtes ; for the leaves, Flabellaria, Sternb., Zeugophyllites, 

 Brongn., Phcenicites, Brongn., and Amesoneuron, Gopp. ; for the 

 spathes, Palceospatha, Unger (founded, as has been stated, upon 

 doubtful materials) ; for the fruits, Baccites, Zenk, and Castellinia, 

 Massal. The genus Burtinia of Endlicher, placed by Unger among 

 Palms, belongs without a doubt to Pandanece, and is identical with 

 Nipadites. 



" Although our present imperfect knowledge of fossil plants 

 renders it an almost useless task to speak of the proportion which 

 the number of Palms bears to that of the other members of the 

 extinct flora, yet it may be remarked that, if the number of species 

 of the fossil flora is assumed to be 4000, — there are actually 3945 

 described, — Palms constitute about the eighty-fourth part of the 

 whole. In the transition rocks no remnants of Palms have as yet 

 been discovered ; in the Carboniferous formation five species have 

 been noticed ; in ' Kupfersandstein,' or the Permian formation, 

 onljf two species have been collected ; in the secondary class of 

 rocks which succeeds (Keuper, Bunter-Sandstein, Muschelkalk, Lias- 

 Jura, and Wealden formation), none have been collected except 

 three species in the Cretaceous formation, especially in Quadersand- 

 stein. The greatest number has been found in the Tertiary class of 

 rocks, viz. sixty ; twenty-nine of which belong to the Eocene system, 

 and thirty-one to the Miocene formation. The habitat of nine spe- 

 cies is unknown. 



" It will be seen from this synopsis tliat there was a geological 

 period when Palms were entirely wanting in the extinct flora, or 

 when, after their first appearance on the globe, they vanished again, 

 and after a lajjse of time reaj)j)eared ; a state of things, which if 

 confirmed by future investigations, would certainly be highly curious, 

 and is one never before observed in a like manner in any large group 

 of plants. No species is common to two formations. Several spe- 

 cies show a remarkable degree of resemblance with those of the 

 flora now existing, especially some of those collected by Junghuhn 

 in Java, as fur instance, Amesoneuron catyptro calyx, Gdpp., A.dra- 

 cophyllum, Go])])., A . fagifolium, Gbpp., and A. anceps, Gopp. But 

 it would be rather bold, perhaps injudicious, to attempt identifying 



