THE ERIAN OR DEVONIAN FORESTS. 



81 



and their piths larger than in the true pines, and some 

 of the larger-leaved species must have had thick, stiff 

 branches. They are regarded as constituting a separate 

 family, intermediate between pines and cycads, and, be- 



FIG. 30. Cordaites Eobbii (Erian, New Brunswick). , Group of young 

 leaves. , Point of leaf, c, Base of leaf, d, Venation, magnified. 



ginning in the Middle Devonian, they terminate in the 

 Permian, where, however, some of the most gigantic spe- 

 cies occur. In so far as the form and structure of the 

 leaves, stems, and fruit are concerned, there is marvel- 

 lously little difference between the species found in the 





