THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 437 



of Stigmaria in Nova Scotia, corresponding, as I believe, to as many 

 species of Sigillaria* At the Joggins, Stigmarice are more abundant 

 than any other fossil plants. This arises from their preservation in 

 the numerous fossil soils or Stigmaria underclays. Their bark, and 

 mineral charcoal derived from their axes, also abound throughout the 

 thickness of the coal beds, indicating the continued growth of Sigil- 

 laria in the accumulation of the coal. 



Our knowledge of the fructification of Sigillaria is as yet of a very 

 uncertain character. I am aware that Goldenberg has assigned to 

 these plants leafy strobiles containing spore-capsules : but I do not 

 think the evidence which he adduces conclusive as to their connexion 

 with Sigillaria; and the organs themselves are so precisely similar 

 to the strobiles of Lepidophloios, that I suspect they must belong to 

 that or some allied genus. The leaves, also, with which they are 

 associated in one of Goldenberg's figures seem more like those of 

 Lepidophloios than those of Sigillaria. If, however, these are really 

 the organs of fructification of any species of Sigillaria^ I think it will 

 be found that we have included in this genus, as in the old genus 

 Catamites^ two distinct groups of plants, one cryptogamous, and the 

 other phtenogamous, or else that male strobiles bearing pollen have 

 been mistaken for spore-bearing organs. 



I cannot pretend that I have found the fruit of Sigillaria attached 

 to the parent stem ; but I think that a reasonable probability can be 

 established that some at least of the fruits included, somewhat vaguely, 

 by authors under the names of Trigonocarpum and Rhahdocarpiis^ 

 were really fruits of Sigillarna. These fruits are excessively abundant 

 and of many species, and they occur not only in the sandstones, but 

 in the fine shales and coals and in the interior of erect trees, showing 

 that they were produced in the coal-swamps. The structures of these 

 fruits show that they are phfenogamous and probably gymnospermous. 

 Now the only plants known to us in the Coal formation, whose struc- 

 tures entitle them to this rank, are the Conifers^ Sigillaria;^ and Cala- 

 modendra. All the others were in structure allied to cryptogams, 

 and the fructification of most of them is known. But the Conifers 

 were too infrequent in the Carboniferous swamps to have afforded 

 numerous species of Carpolites ; and, as I shall presently show, the 

 Calamodendra were very closely allied to Sigillaria^ if not members 

 of that family. Unless, therefore, these fruits belonged to Sigillaria, 

 they must have been produced by some other trees of the coal-swamps, 

 which, though very abundant and of numerous species, are as yet 

 quite unknown to us. Some of the Trigonocarpa have been claimed 

 * See Paper on Accumulation of Coal, Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxii. 



