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characterised b}' its four sloping sides and by a 

 median transverse groove. Several small seeds are 

 borne on the upper surface of the cone-scales. The 

 smaller and short-lived male flowers need not be 

 described. 



The other and better known species Sequoia 

 glgatitea (Fig. 13) has an even more restricted range 

 and is confined to groves on the western slopes of 

 the Sierra Nevada between 3000 to 9000 ft. above 

 sea-level. 



This tree is at once distinguished from the 

 Redwood by its ovate, sharply pointed and stiffer 

 leaves which retain their spiral disposition and 

 closely surround the axis of the twigs like obliquely- 

 set needles. The cones are of the same type as those 

 of Sequoia sempervirens, but are broader and may 

 attain a length of 3^ inches (9*5 cm.) (Fig. 14). 



Reference has already been made to Sequoia 

 as a striking illustration of longevity. It is also 

 selected as an equally impressive example of a tjpe 

 verging on extinction, which played a prominent part 

 in the vegetation of both west and east during the 

 Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. 



Scraps of branches with leaves hardly distinguish- 

 able from those of the existing Californian trees 

 are frequently met with in Tertiary and Mesozoic 

 sediments, and with them occasionally occur cones 

 too imperfectly preserved to aftbrd satisfactory 



