VII] THE ARAUCARIA FAMILY 113 



of the Maiden Hair tree, Ginlcgo hiloha, and certain 

 anatomical features form connecting links between 

 this Palaeozoic genus and the Cycads. 



It is noteworthy that in another Palaeozoic genus, 

 Walchia, the leaf-bearing branches are identical in ap- 

 pearance with those of the Norfolk Island Pine (Fig. 17) 

 and some other species of Araucaria. Unfortunately 

 our knowledge of the reproductive organs of Walchia 

 is insufficient to warrant any definite statement as to 

 the degree of consanguinity between this Permian and 

 Upper Carboniferous plant and the Araucarieae ; it 

 is probable that in Walchia we have a type not far 

 removed from the line of evolution which led to 

 Araucaria. Petrified wood, identified as that of 

 Walchia, and exhibiting the Araucarian type of struc- 

 ture, has been recorded from Permian rocks of the 

 Vosges. Other instances might be quoted in support 

 of the view that the Palaeozoic floras included a few 

 plants with which the surviving Araucarieae may 

 fairly claim relationship. Professor Zeiller of Paris 

 has recently described some fossil shoots from Palaeo- 

 zoic rocks in India under the name xiraucarUcs 

 Oldhami on the ground of the similarity of the leaves 

 to those of Araucaria imhricata. Similarly, from 

 Triassic rocks several fossils have been described as 

 closely allied to Araucaria, in some cases because of 

 anatomical resemblances and in others on the less 

 satisfactory evidence furnished by a similarity in the 

 s. 8 



