15 



in different parts of the world. To separate these plants 

 from others of different type, Unger proposed the name of 

 Cordaites, in honour of Corda, who had for the first time 

 figured a somewhat perfect leafy branch (Beitrage 1845) . 

 Corda's specimen showed something of the structure of the 

 stem which was described by him as having a ring of scalari- 

 form vessels surrounding a cellular pith, having that trans- 

 versely marked surface known as Sternbergia, indicating 

 diaphragms or partitions within. This apparently simple 

 acrogenous structure induced both Unger and myself to re- 

 gard the plant as allied to Lycopods, and it was placed with 

 these in my Acadian Geology, and in my paper on the 

 Fossil Plants of the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia. 1 It 

 now appears, however, that Corda's figure must have repre- 

 sented only the inner ligneous zone, and this imper- 

 fectly. 



The leaves in Sternberg's and Corda's specimens were 

 large, parallel-sided and pointed, with closely placed paral- 

 lel veins of two orders, and they were attached by a broad 

 base to the stem. The leaves showed bundles of fibres in the 

 veins and stomata in the epidermis. 



Brongniart having the same objections with Unger to the 

 name of Flabellaria, but acting independently, in 1849 desig- 

 nated the leaves of Cordaites by the name PycTmophyllum, 

 but was induced by their peculiar form and structure to in- 

 clude them in the Gymnosperms with the allied family of 

 N&ggcrathiff, and near to the Cycads. 2 He compares the 

 leaves with those of Dammara and Podocarpus among the 

 Conifers. Goldenberg and Weiss subsequently corroborated 

 Brongniart's view by the discovery of spikes of fructification 

 known as Antholites in association with Cordaites. Finally 

 Grand 'Eury discovered in the coal field of St. Etienne in 

 France, abundant and well preserved stems, leaves and 

 fruits which have enabled the French palseo- botanists to re- 

 construct the whole plant and to discriminate several gen- 

 era and species, constituting a gymnospermous family 



1 Journal of Geological Society. 



2 Tableaux de Genres. 



