56 MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 
13, is shown another similar section of the same specimen under the 
same magnification. Here occur in a single tracheid the alternating 
pits, which are generally present in the living araucarian genus 
.1gathis and in the section Colymbea of Araucaria. This о 
of affairs is comparatively rare in our fossils. In fig. 3, Pl. 13, 1 
another longitudinal section of the same specimen similarly magni- 
fied. This section represents, on the whole, the commonest condition 
of the pitting. It may be observed in this case that the pits, which 
are present in a single row are not flattened by mutual contact, and 
thus present an agreement with the pitting found in the remaining 
tribes of the Conferales. This feature appears to be of great impor- 
tance, since the strictly flattened or alternate pitting of the living 
Дева 5 and Araucaria has suggested a relationship between them 
and the Cordaitales, in which the pits entirely cover the walls of 
the tracheids and are of the alternating type. The general trend 
of opinion of those who have in recent years investigated the Conif- 
erales is that the araucarian group is the oldest and that it bears 
a more or less close degree of relationship to the Cordaitales. 
Brachyphyllum and allied genera aftord reasons for strongly doubt- 
ing the correctness of this view, for representing as they do an older 
and now quite extinct branch of the Araucarineae, they nevertheless 
show in their pitting, and in other features, characters which are less 
araucarian than those found in the living genera .1gathis and Arau- 
caria— features, moreover, which approximate the araucarian stock 
to the Abietineae rather than to the Cordaitales. Figure 6, Pl. 13, 
shows a tangential view of the summer wood of the lignite under 
discussion, X 180. The tangential pitting of the tracheids and the 
generally shallow character of the medullary rays can be made out. 
Figure 2, Pl. 14, representing a transverse section of the wood, 
X 40, shows the nature of the wound reaction in this lignite. This 
phenomenon has been described by the junior author for this and sim- 
ilar lignites in an earlier article;* but it ıs advisable for completeness 
to refer to the matter again here. Contrary to the condition of affairs 
found in the living genera of the Araucarineae, a wound in the case 
of the clearly marked group of conifers for which Brachyphyllum 
in the present instance may stand as an example, results in the for- 
mation of traumatic resin canals such as occur under similar condi- 
tions in the Abietineae. In the figure last cited a row of somewhat 
^ Annals Bot. 20: 383-394. pls. 27, 28. 1906. 
