part 1] THE WESTPHALIAN, ETC. OE EAST GLAMOEGAN. 



65 



It is generally assumed that the Filicales and Pteridosperms 

 represent a dry-land flora : hence, where these plant-remains are 

 found in abundance in the shales, it is reasonable to conclude that, 

 at that period, there was an extensive dry-land surface (which may 

 have been due to upheaval), and, consequently, the conditions for 

 the growth of these plants mentioned were congenial. 



On the other Jiand, the Lycopodiales would require a swampy or 

 marshy habitat ; and one is justified in concluding that, in cases 

 where ferns and fernlike plants become less numerous and Lycopo- 

 diales more numerous, there must have been a period of sub- 

 mergence of the land surface. 



Appended are the view^s held by three distinguished living 

 palajo botanists on the habitat of the different classes of plants : — 



Equisetale s. 



Lycopodiales. 



Filicales and 

 Pteridosperms, 



Cordaitales. 



View No. 1. Dr. R. Kidstoi^, P.R.S. [in litt.]. 



' Probabl}^ grew in w^t 

 places.' 



General remark : — 

 ' Too much made of 

 swampy conditions 

 of the Coal Flora.' 



' The Lycopods would 

 not occupy such 

 marshy ground.' 



' Ferns and fernlike 

 plants of Coal Age 

 adapted for different 

 conditions, some high 

 and elevated lands ; 

 few damp and wet 

 places ; majority dry 

 land.' 



' Probably on the 

 drier and elevated 

 surface of the land, 

 grew the Ferns and 

 associated Pterido- 

 sperms.' 



' Roots of Calamites, 

 like the roots of 

 plants of to - day, 

 adapted for growth 

 in soft mud with 

 a lacunar internal 

 structure (soft- 



celled).' 



General remark : — 

 'Complete sterility of 

 the upland did not 

 appeal to the author 

 as it did to Grand' 

 Eury.' 



Some of the ferns and 

 fern like seeds blend 

 with thick flesh}' 

 leaflets, with a struc- 

 ture suggesting dry 

 land and certainly 

 not wet surround- 

 ings.' 



View No. 2. Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S. 



General remarks : — 

 General conditions of 

 life fundamentally 

 the same. 



' Roots of Lycopods 

 with the same in- 

 ternal character as 

 Calamites, hence wet 

 places and mud 

 (swampy conditions). 



■ Leaves of Lepido- 

 dendron and Sigil- 

 laria being thick, 

 with stomata hidden 

 in deep channels, 

 suggest wet and dry 

 conditions alternat- 

 ing, like in mangrove 

 swamps.' 



Internal structure 

 showed little or no 

 evidence or anato- 

 mical indication of 

 a swampy environ- 

 ment.' 



I think, also, that 

 the Equisetales grew 

 in swamps like the 

 Lycopods : there is 

 no evidence that they 

 grew in high land.' 



View No. 3. Dr. Marie C. Stopes [in litt.']. 



Adapted for growth 

 in water and mud, 



essentially swamp}'.' 



'Adapted for both 

 sets of conditions. 

 Hard leaves like 

 Fecopteris, Aletlio- 

 pteris, suitable for dry 

 and elevated lands.' 



' Definitely a dry- 

 land flora and one 

 of even elevated 

 land.' 



Q. J. a. S. No. 305. 



