INTRODUCTION. 



The Cretaceous Flora differs fundamentally from all the older 

 floras in the presence (and in many places the preponderance) of 

 Dicotyledonous and Monoootyledonous plants with the older and 

 " simpler" families. The Angiosperms must undoubtedly trace 

 their ancestors further back than the lowest Cretaceous, but for 

 practical purposes of geology they may almost be described as 

 appearing in the Cretaceous period. Numerous species of Angio- 

 sperms have been described and figured from all parts of the 

 "World, and these with the other families, which are represented 

 to a greater or less extent, make the Cretaceous flora exceedingly 

 rich as well as interesting. The deposits in some parts of Europe, 

 in Japan, and the Arctic regions, but more particularl)^ in the 

 North American continent, cover large geographical areas and 

 have yielded a great number both of specimens and of species. 



To encompass in any one work a description which is more 

 than a mere compilation, of the whole of this vast flora, is 

 impossible in the present state of the science. For in the work 

 on the Cretaceous epoch more perhaps than in that on any 

 other geological period, the data on which determinations have 

 been made are often very unsatisfactory, and the species described 

 have in many cases been named with no regard to the necessity 

 of previous careful comparisons ; while generalisations regard- 

 ing distribution and climate have often been risked on litUe 

 foundation. There exists no general account of the flora, the 

 bibliography is widely scattered and has never been brought 

 together, and the numerous specific names scattered through the 

 literature have never been listed. The present volume by 

 bringing these things together may prove a useful foundation 

 for future work. I do not think the time has arrived for 

 generalisations or broad conclusions of the kind sometimes 

 attempted by palseobotanists. 



