DEVONIAN PERIOD 49 



reproduction ; and, moreover, their greater parental care 

 exhibited a notable development in plant ethics. 



Before the close of the Period plants known as Cordaites cordaites 

 attested further progress in the evolution of seed-bearers. 

 These more advanced growths — of remote ferny origin — 

 exhibited strong affinities both with cycads and conifers, 

 and were of higher order than any other known plants that 

 adorned Devonian landscapes. No growths now exist that 

 bear much resemblance to them. Their slender stems — 

 composed largely of pith — rose in some cases several feet in 

 height. At the top — and there only — ^branches were thrown 

 out, bearing long and narrow leaves ; and here and there 

 amid the foKage small catkin inflorescences were in display. 

 These modest blooms, so far as is known, were the first 

 flowers that appeared in Nature. 



