MESOZOIC AGE 



TRIASSIC PERIOD 



VEGETATION Triassic landscapes bore witness to great conquests made 

 by the newer vegetation. Various growths more or less 

 allied to araucarias, spruces, Sequoia firs, yews, cypresses, 

 and maidenhair trees extended far and wide, and abounded 

 with species. Club-mosses and " horsetails " struggled on 

 with but scant success. Among the latter were some scarcely 

 distinguishable from the modern degraded forms (Equisetum). 

 PiUar-like sigillarise — rampant in Carboniferous forests — had 

 almost disappeared : and the old-fashioned, wedge-leaved 

 chmbing growths of mixed affinities had quite died out 

 (Sphenophyllum). 

 FERNS Ferns, however, although of ancient standing, continued 

 to spread with the vigour and resource of earher days. Many 

 Carboniferous genera flourished as of old ; and new forms of 

 hke character (Eusporangiates) — some closely related to the 

 existing " Adder's Tongue " (Chiropteris) — were also un- 

 rolling their fronds in the tangled undergrowth. Other 

 debutants exhibited improvements in spore-case construc- 

 tion, and produced their spores in a more specialised and 

 complex manner than did the older forms. These more 

 advanced ferns were undoubtedly forerunners of the now 

 prevaihng type (Leptosporangiates). Towards the close of 

 the Period some (^ crostichites princeps) but little distinguish- 

 able from " Royal ferns " (Osmunda regalis) were luxuriating 

 in marshy lands, and adorning the banks of lakes and 

 streams. Others appear to have been precursors of the 

 Polypods — the dominant fern family of our own time 

 (Cladiophlebia). 



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