CORDAITEAE 525 



Grand'Eury was so fortunate as to find inflor- 

 escences such as these in connection with the leaf- 

 bearing shoots of Cordaites. An example (more or 

 less restored) is shown in Fig. 188, where we see a 

 leafy branch, bearing several fertile peduncles, each of 

 which in its turn bears a number of catkins, probably 

 female. The inflorescences appear to have been inserted 

 a little above the subtending leaves, and not immedi- 

 ately in their axils. 



We see, then, that the connection of all the organs 

 — stems, roots, leaves, and flowers — has now been 

 established, at least for some species of the genus 

 Cordaites. The other genera or subgenera are at 

 present less completely known. We will now go on 

 to consider the internal organisation of the various 

 parts, beginning with that of the stem. 



2. The Stent. — The general type of structure of the 

 stem of Cordaites was that of a Conifer, but the pith, 

 as we have seen, was far larger than we ever find it in 

 the Coniferae, and in its dimensions rather resembled 

 that of a Cycad. It has already been mentioned that, 

 in many cases (though probably not in all), the pith 

 was discoid, as shown in Fig. 1 90, A. This structure 

 was no doubt due to the fact that the more central 

 part of the pith was not able to follow the growth of 

 the stem in length, and consequently split across at 

 short intervals, leaving gaps between the persistent 

 diaphragms. At the outer edge, next the wood, the 

 medullary tissue remained continuous. 



In those specimens which were originally referred 

 to Cordaiteae, the wood, unlike that of the Poroxyleae 



