PALEOZOIC TIME CARBONIC. 



667 



1032. 



and no fragrance but that of Conifers and Cycads. Even Mosses, so common 

 in modern swamps, and the chief source of modern peat, have left no evi- 

 dence of their presence. 



A general idea of the vegetation and scenery of the era during its periods 

 of verdure may be gathered from the accompanying ideal sketch (Fig. 1031), 

 from a painting by Russell Smith. The tree to the left of the center, 

 and others with similar palm-like tops, are the Tree-ferns ; and smaller Ferns 

 make up much of the foreground. The other trees are Lycopods, the Lepi- 

 dodendrids ; and one bare 

 trunk to the right is that of 

 a Sigillaria. Other straight 

 stems with leaves (or branch- 

 lets) at regular intervals are 

 the Equiseta or Ccdamites. 

 The Cycad-like Cordaites, 

 with their loDg strap-like 

 leaves, with probably others 

 having almost the foliage of 

 a Eern-tree, should have been 

 in the view ; for they added 

 largely, as Lesquereux and 

 others have stated, to the 

 forest trees. But of other 

 Gymnosperms, the so-called 

 Conifers, there are few indi- 

 cations in the beds. They 

 may have been common over 

 the drier fields and hills. 



Forests made of the Equi- 

 seta and Lycopods of to-day 

 -would hardly overtop a man's 

 head. They would be simply 

 shrubbery of "Horse-tails" 

 and "Ground Pines." The 

 height of the largest modern Lycopod is five to six feet ; that of the ancient, 

 60 to 90 feet. In habit and in foliage they were much like the Spruces and 

 Pines of the present day, the length of the leaves varying greatly, as illus- 

 trated in Fig. 1032. The Equiseta of the present time are slender, 

 herbaceous plants, with hollow stems ; while the Calamites of the Carbonifer- 

 ous marshes included species having partly woody trunks, a diameter of 3 to 

 10 inches, and a height of 30 or 40 feet. Ferns now grow into trees in tropi- 

 cal and warm temperate climates, but only small trees, and poor in wood 

 compared with some in the coal era. 



While the terrestrial vegetation was thus abundant, seaweeds after the 

 old style were still in the waters. The S2yirophyton caudagalli of the Lower 



WW 



Extremity of a branch of Lepidodendron, with the leaves attached. 



