546 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. V. 



between twenty and thirty species of ferns and coniferse, 

 have, however, been obtained and determined. Among these 

 are fronds of a plant bearing some resemblance to the 



Lign. 122. — Fossil plant allied to the adder's-tongue ; from the red 



MARL, SULTZ-LES-BAINS. 



(Filiciles scolopendrioides ; one-half the natural size.) 



Adder's tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium), so common on 

 the banks of our woods and copses ; a specimen discovered 

 by M. Voltz exhibits the fructification on the back of the 

 leaf (Lign. 122). But the most characteristic plants of 

 the Triassic flora are coniferae belonging to a genus named 

 Voltzia* which differ from any now living, but closely 

 resemble the Araucaria, or Norfolk Island pine. Fragments 

 of these fossil plants are frequent in the greenish marls near 

 Strasburg : two specimens are figured in Lign. 123 ; jig. 2, 

 shows the fructification. f Several species of equiseta- 

 ceous plants ( Calamites) abound ; one of w r hich, the Equi- 

 setum colmnnare, also occurs in the Oolite. The remains 

 of a very peculiar arborescent fern, of a large size, some 

 of the fronds being upwards of two feet in length, have 

 been collected from the same place 4 and several liliaceous 

 plants. 



In the Trias near Chemnitz, in Saxony, silicified stems 



* From the late M. Yoltz of Strasburg, by whom they were first 

 discovered. 



f See Essai d'une Flore du Gres Bigarre" j par M. Ad. Brongniart, 

 Ann. Sciences Nat. 1828. 



X This fossil plant is named Anomoptcris Mowjeoti; Medals of 

 Creation, vol. i. p. 119. — Brit. Mus. Collect. 



