GLOSSOPTERIS FLORA 437 



called the Gondwana series, which probably represents the ma- 

 rine succession from the Permian to the Jurassic inclusive. In the 

 lower members are found great boulder beds, with boulders up to 

 fifteen feet in diameter, which have been carried for several miles. 

 In some of these beds the boulders are scored with parallel 

 grooves and beautifully polished. As in Australia, the pavement 

 of older rocks is cut into roches moutonnees and marked with 

 long parallel scorings. The coal-bearing rocks of India overlie 

 the boulder beds, and are regarded as Permian. 



In South Africa the Karoo series, partly Permian and partly 

 Triassic, rises abruptly near the coast, though retaining the hori- 

 zontal position, in the mountain ranges called Quatlambabergen, 

 Drakenbergen, and Stormbergen. Here likewise have been found 

 beds of scratched and polished boulders and pavements of 

 grooved and polished rocks, just as in Australia and India. 



In South America, rocks having the character and fossils of the 

 lower Gondwana beds have been found in the Argentine Re- 

 public and in southern Brazil, the latter with boulder beds. 



Permian life in the Southern Hemisphere is as characteristic as 

 the strata themselves. The flora is entirely different from that 



FlG. 147. — Glossopteris indica. (Medlicott and Rlanford.) 



of the Carboniferous, which is also found in Australia, southern 

 Africa, and South America. This Permian flora contains no 

 Lepidodendron, Sigillaria, or Calamites, and has a decidedly 

 Mesozoic aspect, being made up of Ferns, Horsetails, Cycads, 

 and Conifers. The most characteristic plant is the fern Glos- 

 sopteris, whence this vegetation is frequently called the " Glos- 

 sopteris Flora," and another very abundant and widely spread 

 fern is Gangamopteris . Phyllotheca and Vertebraria are the 

 commonest Horsetails, and of the Conifers, Voltzia (see Fig. 148, 



