THE JURASSIC FLOEA OF SUTHERLAND. 683 



Ward from the Lower Cretaceous of Dakota,* A. Jeffreyi Berry t from the Cretaceous 

 of Carolina, and A. Falsani Sap. J from the Kimeridgian of France. 



Coniferous Wood. 



The petrified wood, which Miller speaks of in The Testimony of the Rocks as very 

 abundant on the beach at Helmsdale, may still be picked up in quantity. Most of the 

 material is in a poor state of preservation, but in some pieces the anatomical characters 

 were found to be sufficiently clear to admit of identification, at least as regards generic 

 affinity. My intention is to describe in detail one or two of the best specimens in a 

 subsequent paper. 



Araucarioxylon, Kraus. 



Araucarioxylon sp. 



While deferring a description of the material until a later date, I may mention the 

 discovery of Araucarian characters in two different pieces of Helmsdale wood ; one of 

 these is in the Gunn collection, and the other was sent to me for examination by Dr 

 Horne from the collection of the Scottish Geological Survey. In both these specimens, 

 which appear to be specifically distinct, the tracheids are characterised by contiguous and 

 frequently flattened bordered pits on their radial walls in single, double, and treble rows. 

 It is highly probable that both Elatides and Brachyphyllum shoots possessed wood of 

 the Araucarian type, and some at least of the Helmsdale specimens may be petrified 

 branches of these Conifers. 



? Araucariinae. 



Brachyphyllum, Brongniart. 



Brachyphyllum sp. (PI. IX. fig. 39.) 



The genus Brachyphyllum is represented in the Gunn collection by a few obscure 

 pieces of vegetative branches ; one of these is shown in photo. 39. The outlines of 

 triangular scale-leaves are fairly distinct. A larger and better preserved specimen is 

 figured by Hugh Miller in fig. 149 of TJie Testimony of the Rocks as an "imbricated 

 stem." In that specimen some of the broadly triangular leaves are well preserved and 

 are characterised by longitudinal striations on the thick lamina. Transverse sections 

 of the branch, which is partially petrified, throw no light on the arrangement of the 

 pits on the tracheid walls. 



Jeffrey and Hollick § have recently contributed valuable information in regard 

 to the Araucarian affinity of a Cretaceous species, B. macrocarpum Newb. from the 

 Eastern States of America. The Culgower fragments agree closely in the form and 

 size of the leaves with the English Wealden species B. spinosum Sew.,|| but they afford 

 no evidence of the occurrence of spinous branches. The species described from the 



* Ward (99), pi. clxxiii. t Berry (08). % Saporta (84), pi. lviii. 



§ Jeffrey and Hollick (09), pi. iv. || Seward (95), pi. xvii. 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN., VOL. XLVII. PART IV. (NO. 23). 101 



