. Elements of geology. Geology. 250 LYELL'S ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY. Fossil Plants of the Coal Strata. than those which we find in the fronds of different genera of living ferns, which do not in the present state of the globe attain the size of trees. Lepidodendra. — Another class of fossils, very common in the coal-shales, have been named Lepidodendra. Some of these are of small size, and approach very near in form to the modern. Fig. 256. Fig. 257. Fig. 258. Lepidodendron Sternbergii. Coal-measures, near Newcastle. Fig. 256. Branching trunk, 49 feet long, supposed to have belonged to L. Stern- b
. Elements of geology. Geology. 250 LYELL'S ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY. Fossil Plants of the Coal Strata. than those which we find in the fronds of different genera of living ferns, which do not in the present state of the globe attain the size of trees. Lepidodendra. — Another class of fossils, very common in the coal-shales, have been named Lepidodendra. Some of these are of small size, and approach very near in form to the modern. Fig. 256. Fig. 257. Fig. 258. Lepidodendron Sternbergii. Coal-measures, near Newcastle. Fig. 256. Branching trunk, 49 feet long, supposed to have belonged to L. Stern- bergii. (Foss. Flo. 203.) Fig. 257. Branching stem with bark and leaves of X. Sternbergii. (Foss. Flo. 4.) Fig. 258. Portion of same nearer the root; natural size. (Ibid.) Lijcopodiums, or club-mosses, while others of much larger dimensions are supposed to have been intermediate between these and coniferous plants. The annexed figures represent a large fossil, Lepidodendron, forty-nine feet long, lately found in Jar- row Colliery, near Newcastle, lying in shale parallel to the planes of stratification. Fragments of others, found in the same shale, indicate by the size of the rhomboidal scars which cover them a still greater magnitude. The living club-mosses, of which there are about 200 species, are abundant in tropical cli- mates, where one species is sometimes met with attaining a height of three feet. They usually creep on the ground, but some stand erect, as the L. densum, from New Zealand. (Fig. 259.) Calamites.—These fossils have a jointed stem, longitudinally striated, and are supposed by M. Brongniart to have been allied to the Equisetacece, or horse-tail tribe; aquatic plants which, in a living state, are only two or three feet high in our climates,. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlyellcharlessir17, bookcentury1800, booksubjectgeology
