. The testimony of the rocks; . , in the larger specimens, to the heightof ordinary trees, also manifest very decidedly, in theirinternal structure, some of the characteristics of the coni-fers. It has been remarked by Lindley and Ilutton of evenSphenophyllum,— a genus of plants with verticillate leaves,of which at least six species occur in our Coal Measures,and which Brogniart refers to one of the humblest familiesof the fern allies,—that it seems at least as nearly relatedto the Coniferse as to its lowlier representatives, the Mar-sileacese. And it is this unfon of traits, pertaining to wha
. The testimony of the rocks; . , in the larger specimens, to the heightof ordinary trees, also manifest very decidedly, in theirinternal structure, some of the characteristics of the coni-fers. It has been remarked by Lindley and Ilutton of evenSphenophyllum,— a genus of plants with verticillate leaves,of which at least six species occur in our Coal Measures,and which Brogniart refers to one of the humblest familiesof the fern allies,—that it seems at least as nearly relatedto the Coniferse as to its lowlier representatives, the Mar-sileacese. And it is this unfon of traits, pertaining to whatare now widely separated orders, that unparts to not a fewof the vegetables of the Coal Measures their singularlyanomalous character. Let me attempt introducing you more intimately to oneof those plants which present scarce any analogy with exist-ing forms, and which must have imparted so strange acharacter and appearance to the flora of the Coal Sigillaria formed a numerous genus of the Carboniferous Fig. 28,. SIGILLARIA KENIFORMIS. period: no fewer than twenty-two different species havebeen enumerated in the British coal fields alone; and suchwas their individual abimdance, that there are great seamsof coal which seem to be almost entirely composed of theirremains. At least the ancient soil on which these seams HISTORY OF PLANTS 65 rest, and on which then* materials appear to have beenelaborated from the elements, is in many instances as thickly-traversed by their undergromid stems as the soil occupiedby our densest forests is traversed by the tangled roots ofthe trees by which it is covered ; and we often find associatedwith them in these cases the remains of no other Sigillaria were remarkable for their beautifully sculp-tured stems, various in their pattern, according to theirspecies. All were fluted vertically, somewhat like columnsof the Grecian Doric; and each flute or channel had its lineof sculpture running adown its centre. In one species
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