. The geological history of plants. Paleobotany; 1888. 112 THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. place to vast swampy flats, and which, instead of the oil- bearing shales of the Erian, were destined to produce those immense and wide-spread accumulations of vege- table matter which constitute our present beds of bitu- minous and anthracite coal. The atmosphere of these great swamps is moist and warm. Their vege- tation is most exuberant,, but of forms unfamiliar to modern eyes, and they swarm with insects, millepedes, and scorpions, and with batrachian reptiles large and small, among which we look
. The geological history of plants. Paleobotany; 1888. 112 THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. place to vast swampy flats, and which, instead of the oil- bearing shales of the Erian, were destined to produce those immense and wide-spread accumulations of vege- table matter which constitute our present beds of bitu- minous and anthracite coal. The atmosphere of these great swamps is moist and warm. Their vege- tation is most exuberant,, but of forms unfamiliar to modern eyes, and they swarm with insects, millepedes, and scorpions, and with batrachian reptiles large and small, among which we look in vain for representatives of the birds and beasts of the present day. Prominent among the more gigantic trees of these swampy forests are those known to us as SigillaricB (Fig. 33). They have tall, pillar-like trunks, often sev- eral feet in diameter, ribbed like fluted columns, but in the re- verse way, and spreading at the top into a few thick branches, which are clothed with long) grass-like leaves. They resem- ble in some respects the Lepi- dodendra of the Erian age, but Fio. zz.—Sigillaria, restored, are more massivc, with ribbed in- B, sigiiiaria eiegans. Stead 01 scaly trunks, and longer leaves. If we approach one of them more closely, we are struck with the regular ribs of its trunk, dotted with rows of scars of fallen leaves, from which it receives its name Sigiiiaria, or seal-tree (Figs. 34-37). If we cut into its stem, we find that, instead of. 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 Dawson, John William, Sir, 1820-1899. New York, D. Appleton and Company
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