Renault founded this Permian species as _Antholithus permiensis_[357] on a specimen from Lodève; it consists of an incomplete inflorescence 6·4 cm. long bearing four lateral branches with stalks 1·5 to 2 cm. long terminated by clusters of small oval bracts 5 mm. long. Renault compares the fossil with the recent Conifers _Glyptostrobus_ and _Tsuga_, but it exhibits a much closer resemblance to _Schützia anomala_. The genus _Schützia_, originally described from Permian strata, is recorded also from Westphalian strata in North Africa[358] as well as from Lower Carboniferous rocks in Scotland. The data at present available are insufficient to determine the morphological nature of the fertile branches: the evidence adduced by Goeppert in support of the occurrence of seeds is not convincing and the interpretation of the bract-like appendages is still an open question; they may have formed a cupular investment to seeds, but in the Scotch species the general appearance rather suggests that they may be microspore-bearing organs comparable with those of _Codonotheca_[359]. There are no adequate grounds for supposing _Schützia_ to belong to the Coniferales, a view advanced by some authors; it is much more likely to represent the fertile shoots of a Pteridosperm. =WHITTLESEYA=. Newberry. The genus _Whittleseya_, referred by many authors to the _Ginkgoales_, has no substantial claim to be regarded as allied to that group: its position is still uncertain, but the recent discovery of fertile specimens suggests the probability of a relationship to _Potoniea_ and an identification of Whittleseya as another form of microsporophyll of a Pteridosperm. [Illustration: Fig. 428. A, C. _Whittleseya elegans_. A, single leaflet, from Pennsylvania. (After Lesquereux; ⅚ nat. size.) C, diagrammatic sketch of part of a leaflet showing the teeth, the striated texture of the carbonised layer, and the vein-like markings on a lower surface. (After Thomas; enlarged.) B. _Whittleseya brevifolia_. (After White; the smaller figure ⅚ nat. size.)] The generic name was given by Newberry[360] to some leaves, or possibly leaflets, originally described by C. Whittlesey from the Coal Measures of Ohio. Whittleseya is represented by species from several North American localities[361] in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick[362]; it occurs in Silesia and has recently been found in the English Coal Measures[363]. The genus is confined to Upper Carboniferous strata. The leaves are fairly thick; the lamina is oblong, cuneate, broadly triangular or linear, usually rounded and truncate (fig. 428, A, C), generally dentate at the distal end, the proximal portion being gradually or abruptly contracted and occasionally prolonged into a short pedicel. The veins or ribs are parallel to the sides of the lamina and except near the base unbranched. _Whittleseya elegans_ Newberry.