“Hitherto two classes of vegetation predominated: the cellular _Cryptogams_ at first, the dicotyledonous _Gymnosperms_ afterwards; and in the epoch which we have reached--the transition epoch of vegetation--the two classes which have reigned heretofore become enfeebled, and a third, the dicotyledonous _Angiosperms_, timidly take possession of the earth--they consist at first of a small number of species, and occupy only a small part of the soil, of which they afterwards take their full share; and in the succeeding periods, as in our own times, we shall see that their reign is firmly established; during the Cretaceous period, in short, we witness the appearance of the first dicotyledonous _Angiosperms_. Some arborescent Ferns still maintain their position, and the elegant _Protopteris Singeri_, Preissl., and P. _Buvigneri_, Brongn., still unfold their light fronds to the winds of this period. Some _Pecopteri_, differing from the Wealden species, live along with them. Some _Zamites_, _Cycads_, and _Zamiostrobi_ announce that in the Cretaceous period the temperature was still high. New Palms show themselves, and, among others, _Flabellaria chamæropifolia_ is especially remarkable for the majestic crown at its summit. “The _Conifers_ have endured better than the _Cycadeæ_; they formed then, as now, great forests, where _Damarites_, _Cunninghamias_, _Araucarias_, _Eleoxylons_, _Abietites_, and _Pinites_ remind us of numerous forms still existing, but dispersed all over the earth. “From this epoch date the _Comptonias_, attributed to the Myricaceæ; _Almites Friesii_, Nils., which we consider as one of the Betulaceæ; _Carpinites arenaceus_, Gœp., which is one of the Cupuliferæ; the _Salicites_, which are represented to us by the arborescent willows; the Acerinæ would have their _Acerites cretaceæ_, Nils., and the Juglanditæ, the _Juglandites elegans_, Gœp. But the most interesting botanical event of this period is the appearance of the _Credneria_, with its triple-veined leaves, of which no less than eight species have been found and described, but whose place in the systems of classification still remains uncertain. The _Crednerias_, like the _Salicites_, were certainly trees, as were most of the species of this remote epoch.” In the following illustration are represented two of the Palms belonging to the Cretaceous period, restored from the imprints and fragments of the fossil remains left by the trunk and branches in the rocks of the period (Fig. 130.) [Illustration: Fig. 130.--Fossil Palms restored.]