It does not appear that the structure of the cone has been preserved in any of the specimens, so as to demonstrate the characters of the original; in all those I have examined, the surface of the fruit is concealed by the elongated bracteæ, which are pressed flat, and adhere so firmly to the inclosed body, as to render it impossible to ascertain its nature.[131] Mr. Williamson is of opinion that the plant resembled the recent Cycas circinalis, in its great height, and lax habits; and states, that he had seen portions of leaves that were three feet in length.
[131] Brit. Mus. Petrif. p. 55.
Zamites crassus. [Lign. 49, fig. 1.]—In Sandown Bay, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, where the Wealden beds rise to the surface from beneath the lowest strata of Greensand on the east and west, several cones have been found, associated with other vegetable remains, and bones of the Iguanodon, &c. A fossil cone from this locality is here figured; it bears considerable resemblance to the fruit of the recent Encephalartos.
ZAMITES OVATUS.
Zamites ovatus. [Lign. 49, fig. 2.]—A few examples of cycadeous fruits have been collected from the Greensand of Kent and Sussex. The beautiful fossil represented, [Lign. 49, fig. 2], from Foss. Flor. is referred to the Zamiæ, by the eminent authors of that work; but it presents in its imbricated character a greater analogy to a pine cone.
Lign. 49. Fossil Fruits of Cycadeous Plants; 1/2 nat.
| Fig. | 1.— | Zamites Crassus. Wealden, Isle of Wight. |
| 2.— | Zamites Ovatus. Greensand, Kent. |
Zamites Sussexiensis.—At Willingdon, near Eastbourn, in Sussex, a cone nearly six inches long was discovered in a bed of Greensand, which abounds in fossil coniferous wood: it is of an elongated cylindrical form, and covered with hexagonal scales. I have provisionally named it Zamites Sussexiensis (Geol. Proc. 1843), as it presents a nearer resemblance to the fruit of Zamiæ than to that of Conifers.