Introduction to the Study of Palæontological Botany

This work provides a systematic introduction to the study of fossil plants, explaining how to identify and examine preserved plant remains, modes of preservation, and techniques for microscopic and field analysis. It reviews fossiliferous rocks and aligns fossil taxa with modern natural orders, then surveys the vegetation of successive geological periods from early Palaeozoic acrogens through Mesozoic gymnosperms to the angiosperm-rich Tertiary, with attention to Carboniferous, Permian, Jurassic, and later floras. Emphasis is placed on comparing fossils with living plants to infer structure, habit, and environmental relations; illustrations support the descriptions.