sigil (sijil)

[ She... . gave me charms and sigils , for defence Against ill tongues that scandal innocence. Dryden, Flower and Leaf, 1. 606. Sign and sigil , word of power, From the earth raised keep and tower. Scott , Bridal of Trier main, iii. 16. Sigil lari a (sij-i-lā'ri-ä), n. [NL. (Brongniart, 1822), sigillum , a seal: see sigil .] A genus of very important and widely spread fo il plants which occur in the (Carboniferous) coal measures, and which are especially characteristic of the middle section of the series. Sigil . lari a is a tree often of large size, and chiefly known by the peculiar markings on the trunk, which in some re. spects resemble those which characterize Lep i do dendron. These markings are leaf-scars, and they occur spirally distributed around the stem, and generally arranged on vertical ridges or ribs. Great numbers of species have been described, the variations in the form and arrangement of the leaf-scars and of the vascular scars being the points chiefly relied on for specific distinction. Sigil lari a is but imperfectly known, so far as foliage and fruit are Sigil lari a concerned, but most paleobotanists consider it probable that it will be eventually proved to be closely related to Lep i do dendron; others refer it to the cycads; while there are some who maintain that it is probable that various plants quite different from one another in their systematic position have been included under the name Sigil lari a.