A FOSSIL C YPRESS S WA MP IN MA R YLA ND. 165 



hydrozoa (Sertularia and Medusas), may have aided to some extent in 

 the preservation of the plant tissues. 



The basal greenish-colored clays of the deposit rest unconforma- 

 bly upon the deeply eroded surface of the iron-stained " fuller's-earth 

 clay " of the Patapsco formation. The fine blue clay above mentioned 

 as overlying the Cypress bed is conformably overlain by a bed of in- 

 terstratified sands and clays, which is unconformably overlain by the 

 Matawan formation. 



The present extent of the deposit along the Bay shore is about one 

 hundred and fifty yards. Its original bayvvard extent is of course un- 

 known. One of the older residents alleges, however, that the cliffs 

 have receded at this point at least two hundred feet within the last 

 fifty years, when what appears to have been the bayward margin was 

 worked to some extent for "marl." The landward extent is likewise 

 unknown, but judging from the thickness now exposed, and from the 

 fact that there are no noticeable signs of its thinning in this direction, 

 we are permitted to suppose that the landward extent of the Cypress 

 bed may be at least equal to its bayward extent. 



The most striking feature of the deposit consists in the gigantic 

 Cypress stumps standing in situ along the beach. Some of these are . 

 in the water several yards from the shore, where, when seen from a 

 distance, their irregularly-worn surfaces resemble partly submerged 

 rocks. Others are in process of erosion out of the base of the cliif. 

 At this date there are thirty-two of these exposed, standing at various 

 levels in the deposit. The roots of the lowest penetrate the basal 

 greenish sandy clay, while their stumps in some cases extend up com- 

 pletely through the lignite bed proper. Other stumps stand at higher 

 levels with their roots penetrating the swamp materials. They are all 

 broken or worn off at various levels ranging from one to four feet. 



The diameters of some of the more conspicuous stumps are as 

 follows — the measurements having been made across their tops, where 

 we may suppose the diameter is somewhat greater than that of the 

 trunk proper: The largest stump exposed (see Frontispiece) meas- 

 ures a little more than ten feet. Its trunk probably reached eight or 

 nine feet in diameter. Two others, measured higher up, are six feet; 

 five are five feet; three, four feet; five, three feet; and three, two feet. 



Knees, standing iji situ, are abundant. The largest of these 

 reach two feet in diameter. Their surfaces are much worn by 

 the surf and exhibit some interesting natural sections which indicate 

 their mode of development from the roots. 



Only a single species of Cypress appears to be represented in the 

 deposit, and this is apparently a near relative of — if not, indeed, iden- 

 tified with — our modern " Bald Cypress" {Taxodiiini disticJiuui). 



