170 



EDWARD W. BERRY 



Germany, and in the various crown-lands of the Austrian mon- 

 archy. An ash leaf from the Miocene of Virginia is shown on 

 the accompanying plate. 



Ashes seem to have declined in variety during the succeeding 

 Pliocene times, and the few species that have been discovered all 

 show a near approach in their characters to those of the existing 

 species. Thus in Spain, France and Italy fossil leaves are found 

 in the Pliocene deposits that are indistinguishable from those 



Fig. 2. Sketch map showing the existing and fossil distribution of Fraxinus. 



of the existing manna ash {Fraxinus ornus) of southern Europe. 

 Similarly modern looking ash leaflets are found in the Pliocene 

 Citronelle formation in our Gulf states. 



During the succeeding Pleistocene times, marked by conti- 

 nental ice sheets, the ashes that have been found fossil are all 

 still existing species, and include at least two European and two 

 American forms. These all occur either far to the southward 

 of the ice sheets, as for example Fraxinus ornus in Italy, or in 

 Interglacial deposits, as for example Fraxinus excelsior in France 



