14 



LOWEK EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



Thiri species is rare. It was descrihecl by 

 Lesquereux from a single specimen found in 

 tlie Denver formation at Golden, Colo. The 

 Te.xas material is scant}' and broken but, for- 

 timately, shows all parts of the leaf, which are 

 in exact agreement with the type. 



As conimonlj- u.sed by palcobotanisls the 

 term Laurus represents a form genus inherited 

 from tlie days when its modern use was not 

 restricted. Tlie fo.ssil species of Laurus are not 

 doseh' related to the existing species of Laurus 

 but represent tlie modern genera Persea, Oreo- 

 daphne, Mespilodaplme, Xectandra, and others. 

 In my discussion of the succeeding Wilco.x 

 flora, where ample materials were available 

 for study, I have endeavored to refer the 

 numerous species of Lauracese to their proper 

 genera but do not think it wise to attempt any 

 closer generic determination of this species. 

 It greatly resembles a nmuber of existing 

 tropical American species of Oreodaphne and 

 Nectandra. 



Occurrence. — Midway ( ?) formation, Earle, 

 Bexar County, Tex. (collected by L. W. Ste- 

 phenson). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Family ANONACE^ai. 



Genus ASIMINA Adanson. 



AsiMiNA EOCENiCA LesquerciLX. 



Asimina eocenica. Lesquereux, U. S. Gaol, and Geog. 

 Survey Terr. Ann. Kept, for 1872, p. 3S7, 1873. 

 Lesquereux, The Tertiary flora, p. 251, pi. 43, figs. 

 5-8, 1878. 



Description. — Lesquereux in L878 described 

 the species as follows : 



Leaves very entire, lanceolate, equally gradually taper- 

 ing downward to a short, thick petiole and Tipward to a 

 point; nervation pinnate, camptodrome. I liave seen a 

 large number of specimens of those leaves, varying in 

 size from 8 to 15 centimeters long and from 2 J to 4 centi- 

 meters broad in tlie middle, where they are tlie widest, 

 and there oblong, gradually narrowing upward and down- 

 ward. The consistence of the leaves is somewhat tliick 

 but not coriaceotis; tlic midrib thick, the lateral veins 

 numerous, parallel, all under tlie same angle of divergence 

 of 50°, slightly curved in traversing the lamina, generally 

 simple or branching oncre toward the borders, which they 

 follow in a series of bows, formed by anastomoses with 

 veinlets or brandies. The nervilles are distinctly marke<l, 

 at least upon some well-preserved specimens like the one 

 of figure 8; they are generally jciiiie<l in the middh' of the 

 areas by oblique \'einlets, forming large equilateral meslies, 

 the ultimate areolation being indiscernible. These 

 leaves differ especially from our A. triloba by their oblong- 

 lanceolate shape, those of the living species being gen- 



erally eiilarge<l upward and more distinctly oblong-obo- 

 vato and proportionally broader. The nervation compared 

 ill both the small and the large leaves of the living species 

 fully agrees with that of these fossil leaves, the h'teral 

 veins becoming closer and more distinctly marked in the 

 small leaves, iis it is in figure 5. It is the same with the 

 tertiary intermediate nerves, which are scarcely, if ever, 

 distinctly marked upon the .small or middle-sized leaves 

 of the papaw, while they appear, if not numerous, at 

 lea.st perfectly distinct in the large ones. A fruit referable 

 to tlus genus is described in the Wilcox flora of the Mis- 

 sissippi as Asimina leiocarpa Lesquereux. 



This species is common in the Denver forma- 

 tion at Golden, Colo., occurring also at Car- 

 bon and Black Buttes, Wyo. It has been 

 recorded by Ivnowlton ' from the Montana 

 group, but that identification seems to me to 

 be erroneous. 



The so-called Montana specitnen is smaller, 

 with more ascending secondaries. The mate- 

 rial from Te.xas on which the identification of 

 this species rests comprises several incom- 

 plete specimens of large leaves, which were 

 about 15 centimeters in length by 4 centi- 

 meters in ma.ximum width, with stout promi- 

 nent midribs and the general form and vena- 

 tion of this species. It is not unlike specimens 

 from the Raton formation which have been 

 referred to the European Tertiary species 

 Juglans acuminata Alexander Braun. 



Occurrence. — Midway (?) formation, Earle, 

 Bexar County, Tex. (collected by Alexander 

 Deussen and L. W. Stephenson). 



Collection. — LT. S. National Museum. 



Order ROSALES. 



Family PAPILIONACEffl. 



Genus DOLICHITES Unger. 



DoLicHiTES DEussENi Berry, n. sp. 



Plate III, figure H. 



Description. — Leaves trifoliate. Latertil leaf- 

 lets apparently sessile, cordate, or deltoid in 

 general outline, ineciuilateraJ, with a pointed 

 apex and a shaUowly cordate or frtnicate 

 broad base. Length about S to 10 centime- 

 ters. Maximum width, at or below the middle, 

 about 10 centimeters. Margins entire. Tex- 

 ture thin. Midrib stout, curved, especially 

 distad. Lateral primaries stout, thiiuting 

 distad, one on each side of the midrib, from 

 which they diverge at angles of about 40° at its 



I Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 163, p. 57, pi. 14, fig. 3, 

 1900. 



