THE AVILCOX I-'LORA. 



A\ IIX 'OX CHOIM'. refers simply to films of commimited lignite 



STUDY OF THE STRATIGRAPHY. *^^""S '*""*' l""li>l:« 'H tl"' <l:iy«, oi' leaf frag- 



moiits so liiicly liividiHl as to ho entirely 



The completo history of the study of the worthless, or even nothing more than .•arlxm- 



doposits which are now comprised in the Wil- ae(H)iis chiys. 



cox group is not within the scope of this The earliest significant eontriljution to the 



rej)ort. Only definite contributions to the paleobotany of the dc^posits of Wilcox age is 



paleobotanic history of the Wilcox time int<n-- a |)aper pui)lish(Ml by Lesquercnix ■ in 1859, 



val arc here discussed. based on materials collected by J. M. Safford, 



Nearly every geologist wlio has published then State geologist of Tennessee, just south 



anything regarding the Wilcox area mentions of Sonierville in Fayette County, Tcuin. Tliese 



lignite and impressions of leaves, but it would consisti^d of huif impressions preserved in clay 



not be worth while enumerating these refer- ironstone from a low exposure in a railroad 



encos in the literature. The paleobotanist cut about a mile south of the town. This 



engaged in relocating all tlio old localities in contribution recorded the species given in the 



order to collect material for study shoidd keep list below. This list and similar lists that 



clearly in mind the fact that the phrase follow show the original names and also the 



"abundant leaf impressions" may mean a disposition that has been made of these early 



really important outcrop, but more often it described forms in the present work. 



Lesquereux. Present work. 



Laurus caroliniensis Micliaux Nectandra lancit'olia. 



Prunus caroliniana (Michaux) Inga mississippiensis. 



Quercus mjTtifolia (Willdenow) Sophora lesquereuxi. 



Fagus ferruginea (Michaux) (?). 



Quercus ! cra-ssinervis? (Unger) Dryopliyllum cennesseensis. 



Quercus saffordi (Lesquereux) Banksia saffordi. 



Andromeda dubia (Lesquereux I Diospyros brachysepala, 



Andromeda vaccinifoliae affinis Lesquereux Cassia glenni. 



Eheagnus inasqualis Lesquereux Chrysobalanus insqualis. 



This outcrop was stated to be of Pliocene a few upper Wilcox plants occur at about this 



ago by Lesquereux, and, as wiU be noted from same horizon southwest of Trenton in Gi1)son 



the forgoing list, several of the forms were County, Tenn. 



identified with still existing species. Later Very few facts worth recording at the time 



he regarded these deposits as "most inti- were overlooked in HUgard's work in Missis- 



mately related to tlio Miocene of Europe^." sippi, which i)artly culminatinl in his "Report 



Safford ' coasidered the Orange sand, as he on the geology and agriculture of Mississippi," 



then termed the deposits that included the pufjlisluHl in 1S61. In this classic, which 



Somervilh^ outcrop, to be of Eocene age, and marks an (^pocli in the study of the Southern 



Lesquereux ajiparently accepted this opinion Coastal Plain, there are frequent references to 



to the extent of including them in his paper plant fossils, several of which are worth men- 



on the Mississippi plants collected by Hilgard, tioning. In his general section of the Tertiary 



in which they were all referred to tlie "Lig- of Mississippi'' he gives several lists of species 



nitic" [Wilcox], although ho still maintained based on the preliminary studies of Lesquereux. 



their Miocene age. Tliis outcrop is near the 



top of the Wilcox; similar ironstones carrying ^Lesquereux, Leo, Am. Jour.SeS., 2d ser., vol. 27, pp. 363,364,1859. 



. '. 3 Hilgard, K. W., Report on the Reology and agriculttu"e of Mississippi, 



' Safford, J. M., Geology of Tennessee, IS69. p. los, 1(S61. 



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