40 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



in the huuiiiatcd clays contain nuicli bniwnisli 

 conuninutt'd vegetable matter, but apparently 

 no l<>aA'i's liave Ix'cn found in them, possibly 

 because they do not lend tlieniselves to exploi- 

 tation. The leaf remains are not especially 

 a])un<hint l)ut are rather srenerallx' distributed 



extensive jiaper on the Lafayette formation,' 

 but there has of covu-se been considerable 

 erosion ui the 50 yeai-s that have elapsed since 

 Prof, llilgard made liis sketcii. Some geolo- 

 gists, notably E. A. Smith, are inclined to sec 

 an imconformity in this section between Nos. 

 .3 and 4, particularly because the clay outcrop tlu-ough the nior(> massive cla_\s and rei)resent a 

 is irregular and neighboring exposures show consideraljle flora. Palm lea\-es are especially 

 pellets or larger disconnected masses of clay, abundant and large, some being several feet in 

 Tliese features arc due primarily to current diameter 

 bedtlmg and weathermg and are intraforma- 

 tional, as is conceded bv McGee. This rela- 



I (, they are very difficult to collect. 

 The following species occm- here : 



Railroad cut. 



tion is indicated by tracuig the exposure up 

 the near-by ravine to the northeast, as shown in 

 the following section. The strata included in 

 the preceding section are overlain hi this local- 

 ity bj' t3']:)ical leaf-bearmg clays of tiie Wilcox. 



Section in ravine at Oxford about ii)0 yiirds north o/ the 



coiirlhoune . 



Feet. 



1. Bro-.vn loam 0-1 



Holly Sprlflgs sand: 



2. Loam grading into reddisli compact, rather 



fine sands with a few scattered pieces of 

 limonite (probably not a ])rimary feature); 

 the sands become looser and are buff 

 toward the base 9-10 



3. Similar stratified sands, lighter in color and 



more aigillaceous than material in No. 2, 

 carrying small clay pellets at the base; 

 about 5 



4. Grayish sandy clay, more or less ferruginous 



stained and containing some scattered thin 



iron crusts 3- 4 



5. Brownish stratified sand similar to that of 



No. 2, containing layers of gray laminated 

 clay grading into brownish or bluish lami- 

 nated clay 5- 6 



G. Laminated clays passing gradually into 

 darker, more massive, and somewhat more 

 micaceous clays, in places very arenaceous 

 and containing numerous leaves of plants. L'O 



Bed Xo. 6 grades horizontally into the 



Apocynophyllum tal)ellarum. 

 Ficus vaughani. 

 Orco])anax oxfordeiisis. 

 Sabalites grayaiuis. 

 Sapindurt oxforden,: is. 



Ravine. 

 Acacia wilcoxensis. 

 Apocynophyllum wilcoxense. 

 Caenomyces laurinea. 

 Cjenomyces myrtle. 

 Csenomyces pestalozzites. 

 Caenomyces sapotse. 

 Canna eocenica. 

 Cinnamon! u ra mississippiensis. 

 Cinnamomum vera. 

 Dryophyllum tennesseensis. 

 Ficus ci7inamomoides. 

 Glyptostrobus europseus. 

 MjTcia bentonensis. 

 MjTcia vera. 

 Neclandra lowii. 

 Nectandra psendocoriacea. 

 Oreopanax oxfordensis. 

 PatfodendroTi americannm. 

 Pithocolobium oxfordensis. 

 Sabalites grayanus. 

 Zizyphus meigsii. 



This horizon is comparable to tlw buff clays 

 carrying »Sa])a,lites which tmderlio tihe clay lens 

 at Puryear in Henry County, Temt, and wlt'ch 

 have furnished the very large flora described 



lighter sandy laminated clays exposed along from that locality. 



the raiL-oad immediately south of the first I give only one other section at O.xfoi-d, one 

 section and are at the same level as the lower that shows even more conclusively than the 

 sands m that section. The massive argilla- preceding section that th(> Wilcox m this county 

 ceous beds in the ravine are somewhat bluish is indivisible and tluit there is nothing cor- 

 in color but on drying become brownish responding to a Lafayette formation in La- 

 banded ringing clays. The gray films of sand f ayette CountJ^ 



Section ofllolhi Springs sand in cut. of Illinois Central Railroad 1 mile north of Oxford depot. 



Feet. 



1. Yellowish argillaceous stratified sand, grading downward into No. 2; about 10 



2. Grayish and pinkish sands, much cro.ss-bedded, with clay laminoe 10 



3. Medium coarse, much cross-bedded micaceous sand.s alternating in 2 to 4 foot beds with 2 to 3 



foot beds of very thinly laminated greenish or pinki.sh gray clay containing fine .sand films, 

 the whole about 25 



I McGee, W J, U. S. Geol. Survey Twelfth Ann. Kept., pt. 1, p. «7, fig. 58. 1891. 



