52 



LOWER EOCEXE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



Cassia fayettensis. 

 Cassia gleniii. 

 Cassia inarshallensis. 

 Cupanitps eoligniticus. 

 Cupanites loughridsii. 

 Dryophylluin iiiouiii. 

 Dn'ophylluin ])uryi'ar('iisi.s. 

 Dryophylluin U'UiK'Ssccusis. 

 Ensolhardtia ettiiitrshausoni. 

 Exostema ))scnuli >cai"iba'Uin . 

 Ficus denveriaiia. 

 Ficus mjTtifolius. 

 Ficus wilcoxensis. 

 Inga ■wickliHeiisis. 

 Juglans beiTja. 

 Juglans schimperi. 

 Mespilodaphne pseud oglauca. 

 Miinosites variabilis. 

 Sapindus eoliguiticus. 

 Sapindus formosus. 

 Sapindus linearifolius. 

 Sapindus mississippiensis. 



These species indicate a stratigraphic posi- 

 tion at about the boundary between the Holly 

 Springs sand or middle Wilcox and the Grenada 

 formation or upper Wilcox of the northern 

 Mississippi section, or slightly higher (younger). 



SECTIONS IN ARKANSAS. 



CROWLETS RIDGE, CLAY, GREENE, AND POIN- 

 SETT COUNTIES. 



The age of the light quartzitic sandstone 

 which outcrops as a series of ledges at so many 

 points along the western side of Crowleys 

 Ridge, m northeastern Arkansas, has been a 

 puzzle to geologists since the days of Owen, 

 who m his first report compared them with the 

 Potsdam of the early Paleozoic. Many sec- 

 tions are given by R. E. Call in his report on 

 Crowleys Ridge," where they are correctlj^ re- 

 ferred to the Eocene. He collected a few leaves 

 from one of these outcrops in 1889 at Hardys 

 Mill, near Gainesville in Greene County.- I 

 have determined the following forms from this 

 locality : 



Anona ampla. 

 Aralia notata. 

 Asplenium colignilica. 

 Ciiinamomum i)08tnewberryi. 

 Ficus eoligiiitica. 

 Ficus vaughaiii. 

 Mespilodaphne coushatta. 



At the classic locality on the. Lane place, 

 described originally by Owen and sulisecjuently 

 by Call, the fragments of the quartzite in tlie 

 bed of the gully contain fragments of dicoty- 



' Arkansas Geol. Survey Ann. Kept, for 1889, Tol. 2, 1891. 

 2 Idem, pp. 95, 96. 



ledonous leaves and of a fan palm (presum- 

 ably Sahalitcs (/rfii/inius Les(iuereux) as weU as 

 fossil rootlets (rhizomorplis). 



P^vrtlier to the north along the west escarp- 

 ment of the ridge in Clay County, about 4 miles 

 southwest of Boydsville, a small exposure, 

 only about 6 feet in thickness and 10 to 1.5 feet 

 in horizontal extent, occurs on the heavily 

 wooded slope at the head of a branch that is 

 usually dry. This outcrop was discovered by 

 L. W. Stephenson and visited by me in 1910. 

 The materials are stratified and more or less 

 indurated, medium fine gray sands somewhat 

 stained with iron. Impressions of leaves are 

 common, but the variety of forms is not great. 

 The following species have been deteiTnined : 



Ancimia eocenica. 

 .Vpocyiiophyllum labellarum. 

 Banksia tenuitolia. 

 Dryophylluin tennesseensis. 

 Ficus denveriana. 

 Nectandra lowii. 

 Nectandra pseudocoriacea. 

 Sabalites grayanu.s. 

 Sapindus linearifolius. 



These forms in conjunction with the sunilar 

 leaf-bearing materials from Hardys Mills effect- 

 ually settle tlie Wilcox age of these sandstones 

 of Crowleys Ridge. Though the flora found 

 along Crowleys Ridge is too limited for exact 

 correlation within the Wilcox it falls in the up- 

 per instead of the lower half of the group. 



The southernmost locality on Crowleys Ridge 

 at which the Wilcox lias been identified paleo- 

 botanically lies on the west side of the ridge 

 along Bolivar Creek, the main affluent of 

 L'Anguille River. This section is discussed at 

 length in Call's report.^ The following section 

 taken by Stephenson * in 1912 is not composite 

 like that described by Call: 



Section on Bolirar Creek, Ark. 



Pleistocene (loess): Keet. 



1. Loam, probably creep from a liigher le\el, 



brownish color 1 



Pliocene (?) (Lafayette formation): 



2. Gravel, proliably cree]) from a higher level. . 4 

 Eocene (Claiborne (?) formation): 



3. Weathered brown fine argillaceous sand ,3 



4. Fine light-gray, faintly laminated argillaceous 



sand 11 



5. Fine light-gray massive sand 44 



G. Fine chocolat«-colored argillaceous, faintly 



laminated sand 41 



7. Dark-colored, very fine, very argillaceous 

 sand 4 



"Call, R. E., The geology of Crowleys Ridge: Arkansas Geol. Survey 

 Ann. Rept. for 1889, vol. 2, pp. wl-ss, 1891. 

 * Stephenson, L. W., unpublished report. 



