COMPOSITION OF TIIK FLOHA. 



105 



collccl ions by a small ainoimt of mostly poor 

 material ami arc without special sisjnificaiicc. 



The family (\'lastracea' includes about 10 

 genera and iiior(^ tiian -lOO existing sp(U'ics of 

 trees and siirubs that l)car opp()sit(^ or alternate, 

 simple, persistent or (h'ciduous leaves and cap- 

 sular or (h'U|)aceous fruits. Tlic '.i large genera 

 Euoiiynuis, Colastrus, aiul (iyiiuiosjioria arc 

 ])ractically cosmopolitan, and scvcnd (iliu^r 

 genera localized in tlu^ luodcM-n iiora wtu'c cos- 

 mo])olitan in tlio Tertiary. 



Tlic following 12 gtnicra, wliich include more 

 than 100 species, are conlined to America: 

 Fraunhofera, Mortonia, Glossiii)etaliun, vSchaef- 

 feria, Goupia, Maytemis, Paehystima, Zino- 

 wiewia, Phnickia, Wimnieria, Gyminda, Ivha- 

 coma. The genera Glyptopetalum and Tri]i- 

 teiygium, which include 5 species, are c(iiilin(H] 

 to Asia. The genera Hypso|>liiJa, Denhamia, 

 and llcdraiantlu^ra, which contain 7 sixties, 

 are coniined to Australia. The following 10 

 genera, which include about 60 species, are 

 confined to Africa or Madagascar: Putterlickia, 

 Catha, Pterocclastrus, Polycardia, Ptididium, 

 Cassine, Ela^odendi'on, Maurocenia, .Schrebera. 

 and Lauridia. 



The family is definitely represented in the 

 Cretaceous by at least 5 genera and is an im- 

 portant elemcnit m most Tertiary floras. The 

 oldest known genus is the form genus GcJastro- 

 phyUum, proposed by Goppert. Five weU- 

 markcd species occur in the Patapsco formation 

 (Albian) of Virginia and Maryland. At 'the 

 l)ase of the Upper Ci-etaceous, ])articularly m 

 North America, a large number of species are 

 found. More than 30 have been described, 2 

 of which are recorded from New Zealand and 

 2 from the Cenomanian of Niederscho(uia, in 

 Saxony. One species is found in the Atane 

 beds of Greeidand and 3 are found in the 

 Patoot bods. The remainder occur in the 

 United States, where they are distributed as 

 foUows: T(Mi in the Karitan formation of New 

 Jersej' and Maiyland, 12 in the Tuscaloosa for- 

 mation of Alabama, 2 in the Magothy formation 

 of New Jersey and Maryland, 2 in the Black 

 Creek formation (MiddiMidorf arkose member) 

 of South Carolina, 7 in tlie Dakota sandstone, 

 and 2 in the Black Creek foi'mation of North 

 Carolina. There are 10 Eocene species — 7 in 

 the basal Eocene of Belgium, 1 ii\ the Y])resian 

 of England, and 2 in the Claibcirne group of th(^ 

 Mississippi embajrment. There arc 5 Miocene 



species in Italy, Bohemia, and Styria; a Plio- 

 cene species in Italy; and 4 Tertiary s])ecies 

 from the island of Java. Anoliicr form genus 

 is Cc^lastrinites Saporta, whicii includi^s 4 spe- 

 cies in the Paleoceiu^ of France, 1 in the Denver 

 formation of (\)l()rado, 1 in tli(^ Livingston for- 

 mation of Montana, and 1 in (he Miocene of 

 Florissant, Colo. 



The genus (jclastrus Limic is tlu^ lai-gest fossil 

 genus of the family. Though its present 

 center of distrii)ution lies in the uplantls of 

 southeastern Asia and th(> East Indies, its 

 histoi-y shows that the ancestral stock was 

 cosmopolit.an and vei-y abundant in the T(t- 

 tiary of .Vmerica and Fui'o])e. It is highly 

 probal)l(> that it originated in AuKM'ica at the 

 dawn of the L'ppcr Cretaceous or somewhat 

 earlier. The oldest known s])ecies, CeJaMrus 

 airfica Hcer, is found in the Ilaritan and 

 Magotliy formations (vf New .fersey and Mary- 

 land and in the Patoot betls of Greenland. No 

 less tiiau 30 species of Celastnis have been de- 

 scribed from the Eocene, including G Ypresian 

 species from England, 5 species in the Wilcox 

 flora, 1 in the Denver, 10 in the Fort Union, 1 

 in 11h> Kenai of Alaska, and 3 from GrecnJaiid. 

 There are also al)outi ;')0 Oligoccnc species, all 

 Furopcaii, which include^ remains in the Baltic 

 amber, in France, .Switzerland, Germany, 

 Austria-Hungary, and Greece. There are at 

 least* a dozen species in the Chattian of Bohe- 

 mia. More than 50 Miocene species have been 

 described, ranging throughout Europe, in 

 eastern Asia, in Australia, and in \'irginia, 

 Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon in this country. 

 About a dozen Pliocene species have been 

 described from Spain, France, Italy, and 

 Sicily. 



The genera Cassine Liime and Pterocclastrus 

 Meissner, both now confined to South Africa 

 and ^ladagascar, each includes a fossil species 

 in the Miocene of Bohemia. The genus 

 Pachystima Ilafinesque, which includes 2 exist- 

 ing spei'ies in North America, contains an 

 Upper Cretaceous species in North Carolina 

 and a Miocene species in Colorado. 



The genus Maytemis Feuillce, which con- 

 tains about 70 existing species of the Tropics 

 and subtropics of South America, is repre- 

 sented by a well-nnirked species in the \Mlc()x 

 flora. There arc 2 species in the early Tertiary 

 of Chil(>, 1 in the late OligoccMie and 3 in the 

 Miocene of southeastern Em-ope. 



