COMPOSITION OF TlIK FLORA. 



107 



Two species come from the Dakota sandstone, 

 2 from the Tuscaloosa formation of Ahil)ama, 

 1 from the Bhick Creek formation (Mideh'ii- 

 dorf arkose member) of South Carohna, 1 from 

 the Woodbine sand of Texas, 2 eacli from tlic 

 Raritan an<l Magothy formations of tlie Middle 

 Athmtic States, 1 from tlie Montana gi'onp, 

 and 2 from the Laramie. I have given this 

 Upper Ci-etaceons distribution in some detail 

 because of the special interi'st attached to the 

 deployment of the Upper Ci'ctaceous Dicoty- 

 ledons. It shoidd be noted that seven of tliese 

 Upper Cretaceous forms are North Ain(>rican. 

 There are more than 30 Eocene species of 

 Sapindtis, of which two-thirds are Nortlr Ameri- 

 can. Tlie genus is very abundantly repre- 

 sented in both individuals and species in the 

 coastal floras of the Wilcox gi'oup, from which 

 I have described no less than 9 species. The 

 overlying Claiborne gi'oup contains 4 species. 

 Species of Sapiiidus are equally common in the 

 Rocky Mountain province in the Denver, 

 Fort Union, and Green River formations. An 

 Eocene species comes from Greenland, 4 unde- 

 scribed species are found in the Ypresian of 

 England, and a fifth is contained in beds of 

 the same age in Hungary. There is an u])per 

 Eocene species from France and a second from 

 Oregon. 



Six or more Oligocene species are well tlis- 

 tributed in Europe, and species wliich occur in 

 Cliile, New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania 

 miay be of Oligocene age. More than ,30 Mio- 

 cene species are found tlu'oughout southern 

 Europe, m eastern Asia, and in North Aiuerica 

 (Colorado, Oregon, and Yellowstone Park). 

 The 8 or 10 Pliocene species are confuied to 

 southern Europe. 



Several form genera have been derived from 

 the same root as the genus Sapmdus. Thus, 

 Sapuidopliyllum has been applied to 2 species 

 from the Albian of Portugal (?). To this 

 genus are also referred a Cenomanian and a 

 Chattian species from Bohemia and a Tertiary 

 species from Japan. The term Sapindoidc^s 

 has been used by Perkins for Sapindus-likc 

 fruits preserved in the early Tertiary lignites 

 of Brandon, Vt., from which 8 species have 

 been described. In some respects the most 

 interesting genus is Sapindopsis Fontauie, 

 which is represented by 3 abundant and well- 

 preserved species in the Patajjsco formation 

 (Albian) of Maryland and Virginia, one of 



wliicli is also present in tlie Fuson formation of 

 tll(^ Black Hills, and wliicli I lia-ve shown ' to 

 be v(^ry probably ancestral forms of the genus 

 Matayba Aublet (Cupaniea') which contains 

 more than two score e.xisthig species m the 

 tropical and subtropical regions of iViuerica. 

 This well-marked type suggests the interesting 

 tjuestion, How early in tlie Mezosoic were the 

 ancestors of many modern genera present in 

 equatorial America ? 



Th(^ genus Paullinia Lume, which contams 

 about 122 existing species, mostly contmed to 

 the American Tro])ics but s])aringly repre- 

 sent(>d in Africa and Madagascar, is represented 

 by an Oligocene species hi Prussia and 2 early 

 Miocene species in southeastern France and 

 Bohemia. 



The genus Thoumia Poit, which in the mod- 

 ern flora has about 15 sj)ecies confined to the 

 West Indies and Mexico, is represented by an 

 early Tertiary, ])robably Eocene species m 

 Chile. The genus Nephelium Lume, which 

 contains more than a score of existmg species 

 m southeastern Asia, is recorded by Unger 

 from the Aquitanian of Greece and by Geyler 

 from the Tertiary of Borneo. 



The genus Koelreuteria Laxmami is repre- 

 sented by 2 Climese species in the existmg 

 flora. In the fossil state it is recorded from 

 the Tertiary of the island of Saklialin, from 

 Spitzbergen, and from Switzerland antl Baden. 

 Felix has described a genus, Schmideliopsis, 

 based on fossil wood from the Oligocene of the 

 island of Antigua, very close to the existmg 

 genus Sclunidelia Lmne, which contains more 

 than a hundred existing species in all tropical 

 countries. 



Deane rc^cortls 3 species of Nephelites from 

 the Tertiary of New South Wales. 



The modern CupanicEe are represented in 

 paleobotanic literature not only by Cupania, 

 but by species of Cupanites and Cupanoides. 

 The term Cupanoides was proposed by Bower- 

 bank for cupaniaceous fruits and seeds, of 

 which he described several characteristic sj)e- 

 cies from the Ypresian of the Isle of Shep- 

 pey. Similar forms have also been recognized 

 in th(^ Miocene of Carniola and m the Pliocene 

 of Italy. The genus Cupania Lmne contains 

 about 35 existmg species, which are confined 

 to the American Tropics. Several Ypresian 



Uierry, !■'. W., Maryland fieol. Survey, Lower Cretaceous, pp. -JtJT- 

 474, pis. S.')-SS, 1911. 



