ITG 



1 1) 



LOWER KOCIOXIC I'l.OKAS OF SOl'TI 1 KASTKKX XOIM'II AMKIUCA. 



imum width of L'..j contiinotcrs. Fruits siiisjjk' 

 seedotl, uuinerous, ohlatc-sphcroidal in shape, 

 circular in transvei-se section, about 2.25 miUi- 

 meters in diameter, and al)out 4 or 5 niilli- 

 metci's in lengtli, united and nearly immersed 

 in a compact spadix. Outline of the coalesced 

 perianth (if present) deformeil by pressure, 

 seen to be antjular in some parts of the speci- 

 men and apparently hexagonal. 



The remains on which this species is founded 

 are unfortunately scanty and impei'fectly pre- 

 served in clay ironstone, so that the interpre- 

 tation must be accepted with due reserve. 

 Comparisons have been made with a variety 

 of botanic material. The first fragments were 

 thought to represent a small crushed compomid 

 fruit comparable with NelumV)o, and compari- 

 sons were also made with the cicatrices of the rhi- 

 zomes of certain Nymphseacese. When thelarger 

 figured specimen was worked out of the matrix 

 it at once suggested a spadix of some aroid. 

 The onh' other alternative that seemed worthy 

 of consideration was that the fossil might rep- 

 resent a small-fruited ^Vi'tocarpus, the leaves 

 of that genus being common in these beds. 

 The apparent remains of Artocarpus fruits 

 have been described by Heer^ from the Tertiary 

 of Switzerland, by Nathoret - from the Creta- 

 ceous of Greenland, and by Marty ■' from the 

 Miocene of France. The Wilcox remains, how- 

 ever, do not compare favorably with these fos- 

 sils nor with the living material of Artocarpus. 



The genus Ai-acereites Fritel, to which the 

 present fossils are referred, was described in 

 1910 from material of Spaniacian age (the 

 same age as a part of the Wilcox group) from 

 the Paris Basin. It was proposed for araceous 

 remains of this sort of not determinable generic 

 affinity and was based on a single form, smaller 

 and better preserved than that from the Wil- 

 cox, compared by its describer witli the exist- 

 ing S pathipliylhim fioribunduin Engler and S. 

 lanceolatum Kotz, both of northern South 

 America. The genus Spathiphyllum Schott 

 comprises about a score of existing species, all 

 but one of which, an East Indian form, are 

 confined to tropical America. Anothcu" genus 

 with wliich the fossil may be comjjared is 

 Monstera Adanson, which is represented by 



' Heer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Ilelvetias, vol. 2, p. Ill), pi. 84, fig. 7, ISSij. 

 'Nathorst, A. G., Kgl. Sveaska Vetens.-Akad. IlaiuU., vol. 24, pp. 

 1-10, pi. 1, 1S90. 

 ' Marty, P., Flore mtoc&ne do Joursac, p. 50, pi. 9, figs. 11, 12, 1903. 



abdul 15 species in Iropical America. The 

 iiuhvidual fruits of tlic fo.ssil are very similar 

 in ajipcarance to those of Monstera deUciosa 

 Liebman, witli whicli it has been compared, 

 and probalily to those of other species of Mon- 

 stera, of which material was not readily avail- 

 able for comparison. 



The species under discussion is named in 

 recognition of the fine worlv of P. H. Fritel, of 

 the Paris Museum, in his revision of the Ter- 

 tiary floras of the Paris Basin. 



Occurn iiC( . — Wilcox group, 41 miles south- 

 west of Naborton, De Soto Parish, La. (col- 

 lected by (). B. Hopkins). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Older ARECALES. 



Family ARECACE^. 



Genus NIPADITES Bowerbank. 



NiPADiTEs BURTiNi Brongiiiait var. umbona- 



Tus Bowerbank. 



Plate CXII, figures 13 and 14. 



Nipadilcs umbonatus. Bowerbank, A history of the fossil 

 fruits and seeds of the London clay, p. 9, pi. 1, 1840.* 



Description. — Drupelike fniits of different 

 sizes, ranging from 5 to S centimeters in length 

 and from .3 to 5 centimeters in diameter, obov ate 

 in outline with a narrowetl truncated base and 

 a lu'oadly rounded, iimbilicate apex. Surface 

 fibrous and obscurely angled. 



This material consists of compressed, rather 

 illy preserved but perfectly characteristic fruits 

 of a nipa-like palm found hi the hard clay of 

 Grenada. Sunilar remains were noted from 

 the Englisli Eocene by Parsons as early as 

 1757 and from the Belgian Eocene by Burtin 

 in 1784. In 1S40 Bowerbank recognized their 

 true affinity and proposed the name Nipadites, 

 describing 13 species from the London clay of 

 the Isle of Slieppey (Ypresian). Later authors 

 have greatly reduced the number of species, 

 recognizing that the variations were due in a 

 large measure to the position of the fruits in the 

 head and their condition of preservation. It 

 is quite possible to match these F^ocene fruits 

 from Mississippi with one or more of Bower- 

 bank's types, but in the main they arc most 

 closely allied to his species umbonatus, which 

 Ettingshausen ^ in 1879 referred to Nipadites 



^ Those interested will find the detailed synonymy of Nipadites burtini 

 in the paper by A. C. Seward and E. A. N. Arber (Mas. roy. hist. nat. 

 Belgique ML^m., vol. 2, lOBIi). 



t" Ettingshausen, C. von, Hoy. Sue. London Proc, vol. 21), p. 393, IS79. 



