178 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



removed localities, in the otw area associated 

 with a subtropical coastal flora, which suggests 

 the existing flora of tlu^ West Indies and nortli- 

 ern South America and which advanced north- 

 ward in the Mississippi embayment region, and 

 m the western area associated with a very dif- 

 ferent type of flora. 



It is c[uite true that the determination of the 

 foliage of fossil j^alms is often beset with un- 

 usual if not uisuperable difficulties, as witness 

 the parallel range both geographic and geo- 

 logic, that is accorded to Sahal major Heer by 

 European students, a range extcndmg from 

 England, France, and Italy to India and from 

 the Eocene through the Oligocene and Miocene 

 to the Pontian stage. 



Since the original description of Sahalites 

 (jraijamis is more or less incomplete and all sub- 

 sequent descriptions have been either com- 

 posite or else based on material which I would 

 exclude from this species, it becomes important 

 to give as complete a description of this palm, 

 based on the present material from the type 

 locality and adjacent localities of the same age, 

 as is possible from the nature of the remains. 



Leaves of large size but mostly fragmentary. 

 Estimated diameter in some of the larger speci- 

 mens, where nearly half the leaf is preserved, 

 as great as 1.3 meters. Most of the leaves are 

 somewhat smaller than this, no doubt because 

 the larger the leaves the more fragmentary they 

 would be likely to become before fossilization. 

 Petiole long and stout, unarmed, enlarged at 

 the base of the leaf, and tapermg mto an ex- 

 tended and gradually narrowed acumen, which 

 is not visible on the upper surface of the leaf, 

 where the petiole is broadly rounded and a 

 short and inconspicuous ligule is developed. 

 From the manner of preservation and attitude 

 of the rays on some of the specimens it is in- 

 ferred that the acumen was recurved as it is in 

 the existing Sahal palmetto (Walter) Roemer 

 and Schultes. Rays very numerous, about 100 

 in number, a few reduced basal ones on each 

 side free, the remainder united for a variable 

 distance above the base. Then* dimensions 

 and the relative tliickness of the venation are 

 variable features dependent on the size of the 

 leaves. The largest specimens seen have thick 

 carinate stout- veined rays, 5 centimeters in 

 maximum width. They increase in size from 

 the base of the leaf upward and individually 

 they are narrow at their point of attachment. 



widening medially and Ix-coming gradually nar- 

 rowed into long acuminate tips. Venation 

 characters variable, largely dependent on the 

 size of the leaves and the condition of preserva- 

 tion of the epidermis in tlie fossil specimens. 

 In well-preserved material there are four or 

 five relatively tliin intermediate veins. Be- 

 tween each pair of veins there are six to eight 

 fine vcLtdets, which are not visible except in 

 well-preser^'ed specimens. The species seems 

 to be infested by at least two species of leaf- 

 spot fungi. 



This species appears to have been a common 

 form during Wilcox time. It is more like the 

 modern Sahal palmetto than any other existing 

 species, and, like it, was probably a form that 

 did not extend iidand any great distance. It 

 appears to have been an arborescent form and 

 less gregarious than, for example, our other ex- 

 isting species of Sabal and Serenoa. It is very 

 common in the deposits near Oxford, and per- 

 fect leaves arenot uncommon, but it is impos- 

 sible to get out good specimens from the mas- 

 sive and more or less jointed clays. A single 

 fragment of a ray from Wilson County, Tex., is 

 doubtfully referred to this species. 



It is a striking illustration of the wealth of 

 plant material entombed in the clays of the 

 embayment area, as well as of the inadequacj' 

 of arguments based on the absence of certain 

 genera in the collection, that very extensive 

 collections from Puryear should have furnished 

 oidy two or tlii'ee fragments of single rays of 

 this species, and yet a smgle specimen of clay 

 from this locality, exhibited at the Louisiana 

 Purchase Exposition (St. Louis) by a clay- 

 mining company, should show a fuie specimen 

 of the central part of a leaf, with the acumen 

 preserved. I am indebted to Prof. L. C. Glenn, 

 of Vanderbilt University, for the loan of this 

 specimen. The western form, from Black 

 Buttes, Wyo. , described originally by Lesquereux 

 as Flahellaria eocenica and later found to be 

 common in the Raton and Denver formations, 

 undoubtedly represents Saheilites grayanus. 



Occurrence. — Holly Springs sand, Oxford, 

 Lafavette County, Miss, (collected by E. W. 

 Ililgard, T. O. Mabry, and E. W. Berry), and 

 Holly Springs, Marshall County, Miss. (coUected 

 by E. W. Berry) . Grenada formation, Grenada, 

 Grenada County, Miss. (coUect(Hl by E. W. 

 Berry). Wilcox group: Benton, Salme County, 

 .\ik. (coUected by E. W. Berry); and near 



