188 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTEKX XOKTII AMERICA. 



value of this ^videspread form. The speoies is 

 certainly ver}' close to the widespread WUcox 

 species described in the j^reseiit. work as 

 Euonymus splendetift Berry if not identical 

 with it, and it shows in its broad form, large 

 size, simple secondaries, and the like, more of 

 the characters of this genus than it does those 

 of Hicoria. 



Occuri'ence. — Wilcox gi"oiip, Campbell's 

 qmxiTy, Cross Bayou, Caddo Parish, La. (col- 

 lected by L. C. Johnson). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum (No. 

 2443, 11 specimens). 



Order MYKICALES. 



Fairuly MYRICACEffl. 



Genus MYRICA Linne. 



Mybica el^anoides Lesquereux. 



Plate XVIII. figure 2. 



Myrica elsp.anmdes. Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc. 

 voL 11, p. 12, pL 4, fig. 5, 1888. 

 Loughridge, Report on the geological and economic 

 features of the Jackson's purchase region, p. 198, 

 1888. 



Description. — Lesquereux's description, wTit- 

 ten in 1888, is as follows: 



Leaf long, linear-lanceolate, entire, gradually tapeiing 

 at base and somewhat decurring upon a short petiole, 

 acute or acuminate (point broken); secondaries close, 

 numerous, oblique, camptodrome; tertiaries intermediate, 

 more inclined, anastomosing at right angles on both sides, 

 reticulation very small, quadrate. 



This species was described by Lesquereux, 

 who compared it with Sali.x and with Quercus 

 elaena Unger of the European Tertiary, the 

 specific name chosen being in allusion to its 

 resemblance to that species. Though he notes 

 its similarities to various Lauraceie he finally 

 decides in favor of Myrica, pointing out its 

 resemblance to the European Mi/rica aquensis 

 Saporta and Myrica hakeaefolia Saporta. 



Myrica elxanoides, if it is a Myrica, must 

 have been rare in the Wilcox flora or else an 

 inhabitant of areas remote from fossilization, 

 for it has been detected only twice in the large 

 collections subsequently made. Ther(> is some 

 resem])lanc(^ to the larger leaves of the Wilco.x 

 species Nedandra pseudocoriacea Berry, but 

 the two forms are believed to be perfec^tly 

 distinct. 



In the existing flora the family Myricacese is 

 represented by the genera MjTica and Comp- 



tonia. Mvrica comprises between 30 and 40 

 species of shriibs and small trees of wide 

 geogi'aphic distribution tlu'oughout the tem- 

 perate and subtropical portions of l)oth tlie 

 Eastern and Western liemispheres. Comptonia 

 is a monotypic genus of eastern North America. 

 Both genera have an extended geologic history, 

 from the middle Cretaceous to the Pliocene, 

 and both had a wide range and very many 

 species during the Tertiary. 



Many of the existing species are coastal 

 fonns, inhabituig either ileep swamps or areas 

 of sand dunes, and it is probable that Myrica 

 elseanoides had a habitat comparable with that 

 of the modern wax m_>Ttle, Myrica cerifera 

 Linne, which ranges along the Atlantic coast 

 from sontheni New Jei-sey to Texas and also 

 grows m Bermuda and the Bahama Islands as 

 well as on several of the Antilles. 



Though the type of this species has always 

 been credited to Wickliffe, the specimen which 

 is preserved hi the United States National 

 Museum (No. 2.572) is obviously from Boaz. 

 A thin marginal vem, which was not noticed 

 by Lesquereux, unites the secondaries. Some 

 of the later collections are much smaller than 

 the type, the smallest specimen measm-mg 9 

 centimetei's in length by 1.5 centimeters in. 

 maximum width. 



Occurrence. — Ackerman fonuatiou. Hurleys, 

 Benton County (fonnerly part of Tippah 

 Comity), Miss. ' (coUected by E. W. Hilgard). 

 Lagi'ange formation (m beds of Wilco.x age), 

 Boaz, Graves County, Ky. (collected by II . H. 

 Louglii'idge) , and 1} mdes east of Grand Junc- 

 tion, Hardeman County, Temi. (collected by 

 L. C. Glenn). 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



Myrica wilcoxensis Berry, n. sp. 



Plate XVIII, figure 1. 



Description. — Leaves of small size, lanceolate 

 in general outline, the tip somewhat abruptly 

 pointed and the base narrowly cuneate. 

 Length about 5.5 centimeters. Maximum 

 width, slightly above the middle of the leaf, 

 about 1.1 centimetei's. Margins entire in the 

 basal half of the leaf; the upper half shows re- 

 mote, in'cgularly spaced, small serrate teeth. 

 Texture coriaceous. Petiole short or lacking. 

 Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface of 

 the leaf. Secondaries relatively stout and 



