fltTICALES. 



1<)9 



Occurrence. — Wilcox group, sec. 11, 'V. VI X., 

 R. 12 W. (collected l)y L. C, Chapiiiiuu, .•uul 

 see. 13, T. 12 N., K. 12 W. (collected hy 

 G. C. Matson and O. \\. Hojjkins), Dc Soto 

 Parish, La. 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



FiCUS PLANICOSTAT.\ MAXIMA BellV, U. Val'. 

 riute XXXn . Ii-urr;i. 



Ficus planicoslata. LesqiuTeux, U. S. Gt'ol. and Ueof;. 



Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1872, p. 393, 1873. 

 Lesqiiereux, TheTorti.iry flora, p. 201, pi. 31, figs. 1-.S, 



1()-12, 1S7.S. 

 Ilollick in Ilarri.s, G. D., and \'ealch, A. C, A pre- 



liniinary report on the geolofty of Louisiana, p. 282, 



pi. 3(i. 

 Ettiii,i;sluuisen, Roy. Soc. London Proe., vol. 30, ]>. 



232, 1880. 



Description. — Losquereux in 1S7S (Uiscrihcd 

 this si)t!cies as follows: 



Leaves of medium size, suljcoriareous, entire, elliptiral 

 or broadly oval, slishtly acuminate or obtuse, rounded to a 

 short, thick petiole, palmately three-nerved from the top 

 of the petiole, rarely from a sliort distance above tlie base; 

 primary and secondary nerves broad, fiat, all camptodrome, 

 as well as their divisions. 



As roniarkod by Lesciuereux, and as is well 

 shown Ijy his figures, this species is e.xtreinely 

 variable. To it Hollick referred a leaf from 

 Louisiana that is identical with the western 

 leaves e.xccpt that it is larger, having an esti- 

 mated length of 15 centimeters and a maximum 

 width of 11 centimeters, which has promjjted 

 me to give it the varietal name of m.ii.vutui. 

 Lesquereux states that the largest leaf in his 

 abundant western collections was 12 centi- 

 meters in length and 7 centimetei"s in maximum 

 width. 



Tli«i tyjie material was a])iindant at Black 

 Buttes, Wyo., occurring also at Point of Rocks, 

 Wye, and in the Denver formation at Gohh'u, 

 Colo. It is not an nbtuidant form in tli<^ Wil- 

 cox flora and is v«u-y likely to be confused with 

 Ficus vaugJiani Berry; in fact it is not certain 

 that the two do not re))r<>s<Mit. th<^ foliage of a 

 single species of Ficus, although 1 consider this 

 very doubtful. It was recorded by Ettings- 

 hausen from the ^'presiari of .Vliim Bay, but as 

 the specimens were neitln'r descril)ed or (igin'<'d 

 the determination can not be verified, although 

 it is not inherently improl)abh'. 



Occurrence. — Wilcox grou]), Slaugliter P<mi 

 Bluff, Cross Bayou, Caddo Parish, La. (collected 



I)y A. C. Veatch); sec. 7, T. 12 X., R. 11 W., 

 l)c Soto Parisii, La. (collected by (i. C. Matson 

 and F. H. Finch) ; and Old Port Caddo Landing, 

 Little Cypress Bayou, Harrison County, Te.x. 

 (collected by T. W. \'aughan). Lagrange for- 

 mation (in beds of Wilco.x age), Puryear, Henry 

 County, Teim. (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collections. — Western types, U. S. National 

 Museum. Wilcox figm-ed s])ecimen. New York 

 Botanical (iarden. 



Ficus planicostat.v latii-^olia Li^scjuereux. 



Ficus planicoslata latij'olia. Lesquereux, U. S. Gcol. and 

 Geog. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept., 1872, p. 393, 1873. 

 Lesquereux, The Tertiary flora, j). 202, pi. 21, fig. 9, 

 LS78. 



Ficus lalifolia (Lesquereux). Knowltoii, U. S. Geol. Sur- 

 vey Bull. 1.52, I). 102, 1898. 



Description. — This form was descril)ed by 

 Lesquereux from two specimens which differed 

 from the associated and abundant Ficus pluni- 

 costatd in their somewhat larger size, relative 

 shortne.ss, greater width, and their trtaicate or 

 subcordate base. The material from the Wil- 

 cox is considerably larger in size and may be 

 characterized as follows: Leaves of medium to 

 large size, orbicular or transversely elliptical in 

 general outline. Character of the apex unknown. 

 Base broadly truncated or slightly conlate. 

 Margins entire, full and evenly rounded. Tex- 

 ture coriaceous. Length ranges from about 8. .5 

 1 1) 12 c<nitimeters. Maximum width ranges from 

 It) to 13 centimeters. Petiole very stout. 

 Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface of 

 the leaf, A stout lateral primary diverges from 

 the midrib on either side at its extreme base: at 

 angles of about 40° to 50°. These primaries 

 curv<^ upward and are camptodrome in the 

 marginal region; they are prominent on 

 the lower surface of the leaf but iir<', not 

 as stout as the midrib; they give off, at 

 regular intervals on the outside, stout camp- 

 todrome secondaries, which increase in curv- 

 atur<' distad, the lowest ])air being sub- 

 piirall<>l with the basal nun-gins and diverging 

 from tlxi primary only about 5 miUimeters 

 above the midrib, a less distance than in the 

 specimens from Golden, Colo. Secondaries 

 from the midrib stout, ascending, camptodrome, 

 two or thre(\ subo])posite ])rominent ])airs. 

 T(Ttiaries thin, ]icrcurr<Mit, tyjiical of the Ficus 

 jilanicostata, type of leaf. 



