204 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



preserved, obviously stout. Midril) stout and 

 jironiinent. Secondaries very tliiu, numerous, 

 closely and regularly spaced at intervals of 

 a!)out .'i millimeters. They diverge from the 

 midril) at wide angles of ahout 65° and pursue 

 a nearly straight course, curving slightly in tiie 

 marginal region, where they are abruptly camp- 

 to<h"ome. They become almost obsolete in the 

 thick leaf substances and tiieir ultimate course 

 is seen with difficulty. Tertiaries obsolete. 



Tliis species is a splendid Eocene examj^le of 

 the type of Ficus foliage exemplified l)y the 

 existing Ficus elastim Linne. It differs from 

 that species and from numerous very similar 

 existing forms in its more tapering outline, 

 both distad and ]n-oximad. The modern 

 forms are usiudly oblong-elliptical. It has 

 the typical texture and venation of this type 

 of Ficus and is very distinct from tlie rather 

 numerous Wilcox species as well as from any 

 described species from the North American 

 Tertiary, although it is not uiilike some of the 

 European Tertiary forms. 



Occurrence. — Wilcox group, Hardys MiU, 

 Greene County, Ark. 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Ficus schimperi Lesquereux. 



Plate XXXI, figures 1-3. 



Ficus Schimperi. Lesquereux, Am. Pliilus. Soc. Trans., 

 vol. 13, p. 417, pi. 18, figs. 1-3, 1869. 



Description. — Lesquereux in 1869 gave the 

 following description: 



F. lolii.s membranaceis, ovato lanreolatis, acuininati.s. 

 Iiasi rotuudatis vel subtruncatis, integris, undulatis, tri 

 .subquiiuiue ner-viis, inaequalibus; nervis eecundariis 

 f-amptodromis, nervulis dlstantibus, continuis. 



This species occurs in abundance in the clay 

 ironstone at Hurleys, from which it was col- 

 kn^teil l)y Ililganl and described by L(^sf|uereux 

 in 1869, and many of the specimens, inchnhng 

 the originals of Lesquer(Hix's figures 1 and 2, 

 are still in the Hilgard collection. The spcH'ies 

 is not abundant at other localities in the Wilcox 

 group. It may be more fuUy described as fol- 

 lows: Leaves of viiriaMe si/,(% l)roadly ovate- 

 acuminate in general outline with a bi-oacily 

 rounded, somewhat truncated base and a usu- 

 ally narr(nved acuminate tip. Lengtii ranges 

 from 5 to 13 centimeters, averaging about 9 or 

 10 centimeters. Maximum width, in the basal 

 half of the leaf, ranges from 2.2 to 6 centime- 



ters, averaging about ."> centimeters. Margins 

 entire, generally gently undulate. Leaf sub- 

 stance apparejitly very thin but of considerable 

 consist(>ncy. Petiole absent in all the specimens. 

 Midrib stout, curved. Secondaries stout, four 

 to six, subopposite to alternate pairs; tliey 

 branch from the miih-il) at angles that average 

 about 1.')° and curve upward, coming to be 

 approximately parallel with the margins, camp- 

 todrome. Tlie lower pair are usually oppo- 

 site and in some specimens suggest lateral 

 primaries, although the species is distinctly 

 pinnately veine^d throughout. There is con- 

 siderable variation in their spacing as showni 

 in the specimens figured. Tertiaries thin, 

 percurrent within the secondary system and 

 forming arches in the marginal region. 



In some respects the present species suggests 

 Ficus liKinodon (Lescjuereux) Berry, which has 

 larger, relatively broader, and thicker leaves, 

 with more numerous and divergent seconda- 

 ries. It may be compared with a great variety 

 of fossil and recent species. Among the recent 

 speci(« I might mention Ficus pojmliformis, F. 

 ferruginca, and F. venosa. 



It seems probable that the two bi-oken 

 specimens described by Lesquereux as Celtis 

 hrerifolia ' are referable to Ficus scJiimjxri, but 

 as they were so very incomplete and have since 

 been lost they are not recognized in the present 

 report. Ficus schimperi is present in the 

 Raton formation of the southern Rocky Moun- 

 tain ]irovince, a formation slightly older than 

 the Wilcox. 



A similar homota.xial form is described l>y 

 Watelet - from the Ypresian of the Paris Basin 

 as Ficus cuspidatii. (not related to the recent 

 species of this name). 



Occurrence. — Ackerman formation. Hurleys, 

 Benton County ("formerly part of Tippah 

 County), Miss., very common (collected by 

 E. W.'l-lilgard, E. n! Lowe, and E. W. Berry). 

 Wilcox group, Old Port Caddo Landing, Little 

 Cypr(^ss Dayou, Harrison County, Tex., com- 

 mon (collected by T. W. Vaughan); and 

 Coushafta, Red River Parish, La. (collected by 

 E. W. Berry). Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Tenn., 

 rare (collected by E. W. Berry), and Baughs 



1 Lcsqucrcu.x. L«), Am. PhiUw. Soc. Trans., vol. 13, p. 410, pi. 2n, fiRS. 

 4, ,5, 1809. This specific niiine is preoccupied, having been used by 

 Mi(iuel for an cxisUnj: species of tropical .Vmerica. 



'Walelel, A., Descriptions dos plontesfossiles du bassin de I'aris, p. 

 156, pi. 44, fig. 3, 1866. 



