KOSALES. 



221 



Deseriptinn. — Leaves of medium size, elon- 

 gate-elliptical in general outline, witii a some- 

 what narrowed and rounded, in some specimens 

 slightly emarginate apex, and rounded basal 

 margins to the hi'oadly euneate l)as(>. Lengtii 

 about S to 9 eentmietei-s. Maximum widlh, 

 midway between the apex and tlie base, about 

 3 to 1 centimetei-s, averaging about 3.5 centi- 

 meters. ^Margins entire, regularly and evenly 

 rounded. Leaf substance thick and texture 

 coriaceous. Petiole short and stout or else 

 obsolete. Midril) verj' stout, as a rule shgiitly 

 curved, prominent on the lower surface of I he- 

 leaf. Secondaries stout and rather promuieni, 

 eight or nine opposite to alternate, hi general 

 iTgularly spacetl ])aus; they diverge from the 

 midrib at angles of 50° to 70° and pursue a 

 slightly cui-ved coui-se as far as the nnirginai 

 region, where they cuiwe regularly upward and 

 are camptodronie. Tertiary venation p)-<uni- 

 nent, identical m character with that shown in 

 the two existmg species of Chiwsobalanns. 



This species hi its form, texture, and vi'na- 

 tion is strictly congeneric, with the leaves of tiie 

 existing species and stands about halfway 

 between the two m the sum of its characters. 

 It is larger and relatively wider, and has more 

 numerous secondaries than Chrysohalmvus <>h- 

 longifolius Michaux (PI. XLIV, fig. 11) and is 

 naiTower and relatively more elongated than 

 Clinjaohalanus icaco Lhme (PI. XLIV, figs. 

 and 7) . It seems quite likely that it may repre- 

 sent the same Wilcox sjiecies whose fruits are 

 described as Ch-ijsobalanus eocenica Beny. It 

 includes the form from Somerville, Tenn., 

 which was refeired to the genus Eliieagnus by 

 Les(piereux in 1S59, and is common at the 

 Puryear locality. 



Occurrence. — Grenada formation, Grenada, 

 Grenada Comity, Miss, (collected by E. N. 

 Lowe and E. W. Berry). Lagrange formation 

 (hi beds of Wilcox age), Somerville, Fayette 

 County, Tenn. (collected by J. M. Safl'ord), and 

 Puiyear, Henry County, Tenn. (collected 1)V 

 E. W. Berry). 



Collectionti . — U. vS. National Museum. 



Genus PRUNUS Linnf>. 



Phunus nabortensis Berry, n. sp. 



Plate CX VI, fi'j^irf 1. 



Dcscriplion. — Stone subglobose, somewhat 



compressed, broacUy ellipti('al in outlhie, 



slightly acmninat<" distad and rounde<l ])roxi- 



mad. Length 10.5 niiUimetei-s, niaxhuum 

 widtli 8.75 millnneters. Thic-kness 6.5 milli- 

 meters. Surface- slightly rugulose, ])romi- 

 iH-ntly ])itted. 



'Hus s])(-cinu-n is the- oiJy one of its kind 

 found in tlie deposits of the Wilcox group, nor 

 ai'c tli(-re any remains of foliage kncnm from 

 this horizon that can be legitimately n-fe-rn-d 

 t" Pnimis, altlumgh the stone (pit) is readily 

 disi iiiguishabh- from those of otlu-r genera with 

 sonu-wliat shnilar remghened stones, as, for cx- 

 amjjle, (h'cwia, Zizyphus, and C(-ltis. The 

 genus Piimus is used in the broad sensi-, as ni- 

 (■hi(hng tlie nine sections into which Baillon 

 segregated it or the seven sections adopted l)y 

 Focke in his contrihution to the Natiirlichen 

 Plianzeiifaniilien on this subject, although 

 there- can be little doubt that several of these 

 are entitled to generic rank. Without a very 

 extensive series of authenticated recent mate- 

 rial it would be impossihle to make any valua- 

 l)le comparisons with recent forms, more par- 

 tie'ularly as some of the modern sections of 

 the genus have rough and smooth stones, and 

 the same is true for Celtis, Zanthoxylon, and 

 ]irol)ably other recent genera, showing that 

 little significance can be attached to this 

 cliaracter. This is further s1io\to among cul- 

 tivated i'lmerioan species of Prunus, where 

 there seems to be an increased rugosity of the 

 stone coiTclated with an increase in size of 

 the fruits and especially showni in horticidtural 

 hyl)rids. Judging only from the figures in 

 Wright's recent account '■ of North American 

 species of Prunus the Wilcox fonii is most 

 shnilar to Prunus umhdlata Elliott, especially to 

 forms of this species figured from Lake County, 

 Fla. This species is a small tree growing on 

 di-y sandy soils, mainly in the coastal region 

 from South Caroluia to western Louisiana. 



Tlie genus is widely distriliuted throughout 

 th<> North Temperate Zone and extends south- 

 ward into southern Asia and hito tropical 

 America. Most of the species are small, many 

 l){-ing scarcely arborescent, and grow naturally 

 scattered "in open situations, more rarely within 

 forests, so that the Wilcox form may prol)al)ly 

 be regarded as a small tree of coastal sand Hats 

 growing in open places along the marguis of the 

 l)each jungle or in shnilar situations and thus 

 not abundant in any one locality. 



> Wright, W. v., V. S. Iiept. Agr. IKill. 179, 1915 



