240 



LOWER F.OCEXE FLOliAS OF SOUIHEASTEKN NOETH AMERICA. 



arics vory thin, scarcely differentiated from ter- 

 tiuries, and more or less obsolete by immersion. 



This apparently rare species is of uncertain 

 generic affiliation aiul it is therefore referred to 

 the form genus Gleditsiophyllum. It may be 

 distinguished at once from the other species 

 ref(M-red to this genus by its relative shortness 

 and from all the Wilcox forms in this genus or 

 other leguminous genera by the relatively long 

 petiolule. 



Occurrence. — Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Tenu. 

 (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Gleditsiophyllum minor Berry, n. sp. 



Plate LI, figures 5 and G. 



Description. — Leaflets very small, lanceolate 

 in (ypneral outline, taiiering from about the mid- 

 die and ecjually pointed at both ends, petiolu- 

 late. Length al>out 1.75 centimeters. Maxi- 

 mum width, in the middle part of the leaflet, 

 about 3 millimeters. Margins entu-e. Tex- 

 ture coriaceous. Petiohde stout, relatively 

 elongated, about 2.5 millimeters in length. 

 Midrib relatively stout and prominent, straight. 

 Secondaries scarcely differentiated from the 

 tertiaries, thin, few in number, diverging from 

 the midrib at acute angles, curved, ascendmg 

 subparallel with the lateral margins for long dis- 

 tances, camptodrome. Tertiaries thin, form- 

 ing fine meshes. 



This tiny-leafed species is closely allied to 

 Gleditsioplnjllum eocenicum Berry. It is much 

 less abundant and differs in its much smaller 

 size, being only half as large as the smallest 

 known leaflet of that species. It also differs in 

 its ecjuilateral form and in being widest medi- 

 anly instead of m the lower half of the leaflet; 

 in its relatively more coriaceous texture; 

 longer petiolule; and in its less numerous, less 

 differentiated, and more ascendhig secondaries. 



Occurrence. — Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Tenn. 

 (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Gleditsiopuyllumhilgardianum Berry, n. sp. 

 Plate LI, figure 9. 

 Description. — Pods short, wide, and flat. 

 About 6.5 centimeters in length ])y al)out 



2 centimeters in maximum width. Both ends 

 ])luutly i)ointed. Venation thin, oblique, and 

 anastomosing. Substance thin and wTinkled, 

 havmg a septate appearance between the 

 seeds. Seeds numerous, relatively small for 

 the size of the pod, orbicular, lenticular. 



It is obviously futUe to endeavor to deter- 

 mine the botanic afhnity of this pod, which is 

 clearly referabli- to the Leguminosre and as 

 clearly distinct from the other forms of pods 

 described from the Wilcox group. It is there- 

 fore referretl to the form genus Gleditsiophyl- 

 lum and mimed in honor of E. W. Ililgard, who 

 discoveretl this fossUiferous locality more than 

 half a ccuitury ago. 



Occurrence. — Ackerman formation. Hurleys, 

 Benton County (formerly part of Tippah 

 County), Miss, (collected by E. N. Lowe and 

 E. W." Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Gleditsiophyllum fructuosum Berrj-, n. sp. 



Plate LI, figure 7. 



Description. — Indehiscent, many seeded, non- 

 septate, flat pods of large size. Outline oblong 

 linear and ends bluntly rounded. The base is 

 missing, but was probably somewhat more 

 pohited than the apex. Texture coriaceous 

 but not ligneous, showing no veins. Length 

 probal)ly variable, as in the modern Gleditsia 

 friacantJtos. The specimens do not show their 

 whole length, owing to the jointing of the clay 

 and not to the breaking of the pods before fos- 

 sUization. Estimated length, 10 to 15 cen- 

 timeters. Width 2.25 to 2.50 centimeters. 

 The margins are approximately straight and 

 parallel and are not appreciably thickened. 

 Seeds lenticular, obovate, 1.5 to 2 centimeters 

 long and about 1 centimeter wide. 



This species strongly suggests the variable 

 pods of our common honey locust, Gleditsia tri- 

 eicantJios Linne, but it can not be correlated 

 with certainty with this genus, smce it is 

 equally close to the pods of several more or 

 less closely related genera, and a numbcu- of 

 fossil pods of similar characters have been re- 

 ferred to Acacia, for example, Acacia micro- 

 pliijlla Unger ' from Sotzka, Styi'ia, which is 



1 Unger, Franz, Die fossile Flora von Sotzka, p. 59, pi. 46, figs. 11, 12, 

 1850. 



