242 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



rather straiglit at fii-st and then oui'vbig up- 

 Wiud, camptoili'omc. Toxtiu'c coriacoous. 



This fine species is indisputably alUed to 

 Sophora hi all of its charactei-s. It is very 

 abiui(la:it hi Heiuy t'ounty, Tenu., and though 

 decidedly variable hi size preserves its essential 

 characters with remarkabh' imifomiity and is 

 readily disthiguishable from associated forms 

 by its texture alone. The leaflets have almost 

 invariably been foiuid detached, but in several 

 specimens they lie side by side m the clays in a 

 manner indicatmg their pimiate iu-rangement 

 along the petiole of a compomid leaf, and in one 

 specimen several aie attached to the rachis. 

 They average larger and are narrower than 

 most of the other Wilcox species of Sophora. 

 The smallest specimens resemble somewhat the 

 laiger leaflets of Csesalpinia. mllcoxiana Berry, 

 which have, however, a lelatively long petio- 

 lule. They also resemble those from the Ter- 

 tiary of BoUvia described by Engelhardt ' as 

 Dalbergia chartacea. They aveiage about the 

 same size and have the same outline as the 

 leaflets of Cassia mlcoxiana Berry, but are more 

 coriaceous in texture and have more numeious 

 and straighter secondaries and m general a 

 more perfectly eUiptical form. The mucronate 

 pomt at the apex of the midrib serves to readily 

 distinguish them from associated forms. 



Sophora wilcoxiana maj' rightfully be con- 

 sidered to be the ancestral form of a closely 

 alhed species, Sophora claiborniana Berry, of 

 the middle Eocene of the Mississippi embay- 

 ment region, wliich is abnost identical with 

 the smaller leaflets of Sophora wilcoxiana. In 

 general, however, Sophora wilcoxiana averages 

 very much larger and wider and has a more 

 promhient venation and a mucronate tip. 



There are about 25 existing species of slrrubs 

 and small trees referred to the genus Sophora, 

 which are scattered over the warmer parts of 

 both hemispheres and are found on all tropical 

 seashores. Two arborescent forms occur along 

 our westei-n Gulf coast where thoy show a pref- 

 erence for moist calcareous soils along streams. 

 One of these Texan species, Sophora secundi- 

 fiora De Candolle, the coral bean, has leaflets 

 very similar to tliose of Sophora wilcoxiana. 

 Other existing species are likewise very similar 

 to this species, as for example Sophora tomen- 

 tosa Linne, a cosmopolitan tropical strand 



' Engelhardt, Hermann, Natiirwiss. Gesell. Isis in Dresden Abh., 1894, 

 p. 8, pi. 1, fig. 25. 



plant. The dry pixls float for a week or two 

 and then decay, hberating the buoyant seeds, 

 which float uniiijure<l for several months, ac- 

 cording to tlie experimental evidence of both 

 Schimper and Guppy.- 



The genus is well represented in European 

 Tertiary floras from the Eocene to the Pliocene 

 but has not been previously recognized in 

 North America, somewhat similar leaves from 

 our western Tertiaries being usually referred 

 to the genus Quercus. Among the described 

 fossil forms Sophora wilcn.iiana greatly resem- 

 bles Sophora europsea, which was compared by 

 Uiiger, its original describer, with the existing 

 Sophora tomentosa Linne. Sophora europsea 

 has been identified by numerous students at 

 a large number of European locahties. It is 

 a later form, extending from the Oligocene 

 tlirough the Miocene. It is exceedingly vari- 

 able and is more like the Wilcox species So- 

 phora. henryensis Berry, only the more elongate 

 leaflets are like the present species, and then 

 they are usually more hiequilateral.^ Plate 

 XL VII well illustrates the character and varia- 

 tions of Sophora wilcoxiana. 



Occurrence. — Wilcox group, Atchison clay 

 pit, Perla, near Malvern, Hot Spring County, 

 Ark. (SW. i sec. 24, T. 4 S., R. 17 W.) (col- 

 lected by R. E. Call in 1891); Bolivar Creek, 

 3i miles north of Harrisburg, Poinsett County, 

 Ark.(0 (collected by L. W. Stephenson); 

 and 2J miles southeast of Naborton, De Soto 

 Parish, La. (collected by G. C. Matson and 

 O. B. Hopkins). Holly Springs sand, HoUy 

 Springs, Marshall County, Miss, (collected by 

 E. W. Berry). Grenada formation, Grenada, 

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

 Lowe and E. W. Berry). Lagrange forma- 

 tion (in beds of Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry 

 County, Tenn. (very common) (collected by 

 E. W. Berry), and IJ miles west of Grand 

 Junction, in Fayette County, Tenn. (collected 

 by L. C. Glenn). 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



Sophora puryearensis Berry, n. sp. 



Plates LII, fisrure 3, and CIX, figure 3. 



Description. — Leaflets ovate or elliptical and 

 somewliat inequilateral in general outhne, 

 broadly r()un(UHl at tlie base, narrowing for their 



2 Guppy,H.B., Observations of a naturalist in the Pacific, vol. 2, 

 Plant dispersal, pp. 117, S79, 1906. 



3 Unger, Franz, Die fossile Flora von Sot.zka, p. 57, pi. •12, figs. 1 -5. IS.W. 



