266 



LOWER EOCliXK 1"L0KAS OF SOL"rHEASrEKls XOliTU AMERICA. 



leaf of Celastrus very like some of the existing 

 entire-niargiiiod speci(>s of trojiiciJ Anierican 

 Celastracoa:. It is named in allusion to its re- 

 semblance to tlie smaller heaves of the wide- 

 spread and somewiiat polymorphous species 

 CfUustnis hrucli)ianni iUexander Braun of tiie 

 later and cooler Tertiary of America and Eu- 

 rope. A very similar species, relatively slightly 

 wider than the Wilcox form, is found in the 

 Tertiary of Bolivia and is descrilx'd hy Engel- 

 hardt ' as Csesalpinin (jmdillngi. 



Occuri'ence. — HoUy Springs sand, HoUy 

 Springs, Marshall County, Miss, (collected by 

 E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Celastrus minor Berry, n. sp. 



Plate LXI. fi<;ures 3 ami 4. 



Description. — Leaves small and variable in 

 size, regularly lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate in 

 outline, the apex and base equally acuminate. 

 Length ranges from 1 to 3 centimeters. Maxi- 

 mum width, midway between the apex and the 

 base, ranges from 5 to 8 millimeters. Margins 

 strictly entire. Texture coriaceous. Petiole 

 short, about 1.5 milhmeters in length. Midrib 

 straight, relatively stout and prominent. Sec- 

 ondaries thin, tliree to six sul)opposite to alter- 

 nate paire, irregularly spaced, diverging from the 

 midrib at angles of about 45°, regularly curved 

 upwanl and camj^todrome. Tertiaries obsolete. 



This characteristic little species is entirely 

 unlike any of the known members of the Wil- 

 cox flora. The leaves at first might suggest an 

 ericaceous species, for example, some of the 

 Brazilian species of Gaylussiicia, but they are 

 more like the leaves of the existing entire- 

 margined species of Celastrus. Celastrus is 

 abundant in the Wilcox flora, and the other 

 species are all larger and their margins are 

 more or kws toothed. Cdastnis minor is some- 

 thing like a form from th(^ Tertiary of Bolivia 

 described by iMigelhardt ^ as Acacia tcnuifolia. 



Occurrence. — Holly Springs sand, Holly 

 Springs, Marshall County, Miss. (collecUnl by 

 E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



»Engelhardt, Hermann, Xaturwiss. Geseli. Isis in Dresden Abh., 

 1894,p. 9, pi. l,ng. 2!l. 

 ndem, p. a, pi. l.flgs. 45, 4fi. 



Celastius eolic.nitica Berry, n. sp. 

 rialf I.IX, fi.nuri's S- 1 1 , 



Description. — Leaves small, ovat(^ or ellip- 

 tical in general outline, as a rule more or less 

 inequilateral. Apex rounded, generally nar- 

 rowed, and somewhat extended. Base broadly 

 roinided, in many specimens pronouncedly in- 

 equilateral. Length ranges from '.\ to 4 centi- 

 meters. Maximum width, at or below the mid- 

 dle, ranges from 1 to 1.7.") c('ntiiii('ters. Mar- 

 gins entire proximad, passing upwartl from 

 faint to increasingly prominent crenate teeth, 

 which gradually become sharply pointed; ser- 

 rate teeth separated by shallow ineciuihiteral 

 sinuses, their points directed upward and out- 

 ward: with increasmg prominence tli(>v be- 

 come farther apart, the intervals ranging from 

 L75 millimeters to 4 centimeters, and become 

 closer again (Ustud. In the smallest leaf figured 

 the points are underdeveloped, giving the leaf 

 a somev%'hat difl'erent aspect. The texture is 

 coriaceous. Petiole relatively long and stout, 

 about 1 centimeter in length. Midril) stout, 

 generally somewhat curved. Secondaries stout 

 but not prominent, six to eight chiefly subop- 

 posito pairs; they diverge from the midrib at 

 wide angles, curving regularly upwartl in a sub- 

 parallel manner, arching camptodrome.ly in the 

 marginal region. Tertiaries mostly immersed 

 in the thick leaf substance; a few thin percur- 

 rent ones are visible toward the margins. 



This cliaracteristic species is very different 

 from any of the other known members of tlie 

 Wilcox or related floras. It is not abundantly 

 represented in the collections, and the leaves 

 as a rule are not well preserved, the macera- 

 tion preceding fossilization suggesting that pos- 

 sibly they represent an inland species, the 

 leaves of which were brought by streams to 

 the basin of sedimentation from a considerable 

 distance. The few specimens collected exiiibit 

 consid(U-able variation in size and outline but 

 especially in appearance. They may represent 

 more than one species, l)ut I consider this very 

 doubtful. 



They resemble a number of existing species 

 of Celastrus from the Tropics and subtropics of 

 America, and among fossil species they are 

 much like a number of common Tertiary Spe- 

 cies described from the European area, for 



