malvai.es. 



287 



which thcv are separated by naiTow, uhiniaicly 

 roimdoil sinuses, which extend shglitly more 

 than halfway to the base; these lobes are about 

 8 centinietei-s long and range from 3.2 to ,5.2.") 

 centimetci-s in maxinmm width at. the ])as(\ 

 Lower lateral lobes, when developed, diverge 

 from the upper at angles of 4.5° to .50°, thus 

 standing at right angles to the main axis of t he- 

 leaf (midrib and petiole); they are about iuiif 

 the size of the up])er lateral lobes, tlie inter- 

 vening sinuses being more angular than the 

 corresponduig upper sinuses. The Ijase t>f the 

 leaf is cuneate in tlie three-lobed leaves, 

 tinincate or somewhat cordate in the less robust 

 five-lobeil forms, and markedly cordate in the 

 large fidl forms. Petiole extremely stout-, 

 probaldy elongated but not preserved fur its 

 full lengtii. Primaries tiiree to five, diverging 

 digitately from the base at angles of 40° to 50°, 

 those running to the tips of the lower lateral 

 lobes slightly less stout than those of the tiu-ee 

 main lobes, which are approximately equal in 

 cahber. AH are stout, prominent, and relat i vely 

 straight. The secondaries are thin, numerous, 

 and suliparallel, more or less immersed in the 

 leaf substance. They diverge from the pri- 

 maries at angles of about 55° to 65° at evenly 

 spaced intervals of about, 7 millimeters and 

 are regularly curved and camptuilrome close 

 to the margins. 



A snnill trilobate leaf, conforming to the 

 same general cluiracter as the larger specimen 

 on wliich the foregoing description is based, 

 measures 8 centimeters in length by centi- 

 meters in maximum widtli. 



This species is not abundantly represented iu 

 the Wilcox collections except at Puryear, 

 Tenn. It is prol)able tliat, like most of the 

 lobed species of Sterculia, both recent and 

 fossil, the outline was somewhat varial)l(^ aiul 

 the lobes ranged in numl)er from two or tiu'ce 

 to five or six. To mention only a few of the 

 fossil forms, this is true of Sterculia snowii 

 Les(iuereux and Sterculia mucronata Lesquereux 

 of the Dakota sandstone, Sterculia minima 

 Berry of the Magothy formation, Sterculia 

 limbata Velenovsky of the Bohemian Upper 

 Cretaceous, and the widespread Sterculia hi- 

 hrusca I'nger of the European Tertiary. Tiie 

 range of variation of the present species is well 

 shown in the illustrations. 



Sterculia punjearensis is remarkably similar 

 and undoubtedly genetically related to til(^ 



common Dakota sandstone form, Sterculia 

 snouyii Lesquereux.' It shows considerable 

 resemblance to Sterculia m.ajolitiii<i Massalongo ^ 

 of the Italian late Miocene and to Sterculia 

 lahriisca, L'nger, first described' from tlie 

 Styriau lignites (Oligocene) and subsequently 

 recorded frotn a large numl)er of late Kocc-iu-, 

 Oligocene, and early Miocene outcrops ilu-ougli- 

 out Kuro])e. Among tlie forms now grouped 

 together as Sterculia. lalirunca the Wilcox 

 sp(>cies is verv close to one from Sotzka, Styria, 

 de>crih(Ml originally l>y Ingcr as Pl(it(tnus 

 sirii .' 



Between 10 and .")0 fossil species of Sterculia 

 have liiM'u described, ranging in age from tiie 

 middle Cretaceous to tlie Pliocene. There arc 

 more than 100 existing forms, segi-egated in the 

 sections Digitatie, Lobata\ and Integrifolia\ 

 Sterculia puri/earensis is referable to the group 

 Lol)at;r, which eom])rises numerous existing 

 tropical species in Asia, Africa, and especially 

 in America, althougli the genus Sterculia as a 

 whole is most strongly represented in the 

 Malay archipelago and the East Indies. 



It is gratifying to find the characteristic 

 leaves of a species of Sterculia in tlie Wilcox 

 deposits, which also contain the remarkable 

 capsides of species of Sterculiacere described as 

 Sterculiocarpus. A smaller, very character- 

 istic Sterculia leaf form occurs in the overlying 

 deposits of the Claiborne group. 



Occurrence. — Gremida formation, Grenada, 

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

 Lowe and E. W. Berry). Lagrange formaticui 

 (in beds of Wilcox age), Puryear, llemy 

 County, Tenn. (c(dlected by E. W. Berry). 

 Wilcox group, sec. 7, T. 12 N., R. 11 W., .3i 

 miles and 5 miles southeast of Naborton, De 

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

 and O. B. Hopkins). 



Collections. — U. vS. National Museum. 



Genus STERCULIOCARPUS Berry, n. gen. 



This genus is establisheil for fruits referable 

 to the family Sterculiaceai, but without exact 

 living repres(Mitatives. Its characters are those 

 of the species here desrihed. 



> I.esquereux, Leo, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 17, p. is:!, pi. 30, fig. 5, 

 pi. 31, figs. 2, 3; pi. 32; pi. 33, figs. 1-4, l.'i'J2. 



2 Massalongo, Abramo, Studii suIla flora fossile e geologia stratigrafica 

 del Scnigalliese, p. 319, pi. 20, fig. 3, 1S39. 



' Cnger, Franz, Die fossile Flora von SoUka, p. in, pi. 2K, flgs. 1-11, 

 is.-,n. 



' Mem, p. 3r>. pi. 15, flg. 1. 



