302 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



specimens, as a rule hroacUy rouiulcil, n'tiis(> in 

 one specimen. Base more acute tliaii the 

 apex, rauiijing from narrowly cuneate in the 

 more slender leaves to broadly cuneate and 

 ultimately somewhat decurrent in the broader 

 leaves. Margins entire, full tbroughout most 

 of their course; some of them show an undu- 

 lation, as in Plate LXXXIII, figure 2. Tex- 

 ture coriaceous. Petiole short and stout, l..j 

 to 2 centimeters in length, curved. Midrib 

 stout and prominent, as a rule more or less 

 curved. Lateral primaries much less stout, 

 but prominent, suprabasilar, subopposite, di- 

 verging from the midrib at angles of about 30°, 

 curving slightly upward and then nearly 

 straight to the middle of the leaf or above that 

 region, where they unite with the outer ter- 

 tiary branches from the lowest secondaries. 

 Secondaries, four to seven pairs, opposite to 

 alternate, thin but prominent, branching from 

 the midrib at an angle of about 50°, sweeping 

 upward in a broad curve, ultimately campto- 

 drome. Internal tertiaries thin, numerous 

 and percurrent. Marginal tertiaries from the 

 outside of the primaries, for the most part 

 camptodrome. Epidermal cells verj^ small, 

 but with thin walls, differing on the upper and 

 lower surfaces of tlie leaf, the substance of 

 which in some specimens is preserved, indicat- 

 ing that in life the leaves were glossy above. 

 Preparations fail to show stomata, but the 

 lower epidermis is poorly preserved, which 

 may explain this feature; yellowish globules 

 in the preparations would seem to indicate 

 that the leaves of this species were aromatic 

 and punctate as in the majority of existing 

 Lauracese, suice they have the exact appear- 

 ance of the secretory cells of that family. 



This species is represented by doubtfully de- 

 termined material from the St. Maurice forma- 

 tion of the Claiborne group of Arkansas and 

 from a higher horizon in the Claiborne group on 

 Colorado Riv(T in Texas. 



Oreodaphne obtusifolia constitutes a ^•ery dis- 

 tmct type easily distinguishabhi from tlut nu- 

 merous other lauraceous forms of the Wilcox 

 flora, although the tri veined basal fragments 

 might readily be confuscul witli Cinnamonunn 

 or Malapo'ima. Periect specimens are very 

 abundant in the clays at Puryear, Tenn., and 

 in most of these the leaf substance is preserved, 

 although it exfoliates as a rule! on drying. Tiie 

 fuU form of the leaves with their blunt upcx 



renders llie idcntilication of complc^ti! specimens 

 a simple matter. This broadly rounded apex, 

 though not a constant charact(T, is unusual in 

 this family, the great majority of existing spe- 

 cies being lanceolate and nion^ or less falcate. 

 Two specimens were collected ])y the writer 

 from the locality near Grand Junction, Tenn., 

 and the incomph^te leaf from Louisiana idonti- 

 iied by IloUick as Cinndmomitm sczannense 

 Watelet ' is undoubtedly the basal half of a leaf 

 of thisspecies and maybe compared with some of 

 the narrower forms figured in this work. It may 

 be remarked that the present species is much 

 like Cinnamomum sezannense of the European 

 Eocene, especially in the details of venation. 



The genus Oreodaphne in the existing fiora 

 contains numerous exclusivc^ly American tropi- 

 cal species. Pax, in Engler and Prantl, makes 

 it a subgenus of the genus Ocotea of Aubh^t, an 

 arrangement which is undesirable fi-inn every 

 viewpoint. 



Occurrence. — Holly Sprmgs sand, HoUy 

 vSprings, Marshall Comity, Miss, (collected by 

 E. W. Berry). Ackerman formation, Hurleys, 

 Benton County (formerly part of Tippah 

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

 E. W. Berrv). Grenada formation, Grenada, 

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

 Lowe and E. W. Berry). Wilcox group, Vine- 

 yard Bluff, Cross Bayou, Caddo Parisli, La. 

 (collected by A. C. Veatch) ; Ih miles northeast 

 of Mansfield, 2 miles south of Nal)()rtou, De 

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

 and 0. B. Hopkins); and Old Port Caddo 

 Landing on Little Cypress Bayou, Harrison 

 County, Tex. (collected by T. W. Vaughan). 

 Lagrange formation (in beds of W'ilcox age), 

 Puryear, Henry County, Tenn. (very abundant), 

 and 1 mile south of Grand Junction, in Fay- 

 ette County, Tenn. (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



Oreodaphne coushatta Berry, n. sp. 



Plate LXXXI, figures 1 and 2. 



Ttimntlnra. pniciirsoria Lesquereux. Ilollirk (not Les- 

 (lucreux^, in Harris, G. D., and Veatch, A. C, 

 A preliminary report on the geology of Louisiana, 

 p. 284, pi. 44, figs. 3, 4, 1899. 

 Veatch, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 46, pi. 17, 

 figs. 3, 3a, 190(i. 

 Description. — Leaves ovate-lanceolate in out- 

 line. Apex and base about equally and ab- 



1 Watdet, A., Description des plantes fossUes du bassin de Paris, p. 175, 

 pi. M, Cg. 2, 1S66. 



