THYMELEAl.KS. 



311 



apical mar<jins. Potiolo stout, not preserved 

 for its entire Icuigth. Midrib stout. Second- 

 aries thin, numerous, idternale, sul)])ar;dl(^l, 

 unequaJly spaci^d, diverging from tlui mitlrib 

 at angles of 45° to 50°. curving regularly up- 

 ward, camptodrome in tlu' marginal region. 

 Tertiaries obsolete. Margins entire. Texture 

 coriaceous. 



This speeie.s may be com])iii-ed willi ;l large 

 number of existing species of Nectiiniira and 

 Ocotea and with a number of Tertiary species 

 of Laurus, so called. Among Wilco.x forms it 

 is similar to the common Ncctandra pscudo- 

 coriacca Berry but is rela(i\ely wider and has a 

 less acuminate apex and base and fewer sec- 

 ondaries. It is named for Dr. E. N. Lowe, 

 State geologist of Mississijipi. who in company 

 with the writer collected it at tlui (iue plant 

 locality in the town of Oxford. 



Occurrence. — Holly Springs sand, ravine at 

 O.xford, Lafayette Comity, Miss, (collected by 

 E. W. Berry). WQcox group, 4 miles south- 

 west of BoydsvOle, Clay County, Ark. (col- 

 lected by E. W. Berry) : and Ih miles north- 

 cast of Mansfield, De Soto Parish, La. (collected 

 by O. B. Hopkins). Lagrange formation (in 

 beds of AYUcox age), Baughs Bridge, Wolf 

 River, near La Grange. Fayette County, Tenn. 

 (a doubtfully determined specimen collected by 

 L. C. Johnson in 1889). 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



Nectaxdra pseudocoriacea Berry, n. sp. 



Plates LXXXVII, figure 2, and LXXXVIII, figures 1-3. 



Laurus primigenia Unger. Hollick (in part), in Harris, 

 G. D., and Veatch, A. C, A preliminary report on 

 the geology of Louisiana, p. 284, pi. 41, fig. 2 (not 

 fig. 1), 1899. 



Description. — Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 

 generally falcate in outline, some of them 

 slightly inecpidateral at the base. Length 7.5 

 to 10 eentunetei-s. Maxinnini width, midway 

 between the apex and the base, 1 to 2 centi- 

 meters, averaging about 1 .6 centimeters. Ap(^x 

 narrowed and extended as a slender, sharply 

 pointed acumen. Base narrowed and descend- 

 ing to matjch the a])ex. Margins entire. Tex- 

 ture very coriaceous. Petiole relatively very 

 stout, generally curved, averaging about 1 cen- 

 timeter or slightly more in length. Midril) 

 stout, as a rule more or less curved, and in a 

 few specimens somewhat flexuous. S(H-onda- 

 ries numerous, thin, sub parallel, innuersed. 



diverging from the midrib at wide angles, in 

 some specimens irregidarly spactnl, campto- 

 drome close to the margin. Tertiaries usually 

 obsolete, typically lauraceous in one transpar- 

 ent specinu'n that I was a])le to wash out of the 

 clays near Grand Junction, Temi. 



Tiiis narrowly lanceolate and eomnuitdy fal- 

 cate form is eonunon at many of the WUco.x 

 locidities both east and west of Mississippi 

 Ki\er. It is a ciiaracteristic form, readily 

 recognized by its coriaceous texture, its numer- 

 ous fine secondaries, sL'udcr apex and base, 

 the apex commonly j)roihiced as a typical 

 "dripping point." It is clearly distinct from 

 previously described species but is very close 

 to some of the Tertiary leaves of both America 

 and Europe that have b(M'n referred to the 

 jjrotean species Lavrus priiiiieicnia Unger. 



Among Recent lauraceous trees it is very 

 similar to the nai-row leaves of the closely 

 aUied or niutuaUy identical forms from tlie 

 American Ti'o|)ics and subtropics variously de- 

 scribed as Persia cateshyana Chapman, Nec- 

 tandra coriacea (Swartz) Grisebacli, and Oeotca 

 cdteshijarid Sargent. These are fotmd in abun- 

 dance on the shores antl islands of peninsiilar 

 Florida south of Capes Romano and Canaveral, 

 in tlu^ Bahamas, and on some of the West 

 Indian islands. 



Tlie slend(>r falcate specimen from 0.\ford, 

 Miss., shown in Plate LXXXVHI, figure 1, is 

 marred by a large circular group of gypsum 

 crystals. 



Occurrence. — Ackerman formation. Hurleys, 

 Benton Coimty (formerly part of Tippali 

 County), Miss, (collected ])y E. W. IlUgard). 

 Grenada formation, Grenada, Grenada County, 

 Miss, (collected ])y E. N. Lowe and E. W. 

 Berry). Holly Springs sand, ravine nc^ar Ox- 

 ford, Lafayette County, Miss, (collected by 

 E. W. Berry); also near HoUy Springs, Mar- 

 shall County, Miss, (collected by E. W. Berry) ; 

 Vaughans, nvav Ijamar, Benton (\iunty. Miss. 

 (coUected by L. C. Johnson). Wilcox group, 

 one-fourth mile above C'oushatta, Red River 

 Parish, La. (collected by A. C. Veatch) ; .sec. 28, 

 T. i;3 N., R. 12 W.; sec. 11, T. 12 N., R. 12 W.; 

 3 miles east, 1^ and 5 miles southeast, and 2 

 mil(>s south of Naborton, De Soto Parish, La. 

 (collected by G. C. Matson, L. C. Chapman, 

 and O. B. Hopkins); 4 miles southwest of 

 BoydsvUle, Clay County, Ark. (collected by 

 E. W. Bcny) ; and Benton, Sahne County, iVrk. 



