324 



LOWEK EOCEXE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN XOUTU AMERICA. 



Ti]ip:ih County), Miss., and was collocted by 

 llilirard, who has given a section at this locahty 

 and a list of Lesquereux's })rohmmary ich'nti- 

 fications.' It is mtcrestmg to note that in this 

 hst the ))resent species is referred to the genus 

 Terniinaha. as were also certain specimens 

 afterward collect(>d frona Fischers Peak in New 

 Mexico (Raton formation i, hut all were subse- 

 quently triinsferred to the genus Magnolia by 

 their origuial describer and compared with the 

 modern species Magnolia trlpttala Limie, which 

 they resemble in a general way. The tyjie ma- 

 terial was not especially well preserved in day 

 ironstone and seems to have consisted onl}' of 

 the two specimens figured by Lesquereux. 

 These were preserved on a sijigle slal), and the 

 origuial is not contamed in the Hilgard collec- 

 tion at the State University, Oxford, Miss. The 

 counterpart of this specimen, however, is still in 

 the collection, and, though less complete than 

 the figm-es of the type, serves to show the essen- 

 tial correctness of Lesquereux's drawings. 



In their general outline, texture, venation, 

 and the marginal and peduncular characters 

 they are closely allied to the leaves of the exist- 

 ing and fossil species which have been referred 

 to the genus Terminalia, and this resemblance 

 is so striking and so in harmony with the eco- 

 logic grouping of the Wilcox flora that I feel jus- 

 tified in transferring the species to this genus. 



Among recent forms the present species may 

 lie compared with Terminalia pJiceocarpa Eich- 

 ler or Terminalia: liylohates Eichler, inhabitants 

 of tropical South iimerica. Among fossil 

 species it may be compared with Terminalia 

 radohojensis Unger,- which has been identified 

 at a large number of European horizons rangmg 

 from the Tongrian to the middle Pliocene 

 (Astian). It is also strictly congeneric with 

 2\rminalla phseocarpoides B(UTy, recently de- 

 scribed,' with other members of a tj'pical sub- 

 tropical strand flora, from the Claiborne or 

 middle Eocene of Georgia. 



The modern species of Terminalia are all 

 tropical and number more than 100 forms, 

 about equally distributed between -Vsia, Africa, 

 Australia, and America. But one indigenous 

 species, Terminalia huceras (often refeiTed to 



> Hilgard, E. W., Report oa the geology and agriculture of Mississippi, 

 p. 113,1860. 



- Unger, Franz, Chloris protogaea, p. 142, pi. 18, fig. 2, 1847. See also 

 Heer, Oswald, Flora terliaria Helvcliae, vol. 3, pi. 108, figs. 10-12, 1859. 



' Berry, E. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. I'aper 84, p. 140, pi. 29, fig. 3, 

 1914. 



the genus Buciila Linne), reaches the Inited 

 States. It is found generall}' on coral soil and 

 has e.\t(!nde(l from the Caribb(!an region north- 

 ward through the West Intlies to Elliotts Key, 

 Ela. AVhile some of the species are distributed 

 by birds the seeds of Terminalia catappa and 

 T. IHtoralis float in sea water for months with- 

 out injury, according to Schim])or, Guppy, and 

 others. 



Besides the species next described, Termina- 

 lia Jdlgardiana and Terminalia wilcoxiana, only 

 one other species, Terminalia phseocarpoleles, 

 has been recognized among tlie fossil floras of 

 North America, although Brit ton ^ has recog- 

 nized characteristic fruits in a collection of 

 Tertiary age from Bolivia in South America. 

 From Europe, on the other hand, a dozen or 

 more species have been described. They occur 

 for the most part along tlie extended Tertiary 

 coast of southern Em'ope from Eocene to Plio- 

 cene times and are represented l)y character- 

 istic fruits as well as leaves. Two species are 

 described by Watelet from the Ypresian of tlie 

 Paris Basin, and a form from this horizon 

 somewhat similar to Terminalia lesleyana is 

 described from the Sparnacian and Yjjresian as 

 Fie us elesJiayesi.-' 



The wTiter has not seen the material on 

 which Lesquereux based the occurrence of Ter- 

 minalia lesleyana in the Eocene at Evanston, 

 Wyo., and it is included ui the foregoing 

 synonymy with considerable hesitation, since 

 it is a somewhat older Eocene horizon than tlie 

 Wilcox. Remains indistinguishable from the 

 present species have been collected from the 

 Raton formation of northeastern New Mexico. 



Oceiirrence. — Ackerman formation. Hurleys, 

 Benton County (formerly a part of Tij)pah 

 County), Miss, (collected by E. W. Hilgard). 

 Lagrange formation (in beds of Wilcox age) 

 1 mile south of Grand Junction, in Fayette 

 County, Tenn. (material not ])ositivel3^ deter- 

 mined) (collected by E. W. Berry). Wilcox 

 group, sec. 28, T. 13 N., R. 12 W., and 2 miles 

 south of Naborton, De Soto Parish, La. (col- 

 lected by G. C. Matson and O. B. Hojikins). 

 Beds of Wilcox age on Cahneras Creek, Wilson 

 Count}', Tex. (collected by Alexander Deussen) . 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum; State 

 University of Mississippi. 



' Britton, X. L., .\m. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 21, p. 2.^)4, figs. 

 10, 28, 08-70, 1,S93. 



1 Watelet , \., Description des plantes fossiles du bassin de I'aris, p. 151, 

 pis. .■!;), 40, 41, fig. 1,1806. 



