UMBELLALES. 



3'2^ 



Tlie finding; of nuts of a species of Trapa is 

 interesting, since it sliows that an inliabitant 

 of ponds and slow streams grew near enougli to 

 the deposit at Puryear f(n- its nuts to he 

 brought in and fossihzeiL 



Occurrence. — Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Teiui. 

 (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



FamUy MELASTOMATACEffi. 

 Genu.s MELASTOMITES Unger. 



Melastomites amekicanus Berry, n. sp. 

 Plate XCVII, figures 1-3. 



Description. — Leaves of different sizes, eUip- 

 tical-lani'eolate and more or less falcate hi 

 general outline. Apex narrowed and bluntly 

 pomted, m some sj)ecimeus slightly inequi- 

 lateral. Base naiTOwed and extended, decur- 

 rent for a more or less considerable distance. 

 Length ranges from 2.5 to 8 centimetei"s, aver- 

 aging about 7 centimeters. Maximum width, 

 m the middle part of the leaf, ranges from 1 to 

 2.6 eentimetei-s, averaging about 2 centimeters. 

 Petiole stout and curved, its length not de- 

 terminable. Midrib stout and curved. Sec- 

 ondary venation pecidiar, the lowest sujjra- 

 basilar pair subopposite, long, and ascending; 

 they diverge from the midrib at angles of about 

 25°, and though thmner than the midrib they 

 are, because of theh" gi'eater length, stouter 

 than the regular secondaries; they curve 

 upward, parallel to the lower lateral margms, 

 and continue with successive flat arches close 

 to the margin, joining the midrib in the tip m 

 an aerodrome. After a basal interval above 

 these laterals there are about sLx pahs of thin, 

 more or less equally spaced, alternate to oppo- 

 site secondaries; they diverge from the midrib 

 at wide angles, rangmg from 50° to 70° and 

 becoming wider distad; they curve upward, 

 becoming subparallel with tlie margin and also 

 with the margmal vein, with which they merge, 

 causing it to arch slightly. Tertiaries thin, 

 more or less immersed, forming small arclies in 

 the marginal region and quadrangular or pentag- 

 onal meshes internally. Leaf margins entire. 

 Te.xture subcoriaceous. 



This well-marlvcd species suggests compari- 

 sons witli a variety of unrelated forms, as, for 

 example, certahi spec-ies of Lauraceie, Myrta- 

 cete, Thymelicacea?, Celastracea;, Kliamnaccte, 

 and the like. It seems to me, however, to be 



more properly refera])le to tlie Melast()niata(;e;e, 

 a family mostly tr()])ical and so larg(>ly devel- 

 ojied in .Vmerica. Tlie fossil may be conipareil 

 witii a number of modern giMiera, lull the name 

 Melastomites is ju'eferable, as indicative of the 

 family without bcnng unduly specifn^ as to the 

 modern genus that is closest to this Eoc(Mie 

 fonn. According to Krasser, who moiio- 

 grajilunl the family for Engler and Praull's 

 Natiirhchen Pflanzenfamilien, at least 2,000 of 

 the 2,800 existing species are American and 

 largely South American. Several fossil forms 

 ranging in age from the Upper (Cretaceous 

 through the Tertiary, and nearly all European, 

 have been referred to Melastomites, but none 

 of these are especially close to Melastomites 

 americanus. A single small leaf from Puryear 

 is referred to this species, wliich is present in 

 considerable abundance at the outcrop in 

 Fayette County, occurring also along the west- 

 ern shore of the emljaynient. 



Occurrence. — Grenada formation, Grenada, 

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

 Lowe and E. W. Berry). Lagrange foniiation 

 (m beds of Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry 

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

 \\ niQes west of Grand Junction, in Fayette 

 County, Temi. (collected by L. C. Glenn). 

 Wilcox group, IJ miles northeast of Mansfield, 

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



Collections. — \]. vS. National Museum. 



Order UIVIBELLALES. 



Family AKALIACEiE. 



Genus ARALIA of authors. 



Aralia notata Lesquereux. 

 Plate XCVII, figure 4, 

 riatanus duhia} Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Sur- 

 vey Terr. Ann. Kept, for 1873, p. 40G, 1874. 

 Anilia notata. Lesquereux, The Tertiary flora, p. 237, pi. 

 39, figs. 2-4, 1878. 

 Ward, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 37, p. GO, pi. 27, fig. 1, 



1SS7. 

 Ward, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc, vol. 11, p. 40, pi. 17, 



fig. 1, 1888. 

 (?) Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc, vol. 11, p. 20, 



1888. 

 Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 745, 



pi. 100. fig. 1, 1899. 

 Kuowlton, Torrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 29, p. 70(1, 



1902. 

 (?) Peuhallow, Roy. Soc. Canada Trans., ser. 2, vol. 8, 

 sec. 4, p. 70, 1902. 



1 The name dufeitt in combination with Aralia is preoccupied by a 

 European Tertiary species so named by Schimper in 1874 (Pali'^on- 

 tologie v(^g(Hale, vol. 3, p. 35). 



