342 



LOWER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOCTHEASTERN XORTH AMERICA. 



The fossil record is not extciisivi', and sucii 

 forms as have been found are usually referred 

 to the allied genus Olea. In llil<jard's section 

 of the t3-pe localit}- for this species he mentions 

 the occurrence of what he calls Olea americana 

 in these deposits, wliich undoubtedly repre- 

 sents the species now under (hscussion and was 

 the preliminary determination of Lesquereux,' 

 and was subsequently altered wlieu he came to 

 jniblish Ids account of the Mississippi plants. 



Tlie present species occurs in the Raton for- 

 mation of the Rocky Mountain province. 



Occurrence. — ^Ackerman formation, Hm-leys, 

 Benton Coimty (formerly part of Tippah 

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

 Lagrange formation (in beds of Wdcox age), 

 Puryear, Henry County, Tenn. (collected by E. 

 W. Berry\ 



Collections. — U. S. National Museiun. 



Family APOCYNACEa;. 

 Genus APOCYNOPHYLLUM Unger. 

 Apoctnophtllum wilcoxense Berry, n. sp. 

 Plates cm, figures 2 and 3, and CVIII, figure 4. 



Description. — Leaves oblong-lanceolate and 

 more or less falcate in outlme, the apex sharply 

 pointed and the base gradually narrowed. 

 Length about 17 to 18 centimeters. Maximum 

 ■width about 2.4 centimeters. Margins entire, 

 shghtly revolute. Petiole not preserved. 

 Midrib stout, especially proximad, curved, 

 prominent on the lower surface of the leaf, rela- 

 tively thin on the upper surface. Secondaries 

 thin, very numerous, approximately 1 milli- 

 meter apart, subparallel, inuiicrsed m the leaf 

 substance. They diverge from the mich'ib at 

 wide angles, fully 90° in the lower part of the 

 leaf, and pursue a nearly straight com-se, 

 branching somewhat and becoming nearly obso- 

 lete at the margin. There may be marginal 

 veins, but if present they constitute the margin 

 and are not distinguishable. Textiure very 

 coriaceous. 



This fine large species is very unlike any pre- 

 viously knowTi fossil forms from the Am(>rican 

 continent. Among the Tertiary floras of 

 Europe it is most similar to the leaves referred 

 to the genus Nerium of the Apocynacese, for 

 example Nerium hilinicum Ettingshausen ^ 



' Hflgard, E. W., Report on the geology aiid agriculture of Mississippi, 

 p. 109, 1S«0. 



= Ettingshausen, 0. von, Die fossile Flora des Tertiiir-Beckens ron 

 Bflin, pt. 2, p. 30, pi. 36, flg. 20; pi. 37, ttg. 2, 1868. 



from the Burdigaliaii of lioheinia or .\eriu7n 

 sarthacense Saporta ^ from the middle Eocene 

 of France (Sarthe). It is also much like the 

 existuig N( rium oleander Liniie of Kuiope, com- 

 moidy cultivated as an ornamental shrub, espe- 

 cially in our Soutiicrn States. Together with 

 an allied but still larger species it is not uncom- 

 mon in the Raton formation of the southern 

 Rocky Mountain province. 



The genus Apoc\niopliyllum seems preferable 

 since it is less definite than Nerium or similar- 

 leafed existing tropical genera. Its use indi- 

 cates a relationship with the family Apocy- 

 nacefe leather than \vith the genus Apocynum 

 Lume, as might possibly be inferred. 



Fossil species of Apocynophyllum have 

 rarely been recognized in American Tertiary 

 floras. The form from the Eocene of the Raton 

 Momitams of New Mexico, identified by Les- 

 quereu.x * as Quercus neriifolia Alexander 

 Braun, is not that species and it has been prop- 

 erly redefined by Ettingshausen •' and renamed 

 Apocynophyllum lesquereuxii. Another species, 

 Apocynopliyllum ^fcn'i Ettmgshausen occurs in 

 tlie Eocene of Greeidand. 



Occurrence. — Holly Springs sand, gully at 

 Oxford, Lafayette County, Miss, (collected l)y 

 E. W. Berry). Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wdcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Tenn. 

 (collected by E. W. Berry). Wilcox group, lA 

 miles northeast of Mansfield and 2 miles south 

 of Naborton, De Soto Parish, La. (collected by 

 G. C. Matson and O. B. Hopkins). 



Collections. — U. S. National Museum. 



Apocynophyllu ij^MississipprENSis Berry, n. sp. 

 Plate CVIII, figure G. 



Description. — Leaves relatively large, lan- 

 ceolate in general outline, widest midway be- 

 tween the apex and the base, the margins in- 

 cur\'ing uniformly to the acutely pointed apex 

 and the greatly decurrent base. Length about 

 13 centimeters. Maximum width about 3.5 

 centimeters. Margins entire, full, and evenly 

 rounded. At the base the lamina on each side 

 narrows like it does in the apex to less than 2 

 milhmeters from the petiole, where it recurves 

 and follows a coui-se parallel with the petiole 



3 Cri('', L., Uecherches sor le vi^gotal ion de I'ouest de la France tl r(5poque 

 tertiaire, p. 4.5, pi. Ij, IJgs. 70-73, 1877. 



< Lesquereu.x, Leo, The Tertiary Uora, p. 150, pl. 19, flg. 5, 1878. 



1. Ettingshausen, C. von, K. Akad. Wiss. Wien Uenlischr., vol. 47, p. 32, 

 1883. 



