INCERTiE SEDIS. 



351 



orfj;!ins and sul)S(>f[iiciitly tlio fruit . 'I'Ik- fossil 

 form ill all cif its cliai-aclers rcscmhlcs such a 

 sepal. 



Occurrence. — La<;ranjj;(' formal inu (in iicds of 

 Wilcox a<;o), Purvcar, Ilciiry Counly, Tcini. 

 (collected by E. W. J'.erry). 



Collection. — l^. S. National Museum. 



C.\i.vciTES ()STi;vAi-()i:.\iis J5erry, n. sp. 



rialo CIV, fii^iircs 4 ;uul .">. 



Description. — Small bract or other floral ap- 

 pendasje, ])roadIy elliptical in outline, rounded 

 at ])oth ends, the ])roximal somewhat more 

 narrowed than th(> distal end. Len<i1ii altout 

 9 millimeters. Maximum width about 7.5 

 millimeters, midway between the apex and the 

 base. Substance not thick but a]iparently co- 

 riaceous, since the single specimen is preserved 

 in sainly deposits where most of the plant 

 remains are much macerated. Venation shows 

 about 16 sub]:)arallel longitudinal veins, which 

 converge toward both ends and a few fork. 

 Cross vemlets are apparently fine an<l not 

 especially numerous. 



This species, unfortunately basetl on the 

 single specimen figured, may be compared with 

 Ostrya humilis Saporta ' from the lower Oligo- 

 cene of southeastern France, being similar in 

 size, outline, and venation, except that the 

 forks of the veins in the American form are less 

 numerous. It maj- also be comparetl with 

 Ostrya atUintidis Unger as figured by Ettings- 

 hausen- from Carniola and with Ostrya vxillirri 

 described liy II(>er from West Greenland. There 

 is no trace of a seed, but one of the central 

 veins is thickened at the base, and the base is 

 slightly frayed, which might indicate that the 

 base with the seed has been broken away. 

 WTiatever the botanic affinity, this form seems 

 certainly congeneric with Saporta's species. 



The genus Ostrya includes about a dozen 

 fossil species ranging from the middle Eocene 

 to the present. In tlic modern flora the genus 

 is M'idely distributed in the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere, ranging northward to Nova Scotia and 

 southward to the highlands of southern Mexico 

 and Ciuatemala in North Am(>rica, and through 

 southern Europe and southwestern Asia and in 



■Saporta, G. de, Etudes sur la v^giStation du sud-est de la France k 

 r^oque tertiaire, vol. 1, p. S3, pi. 6, fig. .5, isia; vol. 3, siippl. 1, p. ,13, pi. 

 5, fig. 8, ISfiT; Derniferes adjonctions k la flore fo.ssile d' A ix-en- Provence, 

 pt. 2, p. 12, pi. 1, lig. :i, 1SS9. 



zEltingsliaiisen C. von, Die fossile Flora von Sagor in Kruin, pi. 1, 

 p. ITV.pl. J.figs. 13, 1-t, 1S71. 



northern Ja])au in the Old World. Tlie saelike 

 bracts of our two American species are larger 

 than tlie fossil and luive fcnver longitudinal 

 veins aiul more numerous and stouter t ransverse 

 veinlets. 



Occurrence. — Beds of Wilcox age, Calaveras 

 Oreek, Wilson (\)unly, Tex. (collected by Alex- 

 ander Deusseu). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Genus CARPOLITHUS Allioni. 



C.\I!POIJTlH S PtTRYEARENSIS BciTy, U. Sp. 

 Plate CIV, fiRurc .S. 



Description. — Ovate-lanceolate compressetl 

 liilocular ca]5sule-like form, about 1.5 centi- 

 meters in length by 8 millimeters in maximum 

 width, in the median region. A longitudinal 

 median sinus marks the central peduncular col- 

 umn. .Surfac(> somewhat corrugated and tex- 

 ture apparently coriaceous. 



Occurrence. — Lagrange formation (in beds of 

 Wilcox age), Puryear, Henry County, Tenn. 

 (collected by E. W. Berry). 



Collection. — U. S. National Museum. 



Carpolitiius pra\gosoide.s Berry, n. sp. 

 Plate CIV, fiRure 9. 



Description. — Fruit laterally compressed, 

 elliptical in outluie. Carpels two, separated 

 by a deep median commissure, oblong ui out- 

 lines, terete, bluntly pointed at both ends, each 

 with a large dorsal wing. Length of fruit 

 al)out 2.5 centimeters. Maximum width, about 

 midway between the apex and thc! base, about 

 L4 centimeters. The individual carpels are 

 2.1 centimeters in length and about 3.25 milli- 

 meters in diameter. Pericarp thickened, the 

 surface Ixung marked with fine longitudinal 

 corrugations. 



This species is described with the assumption 

 that it represents the fruit of some Wilcox 

 species of Umbelliferse, although the fruits of 

 that family as a rule have more than two ribs 

 or wmgs developed by the pei'icarp. 



I have not found any recent Umbolliferic 

 that resemble it closely, and it is named from 

 its rather remote resemblance to the fruits of 

 the oriental genus Prangos of Lindley. 



I know of no closely comparable fossil forms, 

 although I have not searched the literature 

 exhaustively. 



