I9I4-] SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 245 



heads the list, followed by Africa with 28 peculiar genera containing 

 about 130 species, and Asia with 20 peculiar genera containing about 

 75 species. Australia has few endemic genera or species, but numer- 

 ous genera range from Asia or Africa to the Australian region and 

 several genera are peculiar to Malaysia and to Polynesia. In the 

 present state of our knowledge the distribution does not furnish 

 material for generalization. 



The fossil record, although including the representatives of at 

 least a dozen genera, is too incomplete to shed much light on the his- 

 tory of the family or its existing distribution. The largest fossil 

 genus is the form genus Apocynophyllum proposed by Heer and em- 

 bracing fossil forms resembling Thevetia, Cerbera, Apocynum and 

 other existing genera of the family. Five species are recorded from 

 the Upper Cretaceous, coming from the Dakota sandstone, Australia, 

 Westphalia and Saxony. There are over a score of Eocene species 

 widely distributed. There are five species in the Wilcox flora some 

 of which are exceedingly well marked and common. There are 

 also five species in the Ypresian of southern England. Other Eocene 

 records include Greenland, Australia, New Zealand and Chili. The 

 score or more of known Oligocene species are confined to European 

 localities. The Miocene species number about 25, all confined to 

 Europe except a form recorded from Italy. 



Fossil forms have been sparingly referred to the following 

 genera: Allamanda, Hccmadictyon and Thevetia have been recognized 

 by Engelhardt in the early Tertiary of Chili: Alyxia, Alstonia, Cer- 

 bera and Tabemccmontana have been recognized in the European 

 Tertiary by various students : the genus N eritinium Unger has four 

 or five species in the European Miocene : the genus Plumeria has 

 four Miocene species in Europe and a Pliocene species in Brazil. The 

 genus Echitonium Unger has over a dozen fossil species. There are 

 five in the Eocene including a well marked form in the Wilcox flora ; 

 two in the Oligocene and five in the Miocene of Europe. 



The genus Nerium Linne has only three or four existing species 

 of shrubs or trees in the warmer parts of Eurasia. However the 

 commonly cultivated Nerium oleander Linne of the Levant grows 

 to a relatively large size and is extensively naturalized in Florida and 

 the West Indies. It is used for hedges in Bermuda. Saporta re- 



