LANCE FLORA OF EASTERN WYOMING 117 



cene. This analysis is, of course, very suggestive of Lancian age, but cannot be 

 considered conclusive because of the small number of species in the assemblage. 

 Fortunately, the suggestive floral testimony is made rather conchisive by the 

 occurrence of the typical Lancian dinosaur Triceratops in the lower Ravenscrag 

 deposits. 



The floras of the middle and upper Ravenscrag beds, also described by Berry, 

 are so clearly Paleocene that they do not need further analysis here. 



Fruitland-Kirtland floras — The flora of the Fruitland formation of northwestern 

 New Mexico has been described by Knowlton.^ From his analysis of the fioral 

 assemblage he conckided that the beds were of Montanan age. This conclusion is 

 supported by the following analysis : 



No outside distribution 17 



Outside distribution 14 (3 in common with t.ype Lance) 



Total number of species 31 



Short-ranging species: Long-ranging species: Species of uncertain range . . 



Montanan 4 (-|-2?) Pre-Montanan-Montanan 1 



Lancian Montanan-Lancian 6 



Paleocene Pre-Montanan-Montanan-Lancian 1 



6(?) 8 



From the fact that 3 of the short-ranging species are known elsewhere only in 

 the lower Vermejo and that the 2 species questioned in the Ust are also restricted 

 to the Vermejo, but of unknown stratigraphic position, it can be conckided that the 

 Fruitland is not younger than Vermejo, and most Hkely synchronous with the 

 lower Vermejo. 



The Kirtland fiora, described by Knowlton as an integral unit of the Fruitland 

 flora, comprises at present only 7 species. Such a small assemblage is, in my opin- 

 ion, not a fair sample for reUable correlation, particularly in view of the fact that 

 only 3 of tlie species have an outside distribution. Until a larger floral assemblage is 

 known, it can only be said that from its relation to overlying and underlying beds 

 the Kirtland shale is either late Montanan or early Lancian in age. 



Ericson-Almond flora — Fossil plants coUected near Point of Rocks in south- 

 western Wyoming have been described by Ward,^ Lesquereux,^ and Knowkon.'* 

 These specimens were collected at a time when neither stratigraphic nor geographic 

 position could be easUy determined. From the published reports and my visit to 

 the area, however, it seems reasonably certain that most of the plants were obtained 

 from the massive sandstone and overlying shale exposed j to | mile north and east 

 of the Point of Rocks station on the Union Pacific raik-oad. The massive sandstone 

 has since been called the Ericson sandstone and the overlying shales the Almond 

 formation.^ These were included in the Mesaverde group on the basis of their 

 stratigraphic position below the Lewis shale, whose marine fauna is of late Montanan 



> Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 98-S, 327-344. 1916. 



'■ Ward, L. F., U. S. Geol. Surv. 6th Ann. Rept., 549-557, 1885: U. S. Geol. Surv. BuU. 37, 13-115, 1887. 



» Lesquereux, L., Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., vol. 7, 314-329, 343, 344, 1878. 



' Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 163, 6. 17-77, 1900. 



' Sears, J. D., U. S. Geol. Surv. BuU. 781, 20, 1926. 



