(52) 



total of ten species or over 15 per cent. ; or, on excluding 

 doubtful species such as those of Banksia, Eucalyptus and 

 Safindus, and such wide ranging forms as Sequoia Reichen- 

 bachi, over 9 per cent. 



The most striking feature about the Matawan flora is the 

 entire absence of ferns, which form 5 i^ per cent, of the Raritan 

 flora, Anemia stricta being commonly found at Woodbridge. 

 Ferns form i ^ per cent, of the Dakota flora, 1 1 per cent, of the 

 Atane flora, and about 2 per cent, of the existing New Jersey 

 flora. In the most recent southern flora with which the Mata- 

 wan may be compared, that of Alabama,* sixty-two species 

 of Pteridophytes are listed forming about 2^^ per cent., and 

 this percentage would be greatly increased if we excluded 

 herbaceous plants, which as a rule do not occur as fossils. 

 It is difficult to account for the absence of this order, as the 

 balance of the flora is proportionally normal, containing nearly 

 II per cent, of Coniferae against ii-^ per cent, in the Raritan 

 and 10 per cent, in the Atane beds. Presumably the environ- 

 ment was unsuited to ferns, although, of course, future dis- 

 covery may disclose them. Judging by such forms as Dam- 

 7nara^ Araucarttes, Eucalyptus, Sterculia, Aralia, Myrsine, 

 Ficus, etc., we may infer that the climate was considerably 

 warmer than at the present day in this latitude, and at least suf- 

 ficiently humid to make the absence of ferns remarkable. A 

 palm {Serejiopsis) occurs at Glen Cove, Long Island,! and 

 the Raritan furnishes many additional representatives of 

 genera which are exclusively tropical at the present time, as 

 for instance Cintiamomum, Bauhinia, etc. 



Plants especially abundant in the Raritan formation and 

 for which we have repeatedly searched in the Matawan are 

 Thinnfeldia subintegrifolia (Lesq.) Knowlton, Tricarpellites 

 striatum Newb., and Tricaly cites papyraceus Newb. The 

 genera Myrica (7 sp.) and Liriodetidron, (4 sp.) which are 

 abundantly developed in the Raritan, and on the islands, have 



* Mohr, Plant Life of Alabama. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. v. 6. Jl 1901. 

 t Dr. Ilollick writes that material recently collected may result in altering 

 his views as to the botanical affinity of these remains. 



