(8i) 



Sassafras Nees & Eberm. Handb. Med. Pharm. Bot. 2: 

 418. 1831. 



At the present day a monotypic genus of eastern North 

 America, although inhabiting Europe before the Glacial 

 period in both the Tertiary and Cretaceous ages. Numer- 

 ous fossil leaves have been referred to this genus ranging 

 from the Potomac formation upward. While some of these 

 are undoubtedly ancestral Sassafras species, others are just 

 as undoubtedly not related to Sassa/ras ; for instance we 

 would refer Sassajras Harkerianum, S. obtustim and S. 

 cretacciim ohlusuni to Cissiles ; we would refer S. disscctmn, 

 S. dissectum sy^nmetricum^ S. tnirabile, S. paptllostini, S. 

 recurvatuni, S. dcntatum and S. grossedcntatum to Platanus 

 or possibly to Protoplatamis. The two dozen or more an- 

 cient American species occur in the following formations : 

 Potomac 3, Cheyenne Sandstone 3, Raritan 4, Island Rari- 

 tan 2, Matawan i, Dakota 14, Vancouver i, Canadian Up- 

 per Laramie 2. 



Heer describes two species from Atane, one of which is 

 identical with a Dakota form ; one species from Patoot ; and 

 one from the Tertiary of Greenland. Velenovsky identifies S. 

 acutilolmm in the Cenomanian of Bohemia, and several species 

 have been described from the European Tertiary formations. 



Sassafras acutilobum Lesq. PL 4S'f- ^1 -• 



Sassafras acutilobum Lesq. Cret. Flora, 79. pi. 14.. f. /, 

 2. 1874 ; Cret. & Tert. Fl. 56. fl. s-f- /, 5. 1883 ; Fl. 

 Dak. Group, 100. 1892. Newb. Fl. Amboy Clays, 87. 

 pi. 2s. f. i-io; pi. 26./. 2-6. 1896; Later Ext. Fl. 98. 

 //. 7./. I. 1898 >^\ cretaceum. Hollick, Trans. N. 

 Y. Acad. Sci. 12: 236.//. y.f. i. 1893. 16 : 132.//. 

 14./. 13. 1897. Velen. Fl. Bohm. Kreidef. 4: 2. //. 



2./, I. 1886. 



S. recurvatum Heer, Fl. Foss. Arct. 6-': 74. pi. sg.f. 4. 



1882 ; not Lesq. 

 There can be no doubt that this rather fragmentary leaf 

 is referable to Sassajras acutilobum as commonly understood. 



