FOX HILLS AND LOWER MEDICINE BOW 45 



Family TAXODIACE^ 



Genus SEQUOIA Endlicher 



Sequoia? acuminata Lesquereux 



(Plate 2, FiR. 1) 



Seqxtoia acuminala Lesquercux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr. Bull., vol. 1, 384, 1876; Rept. U. S. Geol. 

 Surv. Terr., vol. 7, 80, pl. 7, figs. 15-16a, 1878; VKnowlton, U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 130, 114, pl. 2, 

 figs. 7, 8, 1922. 



There are only two incoinplete speciraens of this type in the coUections. They are suffi- 

 ciently well defined, however, to indicate that they are not of the spreading, two-ranked leaflets 

 here referred to Sequoin nordenskioldi Heer. 



The reference to S.? acuminata Lesquereux is made on the basis of identity with the figured 

 and type specimens of the Laramie forms which Knowlton qucstionably referred to this species, 

 and with the original types from Black Buttes, Wyoming. On the basis of material which I have 

 collected from the lower Lance formation near Glenrock, Wyoming, I am prepared to present 

 evidence in a forthcoming pubhcation that this species is not chstinct from Sequoia longifolia 

 Lesquereux, a conclusion which both Lesquereux and Knowlton recognized as a possibihty in the 

 reports cited above. 



After surveying herbarium materials of modern conifers, I am convinced that the reference 

 to Sequoia is invahd. My studics of the better material from the Lance formation have as yet 

 not revealed the true botanical relationship of the species. 



Occurrence — Corson Ranch, Wyoming, Loc. P. 372;northof Walcott, Wyoming, Loc. P. 373. 



Collection—V . C. Mus. Pal., No. 1295. 



Sequoia nordenskioldi Heer 

 (Plate 1, Fig. 10) 

 Sequoia nordenskioldi Heer, Fl. Foss. Arctica, vol. 2, pt. 3, 36, pl. 2, fig. 13b, pl. 4, figs. la, Ib, 4-38, 1870; 

 Newberry, U. S. Geol. Surv. Mon. 35, 20, pl. 26, fig. 4, 1898. 



There are about a dozen specimens which are indistinguishable from Heer's original type 

 figures of this species. The status of this species in North America is very unsatisfactory. In 

 the first place, it cannot be separated from the widespread Tertiary leaf species Sequoia langsdorfii 

 (Brongniart) Heer, which in turn is essentially similar to the Uving S. sempervirens Endhcher of 

 the Pacific Coast. In the second place, cones of Sequoia found in the same Cretaceous strata as 

 fohage referred partly to S. nordenskioldi, and partly to S. langsdorfii, have recently been described 

 as S. dakotensis Brown.i These cones are comparable to those of the hving S. sempervirens and 

 the Tertiary S. langsdorfii but are sufficiently different in significant characters to indicate that 

 they belong to a distinct species, though not to Heer's S. nordenskioldi. It seems hkely, therefore, 

 that the Sequoia fohage which here and elsewhere is referred to S. nordenskioldi is in reahty the 

 foUage of the species whose cones are now called S. dakotensis. Until such time as the cones and 

 foUage may be found in cUrect connection, however, it seems best to retain the widely used name 

 S. nordenskidldi for the late Cretaceous fohage of this type. 



This species has been widely reported, though rarely figured, from the Lance and Fort Union 

 of the Rocky Mountain region. I doubt if it wiU ever have the stratigraphic significance which 

 can now be attached to species based on cone materiah 



Occurrence — Craig, Colorado, Loc. P. 375. 



Collection—U. C. Mus. Pal., Plesiotype No. 1296. 



Family TYPHACEiE 



Genus TYPHA Linn6 



Typha sp. 



(Plate 1, Fig. 12) 



There are about a dozen weU-preserved fragments which are clearly referable to the genus 

 Typha. The best of these, which is figured, shows the characteristic strong and weak paraUel 

 veins crossed and connected irregularly by short, transverse veinlets. 



> Brown, R. W., Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 25. no. 10, 447, 1935. 



