DESCUIPTION OF SrEGIES— LAUIMNE^. 215 



£• a (I I* II s o r o t c o i d e s , sp. uov. 



Plate XXXVI, Fig. 10. 



Leaf long, coriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, {•radiially tapering from lielow the middle iipwaid to 

 an obtuse acumen, cuneate to the petiole ; lateral veicB tbin, open, subequidislant, close, eligbtly cnrvi d. 



The smooth or polished surfiice of the leaf, its coriaceous substance, and 

 its shape and nervation refer it to the Lnurinea, though nothing of its areo- 

 lation may be discerned. It is fifteen centimeters long, three centimeters 

 broad, a short distance above the base, where it is the widest, and hence 

 gradually narrowed upward to an apparently obtuse point; for it is not clearly 

 seen if the top is naturally truncate or if its abrupt termination is caused by 

 fractun-. The shape is very fine, and rarely observable in leaves oi Laurus. 

 Saporta has seen some of this character in species of the old genus Ocoiea, 

 now distributed among other subdivisions of the Laurineee. 



Habitat. — Golden, Colorado. Only one specimen, here figured, has 

 been found. 



Lnuriis pi'aestaiis, Lesqz. 



Plato LXIII, Fig. 7. 



Lauras prastans, Lesqx., Annual Report, 1874, p. 305. 



Leaf large, coriaceous, very entire, elliptical-lanceolate, narrowed in the same degree upward to 

 a sharp- pointtd, slightly scytbe-sbaped acumen, and downward to the petiole; middle nerve very thick: 

 secondary veins stroug, equidistant, and parallel. 



The preservation of the leaf is not ipiite perfect, its lamina being de- 

 stroyed in the lower part. The border line is, however, clearly defined, as 

 represented in the figure. It is sixteen centimeters long without the petiole, 

 five centimeters wide in the middle, has its lateral veins on an acute angle of 

 divergence, 4(J°, gradually curving in traversing the areas to the borders, 

 which they closely follow in simple festoons. It has no distinct tertiary veins, 

 but the veinlets are strong, mostly simple, or sparingly branched, with the 

 interspaces filled with small polygonal areola;, appearing all of the same ulti- 

 mate degree. This leaf might bccompared to many species of the European 

 Miocene, Persea speciosa, Heei-, Lnurus princcps, Ilctn-, etc., especially this 

 last species as represented in V\. Tert. Helv., pi. xc, fig. 20, by a leaf of 

 about the same size. It is, however, distinctly characterized l)y its equidis- 

 tant secondary nerves, without intermediate tertiary ones; its strong veinlets, 

 mostly simple, and especially its very thick midrib. This last character 

 refers it to Persea lancifoliu^* Lesqx. (Trans. Ainer. Phil. Soc, vol. xiii, p. 

 419, pi. xix, figs. 3 and 4), represented l)y two leaves which are gradually 



* Described as f. lanci/olia; quoted by Schituper as P. lanctolala. 



