50 



SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1916. 



although the record is much less completely 

 preserved in the post- Wilcox sediments. The 

 present species is probably but one of many 

 related forms that inhabited southeastern 

 North America during the deposition of the 

 Alum Bluff formation. It is more inequilateral 

 than any of the known Tertiary species from 

 tliis general region, although it might perhaps 

 be considered a descendant of Caesalpimtes 

 finsonensis Berry, a somewhat smaller, less 

 obUque, and more coriaceous form, from the 

 sands of middle Wilcox age in Madison County, 

 Tenn. It is named for Dr. E. H. Sellards, State 

 geologist of Florida, who visited this celebrated 

 locality with me and helped collect the fossil 

 plants. 



Occurrence: Alum Bluff formation. Alum 

 Bluff, Fla. (coUected by E. W. Berry). 



Collection: United States National Museum. 



Order GEKANIALES. 



Family RUTACE.a;. 



Genus FAGAKA Linng. 



Fagara apalachicolensis Berry, n. sp. 



Plate IX, figure 2. 



Leaves compound. Leaflets sessile, of me- 

 dium size for this genus, elliptical in general 

 outline, with a broadly rounded apex and a 

 broadly pointed base. Length about 3 centi- 

 meters; maximum width, above the middle, 

 about L75 centimeters. Margins entire. Tex- 

 ture coriaceous. Midrib stout, somewhat 

 flexuous. Secondaries four or five, suboppo- 

 site to alternate pairs, irregularly spaced, 

 diverging from the midril) at angles varying 

 from 35° to 50'^ rather straight in their 

 courses, abruptly camptodrome close to the 

 margins. Tertiaries tliin, more or less im- 

 mersed, forming small quadrangular or polyg- 

 onal meshes. 



The genus Fagara, which contains more than 

 150 living species of slirubs and trees, is 

 cosmopoUtan in tropical and subtropical coun- 

 tries. A few forms more properly referable to 

 Xanthoxylum range for considerable distances 

 in the Temperate Zone, particularly in south- 

 eastern North America. Fossil forms based 

 on foliage are usually confused with the 

 closely allied genus Xanthoxylum Linne. Leaf- 

 lets referable to Fagara are not uncommon 

 throughout our southern Tertiary deposits, 



several different forms from the Eocene and 

 Oligocenc having been described. The genus 

 appears to have been especially prominent in 

 the torrid flora of the Vicksburg group, and 

 tlie leaflets are very abundant in the clays of 

 that age. The present species is clearly unlike 

 any of these, being especially different in its 

 broad apex and nari;owed base, anil might 

 readily be confused with the small entire 

 leaves of some live oak. The scarcity of leaf 

 remains in the Alum Bluff formation renders 

 any remarks on the relative abundance of 

 their described flora without much significance. 



Occurrence: Alum Bluff formation, Alum 

 Bluff, Liberty County, Fla. (coUected by E. W. 

 Berry), and Boynton Bluff", Choctawhatchee 

 River, Fla. (collected by E. H. Sellards). 



Collection: Laiited States National Museum. 



Order RHAMNALES. 



Family BHAMNACE.ffi. 



Genus KHAMNTTS Linng. 



Rhamnus apalachicolensis Berry, n. sp. 



Plate IX, figure 8. 



Leaves rather large for this genus, broadly 

 elUptical in generiil outline, with a broad and 

 evenly rounded apex and base. Length about 

 8 centimeters; maximum width, in the middle 

 part of the leaf, about 4.6 centimeters. Mar- 

 gins entire, eveidy rounded. Texture subcoria- 

 ceous. Midrib stout. Secondaries stout, four 

 or five alternate pairs, diverging from the mid- 

 rib at angles of about 55° to 60°, curving up- 

 ward almost immediately in a broad, sweeping 

 curve, becoming subparaUel with the lateral 

 margins, along which they arch camptodromely. 

 Tertiaries thin, closely set, subparaUel, mostly 

 percurrent at right angles to the midrib. 



This large leaf is distinct from the numerous 

 fossil species of Rhamnus previously described, 

 although it resembles a number of them more 

 or less closely. The genus has about 60 exist- 

 ing species, widely distributeil in nearly all tem- 

 perate and many tropical parts of the world and 

 found on aU the continents except AustraUa. 



The genus Rhamnus is fairly prominent in 

 Tertiary floras of southeastern North America, 

 the Rhamnacere being also represented by 

 forms of Zizyphus and Paliiu'us of tropical 

 type. Six species from the Wilcox group have 

 been described, but none are yet known from 



