212 



SHORTER CONTRIBUTIOKS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1921. 



beds of Greenland. They appear to be iden- 

 tical with specimens from the Atane beds of 

 Greenland which Heer -* described as Pinus 

 vaginalis. I have not, however, included the 

 latter in the foregoing synonymy, as it is an 

 earlier name and would involve changing the 

 well-known and liighly characteristic name 

 longifolius. 



These remains are very common in the 

 Cheyenne sandstone. Similar forms under 

 different specific names are common and wide- 

 ranging at Lower and Upper Cretaceous hori- 

 zons in North America, Europe, and Asia. 



The Cheyenne sandstone localities are black 

 hills near Belvidere (77.3); IJ miles northwest 

 of Belvidere (2218) ; Thompson Creek near the 

 flume, 2 miles northwest of Belvidere (2221); 

 Champion (Wildcat) Draw, three-fourths mile 

 south of Belvidere (2222) ; 1 mile southwest of 

 Belvidere (2225) ; left bank of middle branch 

 of Champion Draw, half a mile south of Belvi- 

 dere (2229) ; and right bank of same branch 

 (2231). 



Abietites ernestinae Lesquereus. 



Abietites ernestinae Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 



Rept., vol. 6, p. 49, pi. 1, fig. 7, 1874. 

 Pterophyllum haydenii Lesquereux (part), Am. Jour. Sci., 



2d ser., vol. 46, p. 91, 1868. 



Lesquereux characterized this species as 

 follows : 



Cone oblong, abruptly narrowed to a short pedicel, 

 scales broad, truncate, appressed, and imbricated in spiral. 



This diagnosis obviously has nothing that 

 would serve to set it apart from what might 

 be written of dozens of fossil cone fragments of 

 diverse relationships. The species was de- 

 scribed from fragments collected near Decatur, 

 Nebr., and similar cone fragments are present 

 in the Cheyenne sandstone. They are not to 

 be distinguished from other' so-called species 

 which I have referred to the genus Abietites of 

 Hisinger.^^ 



This genus is a convenient and useful reposi- 

 tory for fossils, both stroliilar or foliar, whose 

 real or fancied affinities are with the modern 

 Abietinaceae. These range in age from the 

 Keuper to the Pliocene, though the bulk came 

 from the Cretaceous, and they comprise obscure 

 impressions of foliage and cones, none of which 

 have any real biologic value or present any 



!' Heer, Oswald, Flora fossilis arctiea, vol. 3, Abt. 2, p. 103, pi. 27, 

 fig. 15b, 1874. 

 « Hisingcr, W., Lcthaea suecica, p. 110, 1837. 



definite clue to their true relationship. Fon- 

 taine has included in this genus fossils from the 

 Triassic of North Carolina and various indefi- 

 nite remains from the Trinity group of Texas, 

 the Shasta series of California, the Lakota 

 sandstone of the Black Hills, and the Potomac 

 group of Maryland and Virginia. The Potomac 

 fossils he segregated into four species, all of 

 which were liased on obscure cone impressions 

 and none of which possess much specific value. 

 When it is remembered what diverse appear- 

 ances may ])e assumed by a single species of 

 cone, irrespective of individual variation, as a 

 result of different stages, pf^jichaceration before 

 preservation, of differences in the matrix, and 

 of differences in thelUl'i^PUtyi and force of com- 

 pression, it seems very probable that such forms 

 can never be discussed satisfactorily. 



Similar forms ^om the English Wealden 

 and later Cretaceous are described by Carru- 

 thers, Gardner, Seward, and others and referred 

 to the comprehensive genus Pinites of Endlicher 

 (1847). They are in all probability con- 

 generic if not specifically identical with Ameri- 

 can forms referred to Abietites, and that name 

 is preferable, as Pinites Endlicher is antedated 

 by Pinites Witham, which was proposed for 

 very different objects. 



Abietites cones are also common in the French 

 and Belgian Cretaceous and have usually been 

 referred to the genus Pin}is, although there is 

 slight warrant for such a procedure. 



Abietites cones are rare in the Cheyenne sand- 

 stone, being known only from Osage Rock, at 

 Belvidere, in the "Stokes sandstone" below 

 the so-called Champion shell bed at the base 

 of the Kiowa shale (2232). 



Genus CUPKESSINOXYLON Goeppert. 



Cupressinoxylon cheyennense Penhallow. 



Cupressinoxylon cheyennense Penhallow, Roy. Soc. Canada 

 Trans., 2d ser., vol. 6, sec. 4, p. 70, 1900 [1901]; 

 Manual of North American gymnosperms, p. 238, 

 1907. 



This species was described as coming from 

 the Cheyenne sandstone east of Stokes Hill, on 

 the Kiowa-Baker County line, and was col- 

 lected by Prosser. 



There is nothing to be added to the original 

 description of this species, which was unil- 

 lustrated. Nor is it worth while to quote that 

 description, for it is very doubtful if the form 

 could be recognized again, even by the author, 



