174 



SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1921. 



Island to Maryland, in the Black Greek forma- 

 tion of North Carolina, in the Middendorf 

 arkoso member of the Black Creek fonnation 

 of South Carolina, in the Biiigen sand of Arkan- 

 sas, in the Tuscaloosa formation of Georjjia 

 and Alabama, in the Eutaw formation of Geor- 

 gia, in the Ripley formation of Tennessee, and 

 in the Dakota sandstone of Kansas. It ap- 

 pears to be present in the l'j)j)er CVetaceous of 

 the Pacific coast on Vancouver Island and to 

 be represented in Texas by the remains of Cin- 

 uamomum recorded by Knowlton "' from the 

 Woodbine sand in Cooke County. Althougli 

 not kno\sni from Europe, the forms from the 

 Cenomanian of Bohemia which Velenovsky •'* 

 describetl as Aralia daphnophijllum are very 

 similar to the American species. 



The specimens found in the Dakota sand- 

 stone came from Ellsworth County, Kans., and 

 the range elsewhere of this species seems to 

 prove that the formation was the true Dakota 

 sandstone rather than some older sandstone. 



It seems obvious that the range of this form 

 represents more than a single botanic species, 

 as no question of correlation is involved in the 

 eastern Gulf section from Tuscaloosa to Ripley, 

 but the otdy criteria for segregation are strati- 

 graphic. The leaves of Cinnamomum, both 

 living and fossil, are notoriously variable, so 

 that the problem appears insoluble. 



The species is not abundant in the Woodbine 

 material from .(Vrthui-s Bluff, Tex., but I regard 

 this scarcity as merely an accident of preserva- 

 tion or discovery. 



Cinnamomum membranaceum vLcsquereux) Ho.lick. 



PaliuTus jnembranaceus Lesquereux, Am. Jour. Sci., 2(1 



Bcr., vol. 4fi, 18G8. p. 101: U. .S. Geol. Survey Terr. 



Rept., vol. 6 (Cretaceous flora), p. 108, pi. 20. fig. 



6, 1874; U. S. Gcol. Survey iMon. 17. p. 107, pi. 3.5, 



fig. 5, 1891 [1892]. 

 Cinnamomuvi Tn/fniAranactum Hollick, U. S. Geol. Survey 



Mon. 50, p. 75, pi. 29, figs. 5. (i, 190G. 

 Herry, Torrey Dot. Club Hull., vol. ."JO, p. 401, 1912. 



This species, which Le,sf|uereux referred to 

 the genus Paliurns, was descril)e<l originally 

 from specimens collected at Decatur, Ncbr., 

 anfl I'ipe Creek, Kans. It occurs in the north- 

 wanl extension of the Magothy formation at 

 Gay Head, Marthas \'inev«r<l, Mass., an<i in tiie 

 Woodbine sand at Arthurs BlufT, Tex. 1 



think that IloUick was entirely justified in 

 removing this form from Paliuru--<, but I am 

 not sure that it is a Ciiniamomum. altliough it 

 appears to be a lauraceous foyn. If a Ciinia- 

 momum, as is perfectly possil)le, it should 

 probably be regarded as a variant of the con- 

 temporaneous Cinnamomum newherryi, from 

 which it differs merely in its irregularity of 

 outline. 



Genus LAITRUS of authors. 



Laurus plutonia Heer. 



Plate XXXVIII, figure 5. 



Laurus plutonia Ilocr, Flora foasili.s arctica. vol. 6, Abt. 2, 

 p. 75, pi. IS), figs. Id. 2-1. pi. 20, figs. 3a, 4, 5; pi. 

 24, fig. 6b; pi. 28, figs. 10, 11; pi. 42, fig. 4b, 1882; 

 vol. 7. p. ,30, pi. 58, fig. 2; pi. 02, fig. la, 1883. 



?Velenovsky, Die Flora der bolimische Kreideforma- 

 tion, pt. 3, p. 1, pi. 4, figs. 2-1, 1884. 



Lesquereux. U. S. G«ol. Survey Mon. 17. p. 91, pi. 

 13, figs. 5. 0; pi. 22, fig. 5, 1892: Minnesota Cieol. 

 and Nat. Hist. Sur\'ey, vol. 3, pt. 1. p. 14, jil. A, 

 fig. G: pi. B, fig. 5, 1895. 



Newberry. U. S. Cieol. Survey Mon. 2G. p. 85. pi. 16, 

 figs. 10, U, 189G. 



?Fri6 and Bayer. Naturw. I.andos. Bohmen .Vrchiv, 

 vol. U, No. 2, p. 130, fig. 94, 1901. 



Berry, New York Bot. Garden Bull., vol. 3, p. 79, pi. 

 1, figs. 9-11, 1903: Torrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 31, 

 p. 77, pi. 3, fig. 1, 1904: vol. 33. p. 178, 1900; vol. 

 39, p. 401. 1912: New Jersey Geol. Survey Ann. 

 Rept. for 1905. pp. 138, 139, UIOG: U. S. Ck-oI. Sur- 

 vey Prof. Paper 84. p. 52. pi. 11. fig. 2; pi. 12. fig. 6, 

 1914: Maryland Geol. Sur\'ey. Upper Cretaceous, 

 p. 861, pi. 71. fig. 5, 191G; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

 Paper 112, p. 123, 1919. 



Hollick. U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 50. p. SO. pi. 27, 

 figs. 9. 10, 1900: New York Bot. Garden Bull., vol. 

 8, ].. 102, pi. 1(;9. figs. 3l,5. 1912. 



Leaves lanceolate, usually tapering almost 

 equally in Ixilh directions but some specimens 

 less acute at the base. Length, 7 to 11 ccnti- 

 m(>ters: greatest width, 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters. 

 Midrib fairly stout. Petiole short and stout, 

 6 to 15 milhmeters in length. Secondaries 

 slender, eight or more alternate pairs, camp- 

 todromo. 



This species wa.s described by lleer from 

 material eolieeled in the .Vtane Ix'ds of western 

 Greenland, and a large numl>er of somewhat 

 variable and fragmentary specimens were 

 figured. Snbse(|nently it wiis recorded from 

 a very largo number of Cretaceous plnnl beds, 

 80 that its range both geographic and geologic 

 is rather exUWisive. \ number of these records 

 are not entirely above sus|)i(ion, and this 



