FOSSIL FLORA. 677 



sight it seems hardly possible to have so long and narrow a cone with so 

 larg-e scales, but this cone is preserved entire — tliat is, it has been pressed 

 flat, and by turning- it around the entire series of scales may be made out. 

 It is now pressed into an elliptical shape, with a long diameter of al)o;it 

 12 mm. and a short diameter of about 5 mm. Its length, as alreadv stated, 

 is ajjproximately 46 mm. 



I have not been able to find any fossil species with which this can be 

 compared. There are a number having scales of much the same shape, 

 but none with the same sized cone. 



Habitat: Fossil Forest Ridge, Yellowstone National Park, bed No. 7, 

 "Castaneabed;" collected l)y Lester F. Ward and F. H. Knowlton, August 

 16-20, 1887. 



PiNUS PREMURRAYANA n. Sp. 

 PI. LXXXII, flg. 5. 



Cone narrowiv ovate-conical, rounded at base and gradually narrowed 

 above to a very obtuse and rounded apex; scales thick, regularlv rhom- 

 boidal, transversely wrinkled, each provided with a rounded blunt umbo, or 

 possibly with a short, stout spiue. 



This species is represented by the single specimen figured, and is tlie 

 most perfectl}^ preserved cone I have ever seen, being preserved entire, with 

 little or no distortion. It is about 8 cm. in length. It is Ijroadest at base, 

 where it is about 2.5 cm. in diameter, from which point it tapers gradually 

 to the apex, wdiere it is aV)()ut 1 cm. in diameter. The scales are very 

 tightly closed, showing that with little doubt the cone was serotinous. Tliey 

 are quite regularly rhoraboidal, being about 10 mm. long and 6 mm. high, 

 and appear to have been transversely wrinkled. The tip is thick, raised, 

 and was provided, in all probability, with a short, stout spine. 



In seeking the probable affinities of this cone, a number of interesting- 

 problems are presented, lirst of which is the state of maturit}^ It is, of 

 course, a well-known fact that all cones are tightly closed after fertilization 

 and until the seeds are matured. In the majority of cases the scales open 

 for the discharge of the ripe seeds, yet in a number of species they remain 

 closed, or practically so, for many years. The seeds of these serotinous 

 cones may retain their vitality for years — a provision for the continuance 

 of the s])ecies. 



Whether the cone under consideration is immature, and has the scales 



