No. 2388. TERTIARY FOSSIL PLANTS FROM VENEZUELA— BERRY. 571 



but as Schenk points out at some length 20 both resemble other 

 leguminous pods and are hence inconclusive, although not entirely 

 improbable. 



There can not be the slightest doubt regarding the botanical 

 affinity of the present fossil, since it agrees in every detail with the 

 existing species. It adds another to the considerable list of plants 

 of the sea drift that have been discovered in recent years in the 

 tropical and subtropical floras of the American Tertiary. 



Family PAPILIONACEAE. 



Genus SOPHORA Linnaeus. 



SOPHORA SALVADORANA, new species. 



Plate 107, fig. 4. 



Leaflets sessile, elliptical, and slightly inequilateral in outline, 

 with a rounded apex and base, the latter somewhat narrower than 

 the former. Margins entire. Leaf substance thin but of a firm 

 consistency, perhaps meriting the term subcoriaceous. Length 

 about 4.75 cm. Maximum width about 2 cm. Midrib stout, 

 prominent and curved. Secondaries stout and prominent; about 

 eight opposite to alternate, regularly spaced, subparallel pairs 

 diverge from the midrib at angles of about 45° and are campto- 

 drome in the marginal region. Tertiary areolation obsolete by 

 reason of the coarseness of the matrix. 



The present species may be compared with numerous existing 

 and fossil species of Sophora. There are about 25 existing species 

 of shrubs and small trees referred to the genus. These are scattered 

 over the warmer parts of both hemispheres and some are found 

 upon all tropical seashores. Two arborescent forms occur along 

 our western Gulf coast, where they show a preference for moist 

 calcareous soils along streams. One of these Texan species, Sophora 

 secundiflora DeCandolle, the coral bean, has leaflets very similar to 

 those of Sophora salvadorana. Other existing species are likewise 

 very similar to the latter, as, for example, Sofhora tomentosa Lin- 

 naeus, a cosmopolitan tropical strand plant. The dry pods of the 

 latter float for a week or two and then decay, liberating the buoyant 

 seeds, which float uninjured for several months, according to the 

 experiments of both Schimper and Guppy. 21 



The genus is well represented in European Tertiary floras from 

 the Eocene to the Pliocene and is common in the earlier Tertiary 

 floras of the Mississippi embayment region of the United States. 



10 Schenk, A., Palaeopbytology, p. 70?, 1890. 



a Guppy, H. B., Plant Dispersal, pp. 147, 579, 1906. 



