NO. 2270. MIOCENE FOSSIL PLANTS FROM PERU— BERRY. 289 



Texture siibcoriaceous. Length about 11.5 cm. Maximum width, 

 midway between the apex and the base, about 6.25 em. Petiole miss- 

 ing. Midrib very stout, prominent on the under surface of the leaf. 

 Secondaries about eight subopposite pairs, stout, prominent, diverg- 

 ing from the midrib at subequal intervals, and wide angles approach- 

 ing 90 degrees: they curve regularly upward in a subparallel 

 manner and are camptodrome in the marginal region. Tertiaries 

 obsolete. 



This is a well marked leaf of a new species of Aiiona much like 

 those found in the lower Eocene (Wilcox group) of southeastern 

 North America, and somewhat similar to the upper Eocene Anona 

 texana Berry ^ from the Fayette sandstone of Texas. It is still more 

 similar to two species of Anona that have been described by Engel- 

 hardt^ from the Navidad beds (Coronel) of Chile. 



The geological history of the genus Anona has been reviewed re- 

 cently ^ and need not be repeated in the present connection. The liv- 

 ing species of Anona- number abont 75 forms and they are confined 

 almost exclusively to tropical and subtropical America, although a 

 few species are endemic in tropical Africa. Many of these have 

 leaves almost indistinguishable from those of the present fossil 

 species, although without more complete material of the recent species 

 a detailed comparison is not worth much in the present connection. 

 The bulk of the existing species occur in the northern half of South 

 A.merica, and there are several that are common along the Guayaquil 

 River and in the rain forest country of eastern Peru. 



11 olotf/pc— Cat. No. 35330, U.S.N.M. 



Order GERANIALES. 

 Family MALPIGHIACEAE. 



Genus BANISTERIA Linnaeus. 



BANISTERIA INCERTA. new species. 



Plate 16, fig. 1. 

 Description. — Leaves oval or subelliptical in general form, wi-.lest 

 in the middle, with a broadly rounded base and a more narrowly 

 rounded tip. Length between 7 cm. and 8 cm. Maximum width 

 about 5 cm. Margins entire, slightly undulate. Texture sub- 

 coriaceous. Petiole missing. Midrib stout, prominent, curved. 

 Secondaries stout, fairly evenly spaced, all but the basal pair al- 

 ternate; five or six pairs diverge from the midrib at wide angles, 

 curve regularly upward in a subparallel manner and are ."ampto- 

 drgme in the marginal region. Tertiaries obsolete. 



1 Berry, E. W., U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 98M, p. 239, pi. 60, fig. 9, 1916. 

 2EDglohardt, II., Abh. Seiick. Naturf. Gesell., vol. 16, Heft 4, p. 068, pi. 7, figs. 2, 3, 11, 

 1891. 



" Berry, E. W., U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 91, p. 90, 1916. 



62055— 20— Proc.N.M.vol.5.5 20 



