92 JOURNAL OF THE 



NOTES. 



TAXODIUM (CYPRESS) IN NORTH CAROLINA 

 QUATERNARY. 



So far as I am aware no fossil remains of tiie Taxodium have been 

 described as occurring in North ('arolina. But as the tree occurs 

 fossil in the Tertiary of Spitzbergen, Greenland, Alaska and in the 

 Rocky Mountain region, there can be little or no doubt but that it 

 grew along the Atlantic slope during the Tertiary time. Bur how- 

 ever this may be, the stumps of this tree which I recently observed 

 beneath a Quaternary shell deposit, in Craven county, show that it 

 undoubtedly flourished in the State at this time. 



Along the southwest bank of the Neuse river, 10 — 12 miles below 

 the town of Newbern, the river bluff rises at intervals to an eleva 

 tion of 18 to 22 feet above mean tide level. The surface layer of 

 soil is a loam, changing into a clayey subsoil with but little show of 

 stratification for a depth of 3 to 4 feet. Below this comes a laminated 

 deposit of clay and fine sand of 10 feet, and under this comes a layer 

 of shell marl, at some places 4 to 6 feet thick, reaching down to 

 within 3 — 4 feet of water level. Beneath the marl comes a layer of 

 dark colored stiff clay, and it is standing in this clay beneath the 

 marl thai the cypress stumps are to be found. Along the bluff for 

 the distance of several hundred yards these cypress stumps are quite 

 numerous, and some of them quite large, 4 to 6 feet in diameter. 

 The majority, but not all, of the stumps are hollow. The roots 

 penetrate the surrounding clay in every direction. At one point 

 the action of the water has washed away the bluff and these fossil 

 stumps stand out 20 to 40 yards from the shore line, their tops ex- 

 tending a few inches or a few feet above tide water. A few of them 

 still retained the bark about the body of the stumps and rcots; and 

 in many cases on the roots can be seen evidences of the former 

 existence of the cypress knees. 



It appears likely that during the early champlain these cypress 



