138 



LARAMIE FLORA OF THE DENVER BASIN. 



called F. hnceolata and they appear to difTer 

 from the Amoricaii F. nariciilarLi. 



1 was at one time inclined to refer a part of 

 Ficus arena ceahesqueroux "^ to what was then 

 called F. JanceoJata, hut, as Cockerell *' has 

 pointed out, it may he distinguished by its 

 broader and strongly inequilateral base. It 

 was a part of the same collection from an un- 

 known locality and is certainly very close to 

 F. navicular is. 



FicHs navlcularis belongs to that type of non- 

 descript, narrow leaves that are difficult to iden- 

 tify with certainty unless they are exception- 

 ally well preserved, a condition unfortunately 

 far from being usual in the Laramie materiftl. 

 It is on this account that the species (usually 

 under the name F. lanceolata) has been reported 

 from a number of localities, and as the material 

 is often fragmentary or the nervation poorly 

 preserved, some of these identifications are 

 probably open to more or less question. Thus, 

 a narrow lanceolate form from the Vermejo 

 formation of the Starkville mine at Starkville, 

 Colo., has been described under the name Ficusf 

 starTcvillensis Knowlton."' Ficus navicularis 

 has also been reported from beds described as 

 of Mesaverde age in the vicinity of Lay, Colo. 



The material from Marshall embraces a nmn- 

 ber of lanceolate leaves that are referred to 

 F. navicularis with little hesitation. The one 

 shown in Plate VI, figure 4, is of approximately 

 the same size and shape as that shown in figure 

 4 of Plate XXVIII of the "Tertiary flora" and 

 differs only slightly in the secondaries. The 

 fragmentary leaf shown in Plate VI, figure 5, is 

 of the same type as Lesquereux's figure 3 but 

 is a little larger. 



Occurrence: Laramie formation, types from 

 an unknown locality, subsequently collected 

 from the Marshall coal mine, Marshall, Colo., by 

 Arthur Lakes, 1890. 



/ Ficus multinervis? Heer. 



Plate XII, figures 3, 3a, 4. 



Ficus multinervis Heer. Lesciuereux, U. S. Geol. and 

 Geog. Survey Terr. Ann. Kept, for 1871, p. 300, 

 1872; Tertiary- flora: U.S. Geol. Survey Terr. Kept., 

 vol. 7, p. 194, pi. 2S, figs. 7, 8. [Lesquereux's lig- 

 urea are here reproduced.] 



" LesqiiereiK, Leo, The Tertiary flora: XI. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Kept., 

 vol. 7, pi. 29, figs. 1, 4, 1878 (not figs. 2, 3). 



M Cockerel), T. 1). A., Am. Mils. Nat. Hist. Bull., vol. 24, p. 89, 1908. 



" Lee, W. T., and Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

 101, p. 282, pi. 38, fig. 9, 1918. 



This species was described by Heer " in 1856 

 from specimens obtained in the Miocene of 

 Switzerland. The American specimens re- 

 ferred by Lesquereux to this species have the 

 same history as Ficus lanceolata (now F. navicu- 

 laris) — that is, the source of the original speci- 

 mens is not known. They have likewise usually 

 been referred to the Green River formation up 

 to the present time. 



The collection from the coal mine on Coal 

 Creek, Boulder County, Colo., made by Arthur 

 Lakes in 1890 contains a number of fragments 

 that seem to belong to this form. They are 

 sunilar in shape to Ficus navicularis but have 

 the more numerous secondaries at a more acute 

 angle of divergence. 



Occurrence: Laramie formation, Coal Creek, 

 Boulder County, Colo., collected by Arthur 

 Lakes, June, 1890. 



Ficus denveriana? Coclierell. 



Plate XII, figure 5. 



Ficus denveriana Cockerell, Torreya, vol. 10, p. 224, 1910. 

 Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 101, p. 302, 



pi. 76, figs. 1, 2, 1918. 

 Ficus spectabilis Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 



Terr. Ann. Kept, for 1872, p. 379, 1873; Tertiary 



flora: IT. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Kept., vol. 7, p. 



199, pi. 33, figs. 4-6, 1878; Harvard Coll. Mus. 



Comp. Zoology Bull., vol. 16, p. 50, 1888; U. S. 



Nat. Mus. Proc, vol. 11, p. 25, 1888. [Homonym, 



Kunth and Bouch^, Annales sci. nat., 3d ser., vol. 



7, p. 235, 1847.] 



This species is essentially a Tertiary form, 

 having been first described from material 

 found in the Denver formation at Golden, 

 Colo. It is abundant in the Denver formation 

 in the Denver Basin and was subsequently 

 found in beds supposed to be of the same age 

 in Middle Park and was also shown to be 

 abundant in the Raton formation of the Raton 

 Mesa region. 



It is very rare, if indeed it is present at all, 

 in the Laramie formation. It was first noted 

 by Lesquereux '"' in a small collection from 

 the old Franceville coal mine, a few miles 

 southeast of Colorado Springs, Colo., though it 

 is not contained in collections made at the 

 same locality in 1908. The single, somewhat 

 fragmentary leaf here figured was obtained by 

 Peale and Goldman near the coal in Popes 



•• Heer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Helvetlae. vol. 2, p. 63, pi. 81, figs. S-IO, 

 1856. 



" Lesquereux, Leo, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. 

 lor 1873, p. 203. 1874. 



