70 Kansas Academy of Science. 



EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT FORESTS IN CENTRAL KANSAS. 



BY H. C. TOWNER, OP CI.AY CENTRE. 



In the spring of 1874, my attention was called to a specimen of fossil flora, a leaf of 

 Sassafras cretaceum, from the sandstone ridge called the "Black Hills," a few miles west 

 from our place. A fragment of Phillites Vannouo'., and several sprigs of Glyptostrohus 

 (fracillimus, were taken from the same stone which held the larger leaf. During the sea- 

 son of 1874, I was with Prof Mudge, in the upper Cretaceous; but in the spring of 1875, 

 began a series of explorations with a view of developing, so far as possible, the floral 

 resources of this immediate region. This, with the limited time and means at my com- 

 mand, is a slow work, and hardly yet more than begun ; yet, to the present time, I have 

 worked with good success, having developed three different dejiosits of fossil leaves, num- 

 bered in the order of their discovery, and all lying in township 9, range 1, east, in Clay 

 county. The three deposits lie within a radius of about a mile, at an elevation more 

 than 1,500 feet above the sea level, and have already yielded the following genera: 



Deciduous. — Sassafras, Aralia, Quercus, Menispermites, Platanus, Greviopsis, Mag- 

 nolia, Salix, Populus, Todea, Alnus, Laurus, Liquidambar. 



Evergreens. — Sequoia, Pinus, Glyptostrohus, Inolepis. 



Palm Family. — Cvcadites. 



I have found these leaves in all shapes — some lying singly, flat and smooth upon the 

 stony matrix, almost perfect; others torn and worn to the last degree, and almost illegi- 

 ble; many rolled up in clusters or concretions ; one above another for a dozen thick- 

 nesses; and all giving evidence of having been deposited at the bottom of comparatively 

 quiet, smooth waters, as it is only rarely that I find a small fragment bearing ripple- 

 marks. As a matter of course, the sub.stance of the leaf is gone, though in a number of 

 instances I found the woody portion of the stem and large vein in good preservation, 

 after its long sleep of over ten millions of years ! 



I observed one singular fact, which I find confirmed by Dr. Lesquereux, in his 

 supplement to the "Report on the Cretaceous Flora," namely, that while the different 

 varieties of ancient forest trees were more or less intermingled in all the deposits, still, 

 as a general rule, each particular kind of tree had its own chosen locality, where they 

 grew and flourished through long ages of luxuriant greenness, leading a life of untroubled 

 enjoyment, if we can suppose the vegetable family to enjoy life. Following the rule I 

 have mentioned, the three deposits maybe designated as -follows: No. 1, Quercus; No. 2, 

 Sassafras ; No. 3, Aralia. These three forms are not marked as the only, but as the pre- 

 vailing, types of their respective localities. 



The Sassafras appears to be by far the prevailing form. With its kindred type, Ara- 

 liopsis, it occupies nearly all of the No. 2 deposit, and encroaches largely upon the 

 others. 



Associated with the deciduous trees we find the evergreens; the conifers represented 

 mostly by their cones and small branches and twigs. In nearly every case, these remains 

 are found within the enveloping matrix, and in nine cases out of ten, in the hard black 

 stone, some of which is so charged with iron as to be proof against any common hammer. 

 This last remark requires a little explanation. In the deposits that I have thus far 

 examined, I have found beneath the surface layer of hard black stone a second layer of 

 soft brown stone, all sand, the surface stratum being hardened mud. 



The latest, and so far one of the most interesting discoveries, is that of a Cycaclites, in 

 reference to which Dr. Lesquereux writes : 



