280 Transactions. — Geology. 



Locality: Sliag Point (Canterbury Museum). [Ex Co!!. 

 N.Z. Geol. Surv., Eep. 1872; v. Haast, I.e.] 



A small ovate leaf with a short stem, which is rounded otT 

 at the base and obtuse at the top. It is traversed by three 

 nerves, of which the middle one is more pronounced at the 

 base, but further on it, as well as the side-nerves, becomes 

 indistinct or disappears. No other nerves are visible besides 

 those mentioned. The texture may be designated as firm oi- 

 leathery. It appears to me that this leaf in its characteristics 

 is most similar to those of the species Loranthus — namely, 1j. 

 tetrandus, E. et P. {vide, Ettingsh., Leaf-skeletons of the 

 Lorantliacece, Memoir, vol. xxxii., pi. v., figs. 9-12). In the 

 species named, besides the three to five ground - standing 

 nerves, only a few delicate secondary and tertiary nerves are 

 visiblej which may easily disappear in a rock which is un- 

 favourable to their preservation. 



ACERIXE^. 



Acsr subtrilobatum, sp. no v. 



Plate XXVIII., figs. 7, 7a. 



A. foliis lo)ige 2)etiolatis, j^ahnato-trilobis, lobis incequalibus, 

 lobo medio lateralibus longiore et latiore, sinubus angulum 

 acutum for maul ib Its, viargina inxqualiter dentatis ; nervations 

 actiiiodroma, narvo medio longiore jjrominentc, ncrvis basilaribns 

 lateralibus cum priore angiitis 20~'-30P includentibus, extu^s 

 ramosis; nervis secundariis sub angulis 20^~3(f oricntibus, plus 

 miniisvG adsccJidentibus, craspedodromis ; nervis tertiariis tenu- 

 issimis sub angulis acutis exeuntibus, inter se conjunctis. 



Locality : Shag Point, wdth Fagus ulmifolia (Canterbury 

 Museum). [Ex Coll. N.Z. Geol. .Surv., Eep. 1872 ; v. Haast. 



As regards the formation of the leaf, this is very similar 

 to Acer trilobatum, A. Braun, so that it is very difficult to 

 discover any difference. The species named has a rather 

 large circle of forms ; the variations extend to nearly all the 

 characteristics of the leaf. To the fossil leaf depicted in fig. 7 

 the variety j^roductum comes nearest as regards the form. As 

 regards the nervation (shown enlarged in fig. 7a), our fossil ap- 

 proaches nearest to the leaf shown in Heer's " Tertiary Flora of 

 Switzerland" (vol. iii., pi. 115, fig. 4), as the latter shows 

 secondary nerves which start at unusually acute angles, which 

 may also be observed in the fossil leaf from New Zealand, but 

 the secondary nerves at the outside of the side basal nerves 

 start at more acute angles than the corresponding nerves in the 

 Swiss fossil named. Up to the present no smaller diverging- 

 angles than 30° have been observed in Acer piroductum, so fa)' 

 as the secondary nerves are concerned. As the New Zealand 



