190 Berry: MESOZOIC FLORA OF THE COASTAL PLAIN 
A remarkable feature in connection with the North Carolina 
fossil form is that all of the figures on PLATE 21 except FIGURES 4 
and 15 are made from sun prints of the actual leaves carefully 
washed out of the Cretaceous clays and subsequently mounted in 
balsam between glass. The epidermis is preserved in some in- 
stances and the stomata will be fully described in the final report. 
They are few and scattered and are confined to one surface and are 
altogether absent from the broad leaf-bases. 
But few fossil forms have been referred to this genus. Hosius 
and von der Marck described in 1880 what they called /istites 
loriformis from the Lower Senonian of Westphalia (Palaeont. 26: 
182. pl. 38. f. 151, 152) but this is probably cycadean, as Schenk 
suggested (in Zittel’s Handbuch 378. 1890). Lesquereux in 
1876 (Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr. 299. 1874) 
named a remarkably well-preserved form from Point of Rocks, 
Wyoming, Pistia corrugata, This was fully described and illus- 
trated in his Tertiary Flora (103. p/. 67. f. 2, 3-7, 9-77. 1883) 
and included leaves of various sizes and rootlets. It comes from 
beds belonging to the Montana formation (Senonian), which are of 
about the same age as the French beds from which the only other 
species is known. This latter, Pistia Mazeli was mentioned 
and figured from the lignites of Fuveau (Provence), France, by 
Saporta and Marion in their popular work, L’évolution du régne 
végétal, published in 1885 (Phanérogames 2: 37. f. 774, D) and 
has never been adequately described. 
It is significant as showing how imperfect the geological record 
really is, even of the European tertiaries, that this widespread 
modern type ranged over at least two continents during the Upper 
Cretaceous and, presumably had a still wider range in Cenozoic 
times, and yet not a single specimen has ever come to light at any 
of the thousands of localities where plant beds of the latter age 
have been exploited. 
Occurrence: Parker Landing, Tar River; Blackmans Bluff, 
Neuse River; A.C.L. Bridge, Big Bend, Sykes Landing, 56% 
miles above Wilmington, Corbits Bridge, and Horrell Landing, on 
the Black River. 
