Development of the Vegetation of New York State 33 
this case revolutionary changes have taken place in the flor- 
istie and vegetational status. ‘The new thing is the angio- 
spermous type of plant which appearing suddenly (so far as 
geologic records show) in the lower Cretaceous, come in the 
upper Cretaceous to be the dominant element of the vege- 
tation and to give it a relatively modern aspect. Some of 
the older types of gymnosperms remain (cycads, ginkgos) but 
many have become extinct. The needle-leaved or coniferous 
types of gymnosperms similar to those of the present day 
were abundant and Podocarpus, the present day pine type 
of the southern hemisphere appeared in the upper Cretaceous. 
There is now (in the later Cretaceous) an impressive array 
of genera of angiosperms made familiar by their occurrence 
in the earth’s present vegetation. Such are Betula (birch), 
Fagus (beech), Quercus (oak), Juglans (walnut), Myrica 
(a type represented by sweet-gale), Artocarpus (breadfruit), 
Platanus (syeamore), Liriodendron (tulip-poplar), Cinna- 
momum (cinnamon) and other laurels, Acer (maple), Llex 
(holly), Laquidambar (represented by our sweet-gum), Cor- 
nus (dogwood), Nerium (oleander), Viburnum and others 
dating from the lower Cretaceous (Ficus, Sassasfras and 
Magnolia). The list of dicotyledons is vastly larger than 
this. Species of the group of monocotyledons were repre- 
sented also. There were palms for example, some of which 
were very similar to species living to-day. The appearance 
of grasses in this period was a matter full of significance for 
the on-coming wave of mammalian dominance over other 
groups of animals. 
Climatic differentiation and consequent segregation of 
floral provinces appear not to have progressed notably beyond 
what we saw in the later Jurassic period. Approaching from 
the remote Carboniferous period, the prevalence of tropical 
conditions generally over the earth during the later Creta- 
ceous would seem a matter of course, but from to-day’s point 
of view it seems curious to find evidence in the form of 
fossil remains of familiar types of trees, of tropical or warm 
temperate zone plants far up in the Artie regions. 
