342 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



Brongn., (closely allied to the redwood of California, Sequoia 

 sempervirens Endl.) and the swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum 

 miocenum) . Here and there a large horsetail (Eauisetitcs Norden- 

 sTcioldi~N &th..) occurs in such abundance that one would imagine that 

 it formed small forests. There are also associated rhizomes, with 

 their roots and tubercles still attached. I may mention m passing 

 that Equisetum arcticum Heer, occurs in the same manner in the 

 lower zone of the plant-bearing beds. There is also found a r^reat 

 abundance of Osmunda spetsbergensis Nath., and on the same horizon 

 nodules of clay ironstone, entirely filled with leaves and stems of the 

 latter plant, in which the tissues have been so completely mineralized 

 that one can study the microscopic structure as minutely as in the 

 living Osmunda. One sees in the carbonaceous petrified layers 

 rootlets and spores of ferns, as well as fragments of branches, etc. 

 This might justly be called a mineralized peat. Among the dicoty- 

 ledonous trees, the leaves of which occur in great quantity, one finds 

 leaves of all dimensions belonging to the more common species. 

 I have examples, among others, of the leaves of Ulmiphyllum 

 asperrimum Nath., varying from 1-17 cm. in length. All the obser- 

 vations indicate that we have here a deposit formed by the delta 

 of a stream passing through a marsh on which grew trees requiring 

 humidity, while the remains of other plants which lived at some 

 distance away have been transported, either by the wind or by water, 

 and become mingled with those of the marsh. 



The beds of this horizon, discovered at Cape Lyell, are remarkable 

 for the enormous quantity of leafy branches of Sequoia Langsdorjii, 

 leaves of Grewia crenata Hr. and of Acer arcticum Hr., the fruits of 

 the last mentioned also occurring. A bed full of rootlets was also 

 met with, showing that the plants flourished on the spot where they 

 are now found. Among the marsh plants an Alisma occurs. Among 

 the dicotyledonous trees of this horizon are .poplars (Populus), wil- 

 lows (Salix), alders (Alnus), birches (Betula), hornbeams (Carpinus), 

 hazels (Corylus), beeches (Fagus), oaks (Quercus), elms (Ulmus), 

 planes (Plafanus), magnolias (Magnolia), limes (Tilia), and maples 

 (Acer), etc. We can thus show that during the Tertiary period 

 all these plants have flourished at 78° or 79° of latitude. In 

 Grinnell Land we find, even at nearly 82°, the swamp cypresses, the 

 spruces, pines, firs, poplars, birches, elms, limes, etc. 



In Iceland the Tertiary flora may be studied in the volcanic tuffs or 

 in the alluvium formed from them, and at Brjamslaekur, for instance, 

 in a deposit which may be compared with a laminated peat. Thus, 

 as Heer had suggested, and Thoroddsen has proved, we here meet with 

 formations laid down above sea level, which are overlain by thick 

 basaltic beds. A glance at the specimens from Brjamslaekur serves to 



