THE FLORA OF THE WOODBINE SAND AT ARTHURS BLUFF, TEXAS. 



Bv Edward Wilber Berry. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The presence of fossil plants in the Creta- 

 ceous strata of Lamar County, Tex., has been 

 known for over half a century, as is shown liy a 

 letter from Dr. B. F. Shmnard dated October 2, 

 1860, read before the Academy of Science of vSt. 

 Louis at its session of November 5, ISfiO.' Dr. 

 Shumard, at that time State geologist of Texas, 

 states that his brother, Dr. G. G. Shumard, dis- 

 covered in the Cretaceous yellowish sandstones 

 of lirtmar Count j'near Red River munerous dico- 

 tyledonous leaves resembling the modern leaves 

 of Salix, Ilex, Lauruf^, etc. These fossils were 

 undoubtedly fiom the locality' now known as 

 .irthurs Bluff (fig. 11, p. ISO), which has fur- 

 nished most of the subsecjuent collections. Dr. 

 Shumard further states that these plants were 

 sent to Leo Lesquereux for determination, but 

 if sent they were apparently lost in transit. - 



When R. T. Hill took up the study of the 

 Texas Cretaceous, new collections were made 

 between ISSO and 1!^S5 at Arthurs Bluff and at 

 Denison, the latter a locality originally discov- 

 ered by Dr. Shumard. These collections were, 

 according to Hill, sent to the L^nited States 

 National Museum and lost in storage. Finally, 

 in Hill's great woik on the Texas Cretaceous,-' 

 F. H. Knowlton furnished a report on i-ollections 

 of fossil plants from the Woodbine sand at 

 Arthurs Bluff, Jjamar County; Woodbine, 

 Cooke County; and Denison, Grayson County. 

 The largest of these collections is the one from 

 Arthurs Bluff, which was made in 1S94 by T. 

 Wayland Vaughan. The plants are preserved 

 in a fragmentary state in a yellowish ferrugi- 

 nous sandy clay or loose sandstone. Knowl- 

 ton identified the following species from this 

 locality: 



Aralia wellingtoniana vaughanii Knowlton. 

 Benzoin venustum (Lesquereux) Knowlton. 



> Acad. Sci. St. Louis Trans., vol. 2, p. 140, 186S. 



* Lesquereux, Leo, Cretaceous flora: U, S. Geol. Survey Terr. Rept.. 

 vol.6, p. 11, 1874. 



3 Hill, R. T., Geography and geology of the Black and Grand prairies. 

 Tex.: U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first .\nn. Rept., pt. 7, pp. 314-318, 

 pi. 39, 1901. 



Diospyios primaeva Heer. 



Ficusglascoeana Lesquereux? 



Liriodendron ])mnatifidum Lesquereux? 



Myrica longa (Heer) Heer. 



Phyllites rhomboideus Lesquereux. ■"• 



Platanus primaeva Lesquereux. 



Sapindus morrisoni Heer? 



Salix deleta Lesquereux. 



Viburnum rolmstum Lesquereux. 



The collection from Woodbine was made by 

 G. H. Ragsdale and is reported as containing 

 these species: 



Andromeda ])faffiana Heer. 



Cinnamomum ellipsoideum Saporta and Marion. 



Cinnamomum sp.? 



Diospyros jirimaeva Heer. 



Eugenia primaeva Lesquereux. 



Phyllites aristolochiaeformis Lesquereux? 



The collection from Denison was made by 

 T. V. ^lunson from two outcrops on Munson 

 Hill, from which Knowlton was unable to iden- 

 tify any forms specifically, and Rhamey Hill, 

 from wliich the following are recorded: 



Cinnamomum heerii Lesquereux. 



Diospyros steenstrupi Heer. 



Inga cretacea Lesquereux. 



Laurus proteaefolium Lesquereux. 



Liquidambar integrifolium Lesquereux. 



Magnolia boulayana Lescjuereux. 



Ma.gnolia speciosa Heer. 



Populus S]>.? 



Salix sp.? 



In 19 11 T. W. Stanton and L. W. Stephenson 

 visited Arthurs Bluff and made a collection of 

 fossil plants which were sent to me. I made a 

 report on these plants the next j^ear,* the fol- 

 lowing species having been recognized: 



Andromeda novae-caesareae Hollick . 

 Androm<>da snowii Lesquereux. 

 .\ralia wellingtoniana Lesquereux. 

 Benzoin venustum (Lesquereux) Knowlton? 

 I'.rachyphyllum macroearpum formosum Berry. 

 Cinnamomum memliranaceum i Lesquereux) Hol- 

 lick. 

 Colutea jM-imordialis Heer. 

 Cornophyllum vetustum Newberry. 



?;23!):^,'^ *^'''- 



-13 



* Berry, E. W., Contributions to the Jlesozoic flora of the Atlantic 

 Coastal Plain— VIII, Texas: Torrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 39, pp. 387- 

 406, pis. 30-32, 1912. 



153 



