A KEVIEW OF THE FOSSIL FLOIIA OF ALASKA, WITH 

 13ESCXUPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



By F. H. Knowlton, 



.Assistant Curator of the Department of Fosml I'lnnls. 



I HAVE leoeiitly bail (K'casiou, in studying a. collection of leaves from 

 Hereiideeu I>ay and iutergiacial wood from beneath the Muir Glacier, 

 to go over all of the literature relating to the fossil flora of Alaska. As 

 the literature is somewhat widely scattered, a list of all the species of 

 fossil plants heretofore reported from Alaska was compiled as a matter 

 of personal interest and convenience. This was used in determining 

 the collections above mentioned, but after comi)leting the identifications 

 and descriptions of new species detected it was decided to present, in 

 connection with them, a complete compilation of the fossil Hora. It 

 was done also witli the hope that it might stimulate further investigation 

 of the paleobotany, for from what we know of the distribution of the 

 plant-bearing beds, some of which are represented by single examples, 

 much must remain to be accomplished. This is further shown by the 

 fact that every collection contains a good proportion of new species. 



I have first prepared an historical review of works and papers relating 

 to the fossU fiora of Alaska, which incidentally shows the geographical 

 distribution of the plant beds. This is followed by a systematic enu- 

 meration of the fossil plants, with descriptions of the new species from 

 Herendeen Bay, a table showing the distribution of the plants in other 

 parts of the world, and finally a discussion of the geological age of the 

 beds as indicated by the j)lants. 



HISTORICAL REVIEW. 



One of the first accounts of fossil plants in Alaska is given by Dr. 0. 

 Grewingk* in his classical history of the ISTorth west coast of America. 

 This, however, is in the main a compilation, but the sources from which 

 he derived his information are obscure, and I have not been able to find 

 them. It is hardly probable that if found they would prove of much 

 value. He reports coniferous wood from fehe islands of Kadiak and Unga 

 and the Alaskan peninsula, and dicotyledons (Alnus) and conifers 



* Beitrag zur Kennt. d. Orographisclien ii. Geogn-ostisclien Beschaffenlieit d. Nord- 



West Kiiste Amerikas niit Auliegenden Inseln. Verhandl. d. Kuss-Kais. Mine- 



ralog. Gesell. St. Petersb. 1848-1849, St. Petersb., 1850, pp.41, 9.3, 97, 124 



Proceedings National Museum, Vol. XVII — No. 998. 



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