﻿GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE CANAL ZONE. 43 



dor. Another fossil species somewhat resembling the Panama form 

 is GinchonidiuTn multinerve described by Ettingshausen ^ from the 

 Tertiary of Priesen, Bohemia. 



Named in honor of Dr. Marcus I. Goldman, who collected it while 

 A Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University. 



Occurrence. — Gatun formation, Gatun Boitow Pits. (Collected by 

 M. I. Goldman.) 



Genus RUBIACITES Weber. 



RUBLACTTES IXOREOroES. new apecies. 



Plate 18. figs. 9-12. 



Description. — Fruit bilocular, indehiscent or tardily dehiscent, 

 ligneous, capsular-like. Form a prolate spheroid 2.7 cm. long and 2 

 •cm. in diameter. The surface roughened by small tuberculations and 

 pits. Walls about 2 mm, thick. Median partition thin. Seeds one 

 in each cell, suspended, elliptical in both transverse and longitudinal 

 sections, compressed along the central partition. Surface striate. 

 Endosperm not ruminating. One seed is more fully developed than 

 the other. The larger is about 2 cm. long, 1.4 cm. wide and 9 mm. 

 thick. 



This well marked form is unfortunately represented by but a single 

 specimen which however shows most of the cavity occupied by the 

 fruit, the two contained seeds partially petrified and the lignified wall 

 and part of the partition. The accompanying illustrations show the 

 external appearance of the fruit (fig. 9) and a side view showing the 

 relative development of tlie two seeds (fig. 10). Figure 12 shows a 

 lignified end of the fruit with the median partition and figure 11 

 is a side view with the smaller seed in front and the larger forming 

 the background. So far as I know nothing like it has previously 

 been found fossil. 



There seems to be no question but that the present fruit represents 

 some Oligocene species of Rubiaceae and it is consequently referred 

 to the form-genus Ruhiacites proposed by Weber, although probably 

 not congeneric with the previously described fossil species of Ruhia- 

 cites. The fruits of this large family exhibit considerable variety 

 being either capsular, achene-like or drupaceous. Without a much 

 larger amount of recent comparative material than is available it is 

 not possible to definitely fix the botanical relation of the present 

 species which, however, appears to be referable to the tribe Ixoreae or 

 the Psychotrieae. The specific name chosen suggests a resemblance 

 to the fruits of Ixora Linnaeus, a genus with over 100 species of 



^ Ettingshausen, C. von, Die Fossile Flora des Tertiilr-Beckens von Bilin, Theil 2, p. 208, 

 pi. .36, flg. 5, 1868. 



8370°— 18g— Bull. 103 4 



