294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 40. 



with few stout truncated scales, which become more or less divergent 

 with maturity. Ward 1 reports specimens of the foliage of this spe- 

 cies with attached staminate catkins similar to those described by 

 Fontaine as "Male aments" from various Virginia localities, where 

 they were not attached to recognizable twigs. 



This species was described by Dunker in 1846 as a species of Mus- 

 cites, Brongniart in 1S49 substituting Juniperites as a more appro- 

 priate generic name, one subsequently changed to Araucarites by 

 Ettingshausen. Schimper referred this species to Widdringtonites, but 

 since 1871 it has been rather consistently referred to as Sphenolepsis 

 or Sphenoiepidium sternbergianum, although the difficulty of dealing 

 satisfactorily with various detached coniferous twigs of similar habit 

 is no small one, not only from their similar appearance in various 

 unallied species, but also because of their resistance of decay and 

 retention of their leaves when reduced to fragments, so that they are 

 often the most abundant remains in coarse sediments. 



Sphenolepis sternbergiana has an equally wide range, both geo- 

 graphic and geologic, as has the preceding species. It is common in 

 the Wealden of England and Germany, and is recorded by Saporta 

 from the Neocomian, Urgonian, and Albian of Portugal, a range simi- 

 lar to that which it shows in the Maryland- Virginia area. It is prob- 

 ably represented in the Kome beds of Greenland by Sequoia gracilis 

 Heer, while the latter author's Glyptostrobus groenlandicus 2 and 

 Sequoia fastigiata from these beds also suggest this species. It is 

 recorded from the Glen Rose (Trinity) beds of Texas and from the 

 Shasta (Horsetown beds) of the Pacific coast. The form from the 

 Upper Cretaceous of Marthas Vineyard which Hollick has identified 

 as Sequoia gracilis Heer is also similar enough to be suggestive. The 

 present species is very abundant in the Potomac Group ranging from 

 the bottom to the top. 



The specimens of Sphenolepis sternbergiana from the Wealden of 

 Ecclesbourne, in possession of the writer, are much stouter than the 

 American conifer usually identified as this species, and resemble 

 rather closely what in America goes by the name of Sequoia ambigua 

 Heer, a resemblance already commented on by Seward 3 . Since, how- 

 ever, the preservation is poor, too much importance can not be 

 attached to a resemblance which may be purely superficial, although 

 in the opinion of the writer it seems probable that some at least of the 

 Wealden twigs identified as Splienolepis sternbergiana may really be 

 those of Sequoia ambigua, which in this county we have no difficulty 

 in distinguishing from Sphenolepis. 



Occurrence. — Patuxent formation: Fredericksburg, Telegraph 

 Station (Lorton), Potomac Run, Alum Rock, Cockpit Point, Wood- 



i 15th Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Surv., 1S95, p. 359. 



'■'Ueer, Flora Foss, Arct., vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 76, pi. 17, fig. 9; pi. 20, figs. 9, 10. 



a Wealden Flora, pt. 2, 1895, p. 206. 



