292 DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 



From this conclusion Professors Janssonius & Moll (1912) dis- 

 sented, and stated that, had I used their system of " Linnean 

 description " for the new fossil, it would have been apparent 

 that it belongs to the living family Terustrcemiace, if not 

 actually to the species Eurya acuminata. From their account 

 of the wood only, it is true that there is evidently a considerable 

 likeness between this genus and Aptiana but, when all the 

 details are taken into consideration, the likeness does not seem 

 to be greater than 1 already noted to some species of Lome-era^ 

 Viburmim, Magnolia, or Liriodcndron. 



While I have benefited greatly by the example of their 

 careful and detailed descriptions, I cannot accept the confident 

 conclusions of Janssonius and Moll regarding Aptiann. Detailed 

 comparison of sections of Etirya (icu,,ti<><rf and other species 

 of the genus with the fossil shows that, particularly in the 

 longitudinal sections (where the horizontal cross-walls of 

 numerous parenchyma and medullary ray- cells are conspicuously 

 unlike the fossil), the general appearance of the two plants is 

 very different. A more important difference is the character of 

 t he end-cells of the medullary rays. The excessively long end- 

 cells of the ray in Aptiana (250^ and more) are not present in 

 such material of Eurya aeumimtta as 1 have been able to cut 

 myself, nor are they described in Moll & Janssonius' (1906. 

 p. 302) own account of the species. 1 am much indebted to 

 Prof. Moll for kindly providing me with a piece of material of 

 Knryn larger than I was myself able to obtain. 



So far as my experience goes, these excessively elongated end- 

 cells of the rays are rather an unusual feature in angiospermic 

 woods. In the several hundreds of woods which I have 

 examined, 1 have observed them in less than a dozen species. 

 In this respect, of the woods known to me, Cliftonia ligustrina, 

 Viburnum rufotomentosum, and Ilex decidua approach the fossil 

 most nearly. Indeed, save for the larger size of its vessels, the 

 wood of Cliftonia is remarkably similar. Cliftonia is a small, 

 rather isolated genus of the C.vrilleae, living in the swamps of 

 Florida, so that, without convincing proof, one would not 

 identify the fossil with it. 



In consequence of the above and many other considerations, it 

 premature to locate Apliana in any one living family. 



