RARE TREES IN ABBOTSBUKY CASTLE GARDENS. 193 



LiQUIDAMBAR. 



This genus, which belongs to the order Saxifraginoe, made its 

 first appearance in tlae Cretaceous age, Liquidamhar interjri folia, 

 Lesq., occurs in beds of that period at Kebraska and Kansas 

 in North America and several species in the Tertiaries of 

 Europe, notably L. Goepperti in the Lower Eocene of the Paris 

 basin and L. europieum in the Oligocene and Upper Pliocene of 

 Switzerland, from Bonn to Northern Italy, Silesia, Greenland, and 

 in the Quaternary beds of Massa in Central Italy. During the 

 Upper Tertiary age Liquidamhar flourished on the declivities 

 of the Pacific of North America, where it is now extinct. 

 L. europceum has been mistaken for the ]\raple, Ijut its alternate 

 leaves readily distinguish it. 



The Abbotsbury Liquidamhar is L. Styracijiuum, L. The 

 leaves change to a bright red, and afterwards remain on the tree 

 some time. 



LiRIODENDRON. 



Liriodendron belongs to the order Magnoliacea?, and made 

 its first appearance in the Lower Cretaceous beds of North 

 America, Kansas, Nebraska, and Atan, in Greenland, the majority 

 of the fossil species have been obtained from these beds, including 

 L. Meeckii. L. Procaccinii clossly resembles the living L. 

 tuUpifera, its geographical range is considerable (Sinigaglia, Eriz, 

 Bilin, Iceland, and the Pliocene of Meximieux, France). The 

 only other European Liriodendron is L. Gardina from the Eocene 

 of Bournemouth, The Tertiaries of North America, Green- 

 land excepted, have no fossils of this genus. According to 

 Saporta the fossil-leaves of the Liriodendron found in Ireland 

 belong to a species peculiar to the beds of that island ho 

 names it L. i^Jandicnm, Sap. et Marion. The cliaracteristic 

 shape of the leaf has not varied since its first appearance, with 

 the exception only of slight variations; leaves entire or with 

 simple or bipartite lobes ; obtuse and acuminate leaves are often 

 found on the samo branch. L. fulipifera, lln' Tulip-trco, was 

 considered to be the only living species, Saporta reports a Chinese 



