260 TREE ANCESTORS 



Europe on the contrary, there were great fluctuations of the Medi- 

 terranean Sea which at one time covered most of southeastern 

 Europe with its shallow waters. The climate was consequently 

 equable and humid and the shores were well wooded, as is clearly 

 indicated by the great abundance of fossil plants which were pre- 

 served. The persimmon continued to be an abundant element in 

 these Pliocene floras, and no less than eight dift'erent species of 

 Diospyros have been reported from deposits of this age. The 

 locahties include Italy, Spain, France and Austria, one of the 

 French species being indistinguishable from our existing Diospyros 

 virginiana. A fortunately preserved Pliocene deposit on the island 

 of Java shows that then as now, Diospyros was a prominent ele- 

 ment in the Malayan flora. 



What happened at the close of the Pliocene, we can only con- 

 jecture, since we have no Pleistocene records of Diospyros. We 

 know that their range was gradually restricted through cool north- 

 em climates, and by the gradual development of the plains type 

 of country due to continental growth and to the elevation of moun- 

 tain ranges which shut ofl' the moisture laden winds. With the 

 subsequent advance of the glaciers southward over Europe in 

 Pleistocene time, and the glaciation in the mountains, Pyrenees, 

 Alps, Carpathians and others, which with the Mediterranean Sea 



Fig. 48. Some Leaves and Fruits of Extinct Persimmons (About § 

 Natural Size) 



1. Leaf of Diospyros prirnacva Heer from the Upper Cretaceous of New 

 Jersey. 



2. Calyx of Diospyros vira Berry from the Upper Cretaceous of the District 

 of Columbia. 



3. Leaf-print of a small leaf on the existing Diospyros virginia>m Linne. 



4. Leaf of Diospyros ficoidca Lesquereaux from the early Eocene of Montana. 



5. 6. Calices of Diospyros brachysepala Alex. Braun from the Miocene of 

 Switzerland. 



7. Calyx of Diospyros mirajloriana Berry from the upper Eocene of Southwest 

 Texas. 



8, 9. Transverse and longitudinal sections of the fruit of Diospyros inacdon- 

 aldi Berry from the early Tertiary of the Panama Canal Zone. 



