J60US 



270 ARAUCABINEAE [C 



leaves of A. Bidwilli and A. brasiliensis, but the single impressioi 

 is hardly sufficient to demonstrate the existence of Araucarites 

 in this southern flora (lat. 64 16' S.). On the other hand the 

 occurrence of wood of the Araucarian type 1 in Seymour Island 

 in beds that are either Lower Tertiary or Upper Cretaceous 

 supports the conclusion of Nathorst and Dusen. 



ELATIDES. Heer. 



Heer 2 proposed this name 3 for some Jurassic Coniferous 

 remains from Siberia characterised by spirally disposed falcat 

 leaves (figs. 742, 743) and cones similar externally to those oi 

 Picea, Abies and other Abietineae. The genus is based primarily 

 on the form of the cones and cone-scales. In the new genus 

 were included three species, E. ovalis, represented by oval cones 

 2-7 cm. long and 6 7 mm. broad, E. Brandtiana characterised by 

 cylindrical cones, and E. falcata founded on vegetative branches 

 very similar to those of E. Williamsonis. Nathorst 4 has included 

 these three species in Elatides curvifolia (Dunk.) a Wealden 

 species abundantly represented in the plant-beds of Spitzbergen 

 (fig. 743). In the absence of cones it is impossible to draw any 

 satisfactory distinction between foliage-shoots belonging to Elatides 

 and those referred by authors to Sequoia, Pagiophyllum, and other 

 genera. It is therefore only in cases where cones are present 

 that the designation Elatides is admissible. The vegetativ 

 characters of Elatides are those of Araucaria Cunninghamii, A. 

 excelsa, and allied species while the cones consist of flat imbricate 

 scales with narrower and more or less pointed or spinous distal 

 ends. There is some reason to believe that the cone-scales were 

 monospermic but the evidence is not conclusive and rests on a 

 single species. The data are insufficient to fix definitely the posi- 

 tion of the genus, though it is in all probability a member of the 

 Araucarineae. Elatides is characteristic of Rhaetic, Jurassic, and 

 Wealden floras. 



Elatides Sternbergii (Nilsson). 



A Rhaetic species originally described by Nilsson from Rhaetic 

 rocks in the South of Sweden as Abies Sternbergii, subsequently 



1 Gothan(OS). 2 Heer (77) ii. pp. 7779, PI. xiv. 3 eXdrrj, Fir. 



4 Nathorst (97) pp. 35, 58, Pis. i., IL, iv., vi. 



