CHAPTER XLTX. 



PODOCARPIXEAE. 



THE data on which to base any conclusions as to the antiquity 

 or former distribution of the genus Podocarpus or of Conifers 

 believed to be closely allied to recent Podocarps are unfortunately 

 derived from records which in the majority of cases are far from 

 satisfactory and consist mainly of detached leaves. Velenovsky 1 

 refers some linear leaves from the Perucer series of Bohemia to 

 Podocarpus (P. cretacea), but they exhibit no distinctive characters. 

 Some of the numerous leaves described as species of Podocarpus 

 are in all probability correctly regarded as Tertiary representatives 

 of the recent genus, but it is often impossible to state with any 

 confidence that detached leaves should be referred to Podocarpus, 

 or preferably to Podocarpites , rather than to a more comprehensive 

 genus such as Taxites or Elatocladus. In spite of the fragmentary 

 nature of the evidence and the fact that no undoubted example of 

 a Podocarpus fertile shoot has been discovered, an examination of 

 the published records leads to the conclusion that in Tertiary floras, 

 particularly in those of Eocene age, species closely allied to existing 

 Podocarps were abundant in Europe, a conclusion that is especially 

 interesting from the point of view of the present geographical 

 distribution of the Podocarpineae. A brief account of some of the 

 better known examples of Tertiary species of Podocarpus, which are 

 transferred to the genus Podocarpites in accordance with the practice 

 usually adopted in the case of fossil species, may serve to illustrate 

 the nature of the material and the wide range of the specimens. 



Dr Guppy 2 in his very suggestive remarks on the present dis- 

 tribution and means of dispersal of Podocarpus writes: 'If we 

 assign a home in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere to 

 a genus that was well represented in Europe in the Tertiary period, 

 a movement of migration southward would explain most of the 

 difficulties in the present distribution. The great vertical range 

 1 Velenovsky (85) B. PI. xn. figs. 511. 2 Guppy (06) p. 302. 



