422 TAXINEAE [CH. 



VESQUIA. Berfcrand. 



Vesquia tournaisii Bertrand. The name Vesquia, after the 

 French botanist Julien Vesque, was given by Bertrand 1 to seeds 

 from Lower Cretaceous strata at Tournai which he described as 

 intermediate in certain respects between Taxus and Torreya; they 

 are two or three times as large as the seeds of Taxus and about 

 one-third the size of those of Torreya. The ligneous shell is ribbed 

 and on each side at the base is a large orifice marking the position 

 of a vascular bundle which is continued through the length of the 

 marginal ribs. The seeds are elliptical in transverse section and 

 prolonged apically into a micropylar beak agreeing structurally 

 with the micropyle of Taxus and Torreya. Bertrand also found 

 anatomical features in the shell similar to those of the recent 

 genera. In the absence of illustrations it is difficult to follow 

 the description in detail, but the facts appear to favour Bertrand's 

 conclusions with regard to the affinities of the fossil species. 



CEPHALOTAXOPSIS. Fontaine. 



Fontaine 2 gave this name to specimens of vegetative shoots, 

 abundant in the Patuxent formation in the Potomac group, closeh r 

 resembling in habit recent species of Cephalotaxus: the characters 

 of the genus have been revised by Berry 3 who adds some particulars 

 as to the structure of the epidermis. Fontaine's four species are 

 reduced by Berry to two. No seeds have been found attached 

 to the branches, but the American authors consider that some 

 associated seeds may belong to the genus. 



Cephalotaxopsis magnifolia Fontaine. 



With this species Berry 4 includes C. ramosa Font. The branches 

 are fairly robust and in some cases bear lateral shoots in whorls or 

 pseudo- whorls ; the leaves are distichous, linear-lanceolate, rather 

 abruptly rounded at the base and tapering gradually to a mucronate 

 apex, with an average length of 4 5 cm. and a breadth of 3 4 mm. 

 Groups of bud-scale scars occasionally occur at the base of an 

 ultimate shoot. The thick lamina may be transversely wrinkled 

 as in Pityophyllum. There is a distinct midrib and a short distance 



1 Bertrand (83). 2 Fontaine (89) B. p. 235. 3 Berry (11) p. 374. 



4 Ibid. p. 377. PI. LX. fig. 1 ; Fontaine loc. cit. Pis. civ. cvni. 



