TERTIARY FLORA OF CHILE: 97 



Bombacaceae referred to Bombax and Bombaciphyllum. 

 The two species of Triumfetta are closely related and may 

 represent the variants of a single botanical species with 

 leaves like those of the existing Triumfetta longicoma St. 

 Hil. of the Amazon basin. The modern genus, with numer- 

 ous small forms, is found in both tropics, and the hypothesis 

 is here advanced that these fossil forms should be referred 

 to the form-genus Grewiopsis and the latter considered as 

 ancestral to the modern species of Triumfetta. Grewia, etc. 



Of the 3 species referred to the Bombacaceae, Bomba.v 

 playense Engelhardt appears to be correctly determined, and 

 the other two are questionable. The first suggests the 

 modern Bombay glaucescens Swartz of Brazil, and other 

 South American forms. To the same species should prob- 

 ably be referred the Chilean fossil described by Engelhardt 

 as Hnipedoclea repando-serrata. Leaves of this type are 

 known from the Upper Cretaceous, and occur in the Terti- 

 ary of both Europe and North America, being variously 

 referred to Bombax, Bombaciphyllum, Bombacites and Chor- 

 isia. They unquestionably represent this family which was 

 found in the Mediterranean region of both the Old and New 

 World during the older Tertiary, and from this stock the 

 existing species have been derived. 



The family Bombacaceae consists of about 20 genera and 

 125 existing species, all tropical and the majority American. 

 The genus Bombax has about 50 existing species, all large 

 tropical trees and all American except a single African spe- 

 cies, a second Australian and about half a dozen southern 

 Asiatic forms, all of which are the living witnesses of the 

 former range of the genus as outlined above. 



The order Parietales is represented by the families Dillen- 

 iaceae, Ochnaceae, and Flacourtiaceaa. After removing the 

 Empedoclea and referring it to Bombax, as suggested in a 

 preceding paragraph, the Dilleniaceae contains 4 fossil Chil- 

 ean forms, two of which are referred to Doliocarpus and 2 to 

 Tetracera. These all appear to be authentic identifications. 



