TERTIARY FLORA OF CHILE 99 



species of Casearia are closely related to existing Brazilian 

 forms. The genus is widely distributed and fully half of its 

 1 20 modern species are American and the majority are 

 Brazilian. 



The Patrisia represents a genus with about 10 existing 

 species in the South American tropics, and the Laetia, which 

 is close to the existing L&tia coriacea of Brazil and Guiana, 

 represents a genus with about 10 modern species of the 

 Antilles, Central America and northern South America. All 

 of the genera except Banara belong to the largely American 

 subfamily, the Casearieae, which Warburg considers to have 

 evolved from the Old World Flacourtieae. This seems a very 

 doubtful filiation to me. 



It is a matter of some surprise that the family Tern- 

 stroemiaceae is unrepresented in the Chilean flora and in this 

 connection it may be noted that of the 9 species of Phyllites 

 described by Engelhardt Phyllites ternstrcemaoides is the 

 only one that merits a more definite generic reference. It 

 is very similar to the existing Ternstrcemia dentata Swartz of 

 ;-northern South America and very likely represents this 

 otherwise unrepresented family. 



The next order, the Thymeleales, is represented solely 

 by the important family Lauraceae, which many authors 

 refer to the order Ranales. The Lauraceae of the Chilean 

 fossil flora comprise 9 genera and 14 species and it is hence 

 by far the largest family present. This South American 

 abundance is closely parallel in the modern distribution of the 

 family. Thus Grisebach records but 28 Lauraceae from the 

 British West Indies, Hemsley but 36 for Mexico and Central 

 America, whereas there are over 350 species in the Brazilian 

 flora. The tribes Eusideroxyleae, Apollonieae, Laureae and 

 Cassytheae are unrepresented in the present fossil flora and 

 the tribe Litseae .only doubtfully by the form named Lauro- 

 phyllum actlnodaphne, which suggests the genus Actino- 

 daphne. 



