124 STUDIES IN GEOLOGY, No. 4 



and base about equally rounded, the base more inequilateral 

 than the apex. Margins entire. Texture subcoriaceous. 

 Midrib stout and prominent, usually somewhat curved. Sec- 

 ondaries numerous, closely spaced, relatively stout, campto- 

 drome. Length ranging from 2 cm. to 3 cm., averaging 2.5 

 cm. Maximum width ranging from .75 cm. to i.i cm. 



The present characteristic species was described by Engel- 

 hardt from Loja and Tablayacu, Tertiary coal basins in the 

 south Ecuadorean Andes. It is closely simulated by the 

 leaflets of the existing Sweetia lentiscifolia Sprengel, Cassia 

 spectabilis D. C. and Cassia excelsa Schrad. Although its 

 positive generic determination is doubtful it undoubtedly 

 represents a leguminous form most closely allied to existing 

 species of the Amazon basin which penetrated as far south 

 as southern Chile in the early Miocene. These leaflets are 

 not uncommon at Lota and Coronel. 



Cassia Oxlcyi Berry, sp. nov. 

 PLATE V Fig. i 



Description. Leaves pinnately compound. Leaflets small, 

 elongate elliptical in general outline, widest in the middle 

 and narrowing equally to the rounded tip and the inequi- 

 lateral base, petiolulate, margins entire, evenly rounded. 

 Texture subcoriaceous. Petiolule stout, 2 mm. or less in 

 length. Midrib stout. Secondaries stout, about 6 alternate 

 and equally spaced pairs diverge from, the midrib at angles 

 of about 45 degrees, pursue rather straight ascending courses 

 two-thirds of the distance to the margins where they sweep 

 upward in an open camptodrome loop. Tertiaries mostly 

 obsolete. Named for Mr. Oxley the efficient and hospitable 

 manager of the Arauco Company. 



These little leaflets are, in my judgment clearly referable 

 to Cassia. ,They are of a type very frequent in fossil floras 

 of the Tertiary in all parts of the world and could be 

 matched by Eocene or Miocene or Pliocene forms from 

 remote regions, so that little is to be gained by extending 



