1895.] Fossil Species of Liriodendron, 315 
apex eliminating a]l doubt of kinship in spite of the fact that 
the venation does not agree with that of our type. This 
species, L. alatum, was described by Dr. Newberry, but not 
published. Mr. Hollick in accepting the identification con- 
siders it from the point of view of a modern evolutionist. 
He sees nothing wrong in attributing adnate stipules to this 
genus; on the contrary he claims it to be a leaf-form ‘‘ex- 
ceedingly interesting and significant.” Taking ‘‘the stand- 
point of the evolutionist” he compares the leaf with P/atanus 
basilobata, figured and named by Professor Lester F. Ward. * 
The fact that Liriodendron and Platanus are genera with 
entirely different biological peculiarities is overlooked. Mr. 
Hollick even goes so far as to state that ‘‘it is reasonable to 
attribute similar origin to the conspicuous but fugacious stip- 
ules on the young saplings and shoots of Liriodendron.” It 
would appear that Mr. Hollick does not know that the stip- 
ules are free in all the leaves of our tulip-tree, not only on 
the saplings but on all the branches from seedlings to ma- 
ture trees. And this view, says Mr. Hollick, is ‘‘of course 
greatly strengthened by the discovery of the fossil species 
now under consideration.” Professor Ward has figured some 
leaf-fragments of a supposed Platanus, and he compares these 
with our recent species, P. occidentalis, in which a basal loba- 
tion of the blade may sometimes be observed. But we have 
no proof whatever that these fragments of P/atanus bastlobata 
really belonged to any true Platanus, and Nathorst,® one of 
the ablest of European paleobotanists, considers their iden- 
tification as incorrect. The French botanist Godron'® and 
later Sir John Lubbock!! have described the stipules of Lirio- 
dendron and explained how the leaf becomes notched. God- 
ron figures the shape of the leaf while still enclosed in the 
bud, the bud scales being the stipules themselves. The entire 
leaf bends over when it is in bud, and the notch is the result 
of the fact that the apex of the blade rests in a furrow formed 
by the axis and one of the stipules. 
Any one who has studied vernation in its various forms will 
* Ward, Lester F.: The paleontologic history of the genus P/atanus. Pro- 
ceed. U. S. National Museum 11: 39-42. /. 27-22. 1888. 
* Nathorst, A. G.: Review of ‘‘Types of the Laramie Flora by Lester F. 
Ward.”” Neues Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie 2: 219-222. ca sai 
10 Godron, A.: Observations sur les bourgeons et sur les feuilles du Lirioden- 
dron Tulipifera. Bull. dela Soc. Bot. de France 8: —. 1501. 
** Lubbock, Sir John: Phytobiological observations. Journ. Linn. Soc, 22 
and 24; —. 1887. 
— de. 
