440 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [December 



fied image of the transverse section of the axillating leaf trace as seen 

 in longitudinal section of the axis. There is obviously a considerable 

 disturbance in the arrangement of the tracheids of the axis. 



All the available specimens of our fossil showing the bark in place 

 are unfortunately badly preserved. They confirm the conclusion, 

 however, that Araucariopitys possessed deciduous shoots comparable 

 with those of living pines and at the same time was an araucarian 

 Conifer. The condition of preservation in the corticated specimens 

 makes it possible to observe that the deciduous shoots have already 

 fallen in branches which show but a single annual ring and are sub- 

 tended by definite absciss layers occurring in the outer cortex. There 

 are no pcridermoid tissues present except in the limited areas immedi- 

 ately opposite the deciduous shoots. 



It will be obvious to the reader that in the coniferous branches 

 to which we have assigned the name Araucariopitys, there are features 

 present which combine in a remarkable degree the anatomical char- 

 acteristics of both the Abietineae and Araucarineae. The radial pitting 

 of the tracheids, for example, as has been shown above, is clearly 

 transitional between the two orders. The rays tend more strongly 

 to the abietineous side. The wound-reactions of our Conifer are more 

 like those of the Abietineae than are those of any other known Arau- 

 carian. Finally, the genus was characterized by the possession of 

 deciduous shoots. It will be obvious from the enumeration of the 

 features that in the species under discussion we have a strong arau- 

 carian endowment with a nearer approach to abietineous structure 

 than has been found in any Araucarian living or extinct. Since this 

 is the case, the name Araucariopitys, etymologically significant of 

 the double affinities, seems appropriate. 



CONCLUSIONS 



It appears from the description given above that there are present 

 in the Cretaceous deposits of Kreischerville, Staten Island, N. Y., 

 certain branches with deciduous lateral shoots, resembling in their 

 relation to the axis the brachyblasts in the abietineous genus Pinus. 

 Further, it is apparent that in spite of the possession of deciduous 

 shoots, the branches in question belong to an araucaraian Conifer 

 of archaic type, as is shown by their anatomical structure. The wood 



