200 



NA TURK 



\_7nly I, i8So 



definitely known at present in cretaceous rocks, for the large 

 fossil cone figured by Heer as Araucarites twrdaiskwldi, 

 from the upper cretaceous of Spitzbergen, is a very indis- 

 tinct coaly mass, and as he suggests, possibly cyca- 

 daceous.' 



The Araucarias thus appeared to have declined since 

 Jurassic times, and Schimper states that, with the 

 Tertiaries, they became extinct in Europe. Tbiselton 

 Dyer - goes further, and has even stated that, so far as 

 Ave know, they have been extinct north of the equator 

 since the Oolitic age. It is certain, however, as I hope to 

 show, that at least one section of them abounded in 

 Europe during the Eocene age, and probably did not quit 

 it until the Miocene. 



The existing Araucarias present a singular appearance 

 when contrasted with other trees, and would be looked 

 upon from their aspect alone as unmistakably archaic in 

 character. They have been divided by Salisbury ^ into 

 two very distinct sections : Columbea, or true Araucarias, 

 and Eutacta, or the needle-leaved false Araucarias. They 

 are exclusively confined to the southern hemisphere, 

 Columbea alone being represented in South America, and 

 both sections in Australia and the adjacent isles. 



The section Colidnbca possesses but four species, which 

 are, however, very distinct from each other and of great 

 interest. The most familiar is the common Araticaria 

 imbricata, or Monkey-puzzle. It is almost confined to 

 Chili, forming vast forests which extend upon the slopes 

 of the Andes from the snow-level to about 1,500 or 2,000 

 feet downwards. The trees reach 150 feet in height, and 

 with their dark pendulous foliage are of imposing gran- 

 deur. Their appearance when full grown can scarcely 

 be realised from the young trees in England, but an ex- 

 ceptionally fine specimen is at Windsor, and a caniage- 

 drive leading to a nobleman's house, near Armagh if I 

 remember rightly, is bordered by high banks of large and, 

 for our country, well-grown trees of this species, and j 

 presents a strikingly dignified effect. The cones are very 

 large, and the seeds, which are highly nutritious, form the 

 staple food of the Indians. The second South American 

 species, A. brasilicnsis, is somewhat similar in appear- 

 ance, and reaches 100 feet in height. It also forms 

 immense forests, and produces edible nuts, but as it will 

 not live in our climate without protection, is less frequently 

 seen in cultivation. 



The Australian species are even more strange in aspect. 

 Arancaria Bidiuillii forms a majestic tree, growing to 

 150 feet in height, and confined to a tract 30 miles long by 

 12 on the east coast near Brisbane, where it far overtops 

 the other forest trees. A. Rnlei, a smaller though equally 

 beautiful tree, is chiefly remarkable for its singularly 

 restricted range, being only indigenous to Porte MoUe, 

 one of the Caledonian Isles, where it is confined to the 

 summit of an extinct volcano, but half a mile in radius, 

 and exposed to extremes of heat and cold that appear 

 destructive to other kinds of vegetation, for hundreds of 

 feet below it. 



The Columbeas have not been met with fossil either in 

 the Eocene or Cretaceous rocks, probably because their 

 stations are mostly high rocky ridges, where there is an 

 absence of water, rendering it unlikely that their remains 

 would find their way into marine or fluviatile sedimentary 

 strata. We must by no means infer, therefore, that 

 species belonging to this section did not exist in Europe 

 contemporaneously with the species of Eutacta that have 

 been found. 



The section Eiiiacta has terminal globular cones with 

 broadly-winged and generally persistent scales and falcate 



_ ' ' Flora foss. Arctica." vol. iii. PI. xxxvii. p. 126. Heer says the figure 

 IS much too distinct, and that the position and arrangement of the scales can 

 onlj; be made out with the greatest trouble. Restored as it is, it possesses no 

 distinctively Araucarian characters, while no branches of Araucaria have 

 been found that could be placed with it. Cycadaceous and Sequoia foliage 

 moreover abounds in most cretaceous rocks in high latitudes. 



= Royal Geog. Soc. Proceedings, iSj8, vol. xxii. p. 427. 



'■^ -— '• ■■ ivol. viii., i807>fP- 308-3I7- 



3 Trans. Li. 



needle-like leaves. There are but three existing species, 

 all of gigantic dimensions, for two of them attain a height 

 of over 200 feet, and the third 150 feet. Arajtcaria 

 Coohii, or the Norfolk Island pine, a native of New 

 Caledonia and New Hebrides, presents a fantastic 

 columnar-like growth, giving the trees when seen from a 

 distance somewhat the appearance of a grove of ship's 

 spars 200 feet or so in height. A. excelsa, indigenous to 

 Australia and Norfolk Island, is an even more majestic 

 and colossal tree, towering to a height of 230 feet, with 

 a trunk of some 30 feet in girth. The third species, A. 

 Cwininghami, I wish to describe in more detail, for I have 

 ascertained, conclusively I believe, that it, or a species 

 indistinguishable from it, flourished abundantly in our 

 latitude and longitude in the Middle Eocene period. 



A. Cu!!!!i)!oha»!!, like many Coniferre of the southern 

 hemisphere, has two slightly distinct forms of leaf, those 

 of the young plants being straighter, more sabre-like,, 

 and horizontaUy disposed than those of the more fully 

 developed tree, which hitherto have alone been met with 

 fossil. 



The foliage of the more full-grown tree is composed of 

 moderately short falcate needle-like leaves, quadrangular 

 in section, thickening at the base, and with the lower side 

 produced and decurrent on the stem. These are disposed 

 all round the branches, and leave the stem at first at 

 right angles to it, and then gently curve upward and 

 inward. This arrangement causes each leaflet to be free 

 or seldom in contact one with another, and is an im- 

 portant character in distinguishing the species by its 

 foliage when other organs are absent. The terminal 

 branchlets are generally simple for 5 or 6 inches, and 

 then branch shortly but copiously, and chiefly horizontally. 

 These branchlets apparently represent one year' s growth, 

 for they are articulated at the base, and are annually shed 

 in abundance by the trees. Branchlets resembling these 

 in the minutest particulars are to be found in great 

 quantities in the Eocene beds at Bournemouth. 



Other coniferous foliage, however, resembles A. 

 Cuiiiiinghami, especially that of some of the cultivated 

 Sequoia gigantca, so much so that I had difficulty in 

 removing the prejudice from Ettingshausen'smind, shared 

 by all the Teutonic palaeobotanists, in favour of referring 

 ail this type of foliage to Sequoia. Before it can definitely 

 be said to belong to A. Ciinninghami these types of foliage 

 must of course be considered. 



In the first place the foliage of A. CiimnngJiamiis easily 

 distinguishable from that of the other Araucarias in the 

 section ; A. excelsa having leaves more at right^ angles, 

 more laterally disposed, and foliage less branching, and 

 A. Cookii possessing the leaves broader and in contact 

 with an imbricated appearance, while every articulated 

 branch is simple. The other Coniferse which resemble it 

 are Creptomeria japonica, in which the leaves are much 

 longer and straighter, and quit the stem at an angle of 

 about 35° ; Arthyota.vis sclaginoides and Daaydiuin araii- 

 earvides, which have the imbricated appearance of A. 

 Cookii; and Sequoia gigantca, which is much the nearest 

 in general habit. The leaves of Sequoia differ in being 

 rather longer in proportion, less regularly disposed and 

 curved, leaving the stem at a very acute angle, and 

 hugging it more closely, so that their points irregularly 

 overlap and touch each other. Its foliage in the wild state 

 seems always to be very much smaller, and the larger 

 foliage it seems sometimes to assume away from its native 

 habitat, shows very distinctly the seasonal variations in 

 the size of the leaves so characteristic in the other existing 

 Sequoia, .y. sevipcrvircns. The Bournemouth foliage 

 differs from all these materially, but as already stated, 

 resembles that ai Ai-aucaria Cuiininghami in so close a 

 degree as to be indistinguishable from it by any discover- 

 able character. 



Apart from the foliage, however, there is other evidence 

 in support of the view that this is really Araucaria 



