/ 



446 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [December 



great jump to those trilobed forms which are referred to Aralia 

 Wellingtoniaiia, the chief difference being in the margin. Thus 

 we have an interrelated series connecting those leaves which 

 undoubtedly show affinity to Sassafras with those which are ^ 

 undoubtedly Platanoid on the one hand, and with others which 

 are reasonably referred to Cissites and Aralia on the other. 



Sassafras mirabile Lesq. — Lesquereux says^^ of this leaf 

 **its facies is like that of a Platanus, or of a group referable, 

 perhaps, to the Araliacaae, like Platanus ?tobiHs Newb., P.jatro- 

 paefolia^ and P. hercnles Unger, etc." Its size, texture, obtusely 

 dentate borders, and craspedodrome secondaries all stamp it as 

 a Platanus, and we prefer to follow Newberry and consider it as 

 variety of his P. latiloba. There is a distant resemblance to the 

 trilobed forms of Cissites harkerianus, as well as to some forms 

 which have been referred to Sassafras cretaceum; this however, 

 is a much larger leaf than the latter, with sub-basal prima- 



ries. 



Hi 



resemblance in his published figures. Nearly all the five-lobed 



platanoidi 



I 



1 



Sassafras ( Araliopsis ) papillosum Lesq. — Lesquereux 



writes of this leaf "though the general aspect of the fragment 



is like that of a leaf of Platanus, it has a more evident relation 



to Sassafras {^Araliopsis) mirabile Lesq., from which it differs 



merely by the enlarged lateral lobes, the acutely dentate 



borders, and the papillose teeth ; this has a marked degree of 



affinity to Platanus primaev a Lesq. and its varieties." It is very 



similar to some of the leaves referred to 5. cretaceum, especially 



the var, grossedentatum Lesq., and like the latter its more natural > 



position is with the leaves of the Platanoid group, resembling as 



it does P. lattor, P. dissecta, P. latior grandidentata, etc. 



Sassafras (Araliopsis) platanoides Lesq, — It is not diffi- 

 cult to find analogues of this leaf in widely different genera. 

 There are three forms from the Lower Potomac which it resem- 

 bles : Araliaephyllum acutilobum Font., Araliaephylliifn aceroides 

 Font., and Aceriphyllum aralioides Yont, Lesquereux^^ considers 





3°Cret. Fl. p. 8i. 3'Cret. and Tert. Fl., p. 58. 



^* 



