54 REPORT — 1866. 



leaves are also found there. Thus, of Sequoia Langsdorffii we see not only the twigs 

 covered with leaTes, but also cones and seeds, and even a male blossom catkin 

 (katzcheu) — of Populug, Corijhis, Ostrija, Palivrus, and Prunus, there are leaves and 

 some remains of fruit, which could not be the case if the specimens had drifted 

 from a great distance. 



(f/) By our finding remains of insects with the leaves. There is the elytron of a 

 small beetle, and the ^ving of a good-sized wood-bug (probably belonging to the 

 fauiilj^ of the Pentatomidce). 



(2) The Flora of Atanckcnllulcis Miocene. Of the sixty-.six species of North Green- 

 land, eighteen occur in the Miocene deposits of Central Europe. Nine of these are very 

 MTidely distributed both as to time and space, viz., Sequoia Lanf/sdorffii, Taxodimn 

 duhiion, Phraf/mites Oenim/ensis, Quercus Dnjmeia, Planera Unfferi, Diospi/ros hrachij- 

 aepala, Andromeda jtrotof/a-a, Phammis Eridani, and JugJatis acuminata. These are 

 found both in the upper and lower Molasse, while some species, viz., Sequoia 

 Coidtsice, Osmunda Heerii, Corylus 3Iacquarrii, and Pojndus Zaddaclii, have not as 

 yet been noticed in the upper Molasse. From these facts it seems probable that 

 the fossil forest of Atanekerdlulc flom-ished in that high northern latitude <at 

 the lower Miocene epoch. 



(3) The Flora of North Greenland is very ricli in species. This is evident from 

 the gi'eat variety of plants which the specimens exhibit. Although the amount of 

 material obtained from Atanelverdluk is of small extent compared with that which 

 has come fi-om the Swiss localities, yet many of the slabs contain fom- or five species, 

 and in one instance even eleven. Atanekerdluk has been only twice visited, so that 

 we can only consider that we have got a glimpse of the treasures buried there, and 

 wliich await a more carefril search. At Disco and Hare Island there are extensive 

 beds of brown coal, in whose neighbourhood we may fairly expect to find fossil 

 plants. In fact, Professor Goppert mentions three species from Kooli (?) in lat. 70° 

 N., Pecopteris borealis, Sequoia Lanf/sdorffii, and Zamitcs j{rcticus, whicli, strange to 

 say, he has described (in liis Jalu'buch fiii- Mineralogie, 1866, p. 1-j4). 



(4) The Flora of Atenehcrdluk proves, wilhout a doubt, that North Greenland, in 

 the Miocene E2ioch, had a climate much xcarmer than its present one. The diflerence 

 must be at least 30° F. 



Professor Heer discusses at considerable length this proposition. He sa5''S that 

 the evidence from Greenland gives a final answer to those who objected to tlie con- 

 clusions as to the Miocene climate of Europe drawn by him on a former occasion. 

 It is quite impossible that the trees found at Atanekerdluk could ever have flourished 

 there if the temperature were not far higher than it is at present. This is clear 

 first from many of tlie species, of which we find the nearest lining representatives 

 10° or even 20" of latitude to the soutli of the locality in question. Some of the species 

 are quite pecviliar, and their relationship to other forms is as yet in doubt. Of these 

 the most important are a Baphnoyene (D. Kanii), the genus 3P ClintocMa , and a 

 Zamites. The Daphnogene had large thick leathery leaves, and was prolmbly ever- 

 green. 



M^ Clintochia, a new genus, comprises certain specimens belonging, perhaps, to 

 the family of the Pi'oteaceos. The Zamites is also new. Inasmuch as we know no 

 existing analogues for these plants, we cannot draw accurate conclusions as to the 

 climatai conditions in which they flourished. It is, however, quite certain tliat they 

 never could have borne a low temperature. 



If, now, we look at those species whicli we may consider as possessing living 

 representatives, we shall find that, on an average, the highest limit attainable 

 by them, even under artificial culture, lies at least 12° to the southward. 

 This, however, does not give a fair view of the circumstances of the 

 case. The trees at Atanekerdluk were not all at the exti-enie northern 

 limit of their growth. This may have been the case with some of the 

 species; others, however, extended much further north; for in the Miocene 

 flora of Spitzl)orgen, lat. 78° N., we find the beech, plane, hazelnut, and some 

 other species identical with those from Greenland. For the opportunity of examin- 

 ing these specimens, I am indebted to Professor Nordenskiold. At the present time 

 the firs and poplars reach to a latitude 15° above the artificial limit of the plane, 



