118 FLORA OF SOUTHEEN NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND. 



those in the vicinity of Cheesequake Creek [Morgans], would strike along the southern shore of the island from 

 Tottenville to Arrochar. 



This probability is further strengthened by the fact that marl bed fossils [invertebrates] have been found 

 in the moraine at the latter locality, showing that strata even higher than the upper members of the clay series 

 are or once were represented there. 



From a consideration of these facts and other similar ones in connection with the Cretaceous clays on 

 Staten Island, Long Island, Block Island, and Marthas Vineyard, the name "Island series" was given by Dr. 

 Lester F. Ward to the strata represented on these islands. 



The "Island series" would therefore lie above the Amboy clays, as described byNewberry,o and belowthose 

 of the clay marls at Cliffwood, as described by me in a recent paper.!* 



The striking maimer in which the theory as above outlined has been verified bj^ 

 a critical examination of all the available paleontologic evidence and by subsequent 

 investigations in the field is exceedingly gratifying, and we are now in a position 

 to state with almost absolute certainty that the Kreischerville beds are the equiv- 

 alents of those at Woodbridge and Amboy and that on Long Island and eastward the 

 deposits include not only these, but also the higher strata represented on the main- 

 land by those at Morgans and Cliffwood ; and the fact that plants from all these hori- 

 zons, as well as invertebrate remains from yet higher, are abundant in the moraine 

 thi'oughout indicates that the strata from which they were derived formerly existed 

 over an area farther to the north than where they are now exposed and probably 

 included a large part of what is now Long Island Sound, whence they were eroded by 

 glacial'action during the Quaternary period. 



A comparison of our flora with that of the Dakota group shows that at least 

 58 species, and perhaps more, are identical with species of that group, indicating a 

 close relationship, wliich would be rendered even more striking by including in the 

 comparison the Cretaceous flora of New Jersey. It is worthy of note, however, 

 that, in the West, Dakota types of plants occur in the Judith River beds, which are of 

 Senonian age and separated from the Dakota by more than 1,000 feet of marine 

 sediments. 



Comparing the flora next with those of the Kome, Atane, and Patoot beds of 

 Greenland, it may be seen that 54 of our species, some of them the most character- 

 istic, are represented in those horizons. Of these species, only 9 occur in the Kome, 

 and it is sigiiificant that the identity of 6 of these is questioned; 40 occur in the 

 Atane and 23 in the Patoot beds, including 14 common to both, and a critical 

 analysis seems to indicate a closer relationship with these latter, regarded as a floral 

 unit, than with the Dakota flora. This relationship is indicated not so much by the 

 actual number of species in common as it is by the relative abundance of certain 

 species which may be regarded as characteristic, such as Cunninghamites elegans 

 (Corda) Endl., Widdrmgtonites BeicTiii (Etts.) Heer, Moriconia cyclotoxon Deb. and 

 Etts., Dammara horealis Heer, Nelumho Kempii (Hollick) Hollick (probably iden- 

 tical with Nelumbium arcticum Heer), Liriodendropsis simplex (Newb.) Newb., 

 ■Celastrus ardica Heer, etc. ; and inasmuch as none of the above is recognized as a 

 typical Dakota-group species, the relationship of our eastern Cretaceous flora with 

 that of Greenland may be regarded as closer than with that of our Western States. 

 Heer considered the Atane flora to be probably Cenomanian, while he recognized 



. oMon. U. S. Geol. Survey, vol. 26 (Fl. Amboy Clays). 

 6 The Cretaceous clay marl exposure at ClifEwood, N. J.: Trans. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 16, 1S97, pp. 124-136. 



