DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES. 29 



elapse before perfect order can be brought out of the present confusion. 

 The species now under consideration may, however, be identified by the 

 large size of its leaf, its plain unkeeled petiole drawn out into a long acute 

 spine on the under side, the very numerous folds, and the crowded, subequal 

 nervation. 



The only species that rivals it in size and is liable to be confounded 

 with it is Sabalites Grayanus Lesq. (Tert. Fl., p. 112, PI. XII, fig. 2), reported 

 as found at "Golden, Colorado; Point of Rocks, Wyoming; Vancouver 

 Island, and in Mississippi." Only fragments have, however, been found in 

 some of these localities, and it is scarcely probable that their identification 

 with the specimens from Golden will be confirmed by future observation. 

 In the figure given by Lesquereux of the type of his species, the point 

 of the petiole is not more than half as long as in some of the leaves of Sabal 

 grandifolia; and if the strongly keeled petiole, of which a portion is repre- 

 sented on the plate cited above, can be accepted as normal for S. Grayanus, 

 this would in itself be sufficient to distinguish the species. The petiole of 

 the leaf of S. grandifolia is smooth and gently arched above and below, 

 never keeled. 



I formerh r supposed this species to be identical with that found at 

 Bellingham Bay, Washington (#. Campbelli, Newb.), and figured on PI. XXI 

 of this monograph, but that species has somewhat smaller leaves, with a 

 less number of folds and less crowded nervation. 



The best specimens yet obtained of Sabal grandifolia are those collected 

 by Dr. Hayden in the Yellowstone Valley; but others, which indicate an 

 almost equal size and exhibit essentially the same characters, were obtained 

 by Mr. I. C. Russell from the green sandstones of the Laramie grouj) on 

 Fischers Peak, Colorado, and I have specimens representing this species 

 from Walsenburg, Florence, Coal Basin, and other places where there are 

 outcrops of the Laramie. Fan-palms occur in the Cretaceous rocks of Orcas 

 Island and in the coal series of Fletts Creek, near Tacoma, Washington, but 

 they are smaller and with fewer folds. Fragments of palm leaves were 

 obtained by Dr. Evans on Vancouvers Island, and these have been referred 

 to Sabalites Grayanus by Lesquereux, but they were very imperfect and of 

 little value in the comparison of species. 



Formation and locality : Cretaceous (Laramie group). Fischers Peak, 

 Colorado, and Tertiary (Eocene ?'), Yellowstone River, Montana. 



