DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES. 93 



others, but the plant was evidently somewhat decayed and mutilated before 

 fossilization. 



Taking the series of figures now given and referred to Cabomba, they 

 might be supposed to represent three species or different phases of one, but 

 the very large number of the smallest form contained in the collection, and 

 the close correspondence in size and form exhibited by them, seems clearly 

 to justify the conclusion that they represent but a single species, while the 

 larger form also generally exhibits the same characteristics. The interme- 

 diate size represented in fig. 2, PL XXII, has few representatives in the 

 collection, and hardly affords material for the creation of a distinct species. 

 It has been thought better, therefore, to refer this to the larger one, to 

 which it is most nearly allied in size. 



Formation and locality: Tertiary (Fort Union group). Fort Union, 

 Dakota. 



Brasenia (!) antiqua Newb. 

 PL LXVIII, fig. 7. 



Brasenia antiqua Newb. Proc. IT. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. V (March. 21, 1883), p. 514 

 (not B. antiqua Daws., Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, III, sec. 4, p. 15, 1885 [1886]). 



"Stems long, flexuous, cylindrical (now flattened), smooth, many 

 times branched toward summit, bearing pedunculate spheroidal capitula 

 consisting of numerous club-shaped pods." 



We have here the remains of an aquatic plant, having the general 

 structure of Brasenia as regards stem and fruit, but the specimens are too 

 imperfect to enable us to decide with confidence on its botanical relations. 

 No leaves or flowers have yet been found, and the seeds are scarcely 

 sufficient for its classification. Our common water shield, Brasenia peltaia, 

 is a very widely disseminated plant, as it is found on both sides of our 

 continent and in Japan and the East Indies. This indicates that it has 

 long been an inhabitant of the earth's surface, and whether the specimen 

 before us can be accepted as evidence of its existence in North America 

 during the Tertiary, the probabilities are strong that Brasenia was an 

 inhabitant of the old lakes of the West and that its remains will be 

 met with. 



Formation and locality: Tertiary (Green River group). Green River, 

 Wyoming 



