41 



Celtis hesperius Berry, n. sp. (Figure 1) Leaf cordate-ovate in 

 form, with an extended acuminate tip and a cordate nearly 

 equilateral base. Leaf substance thin. Margins entire at base, 

 above with prominent aquiline-serrate teeth, somewhat variable 

 in size and irregularly spaced, becoming reduced in size and fi- 

 nally disappearing distad. Length about 11 centimeters. Maxi- 

 mum width about 6 centimeters. Petiole stout, expanded, 1.75 

 centimeters long. Midvein stout, prominent, curved. Lateral 

 primaries diverging from the extreme base at wide angles —90° 

 on one side, curving upward and camptodrome, stout and promi- 

 nent. Secondaries stout, prominent, 8 or 9 pairs, straighter on 

 one side and more ascending and curved on the other. The lat- 

 eral primaries give off four or five camptodrome secondaries on 



Fig. 1. Celtis hesperius, Berry (four-fifths natural size) 



the outside. Tertiaries mostly inosculating internally to form a 

 coarse isodiametric mesh; externally they extend into the margi- 

 nal teeth. 



The character of the base and the enlargement of a marginal 

 tooth on one side give a somewhat deltoid form to this fine leaf. 

 It is a highly characteristic form, markedly distinct from previ- 

 ously described species, both fossil and recent. This is empha- 

 sized by its cordate, subequilateral base and its less ascending 

 lateral primaries. In form it is not unlike various fossil and re- 

 cent species of Betula but differs from any of the Betulaceae — 

 Fagus, Ulmus, Carpinus, Planera, Ostrya, etc., in having campto- 

 drome instead of craspedodrome venation. 



Three species of Celtis leaves have been described from our 

 western Miocene. These are Celtis mccoshii Lesquereux 1 from 



1 Lesquereux, Leo, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras: U. S. Geol. Sur- 

 vey Terr. Rept., vol. 8, p. 163, pi. 38, figs. 7, 8, 1883. 



