39 



Jacaranda filicifolia (Anderson) D.Don of the lower Orinoco and 

 Guiana region. In some respects the last is the most similar, 

 although there is little difference in the degree of resemblance 

 of the three. Jacaranda filicifolia is apt to be more acutely 

 tipped, although not invariably so, is apt to be slightly larger, 

 and invariably has fewer leaflets, at least in the material that I 

 have seen. This last statement is also true of Jacaranda bra- 

 siliana. In this feature Jacaranda mimosaefolia is most like the 

 fossil. 



Jacaranda tertiaria Berry from the Pliocene of Brazil. 

 1, 2. Leaves, nat. size. 

 3. Enlargement to show winged stipe and venation. 



The genus has about two score existing species, ranging in 

 size from undershrub and chapparal growth of the Brazilian 

 Campos to large trees of less dry regions. The area of distribu- 

 tion extends from the Bahamas and Central America to north- 

 ern Argentina and from the Marafion valley in Peru and the 

 Montana zone of the central Andes to the Atlantic. It is unfor- 

 tunate that the evidence of relationship to existing species is 

 not more conclusive. The balance of the evidence is slightly in 

 favor of Jacaranda mimosaefolia or filicifolia rather than the 



