St 



When we look over these most* diverse leaves, it is with diffi- 

 culty that we can believe- that they belong to but one species ; 

 were they found as fossils they would undoubtedly be referred to 

 as many different species as there are leaves. However, they help 

 to confirm the view that those ancient species of diverse shape 

 are correctly identified as species of Liriodendron ; and they also 

 offer interesting evidence in support of the phylogenetical views 

 advanced by the writer in the Botanical Gazette * 



It is to be hoped that new material, which will throw a new or 

 fuller light on the genealogy of the group, awaits the collector in 

 the various strata which have so long furnished representatives of 

 this genus. Careful search should also be made for species in 

 the splendid American Tertiary series. Liriodendron is common 

 enough in the European Tertiary and must have been present in 

 America during the deposition of all the formations subsequent 

 to the Cretaceous. It is also very probable that when the Ter- 

 tiary and later formations of eastern Asia are explored new 

 species will be brought to light, as our flora to-day has so much 

 in common with that of eastern Asia, and as it is only in that 

 region that our living species of Liriodendron — perhaps in the 

 form of a geographical variety — is elsewhere found. 



Passaic, N. J., January 18, 1902. 



KEYS TO THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF 

 THE COPRINEAE 



By F. S. Eari.e 



The tribe Coprineae includes those genera of the Agaricaceae 

 in which the lamellae deliquesce on the ripening of the spores, 

 forming a colored liquid. This is comparable to the method by 

 which the spores are set free in the Gasteromycetes. It is held 

 by some to be a primitive character and to indicate that this is the 

 oldest group of the Agaricaceae. 



* To be published shortly. 



