54 



A SUPPOSED FOSSIL CATMINT 

 By T. D. a. Cockerell 



For many years I have had a peculiar little leaf from the 

 Florissant Miocene, which I have recurred to at intervals, 

 always with the decided impression that it belonged to the 

 Labiatae or Lamiaceae. It was collected by Mr. S. A. Rohwer 

 at Station 13 B. It is evidently thin, surely herbaceous, with a 

 slender curved petiole about 5 mm. long. The blade of the leaf 

 is about 15 mm. long and 13 wide, with a pointed apex, cordate 

 base, and four broad dentiform tubes, not very acute, on each 

 side, separated by deep incisions. The figure shows the character 

 better than any description. Under a lens, I thought the apical 

 lobe was denticulate laterally, and carried on one 

 side, near the base, an extra slender lobe. Under 

 the binocular, the slender lobe resolved itself into 

 extraneous matter, and the denticulations appeared 

 to be due to irregular overlapping films of shale. 

 The leaf accordingly agrees very closely in pattern 

 and aspect with the old world genus Nepeta, and is provision- 

 ally so referred, as Nepeta (?) pseudaeluri n. sp. It is named 

 after Pseudaekirus, a cat of the period. I had to consider 

 whether it might be referred to Urtica, some species of which 

 it much resembles, but on the whole the reference given seems 

 preferable. 



In Nature, Nov. 13, 1926, p. 696, I described a Labiate from 

 the Eocene. L^nfortunately the figure I sent was not printed, 

 but it has been saved, and is at the British Museum (Natural 

 History) . 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB 

 Meeting of March 8, 1927 



This meeting was called to order at 8:20 p. m. in the Assembly 

 Hall of the new educational wing of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, with President Richards in the chair. Sixty- 

 five members and friends were present. If the joint meetings 

 with other societies for the discussion of wild flower conservation 

 are excepted, this was the largest attendance of any meeting for 

 several years. The program of the evening consisted of an 

 illustrated lecture bv Dr. Francis E. Llovd of McGill l'ni\ersit\- 



