126 



slightly more in length in the central part of the cone, becoming 

 progressively smaller in the upper part of the cone. 



The specimen had evidently been in the water a long time 

 before it sank to the bottom and was buried by sediment, since 

 some of the basal scales had dropped off and the lignite is 

 brittle and structureless. It is impossible to locate the fossil 

 among the different sections of the genus. It could belong to the 

 white pine group among the soft pines, although our modern 

 species in this group have larger cones, or it could be related to 

 some of the pitch pines in which the prickles may be poorly 

 developed or fall when the cones open. 



Naturally one does not expect a Miocene species to be espe- 

 cially close to an existing species and I have no useful compari- 

 sons to make with recent cones. Nor is there any merit in com- 

 parisons with Miocene cones from other and far distant floral 

 provinces. Almost any modern unarmed pine cone of about the 

 same size would have much the appearance of this badly pre- 

 served fossil specimen. 



It is interesting in this connection to call attention to a 

 single, and not especially well preserved, seed of Pinus described 

 from the District of Columbia.^ This could easily belong to the 

 same botanical species as the present cone. 



Locality: 1.7 mi. south of Plum Point, Calvert Co., Md. 



Horizon : Zone 11 of Calvert formation, about 6 ft. above the 

 base of the zone. 



Collector: R. Lee Collins, July, 1935. 



Prunus calvertensis n. sp. Figure 1 



Stone somewhat compressed, nearly circular in profile, about 

 1.4X1.6 centimeters in length and width, and 8 millimeters in 

 maximum thickness. The lignite is structureless, but after 

 photographing the single specimen it was cut across and the 

 interior is completely filled by what is interpreted as a single 

 seed. The surface of the stone is rugose throughout as shown in 

 the accompanying illustration. 



The specimen has been compared with various Cornaceae, 

 Tiliaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Celtis, Zizyphus, Grewia, Zanthoxy- 

 long, etc. with unsatisfactory results and appears to belong to 



^ Op. cit. p. 66, pi. 12, figure 1. 



