20 BULLETIN 103, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



in the Eocene and Oligocene of our Southern States, but Guatteria 

 has not been recognized. 



The Myristicaceae is represented by an infrequent species of 

 MyristicophyUum in the Culebra formation, and in this connection it 

 is of interest to note the presence of fruits and seeds of Myristica in 

 the uppermost Eocene of Texas suggestive of the subgenera Virola 

 and Compsoneura, both of which occur in the Recent flora of Central 

 America. The Leguminosae have three fossil species. The Mimosa- 

 ceae, which are very abundant in the existing forests of Panama, are 

 represented by a fossil species of Inga, a large genus of tropical trees 

 with upward of two-score species in Central America, nearly half 

 of which are recorded from Panama. Inga is well represented in 

 the abundant Eocene floras of our Southern States, and it is of in- 

 terest to note the resemblance between the fossil species from Panama 

 and a species described by Engelhardt from an unknown Tertiary 

 horizon in Ecuador. 



The Caesalpiniaceae is represented by a single species of Cassia, a 

 large genus not only in the Recent equatorial floras but well repre- 

 sented in most fossil floras from the Upper Cretaceous to the present. 



The Papilionaceae, very abundant in the existing flora of Panama, 

 is supposed to be represented by the petrified wood of a large tree 

 referred to the genus Taenioxylon and found in the Cucuracha, 

 Culebra, and Bohio formations. 



The family of Malpighiaceae is represented by the genera Hiraea 

 and Banisteria. The former has about 30 recent species, exclusively 

 American, ranging from Mexico and the Antilles to tropical Brazil 

 and Peru, and it is represented by a fossil species in the Eocene of 

 the Mississippi embayment. Banisteria contains about 80 existing 

 species, mostly climbing shrubs. It is at present confined to the 

 American tropics, but appears to have been present in Europe as well 

 as in the southern United States during the Tertiary. 



The Euphorbiaceae, abundantly represented in the present forests 

 of Panama, is represented in the Caimito formation by a species of 

 Hieronymia apparently identical with one described by Engelhardt 

 from the Tertiary of Ecuador. Hieronymia, not otherwise known 

 in the fossil state, contains about a dozen existing species which are 

 confined to tropical America, where they range from Mexico and the 

 West Indies to Brazil. 



The Sapindaceae, abundant in all fossil floras from the Upper 

 Cretaceous onward, and exceedingly abundant in the Tertiary floras 

 of the Mississippi embayment, is represented in the fossil flora of 

 Panama by a species of Schmidelia found in the Caimito and Culebra 

 formations. Schmidelia has a large number of existing species in 

 the equatorial regions of both hemispheres and, except for petrified 



