2 W. Carruthers — British Fossil Coniferm. 



1. PiNiTES Leckenbti, sj?. uov. Plate I. Figs. 1-5. 



Cone oblong-ovoid, with an obtuse or subtruncate apex ; scales 

 very broad, not thickened at the apex ; seeds small ovoid. 



Locality. — Lower Greensand of Shanklin, Isle of Wight. 



This beautiful cone forms part of the collection of John Leckenby, 

 Esq., F.G.S., Scarborough. It is preserved in its original form, and so 

 perfectly fossilised, that the various details of its structure can be de- 

 termined as satisfactorily as in a recent cone. It is 4 inches long, 

 and 2 inches broad. There is still attached to it a portion of the 

 branch which supported it, represented on Fig. 4. The structure of 

 the interior, as disclosed in the longitudinal section (Fig. 2) agrees 

 in every character of importance with that of the cone of Pinus 

 Gedrus, Linn. The scales are marked with parallel strijB, curving 

 upwards and outwards from the base (Fig. 3). Several of the seeds 

 exhibit the embryo in the centre of the albumen, and in one the 

 section is so made as to show the divisions of the Cotyledons (Fig. 5). 

 That this structure may be the better understood, I have placed be- 

 side it on the Plate a copy (Fig. 6), from Eichard's Memoire sur les 

 Conifer es, (pi. 14, fig. H,) of a section of the seed of Pinus Gedrus, 

 Linn. 



The affinity between this cone and the recent cedars is so obvious, 

 that it would be wasting words to dwell upon it ; but it may be 

 interesting to remark that this group of pines, which is confined, 

 according to Parlatore in his recent Monograph of the Coniferge,^ to 

 two species, the cedar of Lebanon and the Deodar, formed a striking 

 characteristic of the Cretaceous flora. Besides the species just de- 

 scribed, two others have been found in our British rocks, P. Benstedi, 

 Endl., and P. ohlongus, Endl.,^ both from the Lower Greensand. 

 Another species, P. Corneti, Coem., forms part of that remarkable 

 local flora of Cycads and Conifers of Cretaceous age, described by M. 

 Coemans, from La Louviere. 



2. PiNiTES GRACILIS, sp. nov. Plate I. Fig. 9. 



Cone elongated, cylindrical, tapering at the extremities into some- 

 what acute ends ; apex of the scale rhomboidal, somewhat thickened. 



Locality. — The Gault of Eastware Bay, near Folkestone. 



I am indebted to J. S. Gardner, Esq., F.G.S., for my acquaintance 

 with this cone. He has two specimens in his collection. They are 

 3^ inches long, and ^ of an inch broad. The cone is singularly dif- 

 ferent from any species, recent or fossil, with which I am 

 acquainted. 



PiNiTES DEPRESsus, sp. uov. Plate II., Fig. 10. 



Cone small, cylindrical, depressed at the apex ; scales short, very 

 broad, thin at the apex. 



Locality — Kimmeridge Clay of Weymouth. 



The materials for establishing and describing this species are 

 somewhat imperfect ; but as this is the only coniferous fruit yet 



1 De CandoUe's Prodromus. Vol. xvi., Sec. 2, p. 407. Paris, 1 868. 



2 The original and as yet only known specimen of this species is ui the Museum at 

 Oxford. 



