342 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



FlCUS LAUROPHYLLUM, Sp. I10V. PI. V, fig. 7. 



Laurophylhim reticulatum, Lesqx., Cret. Flora, p. 76, PI. XV, figs. 4,5. 



Leaves coriaceous, entire narrowly lanceolate acuminate, gradually taper 

 ing to a short, thick petiole; nervation pinnate, middle nerve thick, grooved, 

 secondary veins close, open. 



A large number of specimens have been obtained of tbis fine spe- 

 cies. Though generally more or less fragmentary, they indicate, by 

 comparison, the essential characters of the leaves. They vary in size 

 from one and one-half to four and one-half centimeters broad in the 

 middle, and from ten to eighteen centimeters long. Their form is like 

 that of PI. V, fig, 7, of this memoir, which is an exact likeness of the 

 only leaf seen preserved in its whole. The secondary veins are always 

 open, nearly at a right angle to the very thick, broad, and grooved or 

 rather channeled middle nerve. The areolation is by fibrillar at 

 right angle to the secondary and intermediate tertiary veins, forming 

 irregular quadrate or polygonal loose meshes. The secondary veins 

 curve along the borders, and, connecting with those above, form a kind 

 of margin, very undistinct, however, to the leaves. These characters of 

 nervation and areolation more evidently refer this species to the Ficus 

 than to any division of the Laurinece. They are the same as in the 

 leaves described as Ficus protogcce, Heer, in Flora Arct. Ill, p. 108, PI. 

 XXX, figs. 1-8 of the Upper Cretaceous of Greenland. Some living 

 species, especially of Cuba, have the same type of nervation and areo- 

 lation. The relation of these leaves is also marked to species of Nerinm. 

 Ficus distorta, sp. nov., PI. Y, fig. 5. 



Leaf coriaceous, entire, obovate, unequilateral, pointed or acuminate, 

 apparently gradually narrowed to the base (broken); nervation pinnate, 

 secondary veins thick, parallel, equidistant camptodrome; nervilles in right 

 angle to the veins, areolation irregularly quadrate or polygonal. 



This fragment as figured here is the only one seen of this species, and it 

 is not sufficient to positively indicate the relation of the species to Ficus ; 

 the unequilateral shape of the leaf, its nervation and areolation seem to 

 authorize its reference to this genus. 



Habitat. — Near Fort Barker, Kansas, Chs. Sternberg. 



LAURINEyE. 



Laurus Xebrascensis, Lesqx., Cret. Flora, p. 74, PI. X, fig. 1, PI. XXVIII, 



fig. 14. 



Leaves thick, coriaceous, elliptical oblong or narrowly lanceolate, obtusely 

 pointed, tapering downward to a short, thick petiole ; middle nerve thick, 

 half round; secondary veins alternate, at an acute angle of divergence, camp- 

 todrome. 

 Laurus macrocarpa, Lesqx., Cret. Flora, p. 74, PI. X, fig. 2. 



Fruit round, oval; nut surrounded by a thick pericarp; pedicel club- 

 shaped. 



The fruit may belong to the species represented by the leaves of 

 Laurus Xebrascensis. 

 Laurus prote^efolia, sp. nov., PI. V, figs. 1 and 2. 



Leaves siibcoriaceous, broadly lanceolate, gradually narrowed from below 

 the middle into a long acumen, more rapidly narrowed to the base ; middle 

 nerve narrowly grooved and comparatively narroic; lateral veins oblique, slen- 

 der, curving to and along the borders, parallel, except the loicer pair, which 

 is more oblique and ascends higher. 



