706 Miss H. Bandulska on an Ahietinean Cone Scale 



cuneate, with an ascending and sharply angular sinus on the 

 wider side of* the scale ; median vein well marked, secondary 

 veins coarse, radiating, and sometines bifurcating, the^ lowest 

 veins springing from the extreme base. 



Length 19 mm., width 19*5 mm. 



Age. Middle Eocene. 



Locality. Duiley Chine, Bournemouth. Type V. 15865 

 (specimen with counterpart), B.M. (Nat. Hist.). 



Affinities. — It is possible to limit comparison to three 

 living genera of the Abietinese — Abies, Picea, and Pseudo- 

 tsuga. The fossil cone-scale is slightly broader than long, 

 hence the genus Pinus is excluded, since the ovuliferous 

 scales of Pinus are oblong or strap-shaped. Larix, Cedrus, 

 and Tsuga have symmetrical scales and no sinus. The 

 asymmetry, which is well marked in the fossil, is a common 



Abies religiosa, X 2. 



Pityolepis durleyensisy X 2. 



feature \n Abies, is less obvious in Picea, and is slightly marked 

 in Pseudutsuga. The emarginate or notched upper edge is a 

 common characteristic of Picea. The irregularly crenulate 

 or serrate margin is characteristic of both Abies and Picea, 

 and of some species of Pseudotsuga — e. g., Ps. douglasii. 



The ascending angular sinus found on one side of the 

 basal stalk portion in Pityolepis durleyensis is present in 

 recent species of Abies, which show either one sinus onl}'^ or 

 one on either side of the scale-stalk, in which case one sinus 

 is usually more pronounced than the other. A short blunt 

 angular sinus is present in Pseudotsuga japonica. A sinus 

 on one side ol: the scale is present in some species of 

 Picea (e. g., P. engelmanii), and is present or absent in 

 P. pungens. The recent species of Abies show a stalk, as 

 distinct from the expanded portion of the scale. The 



