FOSSIL FLORA. 677 



sight it seems hardly possible to have so long and narrow a cone with so 

 large scales, but this cone is preserved entire — that is, it has been pressed 

 flat, and by turning it around the entire series of scales may be made out. 

 It is now pressed into an elliptical shape, with a long diameter of about 

 12 mm. and a short diameter of about 5 mm. Its length, as already stated, 

 is approximately 45 mm. 



I have not been able to find any fossil species with which this can be 

 compared. There are a number having scales of much the same shape, 

 but none with the same sized cone. 



Habitat: Fossil Forest Ridge, Yellowstone National Park, bed No. 7, 

 "Castaneabed;" collected by Lester F. "Ward and F. H. Knowlton, August 

 16-20, 1887. 



PlNUS PREMURRAYANA 11. Sp. 

 PI. LXXXII, iig. 5. 



Cone narrowiy ovate-conical, rounded at base and gradually narrowed 

 above to a very obtuse and rounded apex; scales thick, regularly rhom- 

 boidal, transversely wrinkled, each provided with a rounded blunt umbo, or 

 possibly with a short, stout spine. 



This species is represented by the single specimen figured, and is the 

 most perfectly preserved cone I have ever seen, being preserved entire, with 

 little or no distortion. It is about 8 cm. in length. It is broadest at base, 

 where it is about 2.5 cm. in diameter, from which point it tapers gradually 

 to the apex, where it is about 1 cm. in diameter. The scales are very 

 tightly closed, showing that with little doubt the cone was serotinous. They 

 are quite regularly rhomboidal, being about 10 mm. long and 6 mm. high, 

 and appear to have been transversely wrinkled. The tip is thick, raised, 

 and was provided, in all probability, with a short, stout spine. 



In seeking the probable affinities of this cone, a number of interesting 

 problems are presented, first of which is the state of maturity. It is, of 

 course, a well-known fact that all cones are tightly closed after fertilization 

 and until the seeds are matured. In the majority of cases the scales open 

 for the discharge of the ripe seeds, yet in a number of species they remain 

 closed, or practically so, for many years. The seeds of these serotinous 

 cones may retain their vitality for years — a provision for the continuance 

 of the species. 



Whether the cone under consideration is immature, and has the scales 



