FOSSIL FLOKA. 703 



the Auriferous gravels of California referred by Lesquereux to Castanea 

 ungeri Heer, 1 but a careful study of the Yellowstone National Park material, 

 comprising nearly 100 specimens, and of a fine collection from Inde- 

 pendence Hill, Placer County, California, has convinced me that they are 

 distinct, although closely related. The California species diffei in having 

 a shorter petiole, in the wedge-shaped base being destitute of teeth for a 

 greater distance, in having serrate margins rather than Castanea-like teeth, 

 and in having in general closer secondaries. This study has also brought 

 out the fact that Lesquereux could hardly have been correct in identifying 

 the California specimens with Castanea ungeri as figured by Heer 2 from 

 Alaska. As already stated under Fagus undulata (p. 700), it is more than 

 probable that 2 of the leaves figured by Heer (loc. cit., PI. VII, figs. 1, 2) 

 should be restored to Fagus, and the other is certainly specifically distinct 

 from the California leaves. The California specimens, as stated, differ also 

 from the Yellowstone National Park species, and should probably be given 

 a new name. 



Lesquereux identified 3 as Quercus drymeja Ung., a single leaf from 

 Bridge Creek, Oregon, that must certainly be the same as Castanea pidchetta. 

 It is, for example, absolutely indistinguishable from fig. 7 of PI. LXXXVT 

 and fig. 2 of PI. XXXVII. A comparison of certain of the European figures 

 of Q. drymeja makes it more than probable that it was not correctly identified 

 among the Bridge Creek material. The leaf figured by Lesquereux is 

 referred to C. pulchella, and Q. drymeja should be stricken from the west- 

 coast flora, at least so far as it depends on this particular specimen. 



It was at first thought best to separate the small leaves represented in 

 fig. 7 of PI. LXXXVI and figs. 2 and 3 of PL LXXXVII, as a distinct 

 species, but the only difference is one of size, and in the large series at hand 

 this breaks down. All gradations from the smallest to the largest may be 

 found, which is quite in accord with the well-known differences in size of 

 leaves to be found on living Castanea. 



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

 altitude about 7,250 feet; collected by Lester F. Ward and F. H. Knowlton, 

 August 16-20, 1887. Yellowstone River, one-half mile below mouth of Elk 



1 Cret. aud Tert. FL, p. 246, PI. LII, figs. 1, 3-7. 



-Fl. Foss. Arct., Vol. II (Fl. Foss. Mask.), p. 32, PI. VII, figs. 1-3. 



'■'Cret. and Tert. Fl., p. 215, PI. LIV, tig. J. 



