1915] BERRY—MYRTACEAE 487 
from a consideration that such change in nomenclature is unde- 
sirable at the present time from the standpoint of stratigraphic 
paleobotany, which in this country, at least, is a most useful 
handmaid of geology. , 
The supposed cretaceous fruits of Eucalyptus have long since 
been shown to represent Dammara-like forms, and in my studies 
of the tertiary floras I have refrained from referring any of the 
numerous and unquestionable myrtaceous leaves to the genus 
Eucalyptus. Regarding the possible occurrence of Eucalyptus 
in the Tertiary of Europe, I am not sure that all of the identifica- 
tions of HEER, UNGER, ETTINGSHAUSEN, and others are erroneous. 
Certain remains considered as Eucalyptus fruits by these authors 
seem very convincing from the published figures, and furthermore 
there is not the slightest doubt that the other great Australian 
alliance of the existing flora, the Proteaceae, was represented in 
both Europe and America during the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. 
There is an additional argument against the cretaceous radiation 
and the paleobotanical determination of Eucalyptus which is fur- 
nished by the great persistence in the modern forms of the peculiar 
juvenile, opposite, cordate, sessile, and horizontal leaves, a feature 
which must represent an ancestral character of long standing before 
the evolution of the falcate leaves of the genus with twisted leaf- 
stalks and other xerophytic features. 
I have dwelt at some length on this .question because of its 
phylogenetic importance and the possible bearing of the American 
lower eocene floras on this point. In considering the morphology 
of the existing species, Eugenia has many claims to be considered 
the most primitive, although Myrcia is almost equally old and is 
certainly closely related to Eugenia. Among the numerous 
cretaceous fossils from North America now referred to Eucalyptus 
there is not a single one that does not exhibit characteristic features 
of Eugenia or Myrcia, especially of the latter, a fact greatly im- 
pressed on me in handling a large amount of recent material during 
my study of the American tertiary forms. 
3See Deane, H., Observations on the tertiary flora of Australia. Proc. Linn. 
Soc. N.S. Wales. “ra: ea 1900; and CamBacE, R. H., re and distri- 
bution 3 tre genus Eucalyptus. Presidential address, Jour. Proc. Roy wi 
Wales, 1 
