Maryland Geological Survey 419 



It is of interest to note that Gothan^ has described wood extremely 

 close to, if not identical with this species from the supposed Upper 

 Jurassic (Portlandian ?) of King Charles Land. 



Occurrence. — Patuxent Formation. New Pieservoir, District of 

 Columbia. 



Collection. — XJ. S. National Museum. 



Subfamily CUPRESSINEAE 



Genus FRENELOPSIS Schenk 

 [Palseontographica, Band xix, 1869, p. 13] 



Shrubs or trees with cylindrical jointed monopodia! stems and 

 branches, the latter of which may be alternate, apparently in a single 

 plane, or whorled, often of large size, stems up to 5 cm. in diameter 

 having been found in the Virginia area. Leaves much reduced, somewhat 

 variable in outline, in general triangular with a broad base and an 

 acute apex, squamiform, appressed, one to four in number at the nodes, 

 decussate. Internodes variable in length but longer in the apparently 

 annual shoots which were more or less deciduous and functioned as 

 leaves, since the fine longitudinal striae with which their surface is 

 ornamented turn out in certain of the species which have been examined 

 microscopically to be rows of stomata. These stomata have been described 

 for Frenelopsis Holieneggeri by Zeiller^ and for Frenelopsis hohemica 

 by Velenovsky.* They consist in the foregoing species of four cells 

 although sometimes five or even six may be present. They are symmetri- 

 cally arranged, the opening between them being in the form of a narrow- 

 rayed star. According to the former author they ally these forms with 

 the existing species of Callitris and lAhocedrus and effectually disprove 

 Ileer's contention that this curious genus is a member of the Gnetales 

 allied to Ephedra. 



^Gothan, Die Fossilen Holzer von Konig-Karls-Land, Kgl. Svenska Vetens.- 

 Akad. Handl., Band xlii, No. 10, 1907. 



^Zeiller, Obs. sur quelques cuticules fossiles, Ann. sci. nat., 6e ser., Bot., t. 

 xiii, p. 231, pi. xi, 1882; Elements de Paleobotanique, 1900, p. 274, fig. 196. 



^ Velenovsky, Ueber einige neue Pflanzenformen der bohemischen Kreide- 

 formation, Sitz. k. bobm. Gesel. Wiss. Prag., 1888, p. 590, figs. 1-3, 10. 



