PALEOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE 533 



The Lower Eocene contains a number of important but mainly un- 

 studied English deposits, and at a slightly higher position the extensive 

 deposits of Alum Bay and the London Clay in England. Our knowledge 

 of the flora of these two localities is confined to a list of the names, but 

 the plants have never been described or figured. The Alum Bay flora 

 comprises 116 genera, 273 species, and that from the Isle of Sheppy 

 72 genera and 198 species. The plants as thus made known appear to 

 indicate a much warmer climate than the floras of the French and 

 Belgian deposits just mentioned; in fact, Gardner regards it as tropical. 

 If these plants have been correctly identified — and a large proportion of 

 them are seeds and fruits that are susceptible of close study — it is diffi- 

 cult to see how the climate could have been cooler than subtropical at 

 least. 



A time of great sea extension marked the Middle Eocene in Europe, 

 and it is only in the upper beds, such, for instance, as the calcaire grossUr 

 superieur of the Paris Basin, that plants are preserved. A small fiorule 

 from the last-mentioned beds has been described by Bureau, including 

 Pandanus, Flabellaria, Sabal, Palmacites, Yucca, and ISTuphar. These 

 indicate that the climate was still warm, probably nearly tropical. 



In the southern part of England the Bogshot sands and the Bourne- 

 mouth clays, as well as the beds of Antrim and Mull, contain a very 

 large, beautifully preserved flora, but it is mostly undescribed. Gardner 

 has worked up the ferns and conifers, among them being the genera 

 Acrostichum, Anemia, Gleichenia, Meniphyllum, Araucaria, Cupressus, 

 Podocarpus, and Sequoia. Certain genera of monocotyledons are indi- 

 cated, such as Phoenix, Calamus, and Nipa. These seem to indicate 

 that the climate must still have been warm and moist. 



Of approximately the same age as those above mentioned are the 

 plant beds of Monte Bolca, Italy. A warm, probably subtropical, climate 

 is indicated by the presence of numerous and large palms. 



One of the largest and best known of European and Eocene floras is 

 that from Aix, in Provence, France, described by Saporta, which com- 

 prises over 500 species. It includes fungi, algae (Chara), hepatics, 

 mosses, ferns, conifers of many genera, grasses, sedges (Carex), palms 

 (5 genera, 12 species), Smilax, irises, cat-tails, wax-berries, alders, 

 birches, oaks, elms, figs, laurels (5 genera, 26 species), Daphne, Pro- 

 teoides, composites, Olea, ashes, Catalpa, Myrsine, Bumelia, persimmons, 

 Andromeda, Yaccimium, Aralia, buttercups, water-lilies, magnolias, bar- 

 berry, maples, Sapindus, bittersweets, buckthorns, sumacs, Ailanthus, 

 clover (Trifolium), and a great number of genera and species of legu- 

 minous types. 



