278 PEOr. A. C. SEWAED ON A COLLECTION OE [vol. Ixxviii, 



9. 0)1 a Collection of Caebontfeeotis Plants from Peeu.^ 

 By Prof. Albeet Chaeles Sewaed, Sc.D., F.R.S., Pres.G-.S. 

 (Read April 12th, 1922.) 



[Plate XIII.] 



In the course of a geological expedition to Peru in 1911 Mr. J. A. 

 Douglas collected some fossil plants from coal-bearing strata on 

 the south side of the peninsula of Paracas, a few miles south of 

 the port of Pisco (lat. 13° 45' S.). The plants, which are the 

 property of the Greological Department of Oxford University, were 

 handed to me for identification by Mr. Douglas, who also supplied 

 information on the geology of the district. The specimens, though 

 fragmentary and few in number, are worth I'ecording, since this is 

 the only known occurrence of fossiliferous Palaeozoic rocks on the 

 coast of Peru. 2 Moreover, from a phytogeographical point of view, 

 any fossil plants from South America are worthy of attention. 



The coal occurs in a series of greenish sandstones and grey and 

 black carbonaceous shales, which have a north-easterly strike and 

 dip about 25° south-eastwards. These are overlain unconformably 

 on the neck of the peninsula by Tertiary sandstones and impure 

 limestones. There is no definite stratigraphical evidence of the 

 age of the coal-bearing beds, and the plants are therefore of special 

 importance : in other districts the sti'ata which are the chief source 

 of Peruvian coal are Mesozoic in age. Mr. Douglas informed me 

 that the rocks in question were described by Friedrich Fuchs,^ who 

 published a note on them in 1900 in the ' Boletin de Minas ' (Lima). 

 Fuchs recorded the following species, and assigned the beds to the 

 Upper Coal Measures : — 



Calamites Suckowi Brongniart. C. 

 Sphenopteris Hartleheni Dtmker. 

 W. 



Lepidodendron Sternhergii Brongniart. 



C. 

 Sigillaria tessellata Brongniart. C. 



Baiera pluripartita Schimper. W. | Stigmaria ficoides 'Bvongmsivt. C. 



Four of these species (C) are well-known Northern Hemisphere 

 Carboniferous plants and two (W) are Wealden species. It is 

 obviously impossible to express an opinion on the nature of Fuchs's 

 specimens. A short account of the geology of the district is 

 given by Mr. V. F. Marsters, who states that Fuchs mapped the 

 whole area as Carboniferous, the plants being typical Carboniferous 

 species : the fact that two species are characteristic of Em-opean 



^ After this note had been sent to the Geological Society, a preliminary 

 paper on 'Carboniferous Plants from Peru' by E. W. Berry, to be followed 

 by a fully illustrated account, was published in the 'American Journal of 

 Science' ser. 5, vol. iii (1922) p. 189. Mr. Berry's conclusion is that the 

 Paracas plant-beds ' correspond to the Westphalian stage.' — [A. C. S.] 



2 Douglas (21) p. 250. Numerals in parentheses refer to the Bibliography, 

 p. 283. 



•^ This paper has not been seen, either by Mr. Douglas or by myself. 



