part 3] CARBONIFEEOUS PLANTS FEOM PERU. 279 



Wealden floras was not noticed. The account of the geology of 

 the district by Marsters is as follows : — 



' The geolog-y of this district was studied by Don Federigo Fuchs, and 

 according to his map the whole area is Carboniferous. The area termed 

 Cerro de la Mina is occupied by Carboniferous strata, as the fossil flora 

 indicates ; the plants are typical species of the Carboniferous Period. The 

 best exposure of the beds is to be seen on the coast between the house of the 

 Director of the Exploration Company and the Punta de Huaca. This shows 

 thick beds of sandstone with thin and fissile shales, the coal being associated 

 with the shales ; local folding, attenuation, and pinching-out of the seams are 

 common phenomena. The dip of the strata varies in direction from S.40° E. 

 to S. 45° E., at angles between 16° and 27°. If we examine also the north- 

 western boundary of the Cerro de la Mina on the south-eastern slope of the 

 little valley of the Arquillo, we observe the same lithological conditions as in 

 the former region. The Carboniferous strata are clearly in contact with rocks 

 which are, without any doubt. Tertiary. In many places the shales are very 

 carbonaceous, containing at times thin lenticles of pure coal. The dip of 

 the beds varies from 16° to 20° ; the whole formation is inclined towards the 

 south-east. 



' After having visited this region, Seuor Bravo states that west of the 

 Cerro de la Mina Carboniferous sediments exist in the neighbourhood of the 

 Punta de Lechuza.' ^ 



To Mr. Douglas I am also indebted for the following extract 

 from a paper by Prof. C. I. Lisson (13) : — 



' In the year 1900 Prof. Fuchs published the discovery of a Carboniferous 

 flora situated on the peninsula of Paracas. Although a revision of the de- 

 terminations adopted by Fuchs is necessary, nevertheless it is a proved fact 

 that the plants show decisively the presence of a Carboniferous deposit.' 



Here again is no reference to the fact that Fuchs's list included 

 some typical Wealden plants. 



In view of the inclusion of two Wealden species in the list of 

 plants given by Fuchs, it is noteworthy that the occurrence of a 

 Wealden flora was recorded in Peru in 1907 and 1910.^ 



A photograph of the coal-bearing beds on the Pacific coast is 

 published in a book by H. Enock ^ on the Andes and the Amazon : 

 this author speaks of the coal-deposits of Peru as one of the 

 country's most valuable assets. These carbonaceous deposits are 

 of Mesozoic, and not of Palaeozoic age. 



So far as I am aware, no Upper Carboniferous flora, in which are 

 not included members of the Glossopteris flora, has been described 

 from South America. 



Description of the Specimens. 



Sphenopteris sp. (PL XIII, figs. 1-3.) 



The collection includes several fragments of pinnae, pieces of 

 rachis, and pinnules of a fern-like plant, although these are un- 

 fortunately not sufliciently well preserved to be identified with 



^ Marsters (09) pp. 40-41. This extract is taken from a translation kindly 

 made for me by Mr. Douglas. 

 2 Neumann (07) ; Zeiller (10). 

 •^ Enock (07) p. 207. 



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