418 



ON SPECIES OF FOSSIL PLANTS 



15. Laurus i'fdattjs, Spec. nov. PI. xix, Fig. 1. L. foliis coriaceis, oblanceolatis, in petiolum longe atten- 

 satis integerrinais j nervo primario latiore, piano, ncrvis sccundariis tenuibus, sub angulo aouto 30° egredicntibus, 

 eaniptodromis, areolatione ultima purictif'onni. 



Red shale. 



This leaf is made up of two fragments. It is apparently short-stalked ; its shape is 

 oblaneeolate, the entire borders gradually descending to the base and tapering upwards 

 from the middle into a slightly obtuse point. The secondary veins are thin but distinct, 

 nearly as slender as the vcinlets, and somewhat flexuous or variously bending to branch- 

 ing points. Among fossil plants, this species is distantly related to Laurus princeps, Hccr, 

 a species abundant in the Miocene of Europe. The long tapering base of the American 

 fossil is its essential specific character. 



16. ClNNAMOMUM Mississippiense, Lesqx* PI. xix, Fig. 2. C. foliis subcoriaccis, ovntis, laneeolatis, aou- 

 ininatis, basi in petiolo brcvi, semipollicari longo, subdecurrentibus, integerrimis, triplinerviis, ncrvis Iateralibus 

 ultra | evanidis. 



Brown coarse sandstone. 



This species is, like the former, represented by some specimens, which, though separately 

 incomplete, show, taken altogether, the entire form, except the point. It pretty closely 

 resembles Cinnamomum Buchi, Heer, Flor. Helvet. Tert. ii, page 90, PI. xcv, Fig. 1 to 8, 

 whose leaves are variable. Our leaf evidently differs in its more exactly ovate form, 

 being largest below the tapering point, which is accordingly longer than the more 

 abruptly rounded base. In Cinnamomum Buchi, on the contrary, the greatest enlarge- 

 ment is above the middle ; therefore its leaves are more abruptly narrowed into a point, 

 while they are more gradually narrowed toward the petiole. The reversed figure of C. 

 Buchi would be just like that of C. Mississippiense in its natural position. From Cinna- 

 momum Heerii, Lesqx., Amer. Journ. of Sci. and Arts, § 2, vol. xxvii, p. 361, to which 

 this species is also allied, it differs by the leaf being twice as large, and by the relatively 

 narrower nerves. The junction of the lateral with the medial nerve is not as high up 

 above the base as in the species of Vancouver's Island. It is the oidy fossil leaf of a 

 Cinnamomum obtained from the Atlantic slope. 



17. Banksia Helvetica, Seer. PI. xvi, Fig. G. 15. foliis coriacois, scssilibus, oblanceolatis, obtusis, in- 

 tegerrimis, basi sensim attenuatis, truncatis; nervo medio valido pcrcurrentc, nervatione hyphodroma. 



Red shale. 



The leaf is about two inches long, half an inch in its broadest part, round obtuse above, 



■" 





* Dana's Manual of Geology, page 513, Fig. 94. 



