FOSSILS 507 



museum from Australia, and a careful examination of these showed a 

 much greater similarity with the Brandon species than I had found 

 an}'where else. So far as it goes, which perhaps is not very far, this 

 would indicate that the Tertiary flora of Vermont resembled that of 

 Australia as it is now more than that of any other part of the world. 

 In appearance these fossils are dark brown, with sometimes smooth, but 

 usually rough — or, at least, somewhat wrinkled — surfaces. A few have 

 polished surfaces, but these are rare. In the Fourth Vermont Report 

 118 species are described and most of them are figured. Twenty of them 

 are old species. Of both new and old species, two are referred to the 

 genus Pinus, nineteen to Nyssa, one to Juglans, one to Illicium, seven to 

 Hicoria, four to Cinnamomum, and one to Aristolochia. The remainder 

 could not be assigned to any living genera. 



None of the fossils so closely resemble modern fruits as do the Nyssas, 

 unless it be the Cinnamomums. The Nyssa shown in figure 10 is larger 

 and otherwise somewhat unlike the living N. ogeche, but on the whole 

 the resemblance is very close. The same is true of N. ascoidea and the 

 modern N. aquatica. Sections in more than one instance showed that 

 fruits very closely alike externally were quite unlike in their internal 

 structure, and it is very probable that a more extended study of the 

 inner structure of these fruits than has thus far been possible will remove 

 some of the doubtful points. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES 



The figures on plates 86 and 87 represent a selection of the more char- 

 acteristic species. Figure 15 has not been published before, nor have 

 figures 9 and 11, though smaller figures of the same species are given in 

 the Vermont report. To this'report those interested in a more extended 

 and fully illustrated account of these fossils are referred. 



Brief descriptions of the species figured on the plate are presented 

 below as nearly as possible in the order of arrangement on the plate. 

 The figures are all from photographs taken directly from the specimens, 

 and are natural size unless otherwise stated. 



Genus Sapindoides, Perkins, Vermont Geological Report, 1903-1904, 



page 206. 



Sapindoides mediae, Perkins. 



Plate 86, figure 1. 



Fruit small, oval or ovoid, surface wrinkled ; length 13 millimeters, 

 width 10 millimeters. 



