THE FLORA. 



127 



These leaves seem to represent two different species. 

 They have, however, a common character— that of the 

 yellowish, shining secondary veins, which I have not 

 seen on any other species of fossil plant of this locality. 

 The leaf in figure 6 is smaller, with the secondary veins at 

 a more acute angle of- divergence; it has, however, the 

 same character of nervation, shorter intermediate tertiary 

 veins, and more ok less distinct veinlets, oblique to the 

 secondary veiDs. In both leaves, also, the basilar veins 

 are marginal and ascend to the branches of the secondary 

 nerves above. 



In a subsequent paper describing ' plants 

 from the Denver formation Lesquereux u 

 identified this species with question, saying: 



The leaf which I refer to this species is oval, apparently 

 denticulate near the apex, and narrower than those fig- 

 ured in Plate XIX, figures 6, 7. It may, therefore, be- 

 long to a different species. 



I have not seen these forms, but to judge 

 from the remarks quoted it would seem that 

 they are properly excluded from Q. straminea. 



Occurrence: Laramie formation, Golden, 

 Colo. 



Quercus eximia Knowlton, n. sp. 



Plate XXI, figure 2. 



Quercus eximia Knowlton [nomen nudum], U. S. Geol. 

 Survey Bull. 696, p. 527, 1919. 



Leaf oblong-lanceolate, gradually or evenly 

 narrowed from what appears to be about* the 

 middle of the blade to a long acuminate apex; 

 margin provided with few distant upward-, 

 pointing teeth; midrib very strong, running 

 directly to the apex; secondaries alternate, 10 

 or more pairs in the upper half of the leaf, 

 emerging at an angle of approximately 30°- 

 40°, some apparently entering the teeth but 

 most of them arching to join the one next 

 above, thence forming a practically continuous 

 line just inside the margin; finer nervation en- . 

 tirely obsolete. 



This species, which unfortunately is repre- 

 sented only by the fragmentary example 

 figured, must have been 18 or 20 centimeters 

 long, for the portion preserved, which appears 

 to be only about half of the leaf, is 11 centi- 

 meters long. It is about 4 centimeters in 

 greatest width and tapers gradually to an 

 acuminate apex. One side of the leaf is pro- 

 vided with several rather prominent upward- 

 pointing teeth; the other side is merely un- 

 dulate with but faint indications of teeth. 



"Lesquereux, Leo, Fossil plants collected at Golden, Colo.: Har- 

 vard Coll. Mus. Comp. Zoology Bull., vol. 16, p. 46, 1888. 



The secondaries are distinctly alternate, each 

 usually — so far as can be made out — arching 

 just inside the border to join the one next 

 above by a sort of bifurcation in the upper 

 portion, thus producing a nearly continuous 

 intramarginal line, a character observed in 

 certain living leaves of this genus. 



Among described forms this has a decided 

 resemblance to Quercus lyelli Heer, 75 from the 

 Atanekerdluk beds of Greenland. It is, for 

 example, very close to the forms shown in 

 Heer's figures' 7b of Plate LXX, 9 and 10 of 

 Plate LXXII, and 1, 2, and 4 of Plate LXXIII, 

 differing in the thicker midrib and stronger 

 secondaries, which are more continuous and, so 

 far as can be made out, less branched. The 

 teeth in the two forms are very similar. There 

 can be almost no question as to their generic 

 identity, and but for a number of quite differ- 

 ently appearing forms included by Heer in his 

 species there would be little question of their 

 specific similarity. Without more and better 

 material I have thought it best to keep them 

 apart. 



Occurrence: Laramie formation, Coal Creek, 

 Boulder County, Colo. 



Quercus viburnifolia? Lesquereux. 



Quercus viburnifolia Lesquereux, Tertiary flora: U. S. 

 Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 7, p. 159, pi. 20, 

 figs. 11, 12, 1878; U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 

 Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1876, p. 505, 1878; Harvard 

 Coll. Mus. Comp. Zoology Bull;, vol. 16, p. 46, 1888. 

 Ettingshausen, Roy. Soc. London Proc, vol. 30, p. 

 232, 1880. 



Quercus triangularis Goppert [in part]. Lesquereux, U. S. 

 Geol. and Geogi Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1872, 

 p. 377, 1873. 



Quercus attenuata? Goppert. Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and 

 Geog. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1873, p. 389, 1874. 



One of the figured types of this species (the 

 original of fig. 11 in the "Tertiary flora") is 

 preserved in the United States National Mu- 

 seum (No. 186), together with the others that ' 

 were the basis for Lesquereux's remarks con- 

 cerning this form. None of them are very per- 

 fect, yet a careful study brings out well the 

 characters upon which the species is founded. 

 This original specimen is from Sand Creek, 

 Colo., and others were reported from Golden, 

 Colo., and Black Buttes, Wyo., the latter pre- 

 served on red baked shale. The matrix of the 



" Flora fossilis arctica, vol. 7, pt. 1, p. 87, pi. 

 7b; pi. 72, figs. 1-10; pi. 73, figs. 1-6, 1883. 



. 4, 5a; pi. 70, fig. 



