THE FLORA. 



131 



Ficus pealei Knowlton, n. sp. 



1 Plate XI, figure 6. 



Ficus pealei Knowlton [nomen nudum], U. S. Geol. 

 Survey Bull. 696, p. 284, 1919. 



Leaf ovate, apparently abruptly rounded 

 below to the truncate base, and more gradu- 

 ally rounded above to the obtusely acuminate 

 apex; margin perfectly entire; nervation pin- 

 nate, midrib comparatively thick; secondaries 

 four pairs, alternate, thin, remote, at an angle 

 of approximately 40°, slightly curved upward, 

 apparently camptodrome. 



The example figured is the most nearly 

 complete of those observed. It is about 8:5 

 centimeters in length and 4.5 centimeters in 

 width. It is not a very marked leaf, its 

 strongest characters being the regular ovate 

 shape, very thick midrib, and few, thin, 

 alternate secondaries. The finer nervation is 

 not retained. 



In shape this leaf resembles certain of the 

 leaves referred to Ficus arenacea Lesquereux, 83 

 and the nervation is more of the type of Ficus 

 pseudo-populus Lesquereux, 83 but it differs 

 essentially from either. 



Occurrence: Laramie formation, Cowan sta- 

 tion, 10 miles south of Denver, Colo., collected 

 by A. C. Peale, for whom it is named. 



Ficus planicostata Lesquereux. 



Ficus planicostata Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. 



Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1872, p. 393, 1873; 



idem for 1874, p. 304, 1875; idem for 1876, pp. 181, 



508, 1878; IT. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr. 



Bull., vol. 1, p. 379, 1876; Tertiary flora: U. S. 



Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 7, p. 201, pi. 31, 



figs. 1-8, 10-12, 1878. 

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



p. 232, 1880. 

 Hollick, Louisiana Geol. Survey Ann. Rept, for 1899, 



pt. 5, pp. 276, 282,. 1890. 

 Newberry, The later extinct floras of North America: 



U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, pp. 88, 146, pi. 46, 



fig. 1, 1898. 

 Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 163, p. 52, pi. 



10, fig. 4, pi. 12, figs. 2-4, 1900; U. S. Geol. Survey 



Bull. 204, p. 56, 1902. 



Leaves of medium size, subcoriaceous, entire, elliptical 

 or broadly oval, slightly acuminate or obtuse, rounded to 

 a short thick petiole, palmately three-nerved from the 

 « top of the petiole, rarely from a short distance above the 

 base; primary and secondary nerves broad, flat, all 

 camptodrome, as well as their divisions. — Lesquereux. 



e» Lesquereux, Leo, The Tertiary flora: U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 

 Rept., vol. 7, pi. 29, fig. 1, 1878. 

 i» Idem, pi. 34, figs. 1, 12. 



This species appears to have been first de- 

 scribed from specimens collected at Black 

 Buttes, Wyo., and subsequent events prove 

 that this is the principal locality for it. All 

 the types figured in the "Tertiary flora" are 

 from this place, and these, together with 

 numerous duplicates, are preserved in the 

 United States National Museum (Nos. 271- 

 280). There is also a single example in the 

 Museum (No. 895) said to have come from 

 Coal Creek, Boulder County, Colo., a state- 

 ment made probable by the finding of at 

 least two fairly perfect examples in the ma- 

 terial from this locality, one belonging to 

 Columbia University (Nos. 119, 120) and now 

 deposited in the New York Botanical Garden 

 and the other belonging to the United States 

 National Museum (No. 3611). This species 

 is a very fine and characteristic one and was 

 well described and figured by Lesquereux. 

 It does not appear to have been obtained by 

 Ward, who collected extensively at Black 

 Buttes in 1881, but it has been reported from 

 other localities with more or less certainty by 

 various writers. It is, for instance, reported 

 by Ettingshausen 84 from the Eocene of Alum 

 Bay, England, which appears to be its only 

 Old World occurrence. Hollick 85 reports it 

 from the Wilcox of Louisiana, but, as he 

 says, the specimen so referred is very much 

 larger than even the largest specimens of 

 F. planicostata figured by Lesquereux. The 

 strong lateral secondaries arise at some dis- 

 tance above the apex of the petiole, whereas 

 in the typical F. planicostata they, usually take 

 their origin at the very base of the blade. 

 The general appearance of the leaf, however, 

 aside from the particulars mentioned above, 

 is very like that of F. planicostata, and Hol- 

 lick's reference may perhaps be permitted to 

 stand. In my "Flora of the Montana for- 

 mation." 86 I referred to this' species with 

 some question a single leaf from Coalville, 

 Utah, and a number from Dunn's ranch, on 

 the Laramie Plains, Wyo. Newberry 87 men- 

 tions and figures a single leaf from the upper 

 part of the Clarno formation at Bridge Creek, 

 Oreg. The leaves from the Montana group 

 may be correctly determined, though there 



8< Roy. Soc. London Proc, Vol. 30, p. 232, 1888. 

 8 s Hollick, Arthur, Louisiana Geol. Survey Ann. Rept. for 1899, pt. 5, 

 p. 282, pi. 36, 1900. 

 8« U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 163, p. 52, pi. 10, fig. 4; pi. 12, figs. 2-4, 1900. 

 »' IT. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 88, pi. 46, fig. 1, 1898. 



