340 L. F. Ward — Fossil Cycads in the Tale Museum. 



the direction was northwest from Hot Springs, and this might 

 locate it in the Lakota formation some distance north of Cam- 

 bria and in the general region of the Newcastle coal field. 

 This, could it be proved, would be interesting as supplying 

 another link in the cycad chain which is fast encircling the 

 Hills, and would partially close the wide gap between the Min- 

 nekahta and the Sundance regions. But, as it now stands, 

 everything is in doubt, and it is greatly to be hoped not only 

 that we shall ultimately learn the true locality, but that other 

 specimens may be found. The patch of ramentum, if such it 

 be, near the summit of the specimen raises the suspicion that it 

 may belong to the genus Cycadella, and as all the specimens of 

 that genus thus far known have come from the Jurassic, it is 

 possible that the horizon of the bed holding this specimen may 

 be lower than that of the other Black Hills cycads. 



The specific name alludes to the alleged locality, which, as 

 we have seen, would be a sort of geological nowhere. 



Plate III shows a view of the best-preserved side of the speci- 

 men. 



Cycadeoidea reticulata n. sp. 



Trunks small (9-15 cm high, 10-20 cm in diameter, with a girth 

 of 40-50 cm ), globular or oblate-spheroidal, vertically compressed 

 and also elliptical in cross section, unbranched, usually hollowed 

 at the summit, but in one specimen showing the worn bases of 

 the terminal leaves concentrically arranged, depressed at the 

 base with a concave center surrounded by a groove between 

 the armor and medulla; rock generally soft, but sometimes 

 hard in the interior, reddish brown or lighter on the weathered 

 surfaces, drab or dark within, of rather low specific gravity, 

 the specimens all weighing less than 4 kilograms ; organs of 

 the armor normally horizontal ; phyllotaxy more or less dis- 

 tinct, the rows of scars from left to right making an angle of 

 45°, those from right to left of 60° ; leaf scars subrhombic, 

 15-20 m ™ wide, 6-9 mm high ; leaf bases soft, porous or spongy, 

 sunk l-5 mm below the surface, occasionally with indistinct bun- 

 dle scars near the center; walls very thin, often less than l mm , 

 rarely exceeding 2 mm , hard and fine grained, presenting a 

 smooth white surface contrasting strongly with the leaf bases, 

 rising above them in plates or dikes or separating them with a 

 delicate network of fine lines, thus giving the whole surface a 

 reticulate appearance, sometimes divided by a commissure into 

 two plates, or by two such into three ; reproductive organs not 

 abundant or conspicuous, 2*arely wanting, their places occupied 

 by cavities, usually small, but variable in size, vaguely defined, 

 averaging 15x20 mm in diameter, having scarcely any visible 

 involucral bracts, the central portions porous or open, the hoi- 



