274 W. Cross — Denver Tertiary Formation. 



The work of Professor Ward. — The only recent descriptions 

 of fossil plants from Golden are by Professor Lester F. Ward, 

 who visited Golden in the summer of 1881, before any ques- 

 tion as to the horizon of the Table Mountain strata had arisen. 

 In the winter of 1882-83, however, Mr. S. F. Emmons sub- 

 mitted a number of fossil plants from the Denver field to Pro- 

 fessor Ward, pointing out the lithological difference between 

 the strata of Table Mountain and those of the Laramie proper, 

 and stating that this marked characteristic was thought to indi- 

 cate a probable Tertiary age for the former rocks. Professor 

 Ward was requested to examine these specimens as well as his 

 own collections at Golden, with reference to the possibility of 

 distinguishing the two horizons by their plant remains. In 

 an official letter to Mr. Emmons, of date of March 5, 1883, 

 Professor Ward states his inability from the specimens at his 

 disposal to make any important distinctions between the plants 

 of the two horizons. 



In his " Types of the Laramie Flora " (of date 1887) Pro- 

 fessor Ward gives descriptions (with figures) of but five species 

 from this district. The Denver strata containing plants are 

 called "tufa;" the Laramie, " white sandstone;" but no further 

 reference is made to this distinction. One species, Ficus 

 Crossii Ward, came from the Laramie sandstone just below 

 the coal horizon ; Ficus sjpectabilis was found in Denver beds 

 dipping 30° eastward, just south of the town of Golden ; 

 Ficus irregularis and Berchemia multinervis came from South 

 Table Mountain ; Cornus Fmmonsii Ward, was found in the 

 city of Denver, and is incorrectly accredited to Golden by 

 Professor Ward. Four of the figured specimens are from 

 Denver beds and but one from the Laramie proper. 



Professor Ward's paper, " A Synopsis of the Flora of the 

 Laramie Group " (1886), contains an elaborate table of distri- 

 bution of Senonian, Laramie and Eocene plants ; a discussion 

 of this table ; and descriptions of new collections of Laramie 

 plants. In the table of distribution 323 Laramie species are 

 enumerated. Of these, 103 occur at Golden, this flora as de- 

 scribed by Lesquereux being inserted with a few omissions. 



While describing his own collections, Professor Ward says 

 that " the geology of Golden is very complicated,"* and he in- 

 creases this complication by introducing a remarkable hypothet- 

 ical fault, f between Table Mountain and the coal horizon, to 

 explain the proximity of horizontal to vertical strata, in what 

 he treats as a single Formation. Aside from the statement that 

 the sandstone of South Table Mountain is " commonly called 

 tufa "$ Professor Ward does not, in either of the publications 



* " Synopsis," etc., p. 537. f Ibid., p. 538. } Ibid., p. 538. 



