﻿'214: 
  E. 
  W. 
  Berry 
  — 
  Age 
  of 
  the 
  Brandon 
  Lignite. 
  

  

  lans 
  and 
  Hicoria 
  come 
  from 
  a 
  warm 
  climate 
  ancestry 
  

   and 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  distribution 
  of 
  existing 
  Xyssas 
  is 
  in 
  

   the 
  South 
  Atlantic 
  states. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  these 
  more 
  

   definitely 
  determined 
  forms 
  the 
  Brandon 
  flora 
  contains 
  

   a 
  variety 
  of 
  so-called 
  species, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  to 
  be 
  sure 
  

   are 
  illy 
  understood, 
  that 
  suggest 
  relationship 
  with 
  exist- 
  

   ing 
  tropical 
  and 
  sub-tropical 
  Menispermaceae, 
  Sapotaceae, 
  

   Rubiaceae, 
  Tiliacea?, 
  Malvaceae, 
  Cucurbit 
  aceae, 
  Sapindaceae, 
  

   and 
  Lauraceae. 
  According 
  to 
  Jeffrey 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  

   lignite 
  studied 
  microscopically 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  Lauraceae, 
  

   and 
  both 
  Lesquereux 
  and 
  Perkins 
  have 
  identified 
  the 
  

   genus 
  Cinnamomum 
  in 
  this 
  flora. 
  The 
  latter 
  reaches 
  its 
  

   present 
  northern 
  limits 
  in 
  Florida 
  (cultivated) 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   rain-forests 
  of 
  Formosa 
  and 
  southern 
  Japan. 
  

  

  The 
  Brandon 
  flora 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  existed 
  except 
  in 
  a 
  

   humid 
  warm 
  climate. 
  The 
  question 
  then 
  is 
  : 
  Could 
  this 
  

   flora 
  fit 
  into 
  the 
  Miocene 
  environment 
  of 
  Vermont 
  ? 
  An 
  

   affirmative 
  answer 
  was 
  most 
  natural 
  when, 
  following 
  

   Heer's 
  wonderful 
  discoveries 
  in 
  the 
  Arctic 
  region, 
  it 
  was 
  

   believed 
  that 
  the 
  circumpolar 
  floras 
  extending 
  to 
  within 
  

   a 
  few 
  degrees 
  of 
  the 
  pole 
  itself, 
  were 
  of 
  Miocene 
  age. 
  

   This 
  supposition 
  has 
  now 
  been 
  definitely 
  disproved 
  and 
  

   the 
  maximum 
  northward 
  spread 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  forests 
  

   is 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  earlier, 
  certainly 
  in 
  the 
  

   ne 
  as 
  opposed 
  to 
  the 
  Xeogene 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Ter- 
  

   tiary, 
  and 
  probably 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  corresponding 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  

   of 
  the 
  greatest 
  northward 
  extent 
  of 
  tropical 
  floras 
  in 
  our 
  

   Gulf 
  states, 
  which 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  late 
  Eocene 
  (Jackson) 
  and 
  

   earliest 
  Oligocene 
  (Vicksburg). 
  

  

  Although 
  Miocene 
  floras 
  for 
  comparison 
  with 
  the 
  Bran- 
  

   don 
  flora 
  are 
  practically 
  nonexistent 
  along 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   coast 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  traces 
  of 
  such 
  floras 
  as 
  are 
  

   recorded 
  from 
  Maryland 
  and 
  Virginia 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  decidedly 
  

   more 
  temperate 
  facies 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  Brandon 
  despite 
  their 
  

   much 
  more 
  southern 
  and 
  lower 
  location. 
  The 
  largely 
  

   undescribed 
  flora 
  from 
  southern 
  New 
  Jersey 
  (Bridgeton) 
  

   which 
  is 
  of 
  newer 
  Tertiary 
  age 
  (late 
  Miocene 
  or 
  early 
  

   Pliocene) 
  is 
  also 
  quite 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  Brandon 
  

   and 
  indicative 
  of 
  less 
  warm 
  climatic 
  conditions. 
  More. 
  

   weighty 
  perhaps 
  in 
  any 
  consideration 
  of 
  Miocene 
  climate 
  

   is 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  much 
  more 
  abundant 
  marine 
  faunas 
  

   of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  Coastal 
  Plain 
  Miocene. 
  These 
  clearly 
  

  

  Berry, 
  E. 
  W. 
  } 
  U. 
  S. 
  Geol. 
  Surv. 
  Prof. 
  Paper 
  98 
  F, 
  1916. 
  

  

  