90 R. W. Chaney — A Fossil Flora. 



Aet. VI. — A Fossil Flora from the Puente Forma- 

 tion of the Monterey Group; by Ralph W. Chai^ey. 



The Puente formation as described by Eldridge^ is a 

 series made up largely of diatomaceous shales which 

 appears to represent the middle or lower middle portion 

 of the Miocene of southern California, and is therefore 

 included in the Monterey group. The fossil fishes of the 

 formation have recently been described by Jordan and 

 Gilbert,^ and a single species of Pecten has been noted 

 by Eldridge.^ These faunas indicate the accumulation of 

 the shales in small bays or in an archipelago of small 

 islands, and are made up of marine species. 



The only previously known flora from the Puente for- 

 mation is made up of marine algae. Recently a small 

 collection of terrestrial plants has been received from Mr. 

 E. E. Hadley of Alhambra, California, which he collected 

 from two localities, near Alhambra and El Modena. This 

 collection is of interest, both from its relation to other 

 Tertiary floras, and from its occurrence in a marine for- 

 mation. 



Some eighteen species are included in the collection, of 

 which two appear to be referable to modern genera of 

 marine algae, Desmerestia and Lessonia. The remainder, 

 all land plants, have been determined as shown in the 

 accompanying table, which shows also the horizon at 

 which certain species have been previously recorded. 

 Several of the identifications are doubtful due to the 

 limited amount of material. 



Table of Species indicating their distribution. 



Horizon Locality 



Aralia whitneyi Eocene Chalk Bluffs, Calif. 



Biimelia florissanti{f) Miocene Florissant, Colo. 

 Crataegus (.^) sp. 



Fagopsis longifolia Miocene Florissant, Colo. 



Ficus arenaceceformis Miocene Florissant, Colo. 



Ficus cf . puryearensis Eocene Southeastern United States 



Fraxinus mespili folia Miocene Florissant, Colo. 



^Eldridge, G. H., The Puente Hills Oils District, Southern California, 

 U. S. G. S., Bull. 309, pp. 104-105. 



^ Jordan, David Starr, and Gilbert, James Z., Fossil Fishes of the Monterey 

 Formations of Southern California, Leland Stanford Junior University Pub- 

 lications, University Series, 1919. 



