1548 



PHANEROGAMS. 



Pinks and Portulacas, is very sparingly represented in a fossil state, 

 but we may mention that Polygonum, Coccolabis, and Salsola occur 

 in the European Miocene ; while Pisonia is found in the Middle 

 Tertiaries of both Europe and North America. 



Order 5. Polycarpie^e. — Of the nine families constituting this 

 order only the Lauracece, NymphcsacecE, and Magnoliacece are of 

 much importance to the palaeontologist. In the 

 Lauracece the existing genera Laurus (Laurel), 

 Sassafras (fig. 141 5, a) Cinnamomum (Cinnamon, 

 fig. 1 41 3), Per sea (Alligator-pear, fig. 1414), and 

 Oreodaphne, occur in the Upper Cretaceous of 

 Europe or the United States, and throughout the 

 greater part of the Tertiaries. With the excep- 

 tion of Laurus all these genera are now tropical 

 or subtropical, Persea and Oreodaphne being re- 

 stricted to America ; and their abundance in the 

 European Tertiaries affords conclusive proof of 

 the warm climate of that epoch. Cinnamo?num 

 also occurs in the Tertiary of Australia, and Litsaza 

 in that of Borneo. In the Berberidacece the type 

 genus Berberis (Berberry) dates from the Lower 

 Miocene ; but with the Menispermacece we return 

 to a family dating from the Cretaceous, where it is represented in 

 the United States by the extinct Menispermites. Cocculus, of the 

 Oriental region, is found in the European Pliocene, and has also 

 been recorded from the Eocene, but the latter determination is 

 doubtful. Leaving out some other unimportant types we may pass 

 to the family Magnoliacea, which has a palseontological history of 



Fig. 1413. — Cinnamo- 

 mum. poly7norphum. a, 

 Leaf ; b, Flower ; from 

 the Upper Miocene of 

 Europe. Reduced. 



Fig. 1414. — Leaf of Persea princeps ; from the Upper Miocene of Switzerland. Reduced. 



(After Heer.) 



considerable interest. The type genus Magnolia, so well known for 

 its magnificent white flowers, is now confined to Asia and North 

 America, but in the Tertiary was spread over all Europe, and has 

 also been recorded from Australia ; its earliest appearance being in 

 the Upper Cretaceous of France and the United States. The other 

 well-known genus is Liriodendron, now represented only by the 

 handsome Tulip-tree (Z. tulipifera) of eastern America, but in former 

 times having a wide distribution, and dating from the Cretaceous of 



