126 University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 



Discussion. — There are well over 150 records of Chara in Europe, ranging from 

 the Devonian to the Pleistocene, but less than a dozen have been recorded from 

 North America. These range from the Late Mesozoic into the Pleistocene, and are 

 represented by fruiting bodies. The nearest fossil occurrences to western Nevada 

 are those reported from Florissant (Oligocene), New Mexico (Pleistocene), and 

 Utah (Eocene) ; for references to these and other records, see LaMotte, 1952, 

 p. 123. 



Chara is found commonly in fresh to brackish water, where it grows attached to 

 the bottom and often forms large colonies covering considerable areas. Sometimes 

 the branches become incrusted with lime (hence the name stonewort), which would 

 generally tend to make their preservation more likely. The regular occurrence of 

 Chara in small ponded water-bodies suggests the probable nature of its distribution 

 on the Verdi floodplain. 



Occurrence. — Verdi, Nev.: U.C. Mus. Pal. (loe. P102), holotype no. 1961. 



Family PINACEAE 

 Abies concoloroides Brown 



(PL 19, figs. 1-2, 5-6) 



Abies concoloroides Brown, Jour. Wash. Acad. Sei., vol. 20, p. 347, 1940 (see synonymy & dis- 

 cussion) ; Axelrod, Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Sei., vol. 33, p. 275, pi. 4, figs. 2-6 ; pi. 12, figs. 6-8 ; 

 pi. 17, figs. 5, 6; pi. 25, fig. 5, 1956. 



The Verdi fossils, as represented by numerous needles and a few cone-scales, are 

 similar to those produced by the living white fir, Abies concolor Lindley & Gordon, 

 a widely distributed forest tree in the western United States. 



Occurrence. — Verdi, Nev.: U.C. Mus. Pal. (loc. P102), hypotypes nos. 1962- 

 1963, 1965 ; homeotypes nos. 1966, 1967, 1964. 



Pinus florissanti Lesquereux 

 (PL 17, fig. 3) 



Pinus florissanti Lesquereux, Eept. U.S. Geol. Surv. Terr., vol. 8, p. 138, pi. 21, fig. 13, 1883 ; 

 MacGinitie, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 599, p. 84, pi. 18, fig. 12 ; pi. 19, fig. 2 ; pi. 20, figs. 1-3, 

 1953; Axelrod, Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Sei., vol. 33, p. 276, pi. 4, figs. 19-20; pi. 17, figs. 

 10-11, 1956. 



The record of yellow pine at Verdi is based on pine cones and cone-scales. The 

 cones can not be recovered readily from the coarse, thick sandstones because they 

 are carbonized and fall to pieces as soon as the rock is disturbed. The material 

 shows close relationship to the modern Pinus ponderosa Douglas on the basis of 

 size, shape, and scale characters. At the present time yellow pine has only a limited 

 occurrence in western Nevada. It is found commonly in deep, protected canyons 

 with conifers that are regularly associated with it on the western slopes of the 

 Sierra Nevada, such as Abies concolor, Libocedrus decurrens, and Pinus lamberti- 

 ana, and which also have a restricted distribution in western Nevada today. 



Occurrence.— Verdi, Nev.: U.C. Mus. Pal. (loc. P102), hypotype no. 1968; 

 homeotypes nos. 1969, 1970. 



