4.—NOTES ON THE FOSSIL FLORA OF PITFIELD* AND 
MORNINGTON.j 
(By Henry Deane , M.A ., F.L.S .) 
Notes on specimens Nos. 1 to 17 inclusive, marked as follows:—Glenline 
Extended Co., Pit-field Plains, No. 8 bore, 100 feet from surface, under two 
distinct layers of basalt, resting on basalt. 
Further examination of these specimens confirms the opinion expressed 
in my preliminary report of the 8th June last, that the leaves indicate a 
vegetation of the “ brush ” type. From the following descriptions and 
observations it will be seen that there is nothing to suggest the existence of 
any element from outside, but that, on the contrary, the vegetation as shown 
in the fossils was truly Australian in character. 
In the following I have made references to all the specimens submitted to¬ 
me except No. 17, which shows too small a portion of leaf for identification. 
It is, however, of the Cinnamomum type. 
Sterculiacea:. 
Sterculia Muelleri, sp. nov. 
Plate I., Fig. 1. 
Leaf (to judge from the portion preserved) evidently trilobate, several 
inches in length and width. Primary veins three in number, straight, stout, 
radiating from the base ; a fourth vein, slightly curved and much shorter, 
which might almost be included as a primary vein, is to be seen near the 
margin of the leaf on the right side slanting from the same point at an 
angle of about 45° with the middle one. Secondary veins well defined, long, 
curved, and branching off the primary veins. The tertiary system consists 
of shorter veins proceeding at right angles, or nearly so, to the primary 
veins, finally curving and meeting the adjacent ones or those proceeding from 
the other primary veins. Finer reticulated veins faint. 
The portion of leaf preserved in specimen No. 1 possesses the type of 
venation characteristic of Acer, Platanus , Sterculia , Aleurites , &c. There can 
be no reason for discarding Sterculia in favour of a northern temperate 
genus such as Acer, as Baron von Ettingshausen, in his “ Contributions to 
the Tertiary Flora of Australia,” has shown an inclination to do, especially 
as the indigenous genus mentioned completely answers the conditions. 
Sterculia diversifolia, G. Don., has sometimes trilobate leaves, and the basal 
vein which exists in the fossil leaf is then found. The leaves of Sterculia 
acerifolia , A. Cunn., are generally 5-lobed, but they frequently have the lobes 
reduced to three, and the outer ribs are then found to be reduced to shorter 
basal veins, like the one in the fossil. The finer veins of the fossil leaf can 
only be seen when closely examined, but they are correctly represented in 
the figure. The specimen shows a groove or fold in the deposit which 
has nothing to do with the venation, and it has been left out of the drawing 
in order to avoid confusion. 
Specimen No. 4 is evidently the reverse or cover of No. L 
* Stanley B. Hunter, Report on the Pitfielcl Plains Gold-field. Spec. Rept. Dept, of 
Mines, Viet., 1901. 
t A. E. Kitson, Report on the Coast Line and Adjacent Country between Erankston,- 
Mornington, and Dromana. Month. Prog. Rept. Geol. Surv. Viet., No. 12, March, 1900, 
p. 11. 
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