30 
Fagus Maideni, sp. nov. 
Plate VII., Fig. 10. 
Leaf about \\ inches long, about J inch broad, narrow, ovate, oblique at 
the base, finely serrate, the teeth situate at the termini of the lateral veins. 
Midrib straight, well-defined, lateral veins straight, or nearly so, extending 
to the points of the teeth. Leaf smooth and of a delicate texture. 
This leaf, which is contained in specimen No. 102, evidently belongs to 
the Fagus group, and I have therefore so included it. At first it seems to 
resemble Dryopkyllum Howitti , Ett. (Cont. Tert. FI. Aust., PI. X., Fig. 1), 
but the shape of the leaf-base is quite different, and the serrations in the 
latter species are double those of the one now described. 
Fagus Luehmanni, sp. nov. 
Plate VII., Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 9. 
Leaf ovate, rhomboidal, oblique at the base, and the two sides of the lamina 
are equal; margins rather finely serrate, but not sharply so. Midrib straight, 
lateral or secondary veins straight or slightly curved, extending to the 
margin and terminating at the teeth. Marginal teeth occur at the end of 
the lateral veins and also at intermediate points. Leaf smooth, texture pro¬ 
bably leathery. 
The leaves from which the above description is taken are contained in 
specimens Xos. 233, 88, 262, and 283 ; the characters are those of the existing 
Fagus Moorei , F. v. M. There can be little doubt that the genus Fagus 
had many representatives in eastern Australia about the middle of the 
Cainozoic, and that the foliage of many of the trees was at least as luxuriant 
and the leaves as large as those of the existing Fagus Moorei. Ettingshausen, 
in his Contribution to the Tertiary Flora of Australia, describes and figures 
several large-leaved species which he has grouped under Fagus. These are 
in Xew South Wales, where the climate is warm and more conducive, 
perhaps, to luxuriant vegetation. There are in the Hobart museum speci¬ 
mens of Cainozoic travertine from Geilston Bay, containing remains of leaves 
almost identical with the leaves of Fagus Moorei , and there can be little 
doubt of the past wide distribution of large-leaved Fagi. What the circum¬ 
stances were which exterminated these fine-foliaged trees in Victoria and 
Tasmania, and left Fagus Cunninghami and F. Gunii , with their tiny leaves 
only, is a subject for consideration ; whether the glacial period which the 
southern hemisphere underwent was the cause has still to be determined. 
These conditions would certainly have led to the present poverty of the Tas¬ 
manian flora as regards species, and the same results may have been 
produced from somewhat similar causes in southern and eastern Victoria. 
The comparative study of the ancient and modern floras of Xew Zealand 
seems to show that changes proceeded in those islands on parallel lines. 
Order ? 
Carpolithes Strahanensis, R. M. Johnston ? 
Plate VI., Fig. 6. 
Specimen Xo. 141 contains a fossil fruit which appears to me identical 
with Mr. R. M. Johnston's above-named species.* The affinities of this 
fruit it seems, at present, impossible to determine, having the exterior only 
* Johnston, Flora of Tasmania, PI. XXVI., Fig. 2. 
