THE ADVENT OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
lake, poplars, myrtles, ashes, holly trees, hickories, wal¬ 
nuts, oaks, maples, elms, persimmons, lindens, wild grapes, 
wild currants, roses, locusts, and a number of other trees 
related to a variety of living forms, even to our peaches 
and hornbeams. Other basins, resembling the one at 
Florissant, occur in the Middle and Upper Tertiary 
formations on the Pacific coast near Spokane; another 
is the John Day basin of western Oregon. 
Similar floras existed throghout the period all over 
Europe, Asia, and even the Arctic. It is a strange sight 
to see fossils of palm trees, laurels, and cinnamons which 
have been dug out from the snowfields of the North. 
The second great period in the formation of coal occurs 
in the Middle Tertiary. The vast lignite and brown coal 
deposits all over the world were laid down in that time. 
Conditions must have been very similar to those of the 
Pennsylvanian period, for both resulted in a climax of 
coal deposition on the earth. 
The fauna which populated the semi-tropical forests 
of the middle Tertiary closely resembled that of the 
tropics today. Gigantic elephants, rhinoceri, and hippo¬ 
potami roamed through the forests, and many birds 
flashed among the trees. Nature was superabundant, and 
the world must have been a much more beautiful one 
than that in which we are now living. 
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