DEPARTMENT OF THE ·INTERIO.R 

HUBERT WORK, Secretary 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director 

Professional Paper 92 

'"fHE MIDDLE AN·D UPPER EOCENE FLORAS 

OF SOU'"fHEASTERN NORTH AMERIC'A 

• BY 

EDWARD WILBER BERRY 

lh\s copy i

5 PUBLIC PROPEP.Tl and i• net to 

L.... _·,;~ from the official file~, PftiVATE ~S. ESSI0tJ w: remov.m:~ 

lS UlttAWFUl. (R. S:.Su,. Vol. 2, pp. 360. Sec 749.\ 

WASHINGTON 

GOVER.NM:ENT PRINTING OFFIOE 

1924 
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OF TH:(S PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 

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CONTENTS. 

· Pnge. Introduction _________________________ ..,- _____ . _____________________________ -------,----- _______ . l 

Scope of report----------~------------------------------------------------~--~----~------ Area considered ____________________________________ :._~ _____ - __ - __ - __ - __ -------.:.---------

··Outline of geologic history_"7--------------------------------------------·-------------·----- 'l'he middle Eocene or Claiborne flora __________________________ :.. ___________ "' __________________ _ 

Studies of the Claiborne _deposits _____ .., _____ ~ ~ ___ "7 ___________________________ :.. _____ _ .:.: ____ _ 

Character, _su_cces~ion, and distril;mtion of the deposits __ · __ .:. _____ · _____________________________ _ 

The Cl4-iborne faunas ________________ · ________ ~ ______ . ____________________________ --------_ 

Local distribution of the flora and local sections ______________ · ____________________ •_:_.:. _______ _ 

The plant-bearing outcrops ________________________ .: _________________________________ _ 

Local distribution of the species ______________ .., _______________________________ ._:. ______ -· 

Composition_ of the flora _________ · ___________________________________ .: ________________ · ____ _ 

Physicn,l conditions and g~ologic history __________________________________ ~~ ______ :. __ .:.:.. ____ _ 

Evidence of" a time interval bet,veen the Wilcox and Claiborne epochs ________ ~ ______ :_ _________ _ 

Evidence of a time interval between th~ Cl-aiborne and Jackson epochs ________________________ _ Correln,tion _______________ ,. ______________________________________________ .: _____________ _ 

Nomenclature ____________________________________ ~ _____________ . ____________________ _ 

.Correl~tion within the Claiborne group _______ ..,- _______________________________________ ~ 

Correlation with other areas _________________ ~ ___ · _________ . ______________ ~_:- __________ _ 

Comparison with European floras _____ ::. _________ :. _______________________________ ..:. ___ :._ 

'fhe norn, __ ----- ----:.._-- --- "7------ ----------..,------------------------------- _· ____ ;._:..--- -- Order Pyrenomycetes ('?) ______________________ -.,.-- _______ . _____________________ ..: ___ . __ _ 

Order Filicales _____ .- _____________________________________________ : _________________ _ 

Order Conif9ra~s--------------------------'---------------------------..:.-------------- Order Poales ________________________ ~ ________________ _: _____________________________ _ . . . Order Scitaminales _____________________ "7 _________ ~ _________________________ .:. ________ _ 

Order Areca~es---------------~---------.,----------~---------"'_: ______________________ _ 

Order·J~glanda~s---~---:-----------"'--.,----------------------------.:. ________________ _ Order Myricales __ .:. ____________ · ____________ ,.. ___ .,. ________ · ____________________________ _ 

Order 0rder Fagales ·urticales ~---=-------=---~--------- _____________________________________________________________________ --7~-------:..-------------------------------_ 

Ordm· Aristolochiales ____________ ·- ________________________________________ ~ _________ - _ 

Order Polygonales ____________________________________ -.-- _____________ :_ _______ -------

Order Chenopodiales-------------------------------------------------------------~--- Order Rosales __ . _____ · _________________________ · ______________________________________ _ 

Order Gerania~s----------------------------~------------~----------~---------------

Order Sapindales----------------------------------------------------------~-----: __ _ Order Ithanuutles ___________________________________________________________________ _ 

Order l\1al vales __________________________ = _________________________________________ -_ 

Order Pariet~es ______________________________________________ .; _____________________ _ 

Order ThyJncleales ________ :_ _ _::.. _________________________ ~--~--------7-----------------

0rder l\1yrtales _________________________________ . __________________ -.- ________ -- __ -----. 

Order U m bell ales ____________________________________________________________ ~ __ - __ - _ 

Order Ebenales ___________________________ :. _________ ~--------------------------------

Order Gentianales __________________________________________________________ - __ - __ -- _ 

The upper JDocene or Jackson flora ____________________________ _: _______________________ "7-------. 

Previous studies _________________ · __ .,. _______________ -·~ _______________________________ --_--

Chn,racter, succession, and distribution of the deposits ____________ . ______________________ - __ - __ 

Local distribution of the flora _______________________________ .:. __________ ~- ____________ -----

The plant-bearing outcrops ________________________ · ____ . _________________________ -----_ 

Local distribution of the species_ "7 ___________________________________ ._ ---~ _______ ----- _ 

The Jackson faunas ________ ~_·_:.. ____________________________________________ ------_-------

Botn,nic character of the Jackson flora _______ _. ___________ · ________________ . __ ~ ________ !- ____ -

Physic.al conditions inclic.atecl by the Jackson flora __________________________________ - __ - __ - __ 

Correlation ________________________________________________ -.- ____ ~- ___ . _____ -'------------

Correlation of the Jackson plant localities __________________________ · ___ ------------ _____ _ 

Relation of the Jackson fl.ora to later .floras of southeastern North America __________________ · 

Com pari son with· Eocene floras of other areas __________________________________________ _ 

Relati9n to European floras ___________________________________________________ ~ _- __ - __ 

III 

1 

.2 

3 

6 

6 

6 

9 

9 

9 

14 

18 

25 

27 

28 

30 

30 

31 

34 

36' 

37. 

39 

39 

46 

49 

50 

51 

54 

56 

56 

57 

59 

59 

61 

62 

.66. 

68 

74 

75 

77 

78 

85 

88 

89 

91 

95 

95 

95 

96 

96 

106 

111 

111 

129 

134 

134 

136 

137 

137 
IV CONTENTS. 

The upper Eocene or Jackson flora.,.-Continued. · 

The.flora ________________ ~-------------:------------------------------------------------

. g~~:~ i:~:~~~ri:~!:~-- ~ ~ ~ ~ = ~ ~ ~ _-~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ :.~ ~ = = ~ = = = ~ ~ = = = = Order Equisetales __ _: ---------------------------------------------·------------------- Order Filica~es ____________________________________________ .- ________________________ _ 

Order Conilerales~--------------~---~--------------------------~--------------------- Order N aiadales ____________________________________________________________________ 1 _ 

Order Arales------------------------------------------------------------------------ Order Scitaminales _______________________________ _ ..: ________________________________ _ 

Order Liliales· _ :- ______________ ;.. _____________________________________________________ _ 

Order Poales------------------------------------------------------------------------ Order Arecales _____________________________________________________________________ _ 

Order J uglandales _______________ ~ ___ ,. ________ . ____________________________________ _ 

Order M ydcales _________________________________ _ .:: _________________________________ _ 

.OrderFagales-----------~-----------------:---~----------------~--------------------­

Order Urticales---------------------------------------------------------------------

.Order Proteales -------------~-------~-----------------------------------------------

Order Polygonales ________ ~---------------------------------------------------------- Order Chenopodiales _______________ ~-------------~------------------~--: ____________ _ 

Order Ranales-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Order Papaverales----------~--------------------------------------------------------

Order Rosale~-~-----:----:-----------------------------------------------------------

Order Geraniales------------------------------------------------------------~------- Order Sapindales _______________________________ · ____________________________________ _ 

Order Rhamnales ___________ ~ _______________________________________________________ _ Order Malvales ___________________________________________________________________ ~--

Order · Parietales ________________________________________________ -·- __________________ _ Order Thymeleales __________________________________________________________________ _ 

Order Myrtales __ · ______________________ :. ________________________ .:. ___________________ _ Order Umbellales ___________________________________________________________________ _ 

Order Primulales ______ _ :.. _________ .: ____________________ _ ..: __ · _________ .:. _______________ -

Order Ebenales -.- ____________________________________ ~ ______________________ ~ _:.. ____ _ 

Order Gentianales __________________________________ ~~--------------~----------------

Order Personales-------------------------~------------------------------------------ Forms of uncertain position __________ · ___________________________________________ - __ -_-

Index------~------· ·q----------------------------------~-----------------------------------

Page. 

139 

140 

141 

142 

142 

143 

145 

14.6 

147 

147 

148 

148 

153 

156 

156 

158 

161 

161 

162 

163 

166 

167 

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176 

177 

179 

183 

184 

188 

192 

193 

193 

195 

196 

197 

203 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Pr-ATJ~ I. A, The Tallahatta formation at Hoffman, Miss.; B, Lignite and plant-bearing nodules 

of iron carbonate in the Claiborne group (Yegua formation) at Cherry Valley, Ark__ 10 

II-XXIII. Fossil plants of the' Claiborne group ______________________________ ,.._______________ 94 

XXIV. A, Grove·of existing date palms, for co·mparison with the Jackson species; B, Succession 

of oyster beds in the lower part of the Jackson· formation on Little Crow Creek, Ark__ 96 

XXV. A, Strata of lower Jackson age along Wolf River near Memphis, Tenn.; B, Near view of the 

strata to show alternating beds of sand and lignitic clay _______________________ ~__ 97 

XXVI. A, Restoration of the Jackson coast of Alabama; B, Restoration of a skull of Ze1tglodon- 110 

XXVII. A, Acrosticlmm a1treum along Caloosahatchee River, Fla.; B, Mangroves in Bermuda, 

showing the character of the vegetation in early Jackson time in the estuary at Grovetown, 0~-------------------~----------------------------------------------- 111 

XXVIII-LXV. li'ossil plants from deposits of Claiborne and Jackson age___________________________ 202 

FIOUB.J~ 1. Sketch map showing landward margin of deposits in lower and upper Claiborne time and in 

lower Jackson time _________________________________________ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 29 

2. Diagram showing movement of strand line and relation of the geologic formations in the 

central area of the Mississippi embayment__________________________________________ 30 

3. Diagram showing movement of strand line and relation of the geologic formations in the 

. rrcxas area_---------------------------------------------------------------------. 30 

4. li'olin.ge and fruit of Copaifera langsdor.ffii Desfontaines, an existing species of Copaifera from 

Brazil much like the Yegua species ____________ :.._~--------------------------------- 63 

5. Dia.grmnmatic section oJ Jackson formation at White Bluff, Ark _____________________ ~___ 102 

6. Diagrammatic section of Jackson formation at McMurrains Crossing, Ark________________ 103 

7. Sketch map showing area of distribution of existing species of Phoenix and the Tertiary occurrences of Phoenicites _______________ "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 116 

8. Diagram showing movement of strand line and relation of the geologic formations ili the 

central area of the Mississippi embayment __ :.. _______________________ -------------.:.-- '134 

9. Diagram showing movement of strand line and relation of the geologic formations in the 

Texas area-----------------------------------------~--------------~------------- 135 

v 
rfllE Ml.I).DLJ~ AND U:PPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUl'·H. . :EAS1"'.ERN NORTH AMERICA. 

By EDWARD WILBER BERRY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

SCOPE OF REPORT. 

This report giYes the results of sevei·n1 years 

of :field and· office studies of the middle and 

upper ]~ocene fossil plants of t~e south~rn 

Coastal Plain, n1ost of them found1n the regwn 

known as the h1ississippi enibay1nent. It may 

be regarded as a continuation _of a ~·eport_ published in. 1916,1 which· described und Interpreted ·tl1e extensive floras of the lower Eocene 

·beds of that region. 

At the ti1ne this report was written, in 1917, 

my botanical experience wn.s restricted to t~e 

United States, and I based most of my.ecolog~c 

or clhnatic deductions· on the literature, which 

later studies, made in the Tropics, proved to 

be somewhat Inisleading or erroneous, and I 

am now .conYinced that most paleobotanists, 

nearly all of whom have been. d~ellers o~ the 

Ten1pentte Zone, hnve been s1m1lar~y misled. 

Since 1.917 I have h11d an opportunity to see 

the livin~ flora in the Antilles, in Centn1l 

America, 0and p~1rticularly in tropical Bolivia 

and Peru. My study of the upland flora of 

... those par-ts of Boliv1a and. Peru that border 

the basin of the A1nazon disclosed some reInarkable facts. Plants that t1re elsewhere 

coastal tropical types, such as Dodonaea, 

Swietenia, and Sapindus ?fLponaria, grow o~ 

the lower slopes of the eastern Andes, as if 

they had been stranded there by the withdrawal of a Pliocene. sea. I noted· also-and 

this fact is 1nore significant to the student of 

paleoecology-that many of. the genera and 

even species of the lowland T1~opics extend to 

elevations that carry them in effect well out 

of the Tropical Zone, and I can1e back from 

1 Berry, E. w ., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

u. s. Geol. Survey Pror. Paper 911 481 pp., 117 pls., 1916. 

thn,t reO'ion with the conclusion tht1t none of b . 

·the fossil floras of the 1'emperate Zone that 

paleobotanists have termed tropical ar~ in the 

strict sense of the word ''tropical." Most of 

these fossil flm~as ~ontain representatives of 

numerous ge11-era that are now confined to the 

Eq-uatorial Zone, but many of these genera are 

large and contain species that are adapted to a 

variety of habitats. 

These facts apply with particular force to 

the attempted intei·pretations of the environment of the Claiborne, Jackson, and Vicksburg 

floras, and although that environment may 

have been almost tropical, I would modify the 

publi~hed statements concerning it. .Thus, 

the Jackson and Vicksburg may be cons1clered 

the most nearly tropical known floras of southeastern North America, but I would no longer 

call them "strictly tropical." Similarly, after . 

seeing tropical marine faunas, both Miocene 

and Recent, I am less inclined to classify as 

strictly tropical some of our fossil marine 

faunas, such as that of the Vicksburg, although 

they too may be almost .tropical. 

I hope to continue these studies until all the 

known :Mesozoic and Cenozoic plants of. the 

~egion have been described and their horizon~ 

determined. The work clone has included descriptions and discussion~ of the Upper Cretaceous floras of the eastern Gulf area 2 and 

·preliminary accounts of th~ Oligo,c~ne,S ~ower 

Miocene, 4 and Pliocene 5 fioras. 1hts sel'les of 

2 Berry,. E. W., Upller Cretaceous and Eocene lloras of the eastern 

Gulf region in 'l'ennessee, Mississippi, Alabama,· and ·aeorgia: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 112, 177 pp., :l3 pis., 1919. 

a Berry, E. W., 'l'hc flora qf the Catahoula sandstone: U. S. Geol. 

Survey rrof. Paper 98, pp. 227-251, pis. 55-60, 1917. . . 

• Berry, E. W., 'J'hc physical conditions and age mdtCatod by the 

flora of the Alum Bluff formation: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 98, 

pp. 61-73, pis. 7-10,·1917. 

5 Berry, E. W., The flora of the Citronelle formation: U:. S. Geol. 

Survey -Prof. Paper 98, pp. 103-208, pls. 44-47, 1917. 

1 
2 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

reports, when it is completed, will furnish a 

comprehensive paleobotanic history of a very 

large area that is to-day and. was throughout 

Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary time a single 

physiographic province-the CoastalPlain. 

As I ·have .already repeatedly stated, this 

region is physiographically ·unique; it rivals 

the Paris Basin in the unity of its geologic 

history, in its stability in altitude, and in the 

abundance of its alternating marine faunas and 

-terrestrial floras. Because of its large size, its 

proximity to the American· Tropics, and its 

long, uniform, and relatively unbroken geologic 

record its fossil plants also ·furnish unique and 

invaluable suggestions as to the evolution and 

geographic distribution of floras. During the 

whole of the Tertiary period it was the lowlying southern part of a .continental land mass 

that was bordered on the south and southeast 

by an ocean, so that its meteorologic conditions were comparatively uniform. Throughout its long h~story tectonic activity was so 

slight as to be negligible; ·no mountain ranges 

were formed, and the strata deposited· were 

almost undisturbed. Whether the alternating 

inundations and emergences of these low-lying 

coastal lands were due to changes in the level 

of . the land or to changes in the level of the 

sea the chaJ!ges were relatively slight as. compared with those that occurred, for example, 

in the western United States or in southern 

Europe, two. regions whose paleobotanic history has been fairly well worked out. 'The 

record of the evolution of the successive floras 

in southeastern North America was therefore 

not complicated by a diversity of conditions, 

as it was in the uplifting Rocky Mountains or. 

in the mountainous areas of central and southern Europe, and it is consequently more easily 

deciphered and more r.eadily applied to the 

interpretation of geologic history. 

I am, as usual, indebted to many friends, 

both at home and abroad, for assistance 

rendered during the progress of the work, and 

especially to my associates in. the study of the 

Coastal Plain, particularly Mr. T. Wayland 

Vaughan, who has had general charge of the 

Geological Survey's Coastal Plain investigations and· who, as one of the pioneers in this 

country in· the interpretation· of faunas and 

sediments, has been a constant ·Source of in-. 

spiration. I am indebted to Messrs. 0. M. 

.Ball, A. C. Trowbridge, E. T. Dumble, and C. 

0 . 

L~ B~ker for . collections from Texas and to 

Messrs. E. N. Lowe, G. C. Matson, L. W. 

Stephenson, C. W. Cooke, and Alexander 

Deussen for· collections and information from 

different parts of the :Mississippi embayment. 

AREA CONSIDERED. 

The term "sou thea~ tern North America." as 

here used includes the mainland south of 

latitude 41° N. ancl.east of longitude 100° W. 

These limits are fixed by the ·events of geologic 

history, for no Tertiary plants have been 

found in this area except those that were 

preserved in coastal deposits that lie within 

the present Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. 

During the long ages of the Tertiary period 

the region here considered was coextensive 

with. the floral or faunal province of which it 

was a part. From the end of the Cretaceous 

to the beg~nning of the Miocene it formed a 

part of the' floral province that included also 

the Antillean region, to the southeast, and the 

Central American country, to the southwest, 

both avenues of rriore or less close. connection 

with northern South America. So little is 

known of either the geologic history or the 

Tertiary flora of the Antillean ·or Central 

American regions that they can not yet be 

brought within the soope of this paper, although both present a variety of problems of 

almost infinite interest, and doubtless the 

history of the ev.olution of ·the Tertiary floras 

of southeastern North America can not be 

fully deciphered, even in its broader features, 

until these strategic areas have been studied. 

Nor can the northern limit of the· Tertiary 

floral province be fixed at latitude-4·1 °. Ob- ... 

viously the con.stal flora that is so largely 

represented in the collections here studied 

did not continue inland as a unit ovei· areas 

remote from the estuaries and coastal lagoons 

in which the relics of these floras were preserved. At the sa1ne time there is much 

evidence that the land was generally low, at 

least in Eocene and Oligocene time~ and the 

evidence afforded b.v traces of the inland flora 

that were fortunately preserved in fluviatile or 

.lacustrine lignite at Brandon, Vt., justifies the 

conclusion that the pre-Miocene Tertiary .flora 

had the same genernl facies throughout a large· 

region which extended northward beyond the 

limits here indicated. The flora from the 
INTRODUCTION. 3 

lignite nt Brandon has usun.lly been considered terrestrial floras. It was succeeded by a 

:Miocene, but r have presented evidence to transgression of the sea, marked in the eastern 

show that it is Eocene.6 · Gulf area by the sands and associated sediments 

lV[ost of the fossil$ here considered were col- ·of the Tallahatta formati~n, by the St. Maurice 

lectcd in the region known as the Mississippi formation of Arkansas and Louisiana, and by 

mnbn.y.ment, and nearly all from ·a relatively the Mount Seln1an for1nation of Texas. 

small area in the extensive region that now The Tallahatta deposits and their equivaforrns the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Ients, which were laid clown later and later 

Texas, Alabn.ma, Tennessee, and :Mississippi. along the shore as the sea advanced northward, 

The limits of thi_s region also are fixed by its are succeeded by: widespread marine deposits 

geologic hi~tory, for the shallow shifting inar- that now extend in scattered outcrops from 

ginnl waters here furnished conditions suitable· North Carolina to :Mexico, representing the 

to receive and preserve the vegetable deh.t·is maximum expansion of the Claiborne sea, the 

. of the near-by mainland. sediments of which in the eastern Gulf area 

The region thus defined en1braces roughly Hilgard called the '' c_alcareous Claiborne." 

1,500,000 square 1niles, and in times ·past it The deposits laid clown in this great Claiborne 0 

doubtless furnished a congenial habitat for sea are represented by the Lisbon formation 

s~veral . thousand specific types, of which WP and its equivalents. The waters were shallow, 

can hope to know on~y a small number. and the horizon -is Inarkecl by great reefs of 

OUTLINE OF GEOLOGIC HISTORY •. 

The Claiborne and Jackson epochs, together 

with the interval between then1 and the interval 

between the Wilcox and Claiborne epochs, 

correspond to the old Pnrisian stage of 

D'OrQigny and to the Mesonummulitic stage of 

IIaug. The succ~ssion of events ·in the Mississippi embayment and that in the Paris Basin 

seem to show a striking agreement,- which is 

considered elsew·here in this paper (p. 30). 

The general course of events in the Mississippi 

en1bayment may be briefly sketched as follows: 

After the deposition of the Wilcox sedimentS, 

which were laid clown·later and later along the 

strand as it retreated southward, there was a 

considerable period of emergence, during which 

continental deposits accumulated on the lowland surface. These were not very thick 

nor were they continuous over large areas, 

and the beds of lignite that represented palustrine accumulation, of sand that represented 

river deposition, or of clay that represented lake 

or flood-plain deposition, and that escaped 

erosion, are so small and scattered and so 

like the deposits both subjacent and superjtteent to them that it has not yet been.possible 

to differentiate them. 

This post-Wilcox period of slight emergence, 

which corresponds to the lower Lutetian stage 

of Euiope, was long enough to permit remarkable changes in both th_e marine faunas and the 

GBcrry, E. W., The age or the Brandon lignite and flora: Am. Jour. 

Sci., 4th ser., vol. 47, pp. 211-216, 1919. 

oyster $hells. The strand then, in Into Claiborne time, began again to retreat southward. 

This stage wns characterized by widespread 

estuary, littoral, and continental depositslignites, clays, and sands, which contain fossil 

plants. This period of history is represented 

by the Yegua formation and its equivalents. 

In southern . Alabnma and in eastern North 

Ca1~olina a slight dmvnwarcl n1ovement of the 

land 01; rise of the sea wns accompanied by the 

deposition of the ·marine Gosport snnd in 

Alabama. Except for these more or less local 

submergences the more general n1ovemen t of 

emergence carried the border lands of the 

Mississippi embayment above the sea, and it 

is this intel'val of en1ergence that marks the 

hiatus between Claiborne and Jackson tin1e. 

This emergence was less extensive thnn that 

at the ·beginning of the Claiborne and, espe~ 

cially in the western -Gulf area, is marked by 

recognizable continental deposits. 

After this Claiborne-Jackson interval the 

sea in which the lower Jackson deposits were 

laid down advanced rapidly northward, its 

advance constituting the most pronounced 

transgression, by which typically marine sediments ·and fnui\aS were carried farther north 

than at any other time since the transgression 

of the }.1idway or basal Eocene.--:a sub~ergence 

that carried Jackson sediments northward 

into northeastern Arkansas· and western Tennessee. This submergence was in turn fo}.:. 

lowed by a withdrawal of marine waters from 

parts of the _area, especially in the western . 
4 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Gulf region, from Arkansas to Mexico, recorded 

at places, as, ·for example, in Mississippi, 

where a thick deposit of littoral sand (the 

Forest Hill sand) represents, in my opinion, 

a transition from Jack:son to Vicksburg; or in 

Texas, where the floras found in parts of the 

lithologic itnits known as Fayette and Catahoula ·sandstones are in places of Jackson age 

and in other places of Vicksburg age. In 

southern Alabama and eastward marine conditions appear to have been uninterrupted from 

Jackson to Vicksburg time. · 

My correlation of the middle and· upper 

Eocene formations of southeastern North 

America with those of Europe is presented in 

the following table. It should be ·borne in 

mind that this correlation is entirely tentative_ 

as regards·· the exact chronologie· position of 

various marine units lacking fossil ·plants, 

which are intro.duced n1erely for the sake of 

giving the gen.eral position of the plant-bearing 

formations in the ·stratigraphic succession of 

the different States in the area under discitsswn. 
Approximate relations of the formations of the middle and upper Eocene in southeastern North A.merica and Europe as indicated by the fossil plants. 

Age. Georgia. Alabama. ~Iississippi. I Arkansas. Louisiana. Eastern Texas. I Europe. 

: I I 

I I Chattahoochee formation. I Catahoula sandstone. Catahoula sandstone. 1 Catahoulasandstone. Catahoulasandstone. Catahoula sandstone. 

Oligocene. Vicksburg group: 

I ViObbmg limO'OO\ 

Sannoisian Bryam calcareous marl. '(Lattorfian). Vicksburg group. Vteksburg group. Glendon formation. Vicksburg formation. 

~ 

Mariano a limestone. 

~ I(} 

Fayette sandstone. ~ 

~ Ludian. e..O ~ Yazoo clay member. ::l 

Fayette sandstone. ~ 

Upper Eocene. Ocala limestone Barnwell formation Jackson for- Ocala -~ p:; 

to west. to east. mation. lime- .2 0 stone. · ~ Moodys calcareous· Jackson formation. Jackson formation. Jackson formation. Bartonian. :3 marl member. ~ ;:::; 

2 '-' 

~ § 

I y,g,, ronnotlon. 

~ - ------- 0 Gosport sand. Yegua formation. Yegua formation. Yegua formation. rn 

"-' 

~ 

~ I "\V:autubbee marl." 

II 

>. 

==l· Cookl\Iountain formation. Auversian. e.o <=• :0 

:Middle Claiborne group McBean formation ~isbon formation. · E I ,;Decatur sand." 0 

Eocene. undifferenti- to east. O· 

ated to west. A ~I 

;:I' 

0 I . 0 ~ "Enterpn~e green ;:I :3 marl.'' 

St. Maurice formation. St. Maurice formation. Mount Selman formation. Lulethn. I @ Tallahatta formation. Tallahatta formation. &: 

Lower Eocene. Wilcox formation. Wilcox group (divided Wilcox group (divided Wilcox formation. Wilcox formation. Wilcox group (didded Ypresian and 

into several forma- into several formations). into several formations). older. 

tions). I 

'The Forest Hill sand is regarded by C. W. Cooke as of Vicksburg age, approximately equivalent to the Red Bluff clay, because it lies above calcareous clay of Jackson age and below the Mint Spring calcareous mart member of the Mariae1n3 limestone, of Vicksburg age. The base of the Mint Spring at Vicksburg contains carbonaceous clay lenses. The marine fauna of the Red Bluff, althoue:h nr<;dominantly Vicksburg in 

:tacics, contains som.:! elements in common with~ the Jackson. 

H 

~ 

H 

~ 

0 

0 

d 

0 

~ 0 

~ 

01 
/ 

THE MIDDLE "EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 

STUDIES OF THE CLAIBORNE DEPOSITS. 

A history of the study of the deposits that· 

con1prise the Claiborne group does not properly con1e. within the scope of this ~eport on 

the floras but belongs with stratigraphic and 

paleozoologic studies which are but briefl~y 

touched on here aRd which will forn1 the basis 

of detailed reports by -some of n1y associates 

in the stucly" of _the Coastal Plain. . . 

With the exception of the frequent mentiOn 

in geologic works of "petrified wood'.' or 

"leaf in1pressions," ;most of the latter Indeterminable· fragn1ents, no definite contributions have been 1nade to our knowledge of the 

paleobotany of the Claiborne or Jackson. A 

few specimens of petrified wood obtained frmn 

beds of this age in eastern Texas were described by Penhallow, 7 and 1 have published 8 

several prelin1inary accounts of interesting 

forms. The supposed Claiborne flora from 

eastern Georgia that· was described by 1ne 9 in 

1914 was obtained, as has since been shown, 

from deposits that are now correlated with 

the lower Jackson. 10 Its reference to· the 

Claiborne was based op the marine invertebrates with which ·it was associated, as determined. by the paleontologists of the United 

States Geological Survey. But additional collections and further study of the n1arine invertebrates by Survey paleontologists have led. 

to the assiO'rn11ent of the beds to the Jackson, b .. . -

instead of the Claiborne. · 

The name Eocene was first used in An1erican 

geologic literature to designate Ainerican deposits in Lea's ''Contributions to geology," 

published in 1833, where it was applied to the 

7 Penhallow, D. P., Notes on fossil woods from Texas: Roy. Soc. 

Canada Trans., 3d ser., vol. 1, sec. ( pp. 93-113, figs. 1-8, 1907. 

s Berry, K w., A species of Copxijera from the Texas Eocene: Torreya, 

vol. 15, pp. 41-44, figs. 1..:5; 1915; An Eocene ancestor of th~ Zapodilla: 

Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 39, pp. 208-213, pl. 1, 191.5; Remarkable 

fossil fungi: M"ycologia, vol. 8, pp. 73-78, pis. 180-182, 1916; Fruits of a 

d tte palm in the '.rertia.ry deposits of eastern Texas: Am. Jour. Sci., 

4th ser., vol. 37, pp. 403-406, ·figs. 1, 2, 1914; A fossil nutmeg from the 

Tertiary of Texas: Idem, vol. 42, pp. 241-245, figs._ 1-6, 1916; A middle 

Eocene member.ofthe "Se:t drift'': Idem, vol. 43,.pp. 298-300, figs. 1, 2J 

1917; A middle Eocene G~niop!eris: Torrey Bot. Club Bull.,_ vol. ·H, 

pp. 331-335, pl. 22, 1917. . --- . . . -. .. .. .. .. - ... : 

9 Berry; E. w., The Upper Cretaceous and Eocene floras of South 

Carolina and Georgia: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 84, 1914. 

10 Cooke, C. W., and Shearer, H. K.,.Deposits of Chihome and Jackson 

age in Georgia: U. s. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper "120, pp. 41-81, 1919. 

6 

·classic fossiliferous outcrop at Claiborne Landing on Alabama River, in Monroe County in 

southern Alaban1a, the type locality of the 

Claiborne, which, however, is found also at 

Lisbon, Gosport, and Rattlesnake Bluffs. 'I'~e 

next year Conrad 11 proposed the name Claiborne as a forn1ational uriit, and he :referred 

to the subject again in the fbllowing year. 12 

CHARACTER, SUCCESSION, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE DEPOSITS. · 

In the type region of the Claiborne along 

Alabama River the variegated lan1inated sanely 

clays and ;;ross-bedded fossiliferous sar:ds of 

the I-Iatchetigbee, the uppern1ost formatiOn of 

the Wilcox group in this r.egion, .are overlain 

by a considerable thickness of almninous sand· 

stones and siliceous claystones-the "siliceov 

Claiborne" of Hilgarcl, or Tallahatta fonn& 

tion as it is now known, constituting the ' . lowennost formation of the Claiborne group· 

as developed in this region. Except for 

diatoms and radiolarians these beds contain 

fe~ fossils, but they become n1ore calcareous 

and more fossiliferous toward the -east, across 

southern Alabama. Near the Mississippi line 

in that State they contain ·in 1nany places 

extensive beds of fossiliferous glauconitic sands. 

The thickness of these early Claiborne deposits 

ran(J'es from about 200 feet in southeastern 

Alabama to about 400 feet at the.place where 

they cross into Mississippi. · 

Overlying the Tallahatta formation _is about 

115 feet of fossiliferous calcareous argillaceous 

sands and sandy clays, in son1e places glauconitic. These beds constitute the" calcareous 

Claiborne" of Ililgard, which is now termed 

the Lisbon fonnation, from Lisbon Landing, 

on Alabama River. A large invertebrate fauna 

has been described from these beds, which in 

their upper half are crowded with Ostrea 

sellaeformis and innumerable shells of Pecten 

deshayesii. Upon the L_isbon, though not 

u Conrad, T." A., Observations on the Tertiary and mor~ rec~t form:vtions of a portion of the Southern States: A cad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 

Jour., vol. 7, pp. 116-129, 1834. 

12 Conrad, T. A., Eocene fossils of the Chiborne, with observations on 

this formation in the United St~tcs: Fossil shells of tlle '.rertiary formations of North America, vol. 1, No: 3, pp. 29-36, 1835. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 7 

recognized outside of .. Alaban1a, lies a bed of 

highly fossiliferous glauconitic sn,nd. This bed 

is only about 30 feet thick, but it has yielded 

n1any of the shells that have n1ade the nan1e 

Claiborne fan1ous. It is now called the Gosport sand, fron1 Gosport Landing, a few 1niles 

below Claiborne Landing, on Alabn,ma River. 

The Gosport in this region is overlain by the 

argillaceous li1nestones of Jackson age. Thus 

the Claiborne in the type region of Aln.ban1a is 

between 350 and 550 feet in thickness and is 

thei·efore considerably thinner than it is in the 

region toward the· center of the mnbayment, 

a feature noted elsewhere in this report. 

(See p. 29.) 

Because of the ln,ck of detailed areal work 

the character and reln,tions of the Claiborne 

are obscure in Georgia., although its developnlent in the Chattahoochee drainage basin is 

similu,r to that in southeastern Alaban1a. In 

centr11l Georgia all traces of the Claiborne disappem· by reason of the extensive_ overl11p of 

the beds of lower Jackson age, which here 

transgress the strn,ta of the 1niddle and lower 

Eocene, as well as the Upper Cretaceous and 

strata that have been considered to be Lower 

Cret11ceous. 

The Claiborne reappears in South Carolina, 

but its developn1ent in that State is obscure 

bec11use of lack of study. It is not known to 

be represented inN orth Carolina. '"~he abundance of OstTea sellaefonnis and smne other Claibonle Mollusca in the Eocene faunas of the 

Chesn.pen1m Bay region has led smne· students 

to consider the upper part of the Chesapeake 

Bny section as Claiborne in age, and the smne 

n.ge is clni1necl by smne students for the glauconitic sand which is exposed on Shark River, 

N. J·., n1though by others it is correlnted with 

the l\1idway. 

As the Claiborne passes northwestwarclncross 

Mississippi its ch11racter gradually changes. 

Lowe 13 h11s recognized several lithologic divisions of the Claiborne in l\1ississippi. The Tn1-

lahl1tta for1nation, at the base, consists .. of 

locally fossiliferous glauconitic and argilln,ceous 

snnds overlain by yellowish and grayish quartzitic nonfossiliferous sands and sandstones, in 

turn overlain by white quartzites and claystones or diatomaceous earth, the whole fornlation having an estimated thickness of prqbably 

u Lowe, E. N., Mississippi, its geology, geography, soils, and :Jl}.ineral 

esourcos: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 14, pp. 73-79, 1919. :· . 

n1ore than 350 feet. Overlying the Tri1lahatta 

are several hundred feet of beds assigned by 

Lowe to the Lisbon formation. These beds he 

has subdivided into the following n1en1bers, in 

ascending order: (1) "Enterprise green.marl," 

thickness not stated; (2) "Decatur sand," 18 

to 25 feet; (3) "Wautubbee marls," about 100 

feet; and (4) "Cockfield member," 30· to 200 

feet of lignitic clays, sands, and lignites. The 

lignitic clays at the top of the Claiborne are 

rather thin in surface exposures, but son1e well 

borings have revealed a great thickness of these 

1naterinls. Thus, in the penitentiary well at 

Jackson, l\1iss., 418 feet of lignitic clay was 

penetrated before reaching fossiliferous ·n1arine 

Claiborne beds. .This lignitic clay is considered 

by Vaughan 14 and others to represent the 

Y egua ("Cockfield") forn1ation and to be 

younger than the Lisbon forn1ation of Alaba1na, 

Yegua being an older name for the san1e beds 

fm~Inerly designated "Cockfield" fonnation in 

Louisiana and southern Alaban1a. 15 

That both the Claiborne and Jackson reach 

unprecedented thicknesses in western l\1ississippi' and eastern Louisiana is well established, though the details are not entirely 

clear. Thus, in· a well near Point Pleasant, 

La., a typical Lisbon fauna occurs 2,500 feet 

below the base of the recognizable Vicksburg, 

so that the combined thickness of the Claiborne and Jackson is at least 2,500 feet at this 

point. Other well logs in the· Vicksburg area 

of Mississippi also show enoi·mous thicknesses 

of both Claiborne and Jackson, too great to be 

explained,_ by differences in lithology and in 

rate of sedimentation. These thicknesses 

indicate that sedimentation extended over a 

longer period in the center of the embayment, 

well away from its shore, or, in terms of 

geologic history, that. the Claiborne, like the 

underlying Wilcox, represents an advance and 

sulfsequent ~·etrmit of the sea. The marine 

waters of Claiborne time fell far short of reaching the northern limits of· the· subsequent 

transgression of the lower· Jackson, although 

the palust'rine ·beds and sediments of the 

marginal flats of the Yegua or upper Claiborne 

can be traced well toward the head of the embayment in northeastern Arkansas: No trace 

u Vaughan, T. W., in Willis, Bailey, Index to the stratigraphy of 

North America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 71, p. 738, 1912. 

· u In a report now in course of publication,· or which Lowe is a joint 

author, these lignitic beds are treated as a distinct formation (the Yegua) 

overlying the Lisbon formation. · 
8 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS O:F SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

of the Claiborne ·has been detected in western there contain lenses of calcareous, glauconitic, 

Tennessee. In northeastern Arkansas the and fossiliferous marl and ·fossil-bearing cal- . 

. Y egua h~s been traced by Stephenson 16 cai·eous concretions, as well as beds and connorthward· along Crowleys Ridge as far as cretions of limonite. Overlying the Cook 

Greenfield, Poinsett County, Ark., or about 30 Mountain is the Yegua formation, so named 

miles beyond the most northern outcrop of the by Dumble 17 from the creek .of that name in 

lower Jackson cover. There is therefore a pos- Burleson County. It consists of 375 to 750 

sibility that a _part of the Lagrange formation feet of green calcareous selenitic clays and 

of. wes~ern Tennessee, which lies between the locally .contains lenses of sand and much 

paleo botanically recognizable upper Wilcox . earthy lignite or lignitic clay. 

near Trenton and near Somerville and the From Colorado River to the Rio Grande, in 

paleo botanically recognizable lower . Jackson Texas, the Claiborne shows a somewhat diff~r-· 

at Randolph Bluff, mn.y ·represent the upper ent character of materials,· and its identificaClaiborne, although I am inclined to believe tion is complicated by the tendency of the beds 

that the lower Jackson completely overlaps to become more sn.ndy, · unfossiliferous, ·and 

the upper Claiborne in western Tennessee and indistinguishable. The Carrizo sandstone, 

rests on the upper vVilcox. Neither Claiborne which is typically developed towa.rd the Rio 

nor Jackson has been definitely recognized in Grande, consists of gray .fine-grained micaKentucky, although certain deposits in the ceous sandstone, underlain by coarse crosssouthwestern part of the Sta-te. are tentatively. bedded brown sandstone,. in places quartzitic. 

considered .to be. of uppet Jackson. age.· In These sandstones were named by Owen 18 in 

southern Arkansas only the lignitic sands and · 1889 fronl_· the exposures west of Carrizo 

clays of the Y egua formation have thus_ far ·Springs, in Dimmit County, and were long conbeen recognized. sidered to be of Wi-lcox age. Dumble 19 in 

In cen~ral L~uisiana the _Claiborne· group 1911 transferred them to the base of the Claiappears to be capable .of a twofold division borne and considered them -the equivalent of 

into a lower formation, the St. Ma~rice, the Tallahatta formation of Alabama, and this 

and an upper, the Y egua formation. The. St. correlation was accepted in subsequent reports. 

Mau~·ice comprises calcareous, glauconitic, an~ The beds that are considered to belong to the 

argillaceous beds containing marine fossils. Carrizo are 200 'feet thick along Colorado River, 

Its thickness is about 300 fe.et at Monroe but 450 feet t4ick·. along the Nueces, and considerincreases to over 500 feet at ·winnfield. On ably thinner along the Rio Grande. 

Sabine RiV;er its thickness ·is about 550 feet, During tlie field season of 1921, five years 

and well records in. eastern Te~as indicate a after the foregoing was written, the writer was 

thickness of 700 feet. enabled to study the Carrizo sandstone. · It 

The Claiborne outcrops over a wide ~rea in was found to decrease in thickness to a few feet 

eastern Texas and is there capable of division near the Rio Grande, where it was overlain by 

lithogically, paleontologically, and genetically typl.cal Wilcox beds. Fossil plants were col-

- into three formations. The basalformation, the lected from the. type locality west of Carrizo 

Mount Selman, so named by Kennedy in 1892 . Springs and from several other localitie's, 

from. the place of that name in Che:r:okee as well as from _the immediately overlying 

County, consists of 200 to 400 ·feet of red fer-:- and underlying Wilcox beds. These collec- · 

ruginous indurated sand, probably an altered tions and the field study show conclusively . 

greensand, that contains lenses of clay and that the Carrizo is of Wilcox age and that 

lignite ~nd secondary beds and concretion~ it· is in fact a great lens of sand. The conof limonite. tact between the ·carrizo and the Molint SolThe Mount Selman is overlain by the Cook man, -where the sand reaches to the ·top of the 

Mountain formation, so named by. Kennedy Wilcox; shows no physical evidence of ·a time 

in 1892 from Cook Mountain, in Houston interval, but the flora found near the base of 

County. It consists of more than 400 feet of · · beds of yellOW sahd and clay .which here and 17 Dumble, E. '1'., Report on the brown coal and lignite of 'l'exaR_. pp. 148-151, 'l'exas Geol. Survey, 1892. 

16 Stephenson, L. w., and Crider; A. F., Geology and ground waters.of 1s Owen, J., Texas Geol. Survey First Rept. Progress, p. 70, 1889. 

northeastern Arkansas:. U. S. Gaol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 399, 19 Dumble, E. T., The Carrizo sands: Te?'as Acad. Sci. Trans., vol.ll' 1916. pp. 52-53, 1911. 
MlDDLE BOCJ<jNE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 9 

the M~ount Sehnan .is clearly Claiborne in its 

facies and has nothing in con1n1on with tha~ 

found i1,1. the underlying Carrizo or Wilcox of 

that region. The Carrizo plants are described 

in a recent paper dmToted to additions to the 

Wilcox flora. 20 

The :Mount Sehnan for1nation overlies the 

Carrizo sandstone .in southwest I'exas. It 

attains a thickness of 600 feet on the Brazos 

and 700 feet 011..the Nueces, and its thickness on 

the :Rio Grande, though undetermined, is estirnated by Dmnhle as from 800 to 1,000 feet. 

The Cook :Mountnin overlies conforn1nbly the 

Mount Selmnn. It ttttains a thickness of about 

800 feet on Brnzos and N.ueces rivers. ·The 

Yegua :l'orn1ation, which is said by Dumble to 

lie unconformably on the Cook Mountain, becomes nwre snndy ltnd · thicker toward the, 

southwest. It is ithout 600 :feet thick on Brazos· 

nately our knmvledge of these faunas is derived 

fron1 occasional papers of very unequal value, 

and no 1nonographic studies have been published, so that the bearing of the n1arine life 

upon the physical conditions of Claiborne tune 

can not be precisely determined. 

The fossil shells of the Claiborne are classic, 

and between 200 ·and 300 species of Mollusca 

have been described. It can scarcely be 

doubted that a· monographic study would 

double the nmnber of known fonns. 

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE FLORA AND 

LOCAL SECTIONS. 

THE· PLANT-BEARING OUTCROPS. 

The individual exposures of the Claiborne 

are nowhere of very great thickness, but river 

cuttings ftu'Jlish nmnerous nearly continuous 

sections, and well records in many places supRi \~m·; 720 feet thick on N ueces Hiver, accord- ple1nent the. surface exposures. It is scarcely 

ing to Deussen; n,nd :frmn 1,000 to 1,400 feet within the province of this repm·'t to furnish a 

thick on the H.io Grande, accordi1~g to Dtnnble. full discussion of the stratigraphy,_ for the fossil 

ln ge.nern1, the Yegua is sandy at the top, lig- plants· are found in relatively few outcrops.· 

nitic :in the 1niddle, and clayey at the base. Deter1ninable fossil plants have been found 

With the clayey strata gypsum and saliferous in the Claiborne at 23 localities. These localibeds aJid limonitic concretions are associated. ties are scattered frmn Chattahoochee River.in 

South of Guadalupe River the lignitic portion Georgia to the Rio Grande in Texas and are of . 

is near the top and is underlain by green gyp- very unequal value, 1Jhe nu1nber of species fro1n 

siferous clttys, dtuk sa11.ds that are in places each outcrop ranging fr01n one to twenty. 

glnuconitic, and oyster beds. . None of the Chtiborne localities furnish the proThe :flora found in the Y egua fonnation of fusion of plant re1nains that is found ·at many 

Texas is not extensive enough ~o ·pern1it its localities in the Wilcox, nor is the preservation 

exact correlation, but it indicates thnt the nearly as good. No plants are known from 

lithologic unit called Yegua is ~n part Claiborne the lower Claiborne in the eastern Gulf area 

and in part lower Jackson in age, and I have (Tallahatta, St. Maurice), although they should 

accordingly so considered it. be found in deposits. like those of the Tallabatta. Several s1nall collections have· been THE CLAIBORNE FAUNAS. made fron1 the Mount Seln1an forn1ation in 

Except for fish teeth and shnilar indefinite Texas. 

objects and a fen1ur of a. smalllriaJ.nmal fron1 Two localities in Mississippi have furnished 

a coal 1nine at Dolores, Tex., no vertebrate fossil plants fr01n the Lisbon-one near Lexrenlains have to lllif knowledge been collected ington, in I-Iolmes County, discovered by A. F. 

frmn any of the Claiborne for1nations, although Crider, and the other near Newton, in Newton 

both the 1narine beds of Alaban1a and the County, discovered by T. I-I. Aldrich. I have 

palustrine beds of the Yegua n1ay be expected not been able t-o visjt either of these outcrops 

to furnish son1e evidence o{ this sort when but an1 indebted to Mr. Crider for collections 

fully explored .. The invertebrate faunas are fron1 the locality near Lexington and to 

ftbundaut and in 1nany places are represented Messrs. C. W. Cooke and E. N. Lowe for collecby beautifully preserved n1aterial. Unfortu- tions and notes on the locality near Newton. 

to :Berry, E· .. "'·• ~\dditionii to the flora of the Wilcox ·froup: U. S. 

Oeol. Survey· Prof. Paper 131, pp. 1-21, 1923. 

The following forms, preserved in a somewhat contorted condition in a gray fluffy sand, 
10 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA • 

have. been identified f:r_:om the locality near 

Lexington, Holmes County, Miss.: 

Glyptostrobus europaetis. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti.' 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Fagara claibornensis. 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Sapindus affinis. 

Sapindus mississippiensis. 

Sapindus dentoni; 

Zizyphus claibornensis, 

Persea lexingtonensis .. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

·Terminalia claibornensis. 

Oreopanax mississippiensis. 

Eoachras eocenica. 

Diospy~os brachysepala. 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

Although for the m~st part the collections 

·consist of fragments, 18 species have been 

recognized, a number . only surpassed by the· 

collections from the locality near Newton and 

the locality at Columbia, La., in the Yegua 

formation. 

·. The locality near Newton is in a cut on the 

Alabama & Vicksburg Railway,. 3-l- mile~ east 

of Newton and 200 yards west of milepost 27 

west of Meridian, lvhss. T.he section, furnished 

by Mr. Cooke, shows the following·sequence: 

Section of Claiborne deposits near Newton, Miss. 

Feet. 

Yellowish-gray very fossiliferous marl, grading 

downward into dark sandy clay ______ -.-_-.-___ 25 

Fine yellow sand that contains large oysters______ 6 

Fine yellow sand crowded with small shells ·of 

Ostrea sellaeforinis; few other shells are present, 

and the bed is evidently a young oyster reef 

that was buried by sandy sediments__________ 1 

Fine yellow sand--------------------------'--- 3 

Sandy clay that carries many poorly preserved 

plants; fragments of palms are abundant, and 

a species of M odiola is present, according to Mr. 

Aldrich. · The clay grades downward into a 

bluish-gray sand at the base _____________ :..___ 7· 

The following species have been determined 

from the lower member of the foregoing section: 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Acrostichum georgianum. 

Goriioptt;)ris claiborniana. 

Pteris inquirenda. 

Thrinax eocenica. 

Bactrites pandanifoliolus. 

Ficus newtonensis. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Sophora claiborniana. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

.. 

Celastrophyllum gymindoides. 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Sapindus mississippiensis. 

Sapindus yeguanus. 

Sterculia labruscoides. 

Cinnamomum angustum. 

Persea gratissimifolia. 

Mespilodaphne ·columbiana. 

N ect.andra gosportensis. 

The Gosport sand, historically so important, 

has fortunately furnished fossil ·plants at the 

classic outcrop at Claiborne Landing, on 

Alabama River. The section has been described mi:tny times 21 and need not be repeated· here. 

It is a:n admirable fossiliferous exposure of 

the Lisbon and Gosport formations and the 

overlying Jackson. Near the contact of the 

Claiborne with the Jackson the glauconitic 

'sands of the Gosport contain a small lens of 

laminated gray clay that carries an abundance 

of fossil plants. These plants are for the most 

part well preserved but difficult to collect 

because of t?.e jointing of the clay. The following 15 species, over half. of which are common 

to the Yegua formation, h~ve been determined 

frorri -this locality: 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Acrostichum georgianum. 

· Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Myrica claiborniana. 

Ficus ungeri. 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Sapindus mississippiensis. 

Oreodapluie .inequilateralis. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

N ectandra gosportensis. 

N ectandra arkansana. 

Terminalia claibornensis. 

Conocarpus eocenicus. 

Laguncularia claiborniaha. 

The Yegua forn1ation has furnished fossil 

plants frmn about ·a dozen localities in_Arkansas, 

Louisiana, and Texas-most of them in Te4asbut the locali~y where the 1naterial is th~ ·best 

preserved and most abundant. is that near 

Colmnbia, La. The occurrences in Arkansas 

furnish clear indications of the stratigraphic 

relations of the Claiborne to the underlying 

Wilcox and overlying Jackson.. Two of these 

localities are on Crowleys Ridge in Cross 

County. Nothing but petrified wood has been 

21 Hale, C. S., Geology of southern Alabama: Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 

vol. 6, p. 354, 1848. Tuomey, :Michael, First biennial report on the 

geology of Alabama, p. 153, 1850. Smith, E. A., On the geology of the 

Coastal Plain of Alabama, pp. 127-132, pis. 5, 20, Alabama Geol. Survey, 

1894. 
1J. S. GEOLOG ICA l" SURVEY PROFESSIONA L PAPER 9~ I'I"ATE I 

B. LIGN ITE A 0 PLANT-BEARING ODULES OF IHON CARBONATE IN TilE CLAIBORNE 

GROUP (YECUA f<'OHMATIO ) AT CHEHRY VALLEY, ARK . 

• 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE 'FLORA. 11 

found at the locality near Wittsburg, but a 

considerable flora has been collected fro1n the 

locality nea,r Cherry Valley. The following 

section, described by L~ W. Stephenson,22 is 

exposed along a sn1all· creek on the west side 

of Crowleys Ridge about three-quarters of a 

n1ile southeast of the town of Cherry Valley. 

Section of Claibome plant-bearing O'Utcrop near Cherry 

Valley, Ark. 

found in the Wilcox or lower Jackson and as 

three of the seven occ~ in the y egua and the 

only occurrences outside of the Y egua are in 

the· Lisbo~ or Gospo~t, the Qlaiborne of Crowleys Ridge is c~nsidered .of late Claiborne age 

and referred to the Y egua formation. 

The section of Eocene beds exposed. along 

Bolivar Creek in Poinsett County is of interest 

in tP.is connection. · 'J'he section as described 

by Stephenson 23 shows the following sequence Feet. 

3 of materials: 

Pleistocene (loess) : 

Brown pebbly loam, probably creep ________ _ 

Pliocene (?) ("Lafayette" formation): 

Gravel consisting of angular to partly rounded 

pebbles of chert and scattered. well-rounded 

pebbles of quartz----------------------· 

Eocene (Claiborne formation): 

Fine, rather cqmpact argillaceous faintly 

laminated sand, red in the upper 5 or 6 feet, 

grading downward through light greenishgray sand to unweathered 'brown micaceous 

argillaceous sand with selenite crystals and 

scattered carbonaceous matter __________ _ 

Massive fine light greenish-gray sand _______ _ 

Laminated dark-gray to brown, very sandy 

micaceous clay with laminae of gray, brown, 

and yellow fine sand that reach a maximum 

thickness of 3 inches; containsscattereci carbonaceous" matter and a few fragments of 

lignite ________________________________ _ 

Massive, finely arenaceous dark, commonly 

greenish-gray clay with abundant ancj. perfect leaf impr~ssions, preserved as fiJms of 

lignite and thus impossible to procure for 

study. Scattered through the clay are 

numerous nodules of impure iron carbonate 

of all sizes, the largest 3 feet in diameter. 

These nodules contain numerous fairly well 

preserved .Plant remains .. Exposed to bed 

5 

14 

12 

8 

Section of Eocene beds on Bolivar C-r:eek, 3~ miles north 

· of Harrisburg, Ark . . 

Pleistocene (loess) : · Feet 

1. Brown loam,· probably creep:.------------ 1 

Pliocene (?) ("Lafayette" formation): 

2. Gravel, probably creep_________________ 4 

Eocene (Wilcox. formation): 

3. Brown-weathered fine argillaceous sand___ 3 

4. Light-gray fine faintly laminated argillaceous sand:. _____ :..---------------~-- 11 

5. Light-gray fine.massive sand _______ :.____ 4! 

6. Qhocolate-colored fine argillaceous sand_..:_ 8! 

7. Brown to black .lignite__________________ 5 

8. Brown argillaceous lignitic)and__________ 1 

9. Chocolate-colored tough clay, lignitic above; 

in places the upper 2 feet contains numerous poorly preserved plant remains _____ . 3 

10. Light-greenish very tough clay----------- 2 

The fossil plants· preserved in layer No. 9 

show conclusively that it is of upper Wilcox 

age. Stephenson refers the· entire Eocene de- . 

posits of this section to the Wilcox, although 

there is a possibility that layers Nos. 3 to 7 are 

of Claiborne age. The lignite bed may indicate 

a local unconformity toward the close of the 

of creek __________ ·- ___________________ _ ·5 Wilcox' or it may mark the unconf9rmity at the 

base of the Claiborne. Under either inter- The follo,~ring plants have been determined 

fr01n the basal 1nen1ber ·of. the· above section: 

Athrotaxis sp. 

Inga arkansensis. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Ternstroemites crowleyensis. 

Ternstroemi tes clai bornensis. 

Persea gratissimifolia. 

Mimusops claibornensis. 

pretation it clearly indicates the emergent 

phase of the late Wilcox and thus furnishes 

presumptive evidence of the interval between 

the Wilcox and Claiborne. . 

The following small but typical flora has been 

collected from the Y egua formation near 

Stephens, Ouachita County, Ark. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. · 

Grewiopsis claiborniana. · · 

Mespilodaphne columbiana: 

N ectandra gosportensis. 

Oreodaphne inequilater~lis. · 

Athrotaxis sp., Ternstroemites claibornensis,. ':9 

.and :A1imusops claibornensis are peculiar to this 

locality. . The Persea occurs in the Lisbon of 

Newton, Miss. Ternstroemites crowleyensis and 

the Inga occu~ in the Y egua, and the Oitrophylluuy, occurs . in the Lis~:>On, Gosport, and 

·Yegua. As none of these species hav.e been 

This flora is unquestionably of Claiborne age 

and does not show the· unmistakable transitional character exhibited by the Y egua floras n Stephenson, L. W., Geology and ground waters of northwestern 

Arkansas: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 399, p. 69, 1916. 

68844-24--2 

11 Stephenson, L. W ., op. cit., p. 6~. 
12 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA . 

. of the central part of the Texas Coastal Plain~ Aristolochia claiborniana. 

f h Coccolobis columbianus. although. more extensive collections rom t e Pisonia claiborniana. 

Yegua of Arkansas might .serve to modify this Cassia pockfieldensis . 

. statement. ' Celastrophyllum gymindoides. 

The most prolific Claiborne locality is that ·celastrophyllum columbianum. 

near Columbia, in Caldwell Parish, La. Numer- Cupanites parvulis. 

ous good sections are exposed along the valley Zizyphus claibornensis. 

Grewiopsis. claiborriiana. 

scarp of Ouachita Rivel' and in the cuts along Sterculia labruscoides. 

the St. Louis, Iron Mountain · & . Southern Ternstroemites crowleyensis. 

Railway both north and south of the town of Oreodaphne inequilateralis. 

Columbia. The section from the top of the Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

cut east of the railway depot to the terrace Mespilodaphne caudata. 

on which the town stands· gives a thickness of The most easterly recorded outcrop of 

about.lOO feet of interbedded clays and sands. Olaiborne plants is furnished by a small and 

The cut at· the dep.ot shows a lignitic layer poody preserved collection ·:made by Otto 

about· 2 feet thick about 5 feet above the base. Veatch from a hill along the public road to 

The,. vegetable matter ·is more or less com- Edison, 2! miles east of Fort ·Gaines, Clay 

minuted and pressed in plt:tty masses, consist- County, Ga. The section, as given by Veatch 

i~g· principally of small stems and but few and Stephenson, 24 shows .the following sequence. 

traces of leaves, n.one of which ar~ sufficiently of materials: 

preserved· to be determinable. .There are no . Section of Claiborne deposits 2~ miles ea~t of Fm·t 

roots in the underclay, . and the material has Gaines, Ga. Age(?): Feet. 

every appearance of having drifted. Most of Yellowish massive sand, weathering deep red_ 30 

the cuts along the railroad show traces of Claiborne: 

vegetable matter, but the materials are pre- Greenish lamina ted clay-------------- ----- 2 

· dominantly sandy and the leaf remains broken Sand _____ ------------------------------- 3 

Drab ·laminated clay and aluminous soft 

and poor. sandstone that contains marine inverte:-

.About a mile north of the depot f:l. small brates and grades into a carbonaceous clay 

collection· of identifiable forms was made. at the base that contains fragments of leaves 

Here the materials are variable sands and and stems ____________________ ·.:.. ________ 15 

clays, mostly thin bedded, pyritiferous, and Sand and clay, about _______________________ 5 

gypsiferous. They are prevailingly brown to Black sulphurous sandy clay_______________ 4 

Aluminous sandstone that contains casts of 

gray in color and in places contain large sep- fossils--------------------------~------ 2! 

tarian concretionary masses several feet in Concealed to level of creek ___ ~------------ 4 

diameter. A number of marine invertebrates, including 

About one-fourth of a mile south of the Pleiona, Leda, Barbatia, Anomia, Venericardia, 

depot, in small gUllies on the west side of the Cytherea, Metis, Tell ina, Mactra, and Pteropsis, 

track, the material is a bluish· clay, in places have been identified from this outcrop by 

plastic and free from sand. Thi.s clay' is much Vaughan,25 who states that they represent the 

weathered,. but in the more massive un- lower portion of the Alabama Claiborne. The 

weathered portions it contains an abundance fossil plants include a small leaflet of. Sapindus 

~f well-preserved plants. It is much jointed, (not specifically detenninable), fragments of 

however,· and the specimen~ .are .not as good Arundo pseudogoepperti, broken rays of what 

as those ·from m~ny .locahtws m the low~r is probably Tnrinax eocenica, and the renlarkEocene. Most of. the forms recorded from· able sea-drift fruit which I have described as 

Columbia came from this outcrop. The fol- Oarapa xylocarpoides. 

lowing species have been identified: Fossil. plant~ have ·been collected from the 

Acr()stichum,hesperium. Mount Selman formation from two localities, 

Goniopt~ris claiborniana. Elkhart anq Palestine, in Anderson County, · Arundo pseudogoepperti (most .abundant). 

Canna flaccidafolia. · 

Thrinax eocenica. 

Ficus unionensis. 

u Veatch, Otto,and Stephenson, L. W., Geology of the Coastal Plain 

of Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 26, p. 264, 1911. 

2> Vaughan, T. W., Geology of the Coastal Plain of Georgia: Georgia 

Geol. Survey Bull. 26, p. 264, 1911. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE l!"'LORA. 13 

Tex. Fron1 the spillway of Elkhart Lake, 2 

miles from Elkhart, the following species are 

recorded: 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Mespilodaphne caudata. 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis. 

. The following· were collected from Palestine: 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Apocynophyllum texensis? 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Fagara claibornensis. 

Ficus newtonensis. 

Gleditsi.ophyllum eocenicum. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Sapin~us georgianus. 

Thrinax eocenica'? 

The following plants were collected fr01n 

beds near the 1niddle of the Y egua formation 

on Rock Creek, Willian1 Dunn League, Brazos 

County, Tex.: 

Cedrela "j acksoniana. 

Oitrophyllum eocenicum. 

Combretum petraflumenso. 

Fagara petraflumensis. 

Hicoria jacksoniana. 

Inga jacksoniana. 

Mespilodaphne caudata. 

Mespilodaphne texana. 

Nectandra antillanafolia. 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis. 

Palmocarpon sp. 

Sapindus yeguanus. 

Sophora balli .. 

Terminalia phaeo.carpoides. 

A glance at the table that shows the range 

of the sespecies (pp. 15-17) shows conclusively 

the tnLUsitional character of the Y egua flora in 

this part of Texas. Of the 14 species listed 

f.rmn this locality 3, Fagara petrajlumensis, 

Pabnocarpo'n sp., and Sophora balli, are not 

·:known fron1 other localities. Of the renlaining 11 species 4 are .known only from beds of 

Claiborne age. These 4 species-Oitrophyllum 

eoce'nicum, Mespilodaphne caudctta, Oreodaphne 

'ineq'u'ilateralis, and Sapindus yeguanct-are 

conunon and widely distributed, two of thmn 

being present fron1 the Mount Sehnan fonna~ 

tion upwn,rd. Mespilodctphne ca1.tdatct has a 

vn.riety in the Fayette sandstone. Others, as, 

for exa1nple, Terminal in phcteocarpoides, are 

characteristic of the lower Jackson of Georgia. 

.Hicorict jctelcsoniana is present in beds in· western Kentucky whose age has not been determined but which are upper Jackson or younger. 

These features of the Y egua flora at Rock 

Creek are shared by other Y egua floras in 

Texas and seem ~o me to indicate clearly that 

although· the lithologic unit in which they are 

found is ~he Y egua fonnation, this formation 

is partly Claiborne and partly Jackson in age 

and that in all probability it will never be· 

possible to draw a time boundary in this unit 

of prevailingly conti:o.ental deposits. . 

The following section of an outcrop along 

Colorado River containing Claiborne plants has 

been furnished by ¥r. Detissen: 

Section of the Yegua formation on Colorado River onehalf mile below mouth of Rabb Creek and about $72 

miles northwest of Lagrange, Fayette County, Tex. 

:Feet. 

Blue clay weathering brown___________________ 15 

. White sulphur-stained sand that contains sticks 

of lignite ______________________________ -- __ 

Blue clay that weathe.rs brow.n ________________ _ 

White sulphur-stained ~and ____ .... _______ ~ ______ _ 

Blue sulphurous clay ________ ,. ___ .: ___________ _ 

Bro,vn clay __________________ ~ ____________ ..: __ 

White sand ________________ ..: _________ · _______ _ 

Blue clay that weathers brown ________________ _ 

White sand _________________________________ _ 

Blue and brown laminated sandy clay __________ _ 

Blue clay that contains impressions of leaves ____ _ Lignite _____________________________________ _ 

Blue clay that contains scattered impressions of 

leaves-------------------------------------

~~7~~i!~~~~=·= Covered ____________________________________ = = == = = = =: = ==== ==== = ========~===== _ 

Lignile-------------------------------~------ Bl ue clay ___________________________________ _ 

Black lignitic clay ________________ · ______ ------

' 

1 

10 

1 

10 

3 

1 

8 

1 

10 

1 

1 

12 

1 

3 

6 

1 

6 

6 

. The follo\ving plants, clearly indicative of 

upper Claiborne age, }:lave been identified 

from this outcrop : 

Aneimia eocenica. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Thrinax eocenica. 

Ficus sp. (fruit). 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Oreodaphne obttlsifolia. 

Diospyros brac~y'se·pala. 

In the Nevils Prairie region the Y egua consists of unconsolid~ted gray clays and sands 

that contnin limonitic concretions ~nd large 

quantities of silicified wood. At th~ southeast 

margin of the prairie on. Cedar Creek 5 feet of 

imperfectly laminated chocolate-colored clay 

that carries small lenses of·. sand lS exposed. 
14 MIDDLE AND· UPPER EOCEN~ FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTB: AMERICA. 

Three-fourths of a mile down Cedar Creek f:rom 

this point the following section is exposed: 

Section of the Y egua formation in Nevils Prairie region, 

Houston County; Tex. 

Ft. in. 

Brown carbonaceous shaly clay, locally li.gnitic_ 2 

·Greenish-drab plastic clay that contains imthis area, for· it i~ common in the Green River 

. Eocene of Wyoming. It is therefore included 

is this report as a possible member of the Claiborne flora. 

An outcrop in a draw 1 i miles due north of 

the store at Palafox, Webb County, Tex., shows 

pressions of leaves________________________ 1 for several hundred feet along the creek about 

Brown lignite _____________________________ _ 

Brown ca,rbonaceous clay. 

1 10 feet of buff argillaceous rather fine grained 

sandstone, irregularly bedded and having the 

appearance of being partly wind laid, which is 

also suggested by the irregular position of the 

fossil leaves in the matrix. Plants ·are very 

. The following plants, collected by C. L. 

Baker, have been determined from this outcrop: 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Momisia americana. 

abundant, but only a few species are represented. The forms ide;nti:fied are: 

Ficus unionensis. 

Inga arkansensis. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Sophora wilcoxiana. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Sapindus yeguanus. 

Sterculia labrti$coides. " 

Persea lexingtonensis. 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis. 

Mespilodaphne columbia.mi.. 

Mespilodaphne caudata. 

N ectandra gosportensis. 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

Section of Claibor.ne deposits 10 miles southeast of 

Guajolote ranch. 26 

Shaly sandstone, fine grained, laminated, ripplemarked in upper part, with poorly preserved leaf 

Feet. 

impressions ___________________ _ ..: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 20 

Thinly la~inated sa?-dy clay shale______________ 15 

Other sections in the vicinity of Santo 

Tomas·are given by Vaughan in the report cited. 

The fossil plants collected are fe:w and poor. 

The specimen alluded to as Celastrus related 

to rectinervis (a misprint for curvinervis) is a 

new species of · Euonymus. There are ~lso 

present a species of Rhamnus, apparently new 

but too incomplete for satisfactory characterization, a fragment of a large leaf doubtfully 

determined as. Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum, 

. and a fragment of a fan palm, Sabalites sp. 

These plants all come from beds above the 

Santo Tomas coal seam. · · 

A small collection made· by Vaughan and 

Stanton in 1895 from a locality near the Rio 

Grande about 30 miles above Santo Tomas contains but three specimens, all of which appea~ 

t9 represent Juglans schimperi Lesquereu.X, a 

species which in the embayment region ~as thus 

far been· fou.nd only in the Wilcox but which 

"·-rriay:··welV.have extended into a later period iri 

.,~ v~~~ha~:···T.Jw.; u.s. Geol. Survey Bull.164, p. 40, 1900. 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Ficus newtonensis. 

Geonomites claibornensis. 

Myrcia trowbridgi. 

The last two forms are known only from this 

outcrop, and neither genus has been known 

heretofore in the Claiborne,· although Geonomites occurs in the Upper Cretaceous· Ripley 

of Tennessee, in · the lower Eocene of trans,.. 

Pecos Texas, and in the Raton formation of 

New Mexico and Colorado, and Myrcia ranges 

from the Upper Cretaceous through the earlier 

Tertiary of southeastern North America and 

is common in both the Wilcox ru1d the Jackson. 

Both the Geonomites and the Myrcia are the 

commonest forms near Palafox, and this small 

flora derives special interest because it is in the 

basal Mount Selman and not more than 200 or 

300 feet.above the fossiliferous Wilcox on Concillas Creek in Webb County. These two 

floras, so close· stratigraphically, are entirely 

different, thus emphasizing the probability of a 

time interval between the Wilcox and the Claiborne. 

Of the three species that have ·an outside distribution all. occur throughout the Claiborne, 

and both Apocynophyllum greVilleafolium and 

Coccolobis claibornensis range up into the Jackson, so that the Mount Selman flora is typically 

Claiborne in its facies and shows slight differences when compared with those of the Lisbon, 

Gosport, or Y egua formations of Claiborne age. 

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION . OF THE SPECIES. 

Tb,e species that make up the Claiborne flora 

are listed in the following table, which also indicates the localities at which each species has 

been found in the Claiborne deposits of the 

southeastern United States and gives its geologic range in this area and in other areas. 
Species. 

Distribution of the Claiborne flora . 

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Lygodmm kaulfussL _____________ X ______ X ________________________ X ______ ---1--- ___ --- ___ --- ___ --- --- --- --- X --- --- X X --- --- Cladosporites fasci~ulatus ________ ---~---- --- ~-- ------------------ X I X~---------------------------------------~--- X~------------------

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Cupressinoxylon arkansanum __________________________ X _______________ --- ____________ ---------------------------------------------

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Distribution_ of the Claiborne flora-Continued. 

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18 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH. AMERICA. 

COMPOSITION OF THE FLORA. 

Such general considerations as would naturally fonn an introduction to the discussion of 

the composition of the flora have been rather 

fully presented 27 in another publication and 

therefore .need not be repeated here. The flora 

of the Wilcox group, which was described in the 

publicat.ion referred to above, is the most extensive Tertiary flora fr01n this region, and com-

. prises about 350 species. It therefore furnishes 

the logical basis for the cmnparison· and analysis 

of the subsequent less ful)y known floras. · . 

The flora of the Claiborne group, although it 

is found at scattered localities .from Georgia to 

southwestern Texas, is unfortunately not extensive, owing to a variety of circumstances, 

among which the following rnay be enumerated. 

The deposits of Claiborne age are of strictly 

mari~e origin throughout a much g~t•eater pro-

, portion of their outcrop than are those of Wilcox age, and it is only under exceptional circumstances that representative terrestrial rernains of life, either anin1al or vegetable, are 

discovered in marine sediments.. . Such deposits 

of Claiborne time its were littoral or continental 

in type-for example, those of ·the upper Claiborne-are prevailingly much more sandy .than 

the comparable deposits of Wilcox age arid are 

thus not so favorable for the preservation of 

plu.nt remains other than . petrified wood. 

Moreover, the innumerable local clay lenses 

that carry fossil plants in the Wilcox sands and 

their considerable exploitation by clay-working 

indus tries render it feasible to explore these 

'beds m.uch more thoroughly. I have no 

doubt that when stratigraphic .or commercial 

exigencies sJ:lall warrant a detailed areal exami-

. nation of the Claiborne, especially of that great 

u.ren. extending from Mississippi River to the 

Mexican boundary, over which there is such a 

considerable developn1ent of the Yegua clays, 

the k rlOWU flora . of the Claiborne will be 

dou hlod or t,rehled. 

'{he Claiborne flora, as described in- this 

repol'fi, consist.s of but 90 species as compared 

wit.h 053 in the a.ntecedent Wi~cox arid 133 in 

the ;raek:::;o,·,., or 11pper Eocene, which imJnediate.ly sueeeeds the Cln.iborne beds. Ninety 

spoei.es is n:n extrmncly smnll quota of a flora 

which in life Jnust; have comprised several 

thousn.nd species of flowering plants, and the 

2( Berry, E. ,Y., '!'he- lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: u.S. Geol. Snrvey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 72-161, 1916. 

conclusions that have been deduced from its 

study can only be considered tentative in 

character. As all the Tertiary floras of 

southeastern North America were composed 

of lowland and coastal types and as the known 

Claiborne forms are well distributed among the 

natural orders they are valuable for discussions of correlation, paleobotany, and ecology. 

These 90 · Claiborne species comprise 1 

fungus, 6 ferns, 5 gymnosperms, 8 monocotyledons, and 70 dicotyledons. They represent 66 genera in 34 families and 24 orders. 

The largest orders are the Filicales, which is 

represented by 6 species; the Coniferales, 5; 

the Arecales, 6; the Urticales, 5; the Rosales, 

8; the Geraniales, 5; the Sapindales, 10; the 

Thymeleales, 13; and the M;yrtales, 5. . . 

The largest family is the. Lauraceae, which 

is represented by 13 species. Next in abundance of specific differentiation come the 

leguminous alliance, segregated into 3 families, 

which is represented by 8 species, and the 

Sapindaceae, which is represented by 7 species. 

Then. follows the Arecaceae, 6 species; the 

Pinaceae, 5 species; and the Polypocliaceae, 

the Moracea~, the . Rhamnaceae, and the 

Combretaceae, 4 species each. The Rutaceae 

and the Celastraceae are represented by 3 

species each. The Schizaeaceae, ·Juglandaceae, 

Polygonaceae, Meliaceae, Ternstroemiaceae, 

Cornaceae, Sapotaceae, and Apocynaceae are 

each represented by 2 species, and the Pyrenomycetes, Poaceae, Camiaceae; Myricaceae, 

Fagaceae, Ulmaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Tiliaceae, Sterculiaceae, Myrtaeeae, 

Araliaceae, and Ebenaceae are each represented by a single species. 

A majority of those Claiborne species which 

have .been found at several localities are also 

present in either the Wilcox or Jackson 

deposits or are present in formations of nearly 

the same age in other areas, thus confirming 

the supposition that they represent virile 

forms that may be considered to be the commonest Claiborne species. These fo;rms includ·e Lygodium kaulfussi, which' has been 

collected from Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, 

survives into the Jackson, and is found in the 

western United States and Europe; Oupressinoxylon dawsoni, which 'is found at three 

localities in Texas and if correctly identified 

is present in the Canadian Tertiary; Arundo 

pseudogoepperti, which occurs in Georgia, Ala-
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 19 

bama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas and 

survives into the Jackson; Thrinax .eocenica, 

which occurs in Georgia, J\1ississippi, Louisiana, 

and 'Texas and survives into the Jackson; 

Af.imosites gMrgiam.ts, which occurs in Mississippi and Texas and survives into the Jackson; 

Sapincl'l.tS mississippiensis, a co1nrrion Wilcox 

species, and Sapind'IJ,s yeguanus, which occur 

at three localities in the Claiborne; Ster-

• · culia lab1·uscoides, which occurs in Mississippi, 

Louisiana, and Texas; Oreodaphne inequilcLteralis, which occurs in Alabama, Mississippi,. Louisiana, and Texas; · Nectandra 

gosportensis, which occurs at four localities in 

Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas; jjf.espilodaphne columbiana, which occurs at six focalities in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 

Texas and survives into the Jackson. 

The commonest species, if the for~going determinations are accepted, COillprise a climbing 

fern, a gymnosperm, a grass, a strand palm, a 

sea grape, a mimosa, a small citrus tree, a 

Doclonaect, two soapberries, a Sterculia, and 

three lauraceous forn1s. Besid.es nu1nerous 

traces of leaf-spot fungi the thallophytes are 

represented by a single species of an intracellular fungus, which is referred to ·Cladosporites. This fungus is very co Inmon in the 

vessels of silicified lauraceous wood and survives into the Fores-t Ifill sand (in part of 

upper Jackson age, in my opinion). No 

traces of bryophytes have been observed. 

The pteridophytes comprise 6 species. of 

ferns-2 Schizaeaceae and 4 Polypodiaceae. 

The Schizaeaceae include an Aneimia and a 

Lygodium, both of which genera are represented 

in the Wilcox. Both are apparently coastal 

types, the Lygodi'l.f,m in particular belonging to 

a genus that has more than 30 existing species 

of cli1nbing ferns in. the warmer pn,rts of both 

hemispheres and is not uncom1noil in cofl.stal 

thickets. The Polypodiaceae, a large, relatively modern fam.ily that includes hundreds 

of speeies in the American Tropics, is represented in the Claiborne by two species of 

Acrostichum, a Gonio1Jteris, and a Pteris. The 

only genus conllllOll to the vVilcox is Pteris. 

Tluis far no traces of the Aspleni'ltm or. Meniphylloides of the Wilcox have been found in 

the Claiborne, although Af.eniphylloides is one 

of the characteristic types of the upper Wilcox. 

A very characteristic type that is unaccountably absent in the Wilcox but is present in 

the Claiborne, Jackson, and Catahoula is the 

genus Ar;rostich'l.tm, ·which has two species in 

the Claiborne. Acrostichum is a genus of 

swamp ferns. whose commonest and widestranging existing species is a ·strictly coastal 

form of tidal nipa and mangrove swamps and 

similar situations. This type seems to have 

appeared in the middle Claiborne · and was 

not associated with the nipa palms and Avi-

(!ennia mangroves of the Wilcox, although in 

Europe it occurs. in such associations in deposits earlier than the Claiborne. An undeterminable fr·agment of Acrostichum, however, has been found in the. upper Wilcox of 

Louisiana. The genus Goniopteris, which has a 

fine Claiborne species, is a familiar type in 

Tertiary floras and contains about 60 existing 

species, nearly all of which are confined to the 

American Tropics, although a few are found. 

in the Old World Tropics. It is related to 

jj{eniscium, the modern representative of the 

Wilcox jj{eniphylloides; ' in fact, Christensen, 

one of the foremost students of existing ·ferns, 

makes .~feniscium and Goniopteris subgenera 

of. Dryopteris. 

"!'hough ferns comprise 9 per cent of the 

known Claiborne flora, they are not as cmnmon. or as varied as nlight be expected in the 

climatic environment that I have predicated for 

Claiborne time. However, the Claiborne flora, 

like that of .the preceding Wilcox and succeeding Jackson, is a coastal' flora and is made up 

very largely of strand types, whereas the 

great variety and abundance of ferns in the 

modern Tropics are those of upland or mountainous rain forests. . 

Inconformity with the relative unimportance 

of gyn1:nospei·n1s in Tertiary floras, and particula.rly in those of southeastern North America, where clima.tic conditions appear to have 

been on the whole too warn1, it is not surprising to find but five species in the Claiborne. · 

There are t-wo species of C1.tpressinoxylon that 

are based on petrified wood, which is not un- . 

common, especially in the Yegua formation, 

and a third variety of wood is referred t·o 

Sequoia, although no foliage of Sequoia has been 

discovered. A cone that has not been certainly identified is referred to Athrotaxis, 

which is represented by cone scales in the Wil-

-cox and occurs not uncommonly in 'Tertiary 
20 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

floras but survives in only a small mesophytic 

area of Tasmania. Glyptostrobus, which is rep..: 

resented in existing floras by but two species 

·in the river bottoms of southeastern Asia, is a 

dominant and widespread Tertiary type in bo.th 

hemispheres and one that was already present 

in southeastern North Am.erica during Wilcox 

time, and is also present in beds that are ten-

. tatively referred to the upper ·Jackson. · It is a 

polymorphous species, and its identification is 

a 1nn.tter of considerable uncertainty. Though 

cycads are rn.re fossils in the Tertiary deposits 

it is surprising that the Zamia type so common 

in the American Tropics has not been detected 

in the Claiborne, particularly as two species 

have been discovered in the upper part .of the 

Wilcox. 

Among the monocotyledonous seed· plants 

only the families Poaceae, Cannaceae, and 

Arecaceae ·are represented in the Claiborne. 

Grasslike fragments are common in .the Claiborne clays, as they are likewise in n1ost '"l"'ertiary flora~, but the only one nan1ed is a ·characteristic reedlike gq1.ss, which in conformity 

with paleobotanical usage and without signifying botanical identity is referred to the 

genus Ar1tndo. The Oanna is well n1m·kecl and. 

is probably descended from Oan/JUt eocenica 

Berry of the Wilcox. A third well-charactei·-

ized species is present in the Jackson. Its 

existing representatives are numerous in coastal 

river swamps and are confine~ to the tropical 

and subtropical regions of An1erica. The 

palms are less varied than might be expected 

but comprise five different forms. No traces 

have been found of the Sabalites type of fan 

palm except a fragment from. the area along 

the Rio Grande. Sabalite8, like its n1odern 

representative Sabal, was a cm1.stn.l type, occurri~g in both the Wilcox and. Jnckson. It 

mn:y therefore be presumed to hnve been more 

· com.1non during the deposition of the Claiborne 

than the records yet show. The three known 

Claiborne species of pnhns, b·ased on leaves, 

comprise n, fan palm ( Tkrinax) and. two feather 

palms (Bactrites and Geonomites) . . Both Thrinax and. Bactrites make their· first known appen,ntnce m the geologic record during Cln.iborne time. Both n.re 1;elatively s1nall eoastal 

fonns, the Thrinax preeminently. so, and 

although Bactris ·has its modern cent.er of dis..:. 

tribution in the Amazon region, n1any of its 

smn1ler species form tangled thickets· in the 

swampy forests near the coast. in the Caribbean region. Both genera are American in 

origin, although certain extinqt members of the 

tribe Bactridae have b~en detected in the. Oligocene of southern Europe. 

The Geonomites, which is known only. from 

the b.asal Mount Selman formation along the 

Rio Grande, belongs to a type represented by. 

the existing genus Geonoma-a type which 

makes its appearance in the Ripley formation 

of the Upper. Cretaceous but which, except for 

this Claiborne species, is unknown in the 

Coastal Plain Tertiary, although abundant and 

va~ied in the early Eocene of trans-Pecos 

Texas, New l\1exico, and Colorado. The 

modern representatives are prevailingly .stem-' 

less or short-stemmed palms, of different 

species and confined to the region extending 

from Centr~l Ame:rica and the Antilles to Rio 

de Janeiro and eastern Bolivia. 

The Claiborne has also furnished petrified 

palm wood, ·which is referred to the genus 

Palmoxylon, arid palm fruits of the familiar 

nutlike type of uncertain generic i·elationship,, 

which are referred to the genus Palmocarpon. 

The dicotyledonous seed plants are the most 

numerous element in the Claiborne flora and 

include representatives . of 27 fanlilies. 

Twenty-four of these families, which are represented by 65 species, are Choripetalae (Archichlamydeae), and only three families, which 

are represented by 5 species, are Gamopetalae 

(Sympetalae). Thus the Gamopetalae constitute only about 7 per cent of the known 

flora. In the much larger Wilcox flora there 

are 251 species of Choripetalae and 34 species 

or about 12 per cent of Gamopetalae. As the 

Gamopetalae was probably on the increase 

throughout the Tertiary these facts simply 

illustrate the paucity of the.known flor~ of the 

Claiborne. · 

The order Juglandales, which is represented 

in the Wilcox by 8 species of juglans, Engelhardtia, and Paraengelhardtia, is represJ~Iited in 

the Claiborne by a single species each of Hicoria 

and J uglan.s; although Engelhardtia occurs in 

the Jackson and must therefore have been 

prese.nt during Claiborne time. A rather full 

account of this genus has already been given. 28 

The order :Myricn.les, which is represented 

by the existing genera jfyrica and Oompt~nia, 

2s Berr), E. W., u.S. Gcol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 78-SO,fl.g. 5, 

1916. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNB FLORA. 2l 

both of which are old types that were already · The order Proteales, which consists of the 

present in the Upper Cretaceous, is repre- single family Proteaceae. and includes about 

sented by a single species in the Claiborne as 1,000 existing species, son1e of which are 

c01npared with two Wilcox, species and one !l.rnong the .promine~t arborescent types of" the 

Jackson species. The genus is much more Southern Hemisphere, has not been detected in 

abundant in the European Tertiary. The the Claiborne, although it is ahundantly repreexisting species are relatively _few in nu1nber, sented in the an.tecedent Wilcox flora and is 

1u·e widely scattered geographically, and repro- also found in the Jackson. 

sent survivors froin a Tertiary cosmopolitan- The order Aristolochiales, which has a species 

.is.m.. They. n.re · tmnperate and subtropical, of Aristolochia, that is repre~ented by fruit in 

and a nu1nber o.f species are coastal forn1s of the Wilcox, is represented by leaves in the 

both swan1ps and sand dunes. . ~M~yrica clai- Claiborne. The nwclern species,· which are 

bm·niana is believed to have had a habitat numerous in the warmer regions of both hemilike the existing },f.yrica cerifera, which reaches spheres, are perennial herbs or climbing vines, 

.its maximum of growth in the sandy swamps and Aristolochia claiborniana 1nay be regarded 

nllong the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts or as one of the lianas of the Claiborne beach 

in the depressions behind dunes whe:i'e the jungle. 

ground water is near or reaches the surface. · The order Polygonales includes the single 

The order Fagales, \vhich includes the well- fa1nily Polygonaceae, which has about 800 

known trees of the Tmnperate Zone of the existing species that are herbaceous in the 

faTnilies ·netulaceae and Fagaceae, is repre- Tmnperate Zone and shrl.1bby or arborescent 

sented in the Claiborne by a single species of .in the 1'ropics. Its geologic history is pracDryophyll?.t,m, although both fmnilies are pres- tically. unknown, althougl~ the· genus. Ooccolobis 

ent in the Upper Cretaceous of North A1nerica has two species in the Claiborne as well as two 

and the extinct :fagaceous genus Dryophyll?.t,m, species in the antecedent Wilcox and is J.:eprewhich includes .5 species, is one of the com- sentecl in the Upper Cretaceous of this area by 

monest types in the Wilcox flora. It also the genus· Goccolobites. Goccolobis has about 

occurs in the Jackson fiora and in the Oligocene 120 existing species, all confined to the Amerof this area and was therefore probably present ican Tropics. Two species, the sea grape and 0 

during the Claiborne in 1nore abundance than pigeon plum, reach the Florida Keyf' and are 

t.he records .indicate. · widespread tropical An1erican strand types. It 

The order Urticales, which includes the is believed that .the Eocene species were sinlifamilies Ulmaceae, Nioraceae, and. Urticaceae "lar in habit and habitat to these 1nodern forn1s. 

and contains about 1,600 existing species, is The order Chenopodiales is a large alliance of 

represented in the Claiborne flora by the ill-assorted and ·mostly modern forms. It was 

Uln1aceae and ~1oraceae. The Urticaceae are ·represented during' Wilcox and Claiborne tin1e · 

largely herb~ceous forn1s that have few fossil by the family N yctaginaceae, which has a single 

t:lpecies and are probably of relatively-1nodern Claiborne species of Pisonia, as compared with 

or1gm. 1~heUlnuteeae,whicharerepresentedin _3 Wilcox species and3 Jackson species. The 

the Wilcox by Plwnern, n wa11n tempera.te. type, ·genus Pisonin includes· about 40 different 

n.l'e represented in the Claiborne by Af.ornisia, a species, chiefly of the American Tropics. It 

tt'op.icn.l type. The very ln.rge :fmnily M:ora- has an extended geologic history and was 

een.e is represented in the Claiborne by 4 already present in the Upper Cretaceous·of both 

species of Fic'ns n.s cmnpn:red with 23 Wil- -Europe and An1erica. The fossil species, like 

cox spec~es of Fic'u,s, A'l'tocwrzJ'u,s, and Arto- the single n1odern fonn that reaches the Florida 

cwrzJid?:wm. It is singular that no representa- 1\:eys, were strand types and appear to have 

ti.vc of the last two genera has been detected been continuously present along the strand of 

in the Clo.iborne, for the hren.dfruit is abundant the Mississippi embayn1ent frmn the Upper 

\n the ilcox tind reappears in the post- Cretaceous through the Eocene and Oligocene. 

Eocene o:f this area. The C~aiborne figs are The order Ranales, a large but probably 

all of the lanceolate, pinnate-veined type and unnatural alliance, is usually pron1inent .in 

were -probably all fonns that s\tarted life as fossil floras from· -the Upper Cretaceous onparasites. ward. No traces of Magnoliaceae, Menisper-
) 

22 MIDDLE AND .UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

maceae, or Anonaceae have been discovered 

in the Claiborne, although all three families 

are present in the Wilcox. 

The order Papaverales, which is ;represented 

in the Wilcox by the family Capp.aridaceae, is 

not represented in the Claiborne. 

The order Rosales, which includes 18 faniilies and over 14,000 species in the existing 

flora, is represented by five families in the 

tlora of the Wilcox group: No traces of two 

of these families, the · I-Iamamelidaceae and 

Rosaceae, have been detected in the Claiborne, although I would expect to find the 

genus Ohrysobalanus, for it was a strand plant 

in the Wilcox, as it is along the shores of the 

existing American and West African TropicsThe three leguminous families Mimosaceae, 

Caesalpiniaceae, and Papilionaceae, which are· 

so prominent in modern tropical forests, are 

represented by two or th,ree species each in the 

Claiborne, as con1pared with more than fifty 

species in the Wilcox flora. The Mimosaceae 

include a species of Mimosites and one of 

lnga. The genus Inga appears in the Tuscaloosa formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alabama and the Cenomanian of Saxony. It was 

common during the Wilcox, and its 200 existingspecies are confined to the American Tropics, 

where they are massed in the Brazilian region. lnga and Pithecolobium have been 

separated by Bentham 29 on the basis of leaf 

habit.· The Caesalpiriiaceae are represented 

in the Claiborne by leaves· of Cassia and 

Gleditsiophyllum and by the characteristic 

pods of . the genus Oopaifera. These pods 

constitute the oldest known occurrence of 

Oopaifera and are the only fossil record of this 

genus for North America. The genus Oopa?:-. 

fera contains about 16 existing species, three-

. fourths of which occur in the American Tropics 

and the balance in tropical Africa. It has been 

recorded from the lower Miocene of Chile and 

occurs in the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe. 

The family. Papilionaceae, which includes 

two-thirds of the existing Leguminosae, is the 

culmination of the alliance, .and many of its 

herbaceous species are of relatively modern 

origin. It is represented in the Claiborne by 

three species of Sophora, one a survival from the 

29 Bentham, George, Notes on Mimoseae, :with a short synopsis of 

species: Jour. Botany (London), vol. 4, p. 578, 1845. Pittier (Contr. 

U. S. Nat. Herbarium, vol. 18, pt. 5, p. 181, 1916) considers that some of 

the once-pinnate In,gas are referable to Pithecolobium on the basis of 

floral and fruiting characters. 

Wilcox and the others· new. These forms 

resemble the cosmopolitan modern strand 

plant Sophora tomentosa. The genus contains 

about 25 existing species of shrubs and small 

trees and is represented on all tropical seashores. Like them, the Claiborne species were 

probably plants of the strand. The genera 

Dalbergia and Oanavalia, both strand plants 

and both represented by an abundance of 

unmistakable material in the Wilcox, should 

occur in the Claiborne, but they have not yet 

been discovered. 

The order Geraniales, which includes 21 

families and more than 10,000 existing species, 

has two families in the Claiborne, as compared 

with six in the Wilcox and four in the Jackson. 

The family Rutaceae is represented in the 

Claiborne by species of Fagara and Oitrophyllum. The genus Fagara, which includes 

about 150 cosmopolitan tropical species, appears in 'the Wilcox and continues as a prominent element in the Jackson and Oligocene of 

this region. It is distinctly a strand · type. 

The genus Oitrophyllurr(~)sf...extinct and was 

confined to America. The oldest ,species occur 

in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Coastal 

Plain and along the borders of the interior 

Cretaceous sea. It is present in the Wilcox 

and is a ·prominent element in the Claiborn~ 

flora from Alaban1a to Texas. The family 

Meliaceae is represented by a species of Oarapa 

that was very similar to the oriental mangrove, 

Oarapa obovata, and, like that mangrove, it was 

obviously a strand plant that was dispersed 

by ocean currents, for only the characteristic 

large seeds are found as fossils in the Claiborne. 

The leaves, however, have been identified froin 

th.e Wilcox. The genus Oedrela, which is confined to the American Tropics in modern 

floras, is r~presented by four Wilcox species 

and a single Claiborne species which survives 

into the Jackson. The families Humiriaceae 

and Malpighiaceae of this order, both of which 

are present in the Wilcox, have not been found 

in the Claiborne, although the Malpighiaceae 

occurs in the Jackson and should be represented in the Claiborne by Banisteria. The 

largest family of Geraniales, the Euphorbiaceae, has also not been found in the Claiborne, 

where at least the strand plant Drypetes, 

which. is common· In the Wilcox, should be 

found: 
MIDDLE EOC~NE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. ·23 

The order Sapindales (Celastrales) includes Texas. There are two well-1narked Wilcox 

over 3,000 existing species in 20 families. species. 

Of the frunilies that usually occur in fossil The order :Malvales contains nine families and 

floras fron1 the Upper Cretaceous. o~ward, the. about 1,800 existing species. Three of the nine 

Anacardiaceae and ~licaceae have not been families-the Tiliaceae, Sterculiaceae, and Bornfound in the Claiborne, in which only· the bacaceae-are represented in the Wilcox, and 

families Celastraceae and Sapindaceae are the first two of these families ·are also present 

represented. The Celastraceae contains- two in the Claiborne. The Claiborne species of T'iliClaiborne species of Oelastrophyllum, which aceae, like that of the Wilcox, belongs to the 

are of rru·e occurrence, and a single species of genus Grewiopsis, an e~tinct genus of American 

Euonymus, a common Eocene type. T}le origin a~cestral to the genus Grewia of the 

Snpindaceae have seven Claiborne species Eastern Hemisphere. The fan1ily Sterculithat represent the genera .Oupanites, Dodonaea, aceae is represented in the Claiborne by a welland Sapindus, all of which are common types· marked and common species of Sterculia, which 

in the Wilcox. The Oupanites of the Claiborne belongs to the section Lobntae and which is 

is -rare, but the Dodonaea is connnon and is present in southeastern North America from 

very close to the existing strand plant Dodonaea the Upper Cretaceous onward. The ·family 

viscosCL of the equatorial region of both heroi- Bombacaceae, which has not yet been found 

spheres, and like that type it was distributed in the Claiborne, has two Wilcox species and 

by ocean currents. Sapindus, which has been a thirdin the Jackson. 

· present along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico The· order Parietales is a complex alliance that 

frmn the Upper Cretaceous to the present, has contains 30 families and over 4,000 existing . 

. five Claiborne. species, two of which survived species. The single family Ternstroemiaceae 

from the Wilcox. They are distinctly types has been found in the Claiborne, where it is 

of the strand a11d are largely distributed by ·represented by two species of Ternstroerriites 

ocean currents. that have descended from Wilcox species. The 

The order Rhamnales includes about 1,000 family Dilleniaceae, which is abundantly reproexisting species of shrubs·, trees, and vines, sented in the Wilcox, has not yet been discov-

. about equally divided between the ·families ered in the Claiborne. 

Vitaceae and Rhan1naceae. The Rha1nnaceae The order Thymeleales, as in most Tertiary 

is the only family represented in the Claiborne floras, is represented in the Claiborne flora by 

and in the Wilcox. There are four Claiborne the family Lauraceae, where it has 13 species. 

species of Rhamnaceae, two of which are There is a single narrow-leafed species of cambased on petrified wood. These forms com- phor tree ( Oinnamomum), two species of Perprise a species of Rhamnacinium, a generic sect, two of Oreodaphne, two of Mespilodaphne, 

tenn for rhamnaceous wood, and Reynosia, a three species of f.lectandra, and three species 

genus that consists of two existing Slnall trees that ar~ based on the petrified woods· and are 

of the strand flora rallging from the Florida referred to Laurinoxylon. All these genera are 

ICeys through the West Indies. The only abundantly represented in the Wilcox and are 

other fossil species of ReynosiCL are two from characteristic members of the Eocene floras of 

the Wilcox, which are based upon the foliage, this region. 

whereas the Claiborne species is ba~ed on the The order :Myrtales is represented in most 

wood. The third species of Claiborne Rhan1na- Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary floras by the 

ceae is referred to the genus Zizyphu8. Zizy- .family Myrtaceae, whose origin and peculiar 

7Jhus contains about forty existing species of distribution has been the subject of several 

shrubs and sn1all trees, 1nostly Indo-Malayan, recent papers. 30 ·It has not yet been discovthough a few species occ~r in all tropical regions. ered in the Claiborne, except for a single species 

It is present in the fossil floras of North of Myrcia in the basal:Mount Selman formation. 

America fron1 the Upper Cretaceous onward MyrciaalsooccursintheUpperCretaceousandin 

and has no less than ten species in the Creta- the· Jackson and subsequent Oligocene floras· of 

ceous. A characteristic and handsmne species 30 Andrews, E. c., The development of the natural order Myrtaceae 

is foundL in the Tuscaloosa formation of Ala- Linnean Soc. New South Wales Proc., vol. 38, pp. 529-568, 1913. Berry 

E. W., The origin and distribution of the family Myrtaccae: Bot. Gabama and the. synchronous Woodbine san~. of zette, vot. s9, pp. 484-490, 1915. 
24 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AME.RICA. 

this region. The only other myrtaceouf:? family· 

thus far known from the Claiborne is the family 

Combretaceae, which is ·represented by species 

of Terminalia, Conocarpus, Laguncularia, and 

Combretum. The first is a strand type that had 

lower Eocene ancestors in this region, and the 

three last, which are also descended from Wilcox 

. ancestors, ·are characteristic members of. the 

mangrove association. 

The families Hydrocaryaceae and. Melastomataceae, which are usually represented in fossil floras by species of Trapa and Melastomites, 

nR they are in the Wilcox, have not been detected in the Claiborne. 

The order Umbellales consists of the three 

closely related families ·the Araliaceae, Umbelliferae·, and Cornaceae. It contains more than 

3,000 existing species, of which two-thirds be-

, long· to the Unibelliferae, a fa:rnily which has 

many herbaceous extratropical forms t~at may 

be considered of modern evolution. The other 

two families, however, have a history that goes 

as far back as dicotyledons have been found. 

The Araliaceae are especially abundant in the 

Upper Cretaceous. There are several species 

of Aralia and two of Oreopanax in the Wilcox, 

and a single species from the Claiborne is referred to Oreopanax. 

The family Cornaceae is represented in the 

Claiborne by a very large fruited form ·of 

Nyssa, or g~m, which survives into the Jackson; and a second smaller species that is inherited from the Wilcox. The genus comprises seven or eight existing species of·south-

. eastern North America and eastern Asia,· and 

about fifty extinct species that range from the 

Upper Cretaceous onward. It has been continuously present along the coasts· of the Mississippi embayment from the time of the deposition of the Tuscaloosa formation to the 

present. The modern species range from 

shrubs to large trees, and 'the size of the fruit 

stones of the Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson 

species leads nie to the conclusion that they 

were large trees like the modern cotton gum or 

tupelo gum and that like the tupelo gum they 

inhabited river and estuary swamps, bayous, 

and the wet regions behind coastal dunes and 

similar localities. 

'fhis list. ends the enumeration of the Claiborne Choripetalae, .·and it may be noted that 

although the Choripetalae are distinctly older 

than the Gamopetalae, none of the fa~ilieshave 

succeeded in maintaining a world-wide distribution, as have several families of Monocoty-

~edonae and Gamopetal~e. Nor has any dist.inctly boreal group been developed, as among 

the Gamopetalae. The .Choripetalae · are distinctly tropical in their beginnings and largely 

American, for though certain great families 

characterize the North Temperate Zone they 

are almost exclusively he1~baceous forms, such 

as the Polygonaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cruciferae, Saxifragaceae, Onagraceae, and Umbelliferae, which are believed to be mainly of relatively recent origin. 

The second grand division of the dicotyledonous seed plants-the Gamopet.alae or Sympetalae-constitutes a rather well-defined group, 

presumably derived from the Choripetalae and 

characterized by cyclic flo\vers and usually a 

gamopetalous corolla. The morphologic emphasis ~1as always been iaid upon floral structure, and it is not certain that the group is 

monophyletic, although its· compactness lends 

some measure of support to such a theory. 

There are nine or ten gamopetalous orders and 

more than 50,000 existing species. I-Ierbaceous forms predominate,· and several of the 

families are distinctly boreal. Altho':Jgh the 

Compositae, Labiatae, and Plantaginaceae have 

attained a world-wide distribution,this distribution fails to show the apparent anomalies that 

are usually shown by families that have an extended geologic history. These and many 

other facts suggest that the Gamopetalae, as 

evolutionary theory demands, were the last 

plants to appear in the record, and that the 

herbaceous extratropical families are relatively 

modern, and that their major specific differentiati.on is a part of postglacial botanic history. 

Si,~ gamopetalous orders are represented in 

the Wilcox, but only two of these have been 

observed in the Claiborne. These orders are: 

the Ebenales and Gentiana.les, and" no traces of 

the Primulales, Polemoriiales, Personales, or 

Rubiale·s have been discovered. 

The order Ebenales includes four families 

and more than 1,000 existing species. The 

two largest of these f.amilie~ are the Ebenaceae 

and Sapotaceae,· and both are present in the · 

Claiborne as in the Wilcox. The family 

Ebenaceae consists of- about 8 genera and over 

300 existing species of shrubs and trees, of 

which over half are referred to the genus 

D_iospyros. They .are mainly tropical and 

~· 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 25 

]UlN·e many extinct species, Dio8pyro8 being 

represented by calices as well as leaves from 

the Upper Cretnceous onward and being continuously pi'esent in southeastern North Arner-

:ica during all that vast lapse of tiJne. Its 

hi$tory has been SlUlunarized. in another 

aceae, and that one doubtfully, have been 

found in the equally 1neager flora of the overlying deposits of Jackson age. 

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS ·AND GEOLOGIC 

HISTORY. 

paper 111 and need not be repeated here. The There is no reason to suppose that the clin1ate · 

Sapotaceae is also a tropical fmnily. It has and other ·physical conditions during the 

about 400 existing species of slU'ubs- and trees, interval between Wilcox and Claiborne time or 

and 1nany of its n1odern fonns are coastal in during early Claiborne time differed matm~ially 

habitat. Its history goes back into the Upper frmn those that prevailed during Wilcox time. 

Cretaceous, fr01n which tiJne it has been con- The floras found in the lower, middle, and upper 

tinuously represented in southenstern North Claiborne deposits are too s1nall for precise 

A1nerica. There were 4 genera and 12 · deductions, but the great si1nilarity between 

species in the vVilcox, but three of these these fioras ·and those of the lower Jackson 

genera have not been detected in the Clai- m~kes it probable that the clin1ate becan1e 

borne, 11Ithough B'umelia·was probably present gradually warn1er during Claiborne tin1e, for 

and will e\'entually be discC?vered. A species ·the lower Jackson fiora is distinctly more 

of Jf.im/n801J8 is sparingly represented in the tropical than that of "the Wilcox. As I interCln.iborne collections, and the chu.racteristic pret the evidence, there appears to have been 

seed of a large-fruited nncestor of the 1nodern a steady progression throughout the Eocene in 

sn.potas and sapotilln,s has been made the type this area toward 1nore tropical conditions. 

of the genus Eoachra8. 32 Its size is remarkable The Upper Cretaceous floras suggest the exist-

. and indicates the eyolution of these rnodern ing warn1 temperate rnin forests, those of the 

l11J'ge-fruitecl and few-seeded forms nt such a lower Eocene are similar but indicative of 

rmnote period. slightly warmer climate, and those of the midThe order Gentiann.les includes 6 families dle Eocene are intermediate between suband 1nore than 5,000 existing species, of which tropical and tropical. The upper Eocene and 

rno1:e than a third belong to the :fa1nily Asclepi- lower Oligocene fim;as in this region are still 

adn.ceae, which is not represented in the Clai- ·more tropical in character, after which time 

borne, where the only family of this order the clin1atic curve see1ns to have descended 

that is present is the Apocynaceae. The until the conditions gradually approximated 

Apocynaceae shnres with the Asclepiadaceae · those that prevail at the present tin1e in these 

the developn1ent of a ln,tex systeJ.ll~ It has latitudes. 

O\'er 1,000 existing species and is gbnerally One of the best criteria. for forn1ing an 

represented in the fossil records by fonns re- estimate of the character of an extinct flora is 

ferred to Apocyrwphyllum, although seYeral the study of the fiorule of a single 'ocality like 

other genera occur sparingly in the geologic that at Claiborne Landing, Ala. · The environrecord. Apocynophyll'n?n is known fron1 the ment in this vicinity n1ay be pictured as a small 

Upper Cretaceous onward in both Europe and lagoon or estuary, where the cha1:acteristic 

America.. There are :five species in ~he lower 1narine sands were replaced by n1ud, which 

JDocene o:f southeastern North Arperica, but facilitated the preservation of the scntps of 

only two are knmvn :frmn the Claiborne, and vegetation that fioated or were blown into it. 

both o:f these survive in to the J'ackson. The shore was close at hand, and the tune was 

'l'he gan,1opetttlous fnmilies ·which were al- near the. end of the Claiborne, or at least after 

ready present in this reg-ion during the lower the Claiborne sea had cmnmenced to recede. 

Eocene but ha-ve not yet been detected in the If the tin1e for the accun1ulation of plant reCln.iborne al'e the l\1yrsinaceae, Oleaceae, Bora- mains ext.ends over a long perio_d or the_ area of 

giwweae, Verbenacen,e, Solanaceae, and Rubi- a:ccun1ulation is large a fairly complete reprettceae, and none of· these except the Solan- sentation of the plants growing in the vicinity 

s1 ]3orry, E. W., Some ancestors of the persimmon: Plant vyorld, vol. becomes preserved. If the area is Small and 

16, pp. 15-21, 7-tigs., 1912. . the time short only the commonest plants will n Berry, E. W., An Eocene ancestor of the Zapodilla: Am. Jour. Sci., I . . . 4th sor., vol. 39, pp. 208-213, pl. 1, 1916. . ·. be preserved, and this sifting out of the les.~ 
26 MIDDLE AND UPPER :EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

common forms simplifies the problem for the 

student. The plants ·found in the small clay 

lens at Claiborne Landing fulfill in every way 

the latter conditions. Only 15 species have 

been determined from this lens, and these 

obviously represent the most abundant forms 

growing along the Claiborne ,.. shore. They 

comprise two ferns-a Lygodium and an 

Acrostichum. 

Lygodium is a clambering f.orm of tropical 

coastal thickets, and Acrostichum is the commonest modern fern element in the strand flora 

of the tropics, growing in swamps behind the 

mangrove association and in similar situations. 

It seems to be the one fern that tolerates 

brackish and salt water arid is a large, gregarious, and. wide-ranging for:in. Lygodium 

extends into the warm temperate zone and 

away from the coast. Acrostichum haunts the 

strand and is confined to the Tropics. The 

third plant at Claiborne Landing is a species 

of Arundo, a large estuary marsh grass or reed. 

·The remaining 12 species are all dicotyledons 

and represent the genera Myrica, Fic1ts, 

Ooccolobis, Oitrophyllum, Sapindus, Oreoclaphne, 

Mespilodaphne, Nectandra, Terminalia, Donocarpus, and Laguncularia. The last two are 

mangrove plants of brackish or salt tidal 

swamps of tropical and. subtropical regions. 

Myrica 'is a coastal dune and swamp plant that 

extends· well outside the equatorial zone. 

Ooccolobis is distinctly a plant of the sandy 

tropical strand, as are also Sapindus and Ter-. 

minalia. There remain for consideration a fig, 

a small citrus form, and four lauraceous forms. 

These all have numerous modern species in a 

variety of habitats, but all have representatives in the beach jungle of tropical and subtropical regions. No palms have been collected at Claiborne Landing, but Thrinax 

occurs both to the east and to the west and is 

a tropical American strand plant at the present 

day, a species of Bactrites occurs in eastern 

Mississippi, and· a Geonomite8 occurs in Texas. 

The numerous modern species of Bactris furnish 

. several small forms that are members of the 

strand flora in Central America and northern 

South America. 

I conclude that the Claiborne coast of Alabama was covered with a typical subtropical 

sti·and flora made up of mangrove and Acrosti-

. chum swamps, alternating with beach jungle on 

the strand and behind the dunes. 

The known middle Eocene flora of southeastern North America is much less extensive than 

that of the lower Eocene. The flora of the 

Claiborne group is less than one-third as large 

as t~at of the Wilcox group. The small number of species can not be interpreted; however, 

as an. indication that the . vegetation- which 

clothed the Claiborne shores was less luxuriant 

or less varied than that which immediately preceded it. No marked.climatic changes are discernible, and the other physical conditions of 

the environment were practically unchanged, 

so that the major element of this disparity 

m~st be ascribed to the .imperfection of the 

geologic record. Besides, the area of outcrop 

of the Claiborne has been less thoroughly explored than that of the Wilcox, although this 

is in a measure due to the unpromising character of the Claiborne lithology. Nowhere in the 

Claiborne exc~pt in the Y egua formation do 

extensive leaf-bearing clays and palustrine 

deposits occur, such as characterize so much 

of the Wilcox and are so favorable for the 

preservation of the remains of terrestrial plants. 

The clays so common in the Lisbon and Tallahatta are for the most. part of marine origin 

and have thus far furnished few land plants, 

although diatoms abound at some horizons, and 

isolated lenses containing well-preserved plants 

will doubtless be .discovered eventually. Fossil 

plants are not present at all horizons within 

the Claiborne group, nor are they as widely or 

as uniformly distributed geographically as they 

should be to enable the student to make precise estimates of the· relative duration and 

actual chronologie relations of the different 

formations of the Claiborne group in the different areas of its outcrop. As these formations 

are largely of marine origin and commonly 

contain abundant faunas, undoubtedly such 

determinations will in time become available 

as one of the results of the monographic studies 

of these faunas. 

Though the paleobotanic evidence is thus 

inadequate and areal, stratigraphic, and paleogeographic· studies are a long way from completion, the work has progressed far enough to 

enable the broader outlines of Claiborne history 

to be sketched and thus to afford a setting for 

the discussion of what is known of the ClaiborJ?.e flora and its relations to the preceding 

and succeeding floras in this region. · 
MIDDLE ·EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 27 

EVIDENCE OF A TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN that grows in very shallow, quiet, fresh water, 

THE WILCOX AND CLAIBORNE EPOCHS. rooting in the mud of the bottom by means of 

'!'he evidence for predicating a time interval creeping rootstockt, . and the abundance of 

between the deposition of the Wilcox and that these rootstocks indicates that the deposits are· 

of the Claiborne sediments has been partly given not estuary in character or that. the plant 

elsewhere.33 It rests upon a considerable body material drifted in from upstream but grew 

of facts, and the conclusions from all the where it ·is found. There appears to be an 

different classes of-evidence are in perfect agree- erosional unconformity at the top of bed No. 

ment. The withdrawal of the Wilcox s.ttand 2, and I imagine that bed No. 1, which conline toward the south is indicated by the littoral tains rippled clay laminae and clay pebbles, 

character of the upper Wilcox materials; by may represent the base of the Claiborne, 

the presence ·of palustrine deposits in these although in the absence of fossils it is imposlittoral sands and clays, as in the Bolivar Creek sible to determine whether the unconformity is 

section (p. 11); by the thickening of the Wilcox local near the top of the Wilcox or represents 

in the direction of the dip; by the observed the emergence between the Wilcox and the 

unconformities between the Wilcox and the Claiborne. Whichever it is, it shows a definite 

Claiborne which are recorded from Georgia, shallowi~1g near the close of the Wilcox at a. 

Mississippi, and T~xas; by the great differences I locality far south in the embayment and indi-

. between the Inarine faunas and terrestrial floras cates that farther north this interval must 

of the. Wilc.ox and those of the Claiborne; and have been considerably longer than it was in the 

by the littoral character of the lower Claiborne latitude of Meridian~ · 

as exemplified by the Tallahatta formation in The ·lower Claiborne has thus· far failed· to 

the eastern Gulf area and the Mount Selman in yield an extensive flora, and the plants that 

the western Gulf area. are known ftom the Mount Selman are deThe following section at Meridian, :Miss., cidedly Claiborne and not Wilcox in facies, so 

well illustrates the emergence at the close of that the time required for the deposition of 

the Wilcox in that area: these lower Claiborne ~ediments is a modifying 

Section of the Wilcox deposits at Meridian, Miss. factor of unknown importance in compar~sons of the Wilcox and Claiborne floras. That the [Communicated by C. W. Cooke.] 

1. Yellow, fine incoherent .sand that contains 

flat, disklike pebbles of clay and thin beds 

of clay, some of which show apparent 

Feet.· time required for. the qeposition of the lower 

Claiborne sediments. was of a different order 

of 1nagnitude from that which intervened beripple marks; estimated _______________ _ 

Probable unconformity. · · 

2. Gray to brown and black hackly clay, very 

sandy in places; contains much lignitic 

matter;. fossil plants very abundant near 

15-20 tween the Wilcox and Claiborne epochs may · 

be deduced from comparisons between . the 

Wilcox and Claiborne floras and the· corresponding comparisons between the 1niddle and 

the top; estimated ____________________ _ 

3. Greenish- yellow fine incoherent glauconitic . 

sand which contains indurated masses that 

30 upper Claiborne floras, or between the middle 

Claiborne flora and that of the Jackson. There 

are filled with fossils of the Bashi formation. 12 

1'his section, which has been commented 

upon elsewhere,34 shows the transition from 

abundantly fossiliferous marine sediments 

through littqral sands to continental deposits 

of latest Wilcox age. The continental character of the sediments at the top of bed No. 2 

is shown by the great abundance of Nelumbo 

with roots in place. The Nelumbo is a species 

33 Berry, E. W., Tholowcr Eocene floras of southeastern North Amerlca: U. S. Oeol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 37-38, 1916; · Erosionintcrvals 

in the Eocene of tho Mississippi embayment: U.s; Oeol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 95, pp. 78-80, 1915. . 

at Berry, E. W., Geologic history indicated by the fossiliferous deposits 

of tho Wilcox group· (Eocene) at Meridian, Miss.: u. S. Oeol. Survey 

Prot. Paper 108, pp. 61-63, 1918. 

68844-24--3 

are about 350 species of known Wilcox plants, 

and 90 species of Claiborne plants are described 

in this report, which makes a total of about 

440 species. Only 9 of this great variety of 

forms, which grew in the same general region 

under very similar conditions of topography,· 

soil, and climate, are common to the two 

epo.chs. ·These 9 species are 

Aneimia eocenica. 

Glyptostrobus europaeus. 

J uglans schimperi. 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum. 

Sophora wilcoxiana. 

Sapindus mississippiensis. 

Oreodaphne obtusifolia. 

Nyssa wilcoxiana. 

Diospyros brachysepala. 

lhi · PU l~r 0 ROP·-EI·ry . s copy IS D n., r l.i l I tl-1 d is not I!.. 

b9 remav.si4 from the official fil~. PffiVATE ftsSESSION 

1·3 Urfl.AWFU.l (ft. S. Suft. Vol. 2, pp. 360, Siac 749.) 
28 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOC~NE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

As previously remarked, the· Glyptostrobus sand and m~rls of. the Cook Mountain formaand the· Diospyros are probably polymorphic tion grade imperceptibly into the gypsiferous 

forms which have a wii:le geographic and and saliferous clays and sands of the ·yegua 

geologic range and hence are without signi:fi- formation. Traces of oyster beds and estuary 

cance, and the Juglans is known to. have a· forms like Oorbula reappear at a few localities 

wide range in the Eocene of the West, so that in the Yegua but are more and more replaced 

it is unimportant in this connection. There- by lignites that represent swamp deposits, and. 

fore, only :five or ~ix significant species are the bulk of the Yegua materials represent 

identical in the two epochs, and all of these are littoral and continental deposits. The Jackson 

very common . forms during Wilcox ti1ne. materials which overlie the Yegua in southThus the two floras have only a trifle over 1 western Texas ·are composed of sands and cl~ys 

per ,cent of common species, a number as- that constitute the Fayette sandstone, which in 

tonishingly ·small when the similarity of con- places carries a few shallow-water marine or 

ditions is remembered: and thus a considerable estuarine invertebrates like Ostrea georgiana 

lapse of time is indicated. . and Oorbula wailesiana, or littoral forms like 

·on the other hand, comparisons between· the Tellina eburniopsis. The Fayette sandstone is 

. flora of the middle Claiborne, as repres~nted by· thin to the vanishing point in western Louisiana 

the plants of the Lisbon formation of the· but thickens toward the southwest until in the 

eastern G~lf ·area, and the flora of the Jack-. Rio Grande region it is 800 ·feet ·thick. The 

son yield very different ~esults. The Lisbon. Fayette is overlain in southwest Texas by the 

flora .comprises 33 species and the Jackson Frio Clay, which has a maximum thickness of 

flora 133 species.· Five of the Lisbon species, 500 feet and contains a few oysters in its lower 

or over i5 per cent (nearly 5 per cent of the part. These days become thinner toward the 

total number of species)' range into the Jackson, northeast and disappear a short distance east 

and between the 90 known Claiborne species of Guadalupe River, where their position is 

and the 133 Jackson species the percentage of occupied by the Catahoula· sandstone, which is 

common forms is nearly 18 per cent, and the obviously littoral and continental in origin and 

Claiborne forms that s_urvive into Jackson time which outcrops from the region of the Guadaamount to 35, o~ more than one-t~ird of the lupe ·eastward nearly to Florida, though it be-

. total known Claiporn~ flora. It will be seen comes much changed in character and age in the. 

that these figures are of a very different order eastern Gulf area. 

of magnitude from those resulting from a com- From the preceding brief sketch it becomes 

parison of the Wilcox and Claiborne floras. obvious that the sequence of events in the 

. T.he. evi9,ence furnishe~ by the marine f~unas western part ~f the area is very different from 

Is nearly as overwhelming as that furnished what it was elsewhere along the periphery of .the 

by the terrestrial floras. Mississippi Gulf. N ow~ere west of the Sabine 

is characteristically. marine Jackson or even 

EVIDENCE OF A TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN marine Oligocene developed, but we have 

THE CLAIBORNE AND JACKSON EPOCHS. , instead a region where. minor fluctuations of 

The· evidence for predicating the southward 

withdrawal of the Claiborne sea and the northward advance. of the early Jackson sea is very 

clear in the region of Mississippi River, and a 

great overlap of the deposits of lower Jackson 

age is known to have· taken place in eastern 

Georgia. No such evidence is available in the 

Alabama region or southeastern Mississippi, 

where marine Jackson rests JJ.pon marine Claiborne without· any apparent break. The se-. 

quence of events in the western. Gulf area is 

somewhat obscure. The fossiliferous greenthe strand line occasionally permitted slight 

influxes of marine waters and the temporary 

presence of oysters and a few. other estuary 

forms, whereas throughout most of the time 

involved t.he region was one of swamps, flood 

plains, and dunes. 

The evidence for a time interval in the area 

near the present Mississippi River is furnished 

by the replaceJ;Ilent of marine Claiborne by the 

palustrine Yegua, followed by a great transgression of the marine lower Jackson . which 

carried marine faunas farther northward than 

they had p~netrated since the basa~ Eocene or 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 29 

Midway epoch.· This evidence is corroborated 

by en·ormous thicknesses of Claiborne that are 

disclosed by well borings in western Mississippi 

.and eastern Louisiana. 

The marine faunas of the Claiborne and 

Jackson await· monographic study. According to C. W .. Cooke, 35 who is wor~ing on this 

problem, there are about 200 species in the 

Jackson fonnation at Jackson, Miss., of which 

. about 49 species survived fr01n Claiborne time. 

Though the two faunas are thus well marked 

there is little change in their facies, for the 

association of genera in each is the sa.me, and 

species 5 come fron1 the Lisbon formation, 5 

f1·on1 the Gosport sand, and 25 from the Y egua 

formation. The large mnnber of Jackson 

species that first appear in the Yegua formation .1nay be partly explained by the greater 

abundance of plant fossils in the Yegua, but 

I am inclined to think that the great thickness of the Y egua in central and southwestern 

Texa~, the ftuctu~ating strand line in that area 

already m.entioned, and the sin1ilar floral characters all indicate that some of the beds now 

referred to the Y egua formation may be of 

Jackson age. 

FIGURE i.-Sketch map showing llindward margin of deposits in lower ·and upper Claiborne· time· and in lower. Jackson time. A-A, Land. 

ward margin of the upper Claiborne deposits. B-B, Landward margin of the low.er Jackson deposits. C- C, Landward margin of tbe 

lower Claiborne deposits. 

the differences ru:e in g~neral specific in character. The immigration of the active ·and pre:-

daceous Zeuglodon into the en1bayment area 

dw·ing Jackson time is a factor of some importance in contrasting the life of the two 

epochs. 

The floras likewise ru:e very sunilar in their 

general facies, and the distinctions are more 

specific than generic. The Claiborne flora, as 

described in this report, nun1bers 90 species. 

Thirty-five of the Jackson species n1ake .their 

apperu:ance in the Claiborne. Of these 35 

sa Cooke, C. W., Correlation of the deposits of Jackson and Vicksburg 

ages in Mississippi and Alabama: Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 8, 

p. 190, 1918. 

The accompanying sketch map (Fig. 1) 

shows the landward margin of the lower and 

upper Claiborne, the area at the head of the 

ernbay1nent that represents a withdrawal of 

ihe sea, and the area in the Carolinas that 

represents a transgression,· according to the 

pi·esent correlation of the beds in · the latter 

area, which is based ·upon paleozoologic evidence, for there are no known floras in this 

region. In Figure 1 I have also endeavored · 

to indicate the margin of the upper Claiborne 

and the Jackson. This sketch map shows a 

marked withdrawal of the Claiborne strand in 

the upper em.bayment and in eastern Texas; 
3 0 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

South North 

Lower Jackson 

Lisbon 

Ostrea sellaeformis zone 

Tallahatta 

FIGURE 2.-Diagram showing movement of strand line and relation of geologic for 

mations in the central area of the MississipJ:i embayment. 

European geology these deposits 

correspond to those _of the Montian, Thanetian, Sparnacian; and 

Y presian stages. Together these 

stages correspond to the Eonummulitic of Haug· (1911), to the 

Suessonian of D'Orbigny, and to 

th.e Paleocene of Schimper (1874) 

(not that of Von Koenen, Dollo, 

and others, which is limited to the 

Montian stage). The Claiborne 

and ·Jackson, · which . are discussed in the present paper, include the rest of the Eocene in 

southeastern North America. 

The deposits of these epochs, together with the intervals between 

the Wilcox and Claiborne and 

between the Claiborne and Jackson, correspond to the Lutetian, 

Auversian (Ermenonvillian), 

Bartonian, and Ludian stages of 

the European section. Together 

these stages correspond to the 

Mesonummulitic of Haug (1911) 

and to the Parisian of D'Orbigny. 

a marked transgression of the lower South 

Jackson in the upper embayment and 

Georgia regions; and. little change in 

the position of the strand, though 

there were more or less minor oscillations, in Alabama, eastern Mississippi, 

and southwestern Texas. 

These movements are indicated diagrammatically in Figure 2 for the cen-

- ~r~l embayment region and in Figure 3 

for the southwestern Texas region. 

Figure 3 gives a somewhat tentative 

portrayal, but the writer believes that 

Figure 2 represents known facts. 

CORRELATION. 

NOMENCLATURE. 

North 

Jackson 

Yegua 

Cook Mountain 

·Mount S.elman 

The Midway 0) and Wilco.x floras, 

·which were discussed in Professional 

Paper 91, indiGate the paleobotanic. 

history of southeastern N <;>rth America 

·during early Eocene time. In terms.of FIGURE 3.-Diagram showing movement·of strand line and relation of 

· geologic formations in the Texas area. · 

.•. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 31 

CORRELATION WITHIN THE CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

The fossil plants have not been found in 

sufficient ab.undance nor widely enough distributed in the deposits of the Claiborne group 

to furnish data for precise correlation in different parts of their area of outcrop. It is possible 

to d.iscri1ninate readily a Claiborne flora from 

one of Wilcox or Jackson age and somewhat 

empirically to differentiate middle from upper 

Glftiborne. The following table shows the distribution of species in the four best-known 

fol'mations of the Claiborne: 

Distrib~ttion of species of plants in the formations of the 

Claiborne gro~tp. · 

Species. Mount Lisbon Yegua. Gosport. S'!lman. · 

----------·1------------- Cladosporites fasciculatus _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Lyg?d~um kau~fussL ____ ------ X X X 

Aneuma eocemca ________ ------ ------ X. ------

Acrostichum georgianum_ ------ X 

Acrostichum hesperium __ ------ ______ X 

X 

Goniopteris claiborniana_ ------ X , X 

Pteris inquirenda ________ ------ X ------ ------

Athrotaxis sp ---------- ------ ------ X · ------ Sequoia langsdorfii_ ___ . __ ------ ______ X 

Glyptostrobus europaeus_ ------ X ------------ Cupressinoxylon dawsonL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Cupressinoxylon arkan- san tn:Q ___________ - - - - - _- - - ·- __ - - _ - X 

Arundo pseudogoeppertL ------ X X 

Canna flaccidafolia ______ ------ ------ X 

X 

Thrinax eocenica ____ ---- (?) X X 

Geonomites claibornensis_ X ------ ------ ------ Bactrites pandanifoli.olus_ _ _ _ _ _ _ X ___________ _ 

Sabalites SP------------ ------------ X 

Palmocarpon SP--------- ------ -----~ X 

Myrica claiborniana _____ ------ ------ ------ X 

Juglans schimperi_ ______ ------ ------ X 

Hicor!a: jackso!liana _____ ------------ X 

Monusta amencana ______ ------ ------ X 

Dryophyllum brevipetio- latum ________________ ------------ X 

Ficus unionensis ____________ ...;_ ------ X 

Ficus 'tmgerL _______ ---- ________ - ________ ...; X 

Ficus newtonensis_______ X X ------ ------

Ficus SP---------------- ------------ X . A ristolochia clai borniana_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Coccolobis claibornensis__ X X X X 

Coccolobis columbianus_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Distribution of species of plants in the formations of the Cla~borne group-Continued. 

Species. S~~~. Lisbon. Yegua. Gosport. 

----------·1------------ Dodonaea viscosoides ___ - _ _ _ _ _ _ X S~pindus georgianus __ _.__ X X 

Sapindus affinis_- __ -- _-- _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Sapindus mississippiensis_ X 

Sapindus yeguanus ______ ------ X 

Sapindus dentoni________ X 

Zizyphus claibornensis___ X 

'Rhamnacinium texanum_ ------ ------ Rhamnus sp ____________ ------ ------ Reynosia texana _________________ - __ 

Grewiopsis claiborniana __ Sterculia labruscoides_ _ _ _ X 

Ternstroemites crowley- ensis ____________ .:. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ _ 

Ternstroemites claibornX 

X 

X 

X 

X 

x. 

X 

X 

X 

X 

ensis ____________ - __ - - ___ - _ - - - - - - X 

X 

Cinnamomum angustum_ ------ X ------ ------ Persea gratissimifolia ___ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X _____ _ 

Persea lexingtonensis_ _ _ _ X X _____ _ 

Oreodaphne obtusifolia___ X __ -- _- Oreodaphne inequilateralis X _ _ _ _ _ _ X _____ -

Mespilodaphne columbiana__________________ X X X X 

Mespilodaphnecaudata__ X ------ X ------ N ectandra gosportensis _ _ X X X 

Nectandra antillanafolia_ X ___ - _-

Nectandraarkansana ____ ------------------ X 

Laurinoxylon baked_____ X ___ - __ Laurinoxylon brannerL _ _ X ____ - _ 

Laurinoxylon les que- reuxiana ____________ - X ------ Terminalia claibornensis_ X _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Myrcia trowbridgi______ X ------------------ Conocarpus eocenicus ___ : X X 

Laguncularia claiborni- ana _______ - - ___ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ - X · Combretum petraflum- cnsis _ .:. _____________ - ___ - _ _ - - - - - - X - - - - - -

Oreopanax mississippi- ense _______________ - ___ - - _ X - --- - - --- - -- Nyssa wilcoxiana _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X --- - - - Nyssa texana _________________ ------ X ------ Mimusops claibornensis_ _ X _____ - Eoachras eocenica__ _ _ _ _ _ X _______ ----- Diospyros brachysepala_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Apocynophyllum texensis X 

Apocynophyllum grevilleX 

X 

afolium ______________ X ------ X ------

15 33 66 15 

Pisonia claiborniana_---- ------ ------ X The only known lower Claiborn!3 plants come 

lngaarkansensis ________ ------------ X from the Mount Selman formation ·m· the Mimosites georgianus____ X X X 

Gleditsiophyllum eoceni- · Coastal Plain m Texas. These are found at 

cac;~i~-c-o-ckfieid.~~~is~::== --~-- ====== ---x-- -----= but few localities, are limited in variety, and 

Copaifera yeguan11------ ------------ X - 'are not especially well preserved. The plants Sophom claiborniana ____ ------ X ------------ f d p 1 f · W bb C t · b d f Sophora wilcoxiana______ ______ ______ x _ oun near a a ox, m e oun y, m e so 

Sophora ballL __________ "----~- ------ X - th1s age are of especi~l interest as they occur 

Fagara claibornensis_____ X X · ------ ------_ within a few feet of the contact of the Mount Fagara petraflumensis _________ .. _ _ _ _ _ X 

Citrophyllum eocenicum_ X X · X X Selman beds with the Wilcox. The fossils 

8~r~~~:ob1l~~~~a~~;ni~~- ------ ------ x - found in the WilGox in that region are entirely 

doides _______________ ------ X · ------ ------ of upper Wilcox age, so that it may be assumed 

Ce~~~;~~ ~~~~ ~ _c~!~~~i~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x _ that the interval between the Wilcox and the 

Euonymus santotomasen- Claiborne here was at least no longer than it sis-------------·-----~------------ X 

Cupanites parvulis ______ ------------ X was m the eastern Gulf area. 
0 

32 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN. NOJ;tTH AMERICA. 

The Mount Selman flora known at the present I that from the locality near Newton, Miss., 

time comprises the following 15 species: which ~s well down in the Lisb?n- formation. 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. The Lisbon and Y egua formati<:ms have 17 

Apocynophyllum texensis? common species. This large number of 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. identical species miaht be expected, for the 

Coccolobis claibornensis. Yegua is partly co~temporaneous with the 

Fagara claibornensis. Lis bon. 

Ficus newtonensis. 

Geonomites claibornensis. The following 6 species are common to the 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum. Lisbon, Gosport, and Yegua: 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

Mespilodaphne caudata. 

Mimosites georgianus~ 

Myrcia trowbridgi. 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis. 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Thrinax eO"cenica? 

Only · two of these species-Geonomites 

claibornensis and ·Myrcia · trowbridgi-are 

peculiar to the Mount Selman, and both 

represent genera not otherwise known in the 

Claiborne, although various species of Myrcia 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Arundo· pseudogoepperti. 

Coccolopis claibornensis. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

N ectandra gosportensis. 

Of these ·the Lygodium has an extensive 

outside distribution and all bl}t the Oitrophyllum and Nectandra range upward into 

tl;le Jackson. The following ·10 Lisbon species 

have not been found elsewhere in the Claiare abundant in the antecedent 'Vilcox and borne: 

occur also in the Jackson. The genus Geonomites is not known from either the Wilcox or 

the Jackson, but it occurs in the Upper 

Cretaceous (Ripley formation) of Tennessee 

and in the .lower Eocene of trans-;I?ecos 

Texas and the Rocky Mountain region. Thus 

. neither· of these genera have any special 

chronologie significance. Most of the remaining Mount Selman forms are common to. the 

Pteris inquirenda. 

Glyptostrobus europaeus. 

Bactrites pai).danifoliolus. 

Sophora claiborniana. 

Celastrophy llum gymindoides. 

Sapindus affinis .. 

Sapindus dentoni. 

Cinnamomum angustum. 

Oreopanax mississippiensis. 

Eoachras eocenica. 

other Claiborne formations, and a considerable Six of the foregoing species occur in the 

number of them extend up into ·the Jackson. Jackson and so can not be regarded as char-

(See table of distribution, pp. 15-17.) The only acteristic of Lisbon age, thus leaving only 

Mount Selman form that might be taken to Bactrites pandanifqliolus, Oelastrophyllum gymindicate early Claiborne age is Gleditsiophyllum indoides, Sapindus affinis, and Eoachras eoceneocenicum, a. common middle and upper ica as distinctive Lisbon species. The Yegua, 

Wilcox species, which is not known from on the other· hand, possibly because it has a 

elsewhere in the Claiborne. larger knoWn flora, has furnished. species 

It seems obvious that during the· Wilcox- which are not yet known from the Lisbon 

Claiborne erp.erge_nce the flora that clothed· or Gosport. Three of these species, however, 

the . shores of the Mississippi embayment are Wilcox forms, and a large number range 

. underwent considerable change, and that upward into ·the jackson. This leaves . the. 

through extinction, evolution, and the intro- following 27 species which are distinctive of 

duction of new types,. principally from the ( the y egua: 

south, the Claiborne introduces us to a 

1'emarkably distinct assemblage, one which 

exhibits striking contr~sts to that of the 

Wilcox, and" that this Claiborne flora changed 

slowly and almost imperceptibly into that of 

the Jackson. 

The lower Claiborne east of the Mississippi 

has thus far failed . to 'yield a flora, the oldest 

known ·Claiborne ;flora in that region ·being 

Acrostichum hesperium. 

Athrotaxis sp. ' 

Sequoia langsdorfii. 

Cupressi'iloxylon dawsoni. 

Cupressinoxylon arkansana. 

Palmocarpon sp. 

Canna flaccidafolia. 

Sabalites sp. 

Ficus sp. 

Aristolochia claiborniana. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 33 

Coccolobis columbi~nus. 

Inga arkansensis. 

Cassia cockfieldensis. 

Sophora balli. 

Copaifera yeguana. 

Celastrophyllum columbianum. 

Euonymus santotomasensis. 

Cupanites parvulis. 

Rhamnacinium texanum. 

Rhamnus sp. 

Reynosia texana. 

Grewiopsis claiborniana. 

Ternstroemites crowleyensis. 

Ternstroemites claibornensis. 

Laurinoxylon bakeri. 

Laurinoxylon lesquereuxiana. 

Mimusops claibornensis. 

a new flora into southeastern North America 

which replaced the flora of the lower Eocene .. 

However, there must have been numerous 

·elements that invaded this region from the. 

south during Claiborne time. Some of these 

forms are probably represented among the 

genera that appear for the first time during the 

Claiborne,. which include Oladosporit.es, .Acrostichum, Goniopteris, Sequoia,_ .Arundo,· Thrinax, 

Bactrites, Momisia, Copaifera, and Eoachras. 

The known Lisbon flora numbers 33 species, 

tha.t of the Yegua 66, and that of the Gosport 

15. Of the 353 species found in the· underlying Wilcox, ·only the following 9 forms occur 

in the Claiborne and the first is confined to 

the Mount Selman formation: 

None of these except the Sequoia and .Arundo . 

are ·known from older deposits anywhere. 

Th~ Cladosporites is negligible, for its discovery is dependent on luck in cutting sections 

of petrified wood. The others appe~r for -the 

·first time, and though all probably came 

northward from th~ 'American Tropics, Thrinax, 

Bactrites, Momisia, Copa_ifera, Eoachras, .Acrostichum, and Gon~opteris appear to have originated in that region. 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum. 

Anemia eocenica. 

Glyptostrobus europaeus. 

The following genera that are recorded from 

the Wilcox have not been discovered in the 

Claiborne: 

Juglans schimperi. Lycopodites. 

Sophora wilcoxiana. Meniphyllioides. 

Sapindus mississippiensis. Asplenium. 

· Oreodaphne obtusifolia. Zamia. 

Diospyros brachysepala. Taxodium. · 

Nyssa wilcoxiana. Pistia. 

The Glyptostrobus and Diospyros are prob-· Araceaeites. 

ably polyn1orphous forms that have ~ very Chamaedorea. 

Nipadites. wide geographic and geologic range and are Paraengelhardtia. 

thus without significance. There results a. Engelhardtia. 

most remarkable floral contrast between the Planera. 

Wilcox and the Claiborne, much greater in .. Hiraea. 

h Banisteria. rHagnitude than t e marine faunas ·show. Crotonophyllum. This great change in the vegetation must have Euphorbiophyllum, 

. tn:kcn place ~n the interval between the Wilcox Drypetes. 

nncl Claiborne· or during the time of deposition Metopium. 

nf- the Tallahatta formation, and it. indicates Anacardites. 

Heterocalyx. n, very considerable lapse of time for the Ilex. 

deposition of the Wilcox and Claiborne com- Maytenus. 

bined, as the Claiborne flora is one that had an . Paliurus. 

environment similar to that of the Wilcox, Sterculiocarpus. 

n.ncl though n1uch less well known the m.ajority Bombacites. 

f l h l h · Artocarpus. o.. t 1e . genera are · t e same, on y t e speCies Pseudolmedia. 

being different. . Palaeodendron. 

The con1position of the floras thus indicates Banksia. 

that the ren1arkable distinctness of the flora Prote<;>ides. 

of the Claiborne when compared with that of Knightiophyllum. 

the vVilcox represented a slow evolution of the Magnolia. Anona. 

Wilcox flora, rather than any sudden altera- Asimina. 

. tion, and not a change due to the invasion of Menispermites. 

Capparis. 

Parrotia. 

Chrysobalanus. 

Prunus. 

Acacia. · 

Pithecolobium. 

Cercis. 

Dalbergia. 

Dalbergites. 

Canavalia. 

Legumin9sites. 

Simaruba. · 

Vantanea. 

Dillenites. 

Calyptranthes. 

Eugenia . 

Combretanthites. 

·Trapa. 

Melal)tomites. 

Aralia. 

Corn us. 

Icacorea. 

Sideroxy Ion. 

Chrysophyllum. 

Bumelia. 

Fraxinus. 

Osmanthus .. 

Echitonium. 

Cordia. 

Citharexylon. 

Avi~ennia. 

Exostema. 

Psychotria. 

Guettarda . 
34 MIDDLE AND UPPER -EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

The following Wilcox genera reappear in the As none of these forms, except the Oitrophyl-· 

Jackson, so that their absence in the Claiborne lum, are very abundant, they may be legiticollections may be regarded as accidental: mately considered diagnostic of the Claiborne. 

Taxodium. Anona. CORRELATION WITH OTHER AREAS. 

Pistia. Banisteria. 

Nipadites. Paliurus. The Claibonie flo~a is so distinctly a flora of _ 

Engelhardtia. Bombacites. the coastal region of the warm,!3r part of North 

Planera. Menispermites. America that it has little in common with the 

Banksia. Leguminosites. Eocene floras that have been described from 

The relation of the Claiborne flora to that other parts of North America. These floras are, 

of the Jackson is, on the other hand, extremely for the riiost part, geographically remote from 

close, for the Yegua and lower Jacks<Jn in the embayment region and are likewise some 

particular ha.ve many species in common. distancefrom the then existing coasts and more 

Of the 90 known Claiborne ·species 35, or or less above sea level. 

about 39 per cent, occur in the Jackson. Of The flora which seems .to offer the most 

the 33 Lisbon species 5 r,ange upward into the points of contact with that of the Claiborne is 

Jackson. Of the 15 known Gosport species 5 are I that of. the Green River formation of the _Green 

found in the Jackson, and '17 of the 66 Yegua River Basin in western Wyoming . 

. species have a similar range. The species which Five of the Claiborne species are found in the 

in.the present state of knowledge serve to dis- Green River formation. These are Acr_ostitingtiish a Claiborne flora from one of fJackson chum hesperium, Arundo pseudogoepperti, Jugage are as follows: lans schimperi, Ficus ungeri, and Sapindus dentoni. Two of these species, Arundo pseudogoepperti and Sapindus dentoni, are also present 

in the Jackson flora of southeastern N or.th 

America, thus leaving three characteristic 

forms that are common to the Claiborne and 

the Green River. This is not a large number 

when it is recalled that the Claiborne flora numbers 90 species and the Green River flora is an 

inland flora of what was probably a mountain 

basin, as it flourished subsequent to the period 

of great orogenic activity that was emphasized 

by the profound unconformity between ·the 

Fort Union and the true Wasatch. Our present 

knowledge of the flora of the Green River formation, with which the flora of the Miocene 

lake beds at Florissant was confused by Lesquereu."'{, is due to the labors of Lesquereux and 

Newberry, published in 1883 and 1898, respectively, and to Knowlton's recent revision. 36 . 

The Green River flora differs from that of the 

Claiborne in its species of Juglans, Quercus, 

Alnus, Salix, Planera, Celtis, Ulmus,· !lex, Acer, 

and .other genera which give it a distinctly 

temperate facies unlike that of the Claiborne, 

although it appeared in a region in· which 

palms and other warm climatic types were 

present. Osborn 37 from a consideration of the 

Acrostichum hesperium. 

Goniopteris claiborniana. 

·Canna flaccidafolia. 

Geonomites claibornensis. 

Bactrites pandanifoliolus. 

Myrica claiborniana. 

Ficus ungeri. 

Fic\lS newtonensis. 

Aristolochia claiborniana. 

Inga arkansensis. 

Cassia cockfieldensis. 

Copaifera yeguana. 

Fagara claibornensis. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum. 

Carapa xylocarpoides. 

Celastrophyllum gymindoides. 

Celastrophyllum columbianum. 

Cupan:ltes parvulis. 

Sapindus affinis. 

Zizyphus claibornensis. 

Reynosia texana. 

Grewiopsis claiborniana. 

Sterculia labruscoides. · 

Ternstroemites crowleyensis. 

Persea gratissimifolia. 

Persea lexingtonensis. · 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis .. 

N ectandra gosportensis. 

Laurin_oxylon blitkeri. 

Laurinoxylon lesquereuxiana. 

Terminalia claibornensis. 

Myrcia trowbridgi. 

Laguncularia claiborniana. 

Mimusops claibornensis. 

Eoachras eocenica. 

as Knowlton, .F. H., Revision of the flora of the Green River formation, 

with descriptions of new species: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 131, 

pp. 133-182, 1923. 

ar Osborn, H . .F., 'l'he age of mammals, p. 42, 1910. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 35 

not especially conclusive vertebrate remains 

correlates the Green River formation with the 

Y presian of the European section. . The floral 

evidence, which is somewhat more conclusive 

than that of the vertebrates, indicates that the· 

Green River is considerably younger than the 

Ypresian. It is not very different in age from. 

the Claiborne but may be partly synchronous 

with the lower Jackson and should probably be 

correlated with the European Bartonian. 

There is no necessity for discussing the extensive flora of the Fort Union formation of the 

Rocky Mountain province, which is so obviously 

older than that of the Claiborne. The species 

that are common to the Claiborne and Fort 

Union are Lygodium kaulfussi, Sequoia langsdor.fii, Glyptost·robus europaeus, Ficus ungeri, 

Sapindus ajfinis, and Diospyros brachysepala. 

All these species except the Sapindus are forn1s 

thn.t have a wide geogrn.phic and geologic 

· range, and n1oreover the Sequoir,L, Glyptostrobus, 

and Diospy1·os are probably polymorphic forms 

and hence are without significance in close 

correlation. 

Eocene pln.nts are abundant at several horizons both east and west of the Cascade :Mountains in the State of Washington. These include those of the Swauk, Roslynr and Manastash formations east of the mountains and the 

Puget group west of the n1ountains. Descriptions of these floras. have never been published, 

and it is. possible that the flora reported from 

the Swauk formation may be of somewhat 

similar age to that of the Claiborne, for it is 

said to contain a remarkable array ot palms and 

numet'ous tropical American types. 38 

Extensive Eocene floras have been described 

by Knowlton30 fron1 the John Day Basin in 

Oregon. These :floras occur at two hor.lzons. 

.The oldest flora, which is known a,s the lower 

Cla.rno, is correla.ted by Knowlton with the 

Fort Union and comprises walnuts, willows, 

oaks, 1nagnolias, and other forms that n.re indica.tive of a· cooler cliinn.te than thn.t of the 

Cla.iborne. The only species com1non to the 

two iioras is Lygodi'lMn lca'l.(,lfv,ssi, which has a 

wide geographic and geologic range and is thus 

of slight significance .. 

as K.nowlton,-F. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Mount Stuart 

folio (No. lOG), 1904. .-

av Knowlton, F. H., Fossil flora or tho John Day· Basin, Oreg.: U. S. 

Goo!. Survoy Bull. 204, 1902. 

The younger of the two Eocene iioras of 

Oregon, that of the upper Clarno, has been 

compared by Knowlton to that of the Green 

River formation. It includes the number of 

species indicated in the following genera: 

Acer, 2. 

Ailanthus, 1. 

Alnus, 5. 

Berberis, 1. 

Betula, 4. 

Carpinus, 1. 

Cassia, 1. 

Cinnamomum, 1. 

Corylus, 1. 

Crataegus, 1. 

Ficus, 1. 

Fraxinus, 2. 

Grewia, 2. 

Hicoria, 1. 

Juglans, 4. 

Liquidambar, 1. 

Myrica, 1. 

Platanus, 2. 

Quercus, 7. 

Rhamnus, 1. 

Sapindus, 1. 

Sequoia, 2. 

Ulmus, 2. 

These forms are obviously temperate types,· 

and the only form common to the Claiborne 

is the wide-ranging" Sequoia langsdor.fii, which 

is without significance. Therefore, if the upper 

Cla.rno flora is of nearly the same age as the Claiborne-a point which is by no means settled, as 

it may be considerably younger-it lived in a 

very different environment and had a totally 

different botanic facies. . 

To the northward along. the Pacific coast 

there is the so-called Kenai flora of Alaska, 

which is evidently a part of that extensive 

tmnperate flora that· flourished throughout the 

Arctic regions during the late Eocene and possibly extended into the Oligocene. Although 

this Alaskan :flora is being studied by Hollick, 

present comparisons rest on the older work of 

Heer, 40 Lesquereux:, 41 and Knowlton. 42 The 

only two Claiborne species that are found in 

the Alaska Tertiary are Sequoia langsdor.fii and 

Glyptostrobus europaeus, both of which are 

probably polymorphic, and both ranged all 

over the Northern IIemisphere and lived 

thrbughout the Tertiary. They are therefore 

withou~ significance. 

The Tertiary flora of Alaska is extensive, 

and when the recent collections of the Geological Survey have been described many new 

species will presumably be brought to light. 

40 Heer, Oswald, Flora rossilis arctica, Band 2, 1871. 41 LosqueretL"X, Leo, Contribution. to the Miocene flora or Alaska: U.S. 

Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 5, pp. 443-449,-pls. 1-5, 1883. 

·• 42 Knowlton, F .. H., A review of the fossil flora of Alaska, with descrip· · 

twns of new speclCs: U.S. Nat. :llfus. Proc., vol. 17, pp. 207-240, pl. 9, 

1895; Report on coal and lignite of Alaska (by W. II. Dall): U.s. Geol. 

. Survey Seventeo~th Ann. Rept., pt. 1, p. 876, 1896; Fossil plants from 

Ku Kak Bay: Alaska, ·vol. 4, pp. 149-162, pls. 22-33, Harriman Alaska 

Expedition, 1904. 
36 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

The .Alaska flora· is essentially a temperate 

flora that has an abundan.ce of conifers (Picea, 

Pinus, Sequoia, Taxodium, Glyptostrobus, Taxites, and others) arid many species and a great 

individual abundance of Populus, Salix, Fagus, 

Quercus,Betula, Ooryltts,Alnus, Juglans, Ulmus, 

Acer, Vaccinium, and other forms. There are 

somewarmertypes,suchasFicus,Pterospermites,· 

Diospyros, Zizyphus, and similar forms, but 

they lack the climatic significance of the preceding groups and represent northward extensions into a region that is characterized by a 

temperate climate, a long growing season, and 

heavy rainfall. · 

The Arctic flora found at the mouth of the 

·Mackenzie, in Greenland, Grinnell Land, Spitz.._ 

bergen, Franz Josef ·Land, throughout Siberia, 

and elsewhere, generally associated with great 

igneous activity and basic rocks, does not require any extended analysis here. The flora 

of the west coast of Greenland and Disco 

Island will indicate sufficiently the general 

character of these remarkable polar floras. 

The Greenland flora, a knowledge of which we 

owe almost· entirely to the labors of Heer, 

consists of 282 species. It includes 19 ferns, 

28 conifers-Taxites, Tumion, Ginlcgo, Juniperus, Libocedrus, . Thuya, ·Widdringtonia, Taxodium, Glyptostrobus, Sequoia (6 species), and 

Pinus (6 .species)-21 monocotyledons, including two. palms, and a vast abundance of dicotyledonous leaves of Populus, Salix, Myrica, 

Alnus, Oorylus, Fagus, Castanea, Quercus (15 

species), Ulmus, Platanus, Juglans (9 species), 

Lauraceae (7 species), Andromeda (5 species), 

Fraxinus, Viburnum, Oornus, Nyssa, Vitis, 

Magnolia (6 species), Acer (5 species), !lex, 

OelastT'I.ts; Rhamnus, Rhus, Orataegus, and 

other fonns.. No attempt is made to reyise 

H:eer's determinations, although several-for 

example, his identifications of palms-have an 

extremely slight basis. · 

This ·flora has always excited the utmost interest. It was long considered to be of lower 

Miocene (Aquitanian) age-placed by some in 

the Oligocene-but Saporta and after him 

Stark_ie Gardner pointed· out its earlier age. 

It has been generally considered to. be of 

·Eocene or Oligocene age in recent years, 

although according to Menzel 43 two horizons. 

are represented, one Eocene and the other 

•a Menzel, P., Ueber arktische Fossilflora: Freiberger geol. Gesell. 

Jahresber. 3, pp. 46-49, 1910. 

upper Oligocene. This statement appears to 

be based on no critical study of the flora but 

on Nathor$t!s separation of the Arctic Tertiaryfloras into a" pre basaltic" and a" younger 

basaltic" stage. 

This display of temperate forest types at 

a latitude 20° to 25° north of their present 

limits and almost at the pole itself is an 

excuse for mentioning it in this report. There 

is no adequate basis for direct comparison 

between it and the Claiborne flora, but it 

seems clearly probable that the period of 

warm climate in southeastern North America, 

whicl;l commenced . with the upper Claiborne 

and . extended through the Jackson and Vicksburg, represents. the time· of the great Arctic 

extension of the temperate flora. This climatic 

amelioration in the embayment region, as 

attested by both the marine faunas and ter- · 

restrial floras, reached its culmination in post-

·Claiborne time in the Jackson and Vicksburg, · 

arid therefore the Arctic Tertiary flora is somewhat younger than the Claiborne. 

COMPARISON WITH EUROPEAN FLORAS. 

The middle and upper Eocene floras of 

Europe are not as extensive as might be 

wished, and where extensive plant beds occur 

at these horizons they are either undescribed, 

like those of the south of England, or very 

inadequately described and illustrated, like 

those of Venice in Italy. The middle Eocene 

in Europe .was a time of positive movement of · 

the .strand line. Europe was separated ·from 

Asia by a broad arni of the sea which extended 

in the Ural region ·northward to the Arctic· 

Ocean; and a great mediterranean sea extend!3d.northward in Russia to latitude 60° and 

southward f1:om Vienna to Khartum; Britain 

~nd Spain were islands; the Caucasus region 

was an island over 250 miles from the nearest 

shores; the Carpathian-Balkan region was a 

large island,· as was the core of the Swiss Alps; 

France was part of a peninsula that extended 

from the Vosges region south and southwest to 

Gibraltar and embraced a part of Corsica and 

Sardinia; and a broad strait, 175 miles wide, · 

separated the southernmost ~nd of the peninsula from the African shore. The broad mediterranea-n sea extended across northern Africa 

and eastward through Asia. This middle Eocene transgression was not especially favorable. 

for the preservation of either terr.estrial floras 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CUIBORNE FLORA~ 37 

or faunas, but the seas abounded in marine life, 

ttnd eventually intercontinental correlations 

by the faunal criteria will be possible. 

Bureau 44 has described a few plants, including Pandanus, Flabellaria, Sabal, Yucca, and 

Nuphar, from these beds in the Paris Basin; 

and at l''rocadero, near Paris, an estuary flora, 

largely undescribed but including Euphorbiophyllum, Nerium, Ottelia, Pandanus, Nipadites, Zizyphus, and other forms, has been 

recorded. 

In the south of England the plants· of the 

Bagshot sands and Bournemouth clays have 

never been carefully described, although the 

fetns ·and gymnosperms were rather fully 

treated by Ettingshausen and Gardner. The 

ferns number 18 species and include a fine 

Acrostichum, a tropical Gleichenia, a striking 

Goniopteris, ,a. ·species· of Hetvardia close to 

existing forms of Central America, the same 

species of Lygodium that occurs in the Claiborne, and several other genera. of a tropical 

character. The conifers include Araucaria, 

Glyptostrobus, P'inus, Podocarpus, Athrotaxis, 

n.nd Sequoia. The palms, which are stili undescribed, are said .to include Iriartaea, Phoenix, 

Onlamus, and Nipa. The dicotyledons, of 

which there ·are many, all undescribed, are said 

to 'in~lude Ficus, Myrica, Oinnamomum; Dioscorec~J, and the tropical genus Godoya. 

The lower Lutetian flora from the classic 

locality. of Monte Bolca in Venice, Italy, is the 

most extensive flora known from this horizon. 

As somewhat ~verelaborated by Massalongo,45 

it contains 125 species. SL'\: of these are 

gyn1nosperms (5 species of Podocarpus and 1 

species of Taxodium). There are 33 monocotyledons, mostly of slight value, and few 

palms. There are 86 dicotyledons and no 

ferns, n.nd the general facies is not only very 

different from that of the Claiborne flora but 

almost equally unl~ke the flora of the upper 

· Lutetian of Italy. 

The upper Lutetian flora of N ovale in 

Venice is quite different from the lower 

44 Btll'Oau, Edouard, Etudes sur la fiorc fossil du calcaire grossier 

parisien: Soc. philomathique (Paris) Mem. Crnt., pp. 235-264, pls. 22-2.3, 

1888. 

•~ Massalongo, Abramo, Schizzo geognostico :;ulla valle del J;'rogno o 

torrente d'lilasi, con nn saggio sopra la flom primordiale del Monte 

Bolca, Verona, 1850; Monografia delle Nercidi fossili del M~nte Bolca, 

Verona, 1855; Vorlii.uftge Nach_richt tiber die neueren paliiontologischen 

Entdeckun~en am Monte Bolen, Neue§ Jahrb., 1857, pp. 775-778. 

Lutetian flora just mentioned. As elaborated 

by Visiani and Massalongo 46 it contains 138 

species.· These forms include 5 thallophytes; 

4 ferns, including Acrostichum and Pteris; 4 

gymnosperms; .15 monocotyled"ons, including 

Arundo and Potamogeton; and many dicotyledons. There are 23 species of Leguminosae and 

species of ;Myrica, Ficus, Laurus, Oinnamomum, Sapindus, Oupanites,. Oelastrus, Zizyphus, 

Aralia,, Eugenia, Myrcia, Dalbergia, Oaesalpinia, Cassia, Inga, B'ltmelia, Diospyros, and 

other genera. 

This flora is distinctly like that of the Claiborne in its general composition, and the sanie 

remark is true of the. small ·florules from the 

Auversian of Ronca, Vegroni, and other localities in Venice, which include species of 

Acrostichum, Ooccolobis, Laurus, Terminalia, 

A pocynophyllum, OinTJ,amomum, Dombeyopsis, 

and other genera. · 

It seems conclusive that the Claiborne flora 

is younger than the known lower Lutetian 

floras, b~ it shows considerable resemblance 

to floras from the upper Lutetian and Auversian ( = Ermenonvillian). I therefore reach 

the conclusion, admittedly tentative, that the 

known Claihorne flora of sou the as tern North 

America indicates an age corresponding to the 

Auversian stage (Dollfus, 1880) of European 

geology (=Lower Bartonian, Munier-Chalmas 

and . De Lapparent, 1893; Ermenonvillian, 

Dollfus, · 1880; Valoisian, Paul Combes fils, 

1906; and Ledian, Mourlon, 1883). 

THE FLORA. 

THALLOPHYTA. 

Fungi: 

Pyrenomycetes (?) : 

Cladosporites fasciculatus Berry. 

PTERIDOPHYTA. 

Filicales: 

Schizaeaceae: 

Lygodium kaulfussi Heer. 

Aneimia eocenica Berry. 

Polypodiaceae: 

Acrostichum georgian urn Berry. 

Acrostichum hesperium Newberry. 

Goniopteris claiborniana Berry. 

Pteris inquirenda Berry. 

46 Visiani, Roberto, and Massalongo, Abramo, Synopsis plantarum 

florae tertiariae novalcnsis: Flora (new scr.), Jahrg. 12, vol. I, No. 8, 

pp. 113-124, Regensburg, 1854; Flora de terreni tcrziarii di Novale nel 

Vicentino: R. Accad. sci. Torino Mcm., 2d ser., vol. 17, pp. 199-244, 

pls. 1-13, (1856), 1858. 
38 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTER;N" NORTH AMERICA. 

SPERMATOPHYTA. 

Gymnospermae: 

Pinaceae: 

Coniferales: 

Athrotaxis sp. 

Sequoia langsdorfii (Brongniart) Heer. 

Glyptostrobuse uropaeus (Brongniart) 

Heer. 

Cupressinoxylon dawsoni Penhallow. 

Cupressinoxylon arkansanum Knowlton. 

AN GIOSPERMAE. 

Monocotyledonae: 

Poales: 

Poaceae: 

Arundo .pseudogoepperti BerrY. 

Sci taminales: 

Cannaceae: 

Canna •flaccidafolia Berry. 

Arecales: 

Arecaceae: 

Sabalites sp. 

Thrinax eocenica Berry. 

Geonomites claibornensis Berry. 

Bactrites pandanifoliolus Berry. 

Palmoxylon lacunosum (Unger) Felix .. 

Palmocarpon sp. 

Dicoty ledonae: 

Choripetalae: 

J uglandales: 

J uglandaceae: 

Juglans schimperi Lesquereux. 

Hicoria jacksoniana Berry. 

Myricales: 

Myricaceae: 

Myrica claiborniana Berry. 

Fagales: 

Fagaceae: 

Dryophyllum. brevipetiolatum Berry. 

Urticales: 

Ulmaceae: 

Momisia americana Berry .. 

Moraceae: 

Ficus un1onensis Berry. 

Ficus ungeri Lesquereux. 

Ficus newtonensis Berry. 

Ficus sp. (fruit). 

Aristolochiales: 

Aristolochiaceae: 

.Aristolochia claiborniana Berry. 

. Polygonales: 

Polygonaceae: 

Coccolobis claibornensis. Berry. 

Coccolobis co.lumbianus Berry~ 

Chenopodiales: 

N yctaginaceae: 

Pisonia claiborniana Berry. 

Rosales: 

Mimosaceae: 

Inga arkansensis .Berry. 

Mimosites georgian us Berry. 

Caesalpiniaceae: 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum Berry. 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

· Choripetalae~Continued. 

Rosales-Continued. 

Caesalpiniaceae-Contin ued. 

Cassia c·ockfieldensis Berry. 

Copaifera ye.guana Berry. 

Papilionaceae: 

Sophora claiborniana Berry. 

Sophora balli Berry. 

Sophora wilcoxiana Berry . 

. Geraniales: 

Rutaceae: 

Fagara claibornensis Berry. 

Fagara petraflumensis Berry. 

Citrophyllum eocenicum Berry. 

Meliaceae: 

Cedrela jacksoniana Berry. 

Carapa xylocarpoides B.erry. 

Sap in dales: 

Celastraceae: 

Celastrophyllum gymindoides Berry. 

Celastrophyllum columbianum Berry. 

Euonymus santotomaserisis Berry. 

Sa pindaceae.: 

Cupanites parvulis Berry. 

Dodonaea viscosoides Berry. 

Sapindus georgian us Berry. 

Sapindus affinis Newberry. 

Sapindus mississippiensis Berry. 

Sapindus yeguanus Berry. 

Sapindus dentoni Lesquereux. 

Rhamnales: 

Rhamnaceae: 

Zizyphus claibornensis Berry. 

Rhamnacinium texanum Penhallow. 

Reynosia texana Penhallow. 

Rhamnus sp. 

Malvales: 

Tiliaceae: 

Grewiopsis claiborniana Berry. 

Sterculiaceae: 

Sterculia labruscoides Berry. 

Pa~etales: 

Ternstroemiaceae: 

Ternstroemites crowleyensis Berry. 

Ternstroemites claibornensis Berry. 

Thymeleales: 

Lauraceae: 

Cinnamomum angustum Berry . 

Persea gratissimifolia Berry. 

Persea lexingtonensis Berry. 

Oreodaphne obtusifolia Berry. 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis Berry. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana Berry. 

Mespilodaphne caudata Berry. 

N ectandra gosportensis Berry. 

N ectandra antillanafolia Berry. 

·Nectandra arkansana Berry. 

Laurinoxylon bakeri Berry .. 

Laurinoxylon branneri Knowlton. 

Laurinoxylon lesquereuxiana Knowlton. · 
MIDDLB EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE :FLORA. 39 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

Myrtales: 

Myrtaceae: 

Myrci~ trowbridgi Berry. 

Combretaceae: 

Terminalia claibornensis Berry. 

Conocarpus eocenicus Berry. 

Combretum petraflumense Berry. 

Laguncularia claihorniana Berry. 

U m bellales : 

Araliaceae: 

Oreopanax mississippiensis Berry. 

Cornaceae: 

Gamopetalae: 

Nyssa texana Berry. 

Nyssa wilcoxiana Berry. 

Ebenales: 

Sapotaceae: 

Mimusops claibornensis Berry. 

Eoachras eocenica Berry. 

Ebenaceae: 

Diospyros brachysepala Alexander 

Braun. 

Gentianales: 

Apocynaceae: 

Apocynophyllum texensis Berry. 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium 

Berry. 

Phylum T.HALLOPHYTA. 

Class FUNGI. 

Order PYRENOMYCETES (1). 

Genus CLADOSPORITES Felix. 

Cladosporites fasciculatus Berry. 

Plate II, Figures 1, 2. 

Clad~sporites jasciculatus Berry, Mycologia, vol. 8, p. 

77, pl. 182, figs. 1, 2, 1916. 

}.{ycelium intracellular, in the vessels of the 

secondary wood, attached to the vessel walls 

by haustoria, and forming small fasciculate, 

apparently u~branched tufts, which project 

freely into the vessel <?avity. The hyphae are 

thin, 1wd most of them taper somewhat 

distad, although some of then1 taper proximad. 

Septa were not observed. In· only one slide· 

was a distal branch observed (Pl. II, fig. 2). 

Althouah there are some hundreds of tufts of b . 

this fungus in the slides examined, only two of 

then1 show conidia (Pl. II, fig. 1). The conidia 

n.re tern1inal, fusifonn in outline, and differ 

~omewhat in · length. They .appear. to be 

simple, and· I am unable to. assert positively 

that they are cut off from the hyphae by septa, 

although I imagined that I saw such septation. 

The hyphae average about 0.0013 millimeter in 

diameter and the conidia ·range from 0.002 by· 

0.004 millimeter to 0.002 by 0.012 millimeter. 

It is found in exceeding abundance in silicified specimens of lauraceous wood from the 

middle Eocene (Yegua formation of the Clai:-

borne group) of Texas and the upper Eocene 

(Jackson) of Mississippi and Texas and is unlike any previously recorded fossil forms. I 

do not know its botanic affinity, and rather 

than multiply generic terms of unknown botanic 

value I have preferred to refer it to Felix's 

genus Oladosporites, in view of the resemblance 

of the species to the existing Cladosporium 

herbarum (Persoon) Link. 

Associated with this species are rambling 

mycelial hyphae, which clamber over the vessel wa.lls. These hyphae bear nun1erous antheridia and oogonia or sclerotia, and their 

characteristic appearance is shown in Plate II, 

Figure 1. I do not consider it worth while to 

attempt to name or describe them. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, on the second· 

creek crossing the northeast-southwest road 

that is parallel \vith Cane Creek on the north 

and about half a mile distant from it (No. 219) ;. 

also at Westmoreland Bluff (No. 232); both localities near Trinity River, Houston County, 

Tex. 

Phylum PTERIDOPHYTA. 

Order FILICALES. 

Family SCHIZAEACEAE. 

Genus LYGODIUM Swart~. 

Lygodium kaulfussi Heer. 

Plate III, Figures 1, 5. 

Lygodium kaulfussi Heer, Beitrage zur nahern Kenntnisse der sachsisch-thi.iringischen Braunkohle, 

P: 3, pl. 8, fig. 21; pl. 9, fig. 1, 1861. 

Gardner and Ettingshausen, British Eocene flora, 

vol. 1, p·. 47, pL7, figs. 1, 3-8; pl. 10, fig:ll, 1880; 

idem, p. 67, pl. 13, figs. 8, 9, 1882. 

Friedrich, Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Tertiarflora 

der Provinz Sachsen, pp. 13; 80, pl. 7, fig. 11, 

1883. 

Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 11, p. 24, 

1888. 

Newberry, U.S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 1, pl. 62, 

figs. 1-4, 1898. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, p. 672, pl. 

80, figs. 1-3, 1899; U.S. GeoL Survey Bull. 204, 

p. 21, 1902. 

Lygodium neuropteroides Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and 

Geog .. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1870, p. 384, 

1871; The Tertiary flora, p. 61, pl. 5, figs. 4-7; 

pl. 6, fig. 1, 1878. 
40 MIDDLE AND UPPER BOC.i<JNE ELORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

fAneimia kaulfussi Crie, Rech~rches sur la vegetation It was discovered at Barrel Springs, Wyo., 

de I' ouest de la France a l'epoque tertiaire, p. in shales that were long thought to be of Green 

22, pl. A, figs~ 2, 3, 1877. 

?A.splenites allosuroides Unger, Die fossile Flora von River age but that are not now considered 

Sotzka, p. 25, pl. 1, figs. 1-3, 1850. to be a part of that formation. The exact 

f A.spl'enites prae-allosuroides Gardner· and Ettingshau.;. age· is unknown but is probably middle or 

sen, British Eocene flora, vol 1, P· 34, pl. 3, upper Eocene ... The species, which is present 

figs. 1' 2, 1879; idem, P· 68, 1882· in. great abundance,· was originally described 

Heer thus described this species in 1861: , .by Lesquereux as Lygodium neuropteroides. 

L. foliis lobatis (?); lobis lanceolatis, crenulatis, . Gardner in his discussion of the ferns of the 

nervo medio ceteris p~ul~ fortiq~e, nerv~s secundariis,: British Eocene ·says that Lesquereux had 

angulo peracuto egredientibus, .diChotomis. : material from Bournemouth and stated in a 

The foregoing incomplete diagnosis was letter that the American form was ''positively 

framed for the imperfect type material from· identical~' with the European, and Newberry 

the south German "brown coal." The species: came to the same conclusion.4.7 Fructifimihas subsequently been reported from a large: tions are associated with these sterile pinnules 

number of localities .and horizons both in this at· several localities. The American material 

country and abroad. It may be redescribed as' is identical with the European in the character 

follows: of the fertile pinnules and in the venation O·f 

Twining or climbing· ferns that bear sterile the sterile pinnules. The sterile pinnules are 

pinriules proximad and fertile pinnules with in general broader and more obtuse in the 

much reduced· laminae in terminal panicles.· American material. The species is exceedingly 

:Indusia attached by their broad bases to-short' abundant. in the Eocene of Wyoming. It has 

oblique veirilets of the greatly reduced laminae, also been recorded from the Eocene of the 

. of the fer~ile pinnules, imbricated and .scale-· Pacific coast and from the Fort Union of 

Ji:ke exactly as in our existing Lygodium palma-: Wyoming, and I fail to find specific differences 

tum Swartz, the· only· observable :difference· between these specimens ·and .those from the 

being the greater reduction of. the laminae in Claiborne. The species has· not been found. 

Lygodium kaulfussi. Sterile pinnules variable in· abundance in the Claiborne, probably. 

in size and outline; ·digitately bipartite, tripar-. because the small collections which have been 

tite, quadripartite, or quinquepartite; more or made come for the most part from unfavorable 

less cordate at the base~ Lobes are unequal deposits.. It occurs in considerable numbers 

in length and diverge at different angles, are· but in a fragmentary condition ·in the Gosport 

usually obtusely rounded distad, although. some. sand at Claiborne Landing on Alabama River 

of them taper instead of being linear-oblong; and in a railroad cut 3!- miles east of Newton, 

and are somewhat widened at the base and Miss., where it 'i~ associated with a species of 

separated by deep, angular or na..rrowly rounded' Modiola. The bed at the locality in Mississippi 

sinuses. The margins are more or less undu- is above the Tallahatta formation and below 

late and in some specimens show very broad the Ostrea · sellaeformis zone and thus lies in 

and very shallow crenations. ·Texture coria-' the lower part of the so-called calcareous· 

· ceous. ·Venation clearly defined and strong. Claiborne, or in·what .corresponds to the. Lisbon 

· Two main primaries diverge from the base and formation of western Alabama. Two other 

give off subba.sally a primary for each lobe, and. species of Lygodium are known from the 

all become lost in t.hc apex of the lobes by embayment area~Lygodium binervatum (Lesrepeated branching. The secondaries are close, quereux) Berry, a Wilcox species, which is 

diverge at narrow angles, and eurve outward. distinguishable . by its robust form, its two 

They may be several times narrowly forked, a relatively· short and broad ·lobes, and its 

feature that depends on their position and stouter and more open venation and more 

length, and are thin but sharply defined elonga~e fertile pinnules; and Lygodium misthro·ughout thei1~ whole course, terminating in sissippiensis Berry, from the upper Vicksburg 

· . the margins. of Mississippi; which is distinguishable by. its 

.The present species has. been rec·orded from very small size an.d bilobate form. The 

a number .of European localities. and ranges · n Newberry, J'. s., The later extinct floras of North America: U.S. 

in age· from the Lutetian to the Aquitanian. oeoi. survey Mon. 35, p. 3, 18QS •. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. . 41 

id.entification of Lygodium lcaulfussi in the 

upper Claiborne is of especial interest from its 

abundance in the Eocene of the Rocky Mountain province and also from its prominence in 

European middle and upper Eocene floras. 

The genus Lygodium has between 20 and 

30 existing species in the warmer parts of both 

hemispheres and extends outside the subtropical zone into the warmer temp.erate regions in southern Japan (Lygodium japonicum 

Swartz), in northern New Zealand (Lygodium 

articulatum Richard) , and in eastern North 

America, where Lygodi1..tm palmatum Swartz 

ranges as far northward as the southern New 

England States. All the modern forms are 

lianas, either climbing or twining, and some 

of the tropical species are said to exceed a 

hundred· feet in length. The Tertiary forms 

probably shared this habit. The present 

species occurs sparingly in the Forest I·Iill 

(''Madison") sand of :Mississippi. 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, ClQ.iborne Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). Lisbon formation, on Alabama .& 

Vicksburg Railway 31 miles east of Newton, 

Newton Cou:nty, Miss. (collected by T. I-I. 

· Aldrich). Yegua :formation, 1 mile below head 

of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, I-Iouston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Genus ANEIMIA Swartz. 

Aneirnia eocenica Berry. 

Aneimia eocenica Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 91, p. 164, pl. 9, fig. 7; pl. 10, fig. 2; pl. 

11, figs. 1, 2, 1916. 

Characte·r of frond unknown, but it is stipate, 

dichotomous, and bipinnate or tripinnate in 

the closely allied· species Aneimia subcretacea 

(Saporta) Gardner and Ettingshausen,48 which 

. is a widely distributed and well-known species 

that ranges in Europe from the base of the 

Eocene as high as the Lutetian and is .more 

abundant at the later rather than the earlier 

horizons. Pinnae ovate-lanceolate, pinnately 

divided almost to the rachis into lanceolate 

lobes. The lobes are attached very obliquely 

by their entire base,· though possibly those 

lower dowri on the frond may have had a narrower base and been free pinnules; and are 

more or less confluent, becoming more and 

48 Gardner, J. S., and Etdngshauson, C. von, British Eocene flora, voi. 

1, pt. 2, p. 41S, pis. 8, o, 1880. 

more confluent distad. The ·angle of d.lvergence is about 20° or less and becomes more 

acute distad. Lobes linear-l~nceolate, sharply 

pointed, with distant serrate teeth, commonly 

in pairs, decurrent, and separated by narrow 

acute sinuses. Texture coriaceous. Rachis 

slender, flexuo·us, prominent on the lower surface of the pinnae. The midrib of the lobes 

(pinnules) diverges :fro~ the rachis at a very 

acute· angle (between 5° and 10°) near the 

lower decurrent margin and curves outward 

and retains its identity nearly to the tip of the 

lobe, although it becomes reduced by repeated 

branching. Commencing at the base on the 

outer side alternate branches are given off on 

each side of the midrib at a narrow angle, and 

these are almost straight and all branch dichotomously, and the distal branch usually forks 

before reaching the margin, whereas the proximal one commonly remains simple. There are 

five or six of these branches on each side. The 

veins are thin but distinct, and all terminate 

in the margin, one entering each marginal 

tooth. There are 6 or 8 marginal teeth on 

each margin, comnionly in pairs, somewhat 

irregularly spaced, and in general becoming 

closer distad. These teeth are distinctly serrated, and the point.s are produced and directed 

upward. The· apex of the lobe is gradually 

narrowed and acuminate. 

The present species is closely allied to 

Aneimia subcretacea, which has been previously 

mentioned and which was described originally 

·from the Paleocene of France by Sa porta 49 as 

Asplenium S?..tbcretaceum. Shortly afterward 

Lesquereux described a form which subsequently was correlated with this same species 

as Gymnogramma haydeni.50 This species came 

from the divide between Snake River and Y ellowsto:rie Lake. The beds at this· locality, 

which has never been -rediscovered, were formerly ~ssumed to be Laramie, although they. 

may be basal E.ocene. In 1880 Gardner and 

Ettingshausen, who had abundant remains from 

th~ middle Bagshot beds of the south of England, 

were able to associate these occurren9es and to 

prepare a full account of the species. The 

present species, though close to this widespread 

49 Sa porta, 0. de, Prodrome d'une fiorefossile destravertins anciens de 

S~zanne: Soc. g~ol. France M:~m., 2d ser ., vol: 8, p. 315, pl. 23, fig. 4, 1868. 

~o Lesquereux, Leo, Enumeration and description of the fossil plants 

from the specimens obtained in the exploratioqs of Dr. F. V. Hayden, 

1870and 1871: U.S. Oeol. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1871, p. 205, 1872; 

The Tertiary flora, p. 59, pl. 5, figs, 1-'3, 1878 (not The Cretaceous and 

Tertiaryfloras,p.l22, pl.lO,fig.2, 1883, whichiaaPteri8). 
4.2 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA . 

. ' 

lower and middle Eocene form, differs suffi- sen); ·1 mile southwest of Antioch, Houston 

ciently to warrant ·its description as a closely County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

allied but distinct form. The lobes in Aneimia Collection: U. S. National Museum.· 

eocenica are narrower, inore ascending, and 

acuminate and not abruptly and more or less 

obtusely pointed,. as in Lesquereux's material, 

al).d its venation is much more open. Though 

the lobes of some of the English ma~erial are as 

slender, all of the foreign material as well as the 

western material has crenate or dentate teeth, 

. which pass gradually into rounded distal lobes. 

In Aneimia eocenica, on the other hand, the 

lobes preserve their character distad, and all 

have distinctly serrate te.eth that are more or 

less produced upward. · 

Gardner in his work on the English rna terial 

submitted either specimens or plates to Saporta, Heer, Stur, and Lesquereux, and the first 

and last authors both agreed that their material 

from France and America, respectively, was 

identical with the English rna terial. These 

studen.ts did not agree, however, on Gardner's 

reference to Aneimia, for Saporta inclined to-

. ward a new genus allied to Todea and Stur suggested Osmunda. Heer also opposed Aneimia, 

. and Lesquereux thought that his material was 

more closely allied to Gymnogramme tartarea 

. Desvaux, of tropical America. · 

Though the majority of existing spec.ies of 

Aneimia are rather different in appearance, the 

subgenus Aneimiorrhiza J. Smith, especially 

the exclusively American section Cuneatae 

Prantl, including Aneimia cicutaria Kuntze 

and Aneimia adiantijolia Swartz of the American Tropics, is very much like these two fossil 

species, Gardner having first pointed out the 

resemblance between Aneimia subcretacea and 

Aneimia adiantijolia. The latter is found as 

far northward as southern peninsular Florida 

and is referred by Underwood to the genus 

Ornithopteris Bernhardi. 

The present species is sparingly represented 

in the late middle Wilcox of the upper part of 

the Mississippi embayment, and fragmentary 

. specimens are abundant in the buff, finely sandy 

clays ·of the Claiborne of Texas. A closely 

allied species occurs in the Raton formation of 

the southern Rocky Mountain Province. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, l mile below 

mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorado River, Fayette 

County, Tex. {collected by Alexander· DeusFamily POLYPODIACEAE. 

Genus ACROSTICHUM Linne. 

Acro~tichum georgian urn Berry. 

Acrostichum georg1:anum Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 133, pl. 27, fig. 1, 1814. 

Frond large, pinnate 0). Pinnae· thin but 

coriaceous, oblong - lanceolate, inequilateral, 

with an entire. undulating margin, an obtusely 

rounded apex, and a narrowed ( ~) base, about 

2.5 centimeters wide and of unknown length, 

presumably about 10 to 12 centimeters. The 

pinnae range considerably more and less than 

these dimensions, but all the collected n1aterial 

is fragmentary, and in some of the fragn1ents 

the thin stiff edges ·are folded over, which 

indicates possibly a greater width. Midvein 

stout. Lateral veins numerous, 1 millimeter 

or less apart,· very fine, intricately anastomosing, branching from the midvein at acute 

angles, the. angle dependent upon their situation in the basal or apical part of the pinna . 

The basal veins subtend angles of about 

60°, but those in the apex approach a position almost parallel withthemidvein; the inter-. 

mediate· ones branch at a very acute angle 

and immediately diverge outward, their general. 

direction being about 50 degrees fron1 that of 

the midvein. Areolation consists of slightly 

elongated 5-sided or 6-sided meshes. · 

This handsome species is unfortunately 

based upon fragments, which are, however, 

very abundant in beds of lower ·Jackson age in 

Georgia. and· are also present in the Gosport 

sand at the historic locality of Claiqorne 

Landing, Ala. · 

The species is closely related to Acrostichum 

hesperium Newberry, 51 of the Green River 

formation of Wyoming and the Yegua formation ·of Louisiana, but differs from it in being 

much smaller and somewhat more slender in 

habit and in having straighter midveins and 

less elongate, finer areolation. There is no 

evidence of· the separateness or coalescence 

of the terminal pinnae, a. feature which serves 

51 Newberry, .T. S., 'l'be later extinct floras of North America: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 6, pl. 61, figs. 2-5, 1898. 
MiDDLE Eo(m1n~ OR CLAii30RNE PLORA. 43 

fio distu1guish Newberry's species from all 

other described forms. . 

Aln1ost as shnilar to Ac1'ostichum georgianum 

~s the European Acrostichum ( Ohrysodium) 

lanzean'l.tm (Gardner and Ettingshausen), 52 

which is described at length by Gardner and 

is conunon in the Lutetian and Bartonian of 

southern England. . Remains that appear to 

be identical are reported from. the Ligurian 

of Dahnatia and southern France and fro1n the. 

'l'ongrian of France and Italy. Another 

species is reported by Saporta from the Aqui-· 

tanian of· southern France, and Squinabol 

reports two additional species from the Tongrian of Liguria, Italy: 

A second 1uner.ican species of lower Eocene 

age was deseribed in 1902 by I-Iollick 5

:

1 fr01n 

Colorado. In this connection 1nention. should 

also be lnade of a· fonn described by Lesquereux M as Gymnogramme gardneri fr01n Sand 

Creek, Colo., which both Gardner and Saporta 

are in~lined to consider an Acrostichum and 

which is of basal Eocene age. 

The modern species of Acrostichum are 

swrunp fonns. They are few in number and 

inc~ude, in addition to several unimportant 

specie~ of the Lesser Antilles and West Indies, 

the widespread tropical fern Acrostichum 

( Ohrysoclium) aureum Linne, a conm1on coastal 

species (_)f the 1nangrove and nipa swan1ps and 

sixnilar situations, more particulady on the less. 

saline and.less wet soils.. It ranges in America 

frmn peninsular Florida to Brazil, in Africa 

f.t.'Oln Guinea ·to Natal and. the Mascarene and 

Seycholles islands, and in 'the Orient fr01n 

southen1 China and .Polynesia to northern 

Australia. 

It is very ren1arkable that this cosn1opolitan 

modern genus should appear at about the same 

time inlunerica and Europe and should display 

n .. number of closely allied fonns at widespread 

locn.lities in both the Eocene and Oligocene and 

should not be detec.tecl. at any of the nun1erous 

outcrops of' ln.ter Miocene· or Pliocene plantbeu.ring deposits. Undoubtedly this southwn.rcl retren.t fr01n 51° north latitude was due to 

changing physical conditions, chief of which 

· was the lessening humidity, combined with the 

lowering of te1nperature. 

~~ Oardnor, J. S., and Ettingshauson, C. von, British Eocene flora, 

vol. l, p. 26, pl. l; pl. 2, figs. 1-4, 1879. 

~a Jiolliok, Arthur, Fossil forns from tho Lo.mmio group of Colorado: 

'J.'orroyo., vol. 2, p. 146, pl. 4, figs. 3-6, 1902. . ' 

5l Losqucreux, Leo, The 'l'ertiary flora, p. 58, pl. 4, fig. 2, 1878. 

. 68844-24-4 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W~ 

Berry). Lisbon formation, on Alaban1a & 

Vicksburg. Railway· 3i miles east of Newton, 

Newton County, Miss. (collected by T. I-I. 

Aldrich) .. 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Acrostichum hesperium Newberry. 

Plate III, Figures 3, 4. 

Acrostich1tm hesperimn Newberry, U. S. Nat. Mus. 

Proc., vol. 5, p. 503, 1883; U. S. Geol. Survey Mon.· 

35, p. 6, pl. 61, figs. 2-5, 1898. 

Newberry originally described this species in 

18~3 a.s follows: 

Frond large, pinnate; pinnae ·linear, 11 to 2 inches 

wide, 6 to 12 inches long, roundecf at remote extremity, 

those in lower part of frond rounded or wedge-shaped at 

base, those above united by the e!ltire base to the rachis. 

and with each other; rachis of. frond and midrib of 

pinnae strong, smooth, somewhat sinuous; nervation 

reticulated, lateral nerves numerous, diverging from the 

midrib at an acute angle, anastomosing to form elongated six-angled areoles; fructification unknown. 

· This fin~ species was characterized in the foregoing brief manner by Newberry and was cOinpared by him with Acrostichum ~ureum Linne 

of the existing flora and with Acrostichum lanzeanum Gardner and Ettingshausen of the European· Lutetian and Bartonian. Newberry's 

material came from the Green River formation 

of Wyoming, and although his illustrations are 

considerably reduced there is no statement to 

that effe·ct' either on the plates or in the text. 

. Material that is apparently identical·with this 

Green River species is very abundant in the 

Yegua formation but in a fragmentary condition, so that· the method of attachment of the 

pinnae, a probably variable and anmnalous feature. in the Green River specimens, can not be 

made out. In their large size and elongn.ted 

areolae the Y egua forms agree with the western 

material and .differ from Acrostichum g·eorgianum Berry, . which is so con1mon in the beds 

of Jackson age in Georgia. Still another 

American species of A.crostich'l.tm is abundant 

in the Oligocene subtropical flora of southern 

Mississippi. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell P,arish, La. (collected by E. W. Berl'y). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. (Some 

of Newberry's types are in the collections of the 

New York Botanical Garden and ·have been 

available for comparison.) 
44 MiDDLm AND tiPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Genus GONIOPTERIS Presl, emended. 

Goniopteris claiborniana Berry. 

botrya, and Dryopteris. Christensen, 55 perhaps the foremost living student· of Dryopteris, 

enumerates more than a thousand existing 

Plates IV, V.. species, which he segregates into ten groups, 

Goniopteris claiborniana Berry, Torrey. Bot. Club Bull.,· termed subgenera, although most of them are 

vol. 44, P· 331, pl. 22, 1917. admittedly of generic rank. These groups are 

Fronds of large size, probably bipinnate, Endryopteris, $tigmatopteris, Otenitis, Lastrea 

that have a stout, prominently· winged rachis. Bory emended, Glaphyropteris Presl, Steir-

. Pinnae alternate to subopposite but in many opteris, Oyclosorus Link emended, Leptogramma 

specimens prevailingly subopposite, as in the J. Smith, . Goniopteris · Presl emended, and 

larger figured specimen.· Pinnae shortly sti- Menisci1.tm (Schreber). The Claiborne species 

pitate, of large size, linear-lanceolate in out- belongs. to this author's ninth subgenus, the 

line, averaging between 10· and 15 centimeters emended Goniopteris of Presl, which I recogin length by 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters in maxi- ni:ze as a valid genus, for the data which 

mum width and tapering to an extended, paleobotany furnishes to recent botany are 

attenuated, acuminate tip. The basal prox-· obscured by the use ·of generic names that 

imal pinnule in many specimens is _free and denote composite aggregations of living .species. 

entire; normally, however, the pinnae are not Goniopteris as delimited by Christensen· 53 has 

·entirely segregated into individual pinnules, about sixty mainly tropical American species, 

but these are more or less united, though the although it is represented in the Old World by 

. variation in this ·respect is wide. Normally at least two species in Africa, Asia, and Austhe pinnae are pinnatifid, and the margins tralia. It is an eminently natural group that 

are separated into dentate inequilateral seg- has evidently inhabited -sou thea~ tern North 

ments with upward-directed points by narrow America since the middle Eocene. 

inequilateral sharp sinuses, which extend inward The present type belongs with those fossil 

one-fourth to one-third of the distance to the ferns that are cha;racterized by a single wellstipe. Some of these segments are relatively marked lateral,· which runs to the tip of ~ach 

more extended, their form being aquiline.;. . marginal lobule, and these laterals are ·n1ore 

serrate. In some specimens the pinnae ·are commonly opposite or subopposite than alter-. 

but slightly pinnatifid and have short conical nate. Each i'ateral diverges from the n1idrib · 

dentately divided margins,. the .sinuses exten'd- of the .pinnae at an angle of about 60° and 

ing only about one-seventh of the .distanc~ to gives off alternately proxunad and distad 

the stipe. An enlarged segrr:tent of this type is usually siinple branches, averaging about 

. shown in Plate V, Figure 3, in other speci~ eight to ten on a side. The basal distal 

mens the pinnae are deeply pinnatifid, . th~ tertiary of one lateral unites with the basal 

sinuses extending about halfway to the stipe: proxi1nal tertiary of the adjacent superior 

An enlarged segment of this type is shown in latera~ smnewhat ·above the middle point 

Plate V, Figure 1. These three types of mar- between the. two laterals. This united vein, 

ginal lobulation are correlated with three which is tern1ed a r~y by Ettingshausen, protypes of venation, although naturally the three ceeds in a flexuous course to the marginal 

are connected by every intermediate gradation. sinus and unites alternately· with the distal 

These types will be discussed . after what I and proximal tertiaries frmn the adjacent 

have called the normal type has been described. laterals. In the 1narginallobe there a.re several 

The normal type agrees in· its ~ore impor- simple and free tertiaries, thre~ or four of 

. tant particulars with the type familiar in Ter- '\vhich as a rule run to the distal margin and four 

tiary ferns that is referred by paleobotanists to six run to the longer, because more arched, 

to the more or less interrelated and synony- proxi1nal n1argin. This type is shown by the 

mous genera Lastrea, Phegopteris, and Goni:.. n1ajority of the :figured speci1nens, and an enopteris. It is a type found in modern_8mostly largecl detail· is given in Plate IV, Figure 5. 

tropical ferns that are variously segregated or . aggre£rated by students of existing ferns in the 55 Christensen, Carl, On a natural classification of the. species of Dry-

._, optais: Sacrtryk af Biologiske Arbeijdner Tilegnede Eug. Warming, 

genera Lastrea, Nephrodi·um, Phegopteris, Poly- pp. n-ss, Nov. 3,1911. . 
MiDDLE EOCENE OR cLAiBORNE FLORA. 45 

rl.'he pinnae with the reduced nlarginallobulation have an essentially si1nilar venation to 

that just described. The laterals are 1nore 

nearly at r.ight angles with the n1idrib of the 

pinrme. The tertiaries ntunber ten or eleveri 

nJternating, rather straight pairs, and those 

from adjacent laterals unite 1nidway between 

to fonn a ray that is rather straighter than the 

one described above. En,ch ray terminates at 

il. sinus. There are usually tlu·ee pajrs of free 

si1nple veinlets in each lob~, although two or 

four pa.irs rnay be present in son1e speci1nens. 

In the pinnae that are deeply pinnatifid the 

venation, though of the snJne general plan as in 

the types that have j-i.1st been described, differs 

in certain rather rmnarkable particulars which 

help to cli.stinguish the present fonn fron1 all 

other previously described fossil species. Only 

one, two, or three tertiaries fro1n each adjacent 

lateral are concerned in the formation of the 

ray that runs to the sinus, and one or the other 

of these tertitlJ'ies 1nay fork, the branch uniting 

with a branch frmn the next tertiary, the 

resultant subsidiary ray uniting with the 

principal ray near the sinus, ancl' the two inclosin6 a laterally elongated rhon1boidal areola. 

The free veinlets consist of only froni one to 

three ter.m.inal pairs; all the other tertin.ries are 

forked Itt least once Itt a grea,ter or less distance 

n,bove their base, and each lin1b of the fork is 

united. with a corresponding branch of the 

next n.djacent tertiary, the resulting ray running directly to the margin.' This is the 

non'inpteris-As1)id,ii type of venation of EttingsJu,,usen.56 The venation of this type is still 

furthel' complicated in many specimens by the 

p.l't'Sfm<~e of n, very fin<:~ subsidin.ry brandt from 

one or t.he other :for.ks of a tertiary, and this 

Lhin line hrn.nch runs directly to the margin. 

'J'his type is well shown .in an enln,rged detail in 

Pln.tn V, ]rigure 1, and .it is also showi1 in smne 

pn.rL~ of t? speeimen that is illustr(l,ted in 

Pln.Le V, :F'tgure 2. The prineipal intermediate 

Lype i~ one in whieh only n, few of the :forks 

uniLe with t-.lte n.djaeent :forks to form a ray, the 

majority o:f the tertiaTies being simply once 

forked and. both branches of the fork terminating in the mn.rgin. 

This hands01ne and characteristic species 

is co.mmon in the Y egua clays at Colun1bia, 

La., aed occurs also in the Lisbon fonnation 

~~~ Ettiugshuuseu, C. von, Die Farnkriiuter der Jetztwelt, p. xiii, pl. 

L2a, figs. 4, 6, 7, 1865. 

near Newton, Miss., but none of the collected 

n1aterial is in fruit. The form and venation 

are so well marked and distinctive, however, 

that the species is at once correlated with the 

rather abundant Tertiary type that under the 

name· of Goniopteris, Lastrea, or Phegopteris is 

so characteristic of _the fern floras of this age. 

It is at once distinguished from all of these by 

its peculiar venation; otherwise it shows ·the 

same habit, winged rachis, and outline as, 

for example, Lastrea stiriaca Heer, 57 of the 

European Oligocene, . described originally by 

Unger 58 as a Polypodites, referred. to Goniopteris by Alexander Braun 59 and to Phegopteris 

by Ettingshausen. 60 There are at least fifteen 

known Tertiary species of this general type, 

most .of which are European, although several 

have been recorded fr01n An1erican localities. 

Most of the foreign 1naterial is s01newhat 

younger· than the present species, although 

two different forms are described fr01n the 

Middle Bagshot beds of southern England, 

which lie at a hon1otaxial (Lutetian) horizon. 

Several early Eocene species have been recorded 

from the Rocky Mountain region. In addition 

to the differences in venation previously mentioned, Lastrea intermedia Lesquereux 61 fr01n 

the Denver form.ation ha·s the pinnae decurrent 

on the 1nain stipe; Lastrea polypodiodes 62 has 

denticulate margins. and si1nple tertiaries. 

The fonn fr01n the lower Eocene of Oregon 

identified by Newberry as Lastrea lcnightiana 63 

and c01nmonly referred to the European early 

Miocene species Lastrea fischeri Heer 04 is nu10h 

like the present species in size and generriJ 

appearance. but differs in venation. The 

An1erican material is rather pooi·, and I doubt 

very 1nuch its identity with the Europea,n· type. 

A very widespread · Tertiary type that is 

liable to confusion with Lastrea is Osmu·nda, 

lignitum Stur, 65 in which the tertiaries are all 

~7 Fleer, 03wald, Flora t;ertiaria Heh·etiae, \'Ol. 1, p. 31, pls. 7, 8, 1855; 

\'01. 3, p. 151, pl. 143, 1859. 

r.s Unger, Franz, Chloris protogaea, p. 121, pl. a6, 18•17. 

r.9 Braun, Alexander, Deutsche geol. Gesell. Zeitsc~1r., \'01. 4, p. 5Mi, 

1852. 

oo Ettingshuusen, C. von, Die fossile Flora des 'l'ertii~r-Beckens von 

Bilin, 'l'heil 1, p. Hi, pl. 2, figs. IG-18, 18GG. 

6L Lesquereux, Leo, 'rhe 'rertiury flora, p. 56, pl. 4, fig. 14, 1878. 

62 Idem, fig. 13. 

oa Newberry, J. S .. U. S. Nat. M.us. Proc., vol. 5, p. 503, 1883. 

6i .Jleer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Helvetiue, vol. 1, p. 34, pl. 9, fig. 3, 

1855. Lesquereu.'i:, Leo, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, p. 239, pl. 

50, figs. 1, Ia, 1883. Newberry, J. S., The later extinct floras of North 

America: U. ·s. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 10, pl. 48, fig. 6, 1898. 

G> Stur, D., Ueber zwei neue Farne aus den Sotika-Schiehten von 

M.i:ittnig in KraiL1: K.-k. geol. Reichsanstalt Jahrb., Band 20, p. 9, pl. 2, 

1870. 
46 · MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMEincA. 

simple, neither anastomosing nor forming 

interlateral rays. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). Li~bon formation, Alabama & Vicksburg Railway cut 3-! miles east of· Newton, 

Newton County, Miss. ·(collected by. E. N. 

Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus PTERIS Linne. 

Pteris inquirenda Berry, n. sp. 

Phylum SPERMATOPHYTA. 

Class GYMNOSPERMAE. 

Order CONIFERALES. 

Famfly PIN,ACEAE. 

Genus ATHROTAXIS Don. 

Athrotaxis sp. 

Plate II, Figure 3. 

A single poorly preserved small cone was 

found in a nodule of iron carbonate at Cherry 

Valley. It . is · an elongated prolate spheroid 

Plate III, Figure 2· in shape, 2.2 centimeters in length and 1 

Frond habit and fruiting characters uri-. ·centimeter in diameter. The nun1erous cone 

known. Pinnules oblong, coriaceous. Margin scales ·are much we-athered and replaced by 

singly serrate. Midrib wide, channeled on rron. It can not be said to furnish any 

upper su~·face and prominent on the .lower definite evidence of its botanical affinity, and 

surface. .Laterals thin, close, equidistant, Athrotaxis is suggested largely from the 

diverging at wide angles, rather . straight, k:q_own conditions of climate and . habitat, 

most of them once forked near their point of and because cone scales which suggest this 

insertion, but some of them simple, rarely genus occur in the antecedent 'Vilcox flora, 

anastomosing. This sp.ecies is represented by and the other known Eocene gymi1osperms 

fragmentary material in the collections 'from of the Mississippi Gulf area are Glyptostrob'as, 

·two localities. The Mississippi material con- ·Taxodium; and Widdringtonia, with none of 

sists of a single distal fragment. The Georgia which is it 'possible to confuse cones or cone 

material comprises two incomplete fragments scales of this type. If the genera Alnus, 

from about the middle of a pinnule: The Sequoia, or Bet?.f,la were even hinted at in 

material is entirely insufficient for a proper these .. southern floras they n1ight afford legitidiagnosis and except that it represents a new· mate points for comparison. . 

type in the Claiborne flora, one tht:tt may. Occurrence: Y egua formation, Cherry Valley, 

prove of value in correlation and subsequently' Cross County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

be represented by more complete material, Collection: U. S. National Museu1n. 

I would ignore it at the present time. [ts 

reference : to Pteris is purely provisional, 

for it is similar to numerous existing . and 

fossil species of Asplenium, Osmunda, Gymno-: 

gramme, Trismeria, and other genera. It is 

referi·ed to Pteris· in conformity with the usage 

of Heer, Ettingshausen, Gardner, Lesquereux, 

and others. It resembles several forms described by these·· authors, being perhaps ·most 

like Pteris gaudini, which is ·described by 

Heer from the Swiss Aquitanian, and is also 

comparable to several existing species of 

Pteris, as, for example, Pter-is crenata. . 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, Alabaina & 

Vicksburg Railway cut 3-! n1iles. east· of 

Newton, Newton County, l\1iss. (collected by 

E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke).· 

Collection: U. S. N atiopal Museum. 

. Genus GLYPTOSTROBUS Endlicher. 

Glyptostrobus europaeus (Brongniart) Heer. 

Taxodiurn europae1trn Brongniart, Annales sci. nat., 

vol. 30, p. 168, 1833. 

Glyptostrobus rmropae1ts (Brongniart) Heer, Flora tertiaria Helvetiae, vol. 1, p. 51, ·pl. 19, 1855. . . 

Gaudin, Contributions a la flore fossile italienne,' 

pt. 1, p. 26, figs. 5-10, 1858; idem, pt. 2, p. 35, 

pl. 1,'fig. 12; pl. 2, figs. 2, 4, 14, 15, 185~. · 

Ettingshausen, Die fossile Flora von Koflach iu 

Steiermark, p. 10, pl. 1, fig. 2, 1857. 

Massalongo, Studii sulla flora fossile e geologia 

stratigrafica del. Senigalliese, p. 152, pl. 5, fig. 5; 

pl. 40, fig. l, 1859. 

Ettingshausen, Die fossile :Flora 'der TertiarBeckens von Bilin, Teil 1, p. 37, pl. 10, figs. 10-- · 

12; pl. 11, figs. 3-7, 11, 12, 1866. · 

Unger, Die fossile Flora von Kumi, p. 18, ·pl. 1, 

figs. 3-11; 1867. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 47 

Heer, Flora fossilis ar-ctica, vol. 1, pp. 90; 135, pl. 

3, figs. 2-5; pl. 21, figs. 1Q-12; pl. 45, figs. 

20-22, 1868. 

Newberry, New York Lyceum Nat. Hist. Annals, 

vol. 9, p. 43, 1868; Illustrations of Cretaceous 

and Tertiary plants, pl. 11, figs. 6-8a, 1878. 

Saporta, ltcol~ norm. sup. Paris Annales scientifiques, 2d ser., vol. 2, p. 4, pl. 2, figs. 1-4, 1873. 

Sa porta and M!lrion, Soc. g6ol. France Bull., 3d ser.,. 

vol. 2, p. 280, 187 4. 

Zwanziger, Beitrage zur Miocanflora von Liescha, 

p. 18, pl. 2, figs. 6, 7, 1878. · 

Lesquereux, The Tertiary flora, p. 74, pl. 7, figs. 

1, 2, 1878. 

Sieber, Zur Kenntniss der nordbohmischen Braun-

. kohlenflora, p. 93, pl. 5, fig. 47c, 1880. · 

Dawson, Canada Roy. Soc. Trans., vol. 8, pt. 4, 

pp. 34, 791, 1882. 

Velenovsky, Die Flora aus den ausgebrannten tertiaren Letten vo'1 Vfsovic, p. 15, pl. 1, figs. 21-

26, 1882. 

Beck, Deutsche geol. Gesell. Zeitschr., voL 34, p. 

755, pl. 31, fig. 6, 1882. 

Lesquereux, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, 

p. 222,pl.46,fig. 1,1883. 

Ettingshausen, Die fossile Flora von Schoenegg, 

bei \>Vies .in Steiermark, pt; 1, pl. 10, pl. 1, figs. 

23-67, 1890; Ueber Neue Pflanzenfossilien aus 

den TertHirschichten Steiermarks, p. 2, 1893. 

Boulay, l'i'lora pliocene des environs de Th6ziers, 

p. 25, pl. 2, fig. 5, 1890; Flore pliocene duMontDore, p. 10, 1892.· 

Paolucci, N uovi materiali e ricerche critiche sulle 

piante fossile terziarie dei gessi di Ancona, p. 14, 

pl. 2, fig. '15, 1896. Q • 

Newberry, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 2~, pl. 

26, figs. 6-82; pl. 55, figs. 3, 4, 1898. · 

Marty, Flore miocene do Joursac, p. 21, pl. 1, figs. 

18, 19, 1903. 

~alabin, Russ. k. mineral. Gesell. Verh., 2d ser., 

vol. 42, p. 29, 1905. 

Engelhardt, Glasnik Zemaly, vol. 16, p. 556, pl. 1, 

fig. 18, 1906; Wiss. Mitt. Bosnien· und Hercegovina, vol. 9, p. 493, pl. 1, _fig. 18, 1909. · 

. Knowlton, ·washington Acad. Sci. Proc., vol. H, 

pp. 188', 189, 197, 198, 211, 214, 1909. 

Taxodites et~ropaet~s Endlicher, Synopsis coniferarum, p. 

278, 1847. 

Unger, Genera et species plantarum fossilium, p. 

350, 1850. 

Ct~1Jressites racemosus Goeppert, Monographic der fossilien Coniferen, p. 184, 1850. 

Glyptostrobt~s oeningensis Alexander Braun, in Stitzenberger's Uebersicht der · Versteinerungen des 

Grossherzogthums Baden, p. 73, 1851. 

Heer, in Regel's Gartenflora, pl. ·65, figs. 1, 2. 

Unger, Iconographia plantarum fossilium, p. 21, 

pl. 11, figs . .1-3, 1852. 

Qlyptostrobus tmgeri Heer, Flora tertiaria Helvetiae, 

vol. 1, p. 52, pl. 18; pl. 21, fig. 1, 1855. 

· Lesquereux, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, 

p. 139, pl. 22,· figs. 1-6a, 1883. 

Daw~on, Roy. Soc. Canada Trans., vol. 7, pt. 4, 

p. 70, 1889 (1890). ' . 

t 

· Ettingshausen, Die fossile Flora von Schonegg bei 

Wies in Steiermark, pt. 1, p. 12, 1890; Ueber 

neue Pflanzenfossilien aus den TertHirschichten 

Steiermarks, p. 12, 1893. 

Glyptost1·obus europaeus ungeri Heer, Flora tertiaria 

Helvetiae, vol. 3, p. 158, 1859; Flora fossilis 

arct~ca, vol. 3, pt. 2, p. _6, pl. 1, figs. 6b, c, 1874; 

idem, vol. 4, p. 58, pl. 11, fig. 28; pl. 12, fig. 1; 

pl. 31, fig. 6b, 1877; idem, vol. 5, pt. 2, pl. 9; 

figs. 9a, 10-13; pl. 13, figs. 2b, 3, 4b, · c, 1878, 

idem, vol. 7, p. 61, pl. .. 70, figs. 9, 10; pl. 66, 

figs. 5c, 9; pl. 85, figs. ~-8, 1883. 

Stur, ;Beitr~ge zur Kenntniss der Flora der SUsswasserquarze, p. _71 (147), 1867. · 

Lesquereux, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, 

p. 222; pl. 46, figs. t-1c, 1883 .. 

Pl,lar, Flora fossilis susedana, p. 21, pl. 3, fig. 10, 

1883. 

Peola, Riv. ital. paleont., vol. 6, p. 81, 1900. 

Knowlton, Torrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 29, p. 

705, 1902. 

Palabin, Russ. k. mineral. Gesell. Verh., 2d ser., 

vol. 42, p. 58, 1905. 

Glyptostrobus bilinicus Ettingshausen, Die fossile Flora 

des Tertiar-Beckens von Bilin, Teil 1, p. 39, pl. 

11, figs. 1, 2, 10, 1866. 

Sequoia nonlenskioldi Lesquereux (not Heer), U. S. 

Nat. Mus. Proc., v6l. 11, p. 19, 1888. 

Twigs slender and. foliage dimorphic. One 

form has short~ thick appressed leaves; the 

other has acute spreading slender. leaves. 

Male. catkins ovate, single sessile on lateral 

shoots, ·and consis-t of few scales. Cones 

ovate, relatively large, and consist of narrow 

imbricated scales, which are cuneate at the 

base, their summits expanded, semicircular, 

margins obtusely dentate, and the dorsum 

more or less longitudinally costate. Seeds 

inequilateral, winged. 

Glyptostrob'l..ts europae'l..tS is one of the most 

interesting Terti~ry plants. It. was discovered 

nearly a century ago by Brongniart and has 

been identified from a large number of hori..: 

zons _in Europe, Asia, and America. That 

it 'was a cosmopolitan type can not be doubted, 

for the· present distribution of the Taxodieae 

is in itself a sufficient indication of this. I 

have given above a partial synonymy which 

must be used with caution, for it is very 

probable that several closely related species 

are inextricably tangled in it, and the problem 

can not be satisfactorily settled without 

actual specimens from a very large number 

of localities. · 

·In North America this species is recorded 

frorri the basal Eocene to the Pliocene and 

from the present recorded occurrence in Mis-
48 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

sissippi northwestward through the Rocky 

·Mountain region, on the Pacific coast, and 

along the shore of the Arctic Ocean, at the 

· mouth of Mackenzie River and also in Greenland. It is present but not abundant in the 

Wilcox of northern ·Mississippi, where it is 

very sparsely represented by the typical terete 

twigs with appressed leaves and by seeds. It 

is at present kno~ from but a single locality 

in the Claiborne. Glyptostrobus has only two 

existing species-Glyptostrobus pendulus Endlicher and G. heterophyllus Endlicher, small 

trees known as water pines, which are inhabitants· of the low river bottoms of certain 

parts of China.· 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, near Lexington, Holmes County, Miss. (collected by 

A. F. Crider). 

Collection: U. S. National Musuem. 

Genus SEQUOIA Endlicher. 

Medullary rays without tracheids; the parenchyma 

cells equal to .about four wood tracheids; straight or 

somewhat ·contracted at the ends; the upper ahd 

lower walls thin and entire; the terminal walls thin 

and not pitted, straight or curved; the lateral walls 

with rather large, round pits, one or chiefly two per 

tracheid, bordered pits round, numerous, and chiefly 

in two rows. · 

Medullary rays on~-seriate or rarely two-seriate in 

part, low to medium; the large cells about 31.5 p. 

broad, round or oval, chiefly uniform, but more or less 

unequal. 

.The remains of foliage and cones which have 

been referred to Sequoia Zangsdorfii are practically cosmopolitan throughout the Tertiary. 

No specimens of the foliage of this species are 

known from the Eocene of southeastern North 

America, although poorly preserved remains 

in both the Wilcox and the Claiborne have 

been referred to th('} somewhat similar appearing Taxodium dubium (Sternberg) Heer. . . 

Occ~.rrence: Yegua formation, Somerv1lle, 

Burleson County, Tex. . 

Collection: Peter Ridpath Museun:1, ~fon­ Taxites langsdorfii Brongniart, Prodrome d 'une his- treal, Canada. 

toire des vegetaux fossiles, p. 108, 1828. 

Sequoia Iangsdorfii (Brongniart) Heer. 66 

Seq·uoia langsdorfii (Brongniart) . Heer, Flora tertiaria 

Helvetiae, vol. 1, p. 54, pl. 20, fig. 2; pl. 21, fig. 4, 

1855. 

Wood correlated with this species, which 

was founded on remains of foliage (Penhallow, 

1907) and cones, was described by Penhallow 

in 1902 from the Tertiary of British Columbia 

and again the next year from the Tertiary of 

Saskatchewan. Some years later the same 

autho~ identified similar specimens of silicified 

wood from the Yegua clays of east-central 

Texas. He described the wood as follows: 67 

Genus CUPRESSINOXYLON Goeppert. 

Cupressinoxylon dawsoni Penhallow. 

Plate VI, Figures 1, 2, 3. 

C·upressoxylon dawsoni Penhallow~ Roy. Soc. Canada 

• o. Trans., 2d ser., vol. 9, sec. 4, p. 46, 1903; idem, 

3d.ser., vol. 1, sec. 4, p. 95, 1907. 

Penhallow in 1907 thus described this 

species: 

Growth rings broad. Tracheids of the spring wood 

larg~; about 32.1 p./by 40.4 p.; thin walled, squarish 

hexagonal, ·rather uniform and equal; the spring wood 

Growth rings prominent, very. unequal, medium to passing somewhat gradually into the thin summer 

narrow. Summer wood prominent but thin, of three wood, which is composed of two to four rows of slightly 

to six rows· of thick-walled tracheids with bordered ·smaller, radially flattened and thicker-,vallcd· tracheids. 

pits on the tangential walls; transition from spring Medullary rays resinous. Resin canals wholly wantwood abrupt. Tracheids of the spring wood large, ing. Resin cells numerous throughout the growth 

upward of 70 by 84 P., the walls upward of 21 J.l. thick; ring, scattering or somewhat zonate. · . 

very uniform and equal in very regular rows; rounded Medullary rays very resinous, devoid of trachetds; 

hexagonal or those of the earliest growth rp.uch elon- the. cells straight; the upper an~ lower walls thin, 

gated radially. Resin canals wholly wanting. Resin apparently entire; the terminal walls entire, straight 

cells usually numerous throughout, prominent, scatter~ or curved; the lateral walls with oval or round pits, 

ing. Resinous tracheids sometimes present and form- several per tracheid, the correct nurilber not readily 

ing more or less extensive tracts. Rudimentary resin determinable. vVood tracheids with large, bordered 

sacs sometimes appear o~ the outer face. of the summer pits, numerous and compact in one or oft~n t';o rows, 

wood. the orifice round; one-seriate or two-senate m part; 

sa Additional citations of this very widespread Tertiary species, based the large cells thin walled, uniform, rather equal, 

on the ;emains of leafy twigs aud cones, are not included in the present broad, round or oval or somewhat transversely oval 

synonymy, for it is not certain that the wood belongs to the same species to oblong. as the foliage, and in fact it can not be demonstrated that all the . . . 

remains of foliage represent a single botanic species. Th1s speCies was descnbed by Penhallow er Penhallow, D. P., Notes on fossil woods from Texas: Roy~ Sor.- from the Eocene of the Great Valley and PorCanada Trans., 3d ser., vol. 1, sec. 4, pp. 94-95, 1907. 
MIDDLE EOCENE <;,>R CLAIBORNE FLORA. 49 

cupine Creek groups of Saskatchewan and 

subsequently identified from the Yegua clays 

of east-central Texas. It is not uncomn1on in 

recent collections, but mo~t of the material is 

in a rather advanced stage of decay. The 

most perfect speci1nen, from which the accompanying illustrations \vere made, shows. in 

the transverse section the very broad zone of 

'spring wood and the scarcely marked growth 

ring. The tangential section shows the abundance of the xylem parencyhma. The radial 

section ·shows the circular bordered pits, 

· larger in size where they are in single rows, 

and where double generally in pairs but· in 

some places alternating for short distances. 

The n1edullary pits are nu1nerous and oval,. 

and some appear to be circular and bordered. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Son1erville, 

Burleson County, Tex.; Cane Creek and International & Great Northern ·Railway between 

rn:ilcpost 48 and Wooters siding (figured nlaterinl), lfouston County, Tex. (collected by C. L. 

Baker). 

Collections: U. S. National Museum; Peter 

H.idpath :MuseUJn, :Montreal, Canada. 

Cupressinoxylon arkansanum Knowlton. 

C11.7Jressinoxylon arkansamt1n Knowlton, Arkansas 

Geol. Survey Ann. Rept. for ·1889, vol. 2, p. 

253, pl. 9, figs. 1, 2, 1891. 

This species was based upon poorly preserved 

fragments of silicified wood that were collected 

:fr01n a large trunk. They show moderately 

thick-walled tracheids, arranged in nearly unifonn radial rows and with a single row of bor-· 

dered pits; pits ·rather distant, 0.011 ~o 0.0145 

:millin1eter in dif1lneter; medullary rays nuInerous, 2 to 22 cells high, generally uniseriate 

but in places in two rows near the. center of 

the ray. Resin tubes are said to be rnoqerately numerous, and growth rmgs are not 

discernible. 

There is son1e uncertainty regarding the 

geologic horizon frmn which this species was 

collected, both because o:f the lack of detailed 

knowledge of the areal distribution of the 

d:i:frerent Eocene formations on Crowleys 

Ridge, and because silic1fied wood is· so frequently reworked fron1 older into younger deposits. Fr01n the size of the specin1en, which 

was esti1nated by the collector to weigh 4 or 5 

tons, it could hardly have b~en reworked. Its 

location points to upper Claiborne or lower 

Jackson age, and my own field experience in 

this region leads n1e to refer it tentatively to 

the former horizon. 

. Occurrence: Y egua .forn1ation, bed of Rice 

Branch, near Wittsburg·, Cross County, Ark. 

(collected by R. E. Call). 

Collection: U. S. National Musetnn .. 

Class ANGIOSPERMAE. 

Subclass MONOCOTYLEDONAE. 

Order POALES. 

Family POACEAE. 

Genus ARUNDO Linne. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti Berry. 

Arundo.goepperti Lesquereux (not Munster), U.S. Geol. 

and Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1871, Suppl., 

p. 5, 1872; The Tertiary flora, p. 86, pl. 8, figs. 

3-5, 1878. 

_Anmdo pseudogoepperti Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 84, p. 1~4, pl. 24, fig. 7, 1914. 

Lesquereux in 1871 and again in 1878 doubtfully .referred severfll fragments of striated 

stmns and leaves from the Green River shales 

tq the well-known European species Arundo 

goep1)erti. These fragments agree fairly well 

with the European 1naterial, but when it is 

realized that ren1ains of this sort-that is, 

impressions of fragn1ents of .leaves and stems 

of grasslike forn1s-:'-have very little. to distinguish them specifically, and that these American specin1ens are widely ren1oved geographically frmn the type forn1s and occur at horizons invariably of considerably greater age, 

the propriety of considering them distinct is 

obv.ious. Consequently in discussing the pres- · 

ence of ren1ains. of this sort fr01n the Twiggs 

clay n1ember of the Barnwell formation of 

Georgia they were set apart as a distinct 

species under the above name. 

. Remains -identical with those from Georgia 

and the Green River of the West are common 

in the Claiborne of the Mississippi embayment. 

They invariably occur in fragments and are of 

little biologic interest. The use of the generic 

term Arundo is .in a form sense . and followsusage. It can not be claimed to have any 

especial significance as indicative of close 

botanical relationship. 

Occurrence: Claiborne .deposits, 2! miles 

east of Fort Gaines, Clay County, Ga. (collected by Otto Veatch). Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, :Monroe County, Ala. (characteristic, but fragmentary) (collected by E. W. 
50 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA . 

Berry). Lisbon formation, Lexington, Holmes 

County, Miss. Yegua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell· Parish, La. (very common) ·(collected 

by E. W. Berry); near Stephens, Ouachita 

·County, Ark. (collected by J.P. D. Hull); 1 mile 

below mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorado Riv~r, 

Fayette County, Tex. (collected by Alexander 

Deussen) ; 1 mil~ below head of Cedar Creek, 

Nevils Prairie, Houston County, Tex. (collected 

by C. L. Baker). · 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order SCITAMIN ALES. 

Family CANNACEAE. 

Genus CANNA Linne. 

Canna flaccidafolia Berry, · n. sp. 

Plate II, Figures 4 and 5~ 

Leaves of large size, broadly elongate-· 

.lanceolate in outline, about 30 to 35 centimeters in lemgth by 8 to 10 cen~imeters in 

maximum width in the.middle part of the leaf. 

Apex and base about equally pointed. Petiole 

thick and· long. Midrib very stout, a.t least 5 

millimeters in diameter, longitudinally striate. 

.. 

the clays at Columbia but is usually in a very 

fragmentary· condition. In the absence of 

numerous fossil-forms it is not feasible to discuss its relationships, although it is probably a 

descendant of the species Canna eocenica 

Berry 60 from .. the Wilcox group a.nd is much 

finer veined than the Jackson species Canna 

jacksoniana Berry .. It seems certain that the 

genus was continously represented in the embayment area from 'that time to the present. 

Similar fossils are described by Saporta fr01n 

the Sannoisian of Aix, .in southeastern France, 

as Musophyllum speciosum 70 and Zingiberites 

petiolaris,71 and by Ludwig from the Aquitanian 

of Miinzenberg as Convallaria latijolia.72 

Occurrence: Yegua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish,. La. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order ARECALES. 

Family ARECACEAE (PALMAE). 

Genus PALMOXYLON Schenk. 

Palmoxylon lacunosum (Unger) Felix. 

·. Laterals thin, very numerous and closely set, Plate· XLVII. 

parallel, diverging at acute angles and curving . slightly qpward. Though a few laterals seenl This species is commente€1 upon in the secto be more prominent, there is no indication of tion of this report dealing with the Jackson 

laterals· of two orders, as is the rule in most flora. A segment of a trunk received reqently 

modern species of Canna and its allies. In this from E. A. Smith, State geologist of Alaba1na, 

respect. the fossil is identical with the existing and shown in Ptate XLVII, can not be disCannaflaccida Roscoe, which it also resembles tinguished from this species. It shows nunl- . erous roots about 4 millimeters in diameter in size, outline, texture, character of the midrib,·. 

and other features. In fact, the Claiborne and being· given off. The -preservation sho\vn in 

the moderri species are practically identical, two transverse sections is not especially good 

which has suggested the specific name adopted but clearly indicates a palm of the lacunosum 

· for the Eocene form. type. The only features in which the present 

Canna jlaccida Roscoe extends northward .as material differs from the splendidly preserved 

far .as ·south Carolina in the river swamps near material from the Vicksburg depqsits (U:npubthe coast. Most of the cannas, of which from lished) or that figured by Schenk or Stenzel is 

25 to 50 species are known, are hygrophilous in the greater crowdiilg of the bundles and the 

plants of the American subtropical and tropical slightly less ~longated cells of the groundmass 

area. Carina fiaccidafolia i!;l the most definite (parenchyma), with a consequent reduction in 

of the similar monocotyledonous forn1s that the amount of interc_ellula'r space. . 

have been described as species of Cannophyllites In the United States Palmoxylon lacunosum 

Brongniart, 6s jJfusophyll'l,lm Goeppert, Zin-. is found in beds which have been assigned to the 

giberites Hee:r, an~ other forms, and is clearly Catahoula sandstone in Louisiana but which 

. referable to the genus Canna. It is common in 

cs Fritel has shown that the French Ypresian species Cannophyllitea 

ungeri of Watelet is based on fragments of an undeterminable palm (Revision de la flora fossile des gr~s ypr6siens du bassin de Paris: .Tour. bota-

. · nlqu~, 2d ser., vol. 2, pp. 110, 111, fig. 4, 1909). 

G9 Berry, E. w·., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 181, pl. 15, figs. 7, 8, 1916. 

1o Sa porta, G. de, Dernieros adjonctions a .la flore fossile d' Aix-en• 

Provence, pt. 1, p. 67; pt. 2, p. 146, pl. 10,-figs. 1, 2, 1889. 

n Saporta, G. de, idem, pt. 1, p. 103, pl. 10, figs. 3-5, 1889 . 

n Ludwig; R., ~alaeontographlca, vol. 8, p. 87~ pl. 19, fig. 6, 1859. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAI60RNE FLORA. 51 

carry plants of Jackson age, and in the Vicksburg group of southern Alabama. So fa;r as 

·species are differentiated by stem anatomy this 

Claiborne occurrence is specifically identical 

with the later occurring type, but it n1ay well 

represent a.distinct botanical species which is 

not distinguishable by its stem anatomy, as 

this is very similar in most palms-a fact that 

is especially emphasized when the n1aterial is 

poorly preserved. · 

Occurrence: Top of the Tallahatta formation or base of the Lisbon formation, White 

Bluff, Clarke County, Ala. (collected by E. A. 

Smith). 

Genus THRINAX Linne. 

Thrinax eo.cenica Berry. 

Plate VIII, Figures 1, 2. 

'Phrinax eocenica Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 13,6, text fig. ·10; pl. 25; pl. 26, 

fig. 3, 1914. 

Leaves orbicular in general outline, of relatively small or mediun1 size, indicating in the 

collected 1naterial a. dia1neter that ranges from 

36 to 60 centimeters or more. Many-cleft, the 

nun1erous rays carinate, much crowded at· the 

obtusely rounded mid of ~he rachis, two-cleft 

distad. Rachis considerably flattened, smooth, 

entirely· unarn1ed, 1 centin1eter wide in the 

single preserved specilnen of one of the srnaller 

leaves. Ligule free, erect, concave, inconspicuous-. Segments 25 in nun1ber· on a srnall 

c01nplete specin1en; larger fragn1ents that show 

in the deposits of Jackson age in Georgia, and 

the species is also found in the Jackson of 

Arkansas. T.he ·collections, though leavjng 

much to ·be desired, show leaves that in the 

sum of their characters are clearly referable 

to the genus Thrinax-a determination which 

has been confirmed by several botanists 

especially familiar with the tropical American 

flora. 

The present species is clearly distinct fr01n 

all the palms that have· been described by 

Lesquereux or Newberry from the West, and 

little is to be ·gained by a more detailed conlparison. It is equally distinct from the homotaxial European palm material; the only occurrence that suggests any relationship being the 

leaves from the Sannoisian of Dalmatin. referred 

by Ettingshausen '

73 to Flabellaria raphifolia 

(Sternberg) Ettingshausen, and this differs in 

the illustrations given by thi~ same author of 

the same species in his Haerin:g :Hora, in having 

a. long acumen. 

In the modern flora Th·rinax has nine or ten 

species in the West Indies and Antilles, a.nd 

three of them reach the Florida Keys. 

Occurrence: Claiborne deposits, 2! 1niles east 

of Fort G~1.ines, Clay County, Ga. (collected by 

Otto Veatch). Yegua formation, 1 1nile below 

mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorado River, Fayette 

County, Tex. (collected by Alexander Deussen); 

Colun1bi~1., Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by 

E. W. Berry). Lisbon fornu1.tion, cut on Ala.-

barna & Vicksburg Railway 3t n1iles east of 

Newton, Newton County, Miss .. (collected by 

E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke). Mount Sehnan 

formation, Palestine, Anderson Coubty, Tex. 

(collected by 0. C. Funderbunk). 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. 

. about two-thirds of a leaf contain 31 rays, indicating that the cmnple~e leaf was made up 

of about 45 segments. The basal rays on each 

side are s01newhat reduced in size and entirely 

free, and all the rays become sepa•rated 

about two-thirds of the· distance from their 

base. , Priiuary veins prominent. Intermediate veins very fine, five on each side, placed at Genus BACTRITES Berry, n. gen. 

SQlnething less than a Dlillimeter apart, and This generic. nanle is proposed for fossil 

very fine longitudinal veinlets between them. plants of the subtribe Bactrideae of the AreFossil palm leayes present few charactei·s cales which do not exactly agree with any of 

for their successful cmuparison with existing the existing genera, whose natural limits are 

genera, hence the nmnerous fossil species ·of not defined with precision. The name· is 

Flabellm·ia, Sabdlites, Geonomites, and sin1ilar derived frmn Bactris Jacquin, ·the largest 

genera. The Claiborne 1naterial i:s for the most modern genus, which also gives its na1ne to the 

part fragnientary, and the larger the leaves subtribe. 

which floated into the Claiborne sea the more For the present the nQw genus mt1.Y be defined 

:fragn1entary the preserved 1naterial. In. the ·by the characters of the following type species, 

Gulf area they al'e not uncmnmon but are much 

n1acerated, and no complete specimens have 

been collected. More perfect specimens occur 

1a Ettingshausen, C. von, Die eocene Flora des Monte Promina in 

Dalmatien: K. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-nat. Classe, Denkschr., vol. 

8, p. 28, pl. 3, fig. 4; pl. 14, fig. 1, ~854. 
52 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

although more abundant material may materially extend the present conception, especially 

as regards the habit of the complete frond. 

Bact rites pandanifoliolus Berry, n. sp. 

Plate VII, figures 1-6. 

Fronds pinnate. The remains are all incomplete rays, so that the leaf habit is to a 

certain extent conjectural, and the grouping 

of. the rays on the rachis is :unknown. They 

differ so much in width and in primary venation, ~s well as in marginal characters, that 

it would seem that several rays are united at 

first and subsequently become split. Rays 

elongate, linear-lanceolate, at least" 30 centimeters in length and probably much longer, 

for some specimens indicate a length of at 

least 60 centimeters. The rays depart but 

little frmn being flat, although some are slightly 

keeled. The primary veins are one to tliree 

in number, parallel. Where the primary vein 

is single and answering to a midrib, in no specim.en in the material available for study does 

it lie n1idway between the two 1nargins, so· 

that the rays are not bilaterally symmetrical. 

Secondaries relatively fine, parallel, and placed 

· a.t intervals of about five-sixths of a millimeter 

in both wide and narrow specimens. N ervilles 

thin and nu1nerous; few of them lie at right 

angles to the longitudin~lly parallel venation; 

as a rule, they are curved and diverge from the 

secondaries at acute angles, and a considerable 

. nu1nber pass over two interspaces. One margin is invariably entire in the collected material, 

and the opposite margin is somewhat thickened 

and bese.t with unequally spaced spines. These 

spines range frmn short, stout. aquiline spines 

1 millin1eter in length to slender, nearly straight 

acicular spines 3.5 n1illimeters in length. Although these extre1nes have not been found on 

the san1e specimen, a single margin in smne.specinlens shows great variation in the character of 

the spines. In general the short, thick spines are 

found toward the ends of the rays. That in a 

few leaves the primary veins .were spined on 

one or both surfaces is sho,vn by two specimens 

in which the spines are preserved. These spines 

may. have been n1ore cmnmon toward the 

proximal ends of the rays, but the distal parts 

. were evidently sn1oother than in the corre-

.sponding modern spiny palms. In some rays 

the so-called midrib is nearest the smooth 

margin, whereas in other specimens it is nearest 

the spined margin. The texture is thin but 

stiff distad, becoming coriaceous proximad. 

These exceedingly interesting materials ·are. 

preserved in a very fragmentary condition in a . 

sandy micaceous clay, and as it is unlikely that 

better material will be found in the near future 

and as they add animportant element to the 

Claiborne flora I have described the species as 

well as the material will permit. 

After extended comparisons I have· referred 

this form to the subtribe Bactrideae, which in 

Engler and Prantl's N atiirljchen Pflanzenfamilien is segregated into Martinezia Kunth, 

which includes 7 species tha.t range from the 

Antilles ·to Peru and eastern Bolivia; Acrocomia 

Martius, which includes 7 species that rarige 

from the Antilles and Central .Anierica to 

Brazil and Bolivia; Astrocaryum Meyer, which 

includes 29 species that range from Mexico to 

southern Brazil and are most common in the 

Amazon Valley; Bactris Jacquin, which includes 90. species that range from southet~n 

Mexico through Central America to Peru and 

Chile, along the north coast of South America, 

and in the Antilles and are massed in the 

Amazon region, from which 53· species have 

been recorded, and Desmoncus Marti us, ·which 

includes 22 species that· range from southern 

Mexico to the Bolivian Andes and are massed 

in equatorial Brazil. Many of these species are 

based on herbarium material and are poorly 

. described,· and this is also true of several of the 

genera, the generic names having been applied 

somewhat loosely to all spiny cocoid palms. 

0. F. Cook proposed the ·additional genus 

Ourima in 1901, basing it on Porto Rican 

· ma t!3rial. . 

The tribe is thus entirely American in the 

existing flora and .seelns to have originated on 

this continent, although Squinabol 74 has proposed the fossil genera Isselia and Perrandoa for 

remains of this sort from the Oligocene of the 

Ligurian Apennines. Perrandoa has enormous 

fronds which have maximum dimensions of 3 

meters across and 14 meters in length. Both 

genera are seemingly well founded and based on 

abundant material. The oriental spined palms 

of the genus Calamus Linne COlnprise more 

than two hundred existing species but do not 

offer as close parallels with the Claiborne form . 

71 Squinabol, Senofonte, Note sur quelqu~s types demonocotyledonees 

de Saint-Justine et de Sassello: Soc. geol. France Bull., 3d ser., vol. 19, 

pp. 771-782, pis. 16, 17, 1891. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 53 

The nlost. closely related fossil forms are 

those fr01n the European Tertiary that are 

referred to the oriental genus Pandanus, 

which is StiCh a striking elen1ent in the existing 

coastal fioras of the oriental Tropics. Ettingshalisen described three Upper Cretaceous 

(Gosau beds) and two Oligocene spe_cies of 

Pandanus frOJn different parts of the Austrian 

'.Monarchy in 1852.75 Subsequently Bureau 76 

described a species from the Lutetian of 

Trocadero, in the Paris Basin, which is identical in age with the present species; Squinabol 77 

described another from the Tongrian of Liguria 

in 1891; and Laurent 78 one from the Tongrian 

of Celas (Ala is), France, in 1899. · The Claiborne 

species is exceedingly close to Bureau's species, 

Pandanus lutetianus, and to that of Laurent, 

Pandanus intermedius, and I am convinced that 

this siJ.~ilar.ity is of a kind denoting generic 

relationship. I ca~1 not, however, see in these 

remains conclusive proof of generic identity 

w.ith the n1odern species of Pandanaceae, 

nlthough. they would not seen1 out of place in a 

-flora of the habitat of the Claiborne. Schenk 79 

reaches suni1ar conclusions in discussing the 

species 'vhich Ettingshausen referred to Pandam.ts. The leaves of Pandan'us are coriaceous 

and not flat but keeled, and the keels are spined. 

None of tl1e supposed fossil species show this 

spined keel, and several lack even a midrib, the 

l_ongitudinal parallel veins being all of. one 

caliber. 

These remains have been compare.d with the 

genus Cladium Browne, the saw grass, of the 

family Cypern,ceae, which is widely distributed 

:in tl'opicn.l and subtropicul marshes and is so 

a.bunda.nt in the Everglades of Florida. The 

ln,rgest Cladi1.tm leayes a.re narrower than so1ne 

of the Claiborne specimens and are :n;1ore linear. 

]~urthermore all the existing species o:f Cladi'l..l.m, 

~o :fn.r Its I a.m aware, are gregarious, ·n,nd if 

present in the pnlustrin·e hn.bitat, such as the 

Claiborne nJfo:rded., their remains should be fa.r 

more conunon thn,n they actually are in the 

7~ l~ttingshrmson, C. von, Ueber fossilon P~mdanaceae: K. Akad. Wiss. 

Wien Sitzungsber., vol. 8, 1852. . 

10 .Bureau, Edouarct, Etudes sur Ia floro fossile du calcaire grassier 

parisien: Soe. philomathique [Paris] Mem. Cent., p. 238, pl. 22, figs. 1-3, 

1888. 

77 Squinn.bol, Soi1ofonto, Notes sur quelques types do Monocoty!Mo 

neos do Sainto-Justino et de Sassollo: Soe. geol. France Bull., 3d ser-

~ol. 19, p. 776, pl. 16, figs. 4, a, b, 1891. . 

1s Laurent, JJouis, Floro des calcaires de Celas, p. 64, pl. 4, figs .. 2, a, 

1899. 

7V Schenk, A.,· Palneophy~ologie, in Zittel, K. A., Handbuch der 

Palaoontolgie, Abt. 2, p. 375, 1890. 

deposits. The modern genera Agave, Aloe, 

Furcroya, and similar types have thick fleshy 

leaves and in1mersed venation and usually 

inhabit arid regions quite unlike the humid 

Claiborne coast.· Bureau considers and (tismisses the genus Stratiotes of the Hydr6charitaceae, and there is really very little resemblance to the fossil shown by this form. 

Th~ Bron1eliaceae have· mostly thick leaves, 

crescentic in transverse section, without a 

differentiated midrib and with stra.ight, n1ore 

spreading marginal spines. : 

It would indeed be spectacular to identify 

the strictly oriental Pa.ndanaceae along the old 

coast line of Claiborne time, and there is a 

great superficial resemblance between these 

Claiborne fossils and such modern leaves as 

those of Pandanus utilis (Bory) ,. as they are 

·shown in photographs, which may be seen by 

comparing my figures with the :figures of Pandanus ?.di/is reproduced. by Laurent. There 

are the same irregularly spaced teeth and the 

wavy oblique nervilles, but in examining the 

actual leaves of. Pandnn1..ts the resemblance is 

not so sti~iking, . and I do not feel justified in 

claiming such a relationship· for the Claiborne 

fossil~, especially since in my· judgment they 

agree Inore closely with the Bactrideae. 

Many of the smaller existing species of 

Bactris that are comparable with the fossil 

leaves form a tangled undergrowth in the 

swampy forests near the coast of northern South America, as in . Dutch Guiana. 

Schimper 80 records a species with a habitat 

which suggests that of Nipa, in .brackish. 

swa1nps back of the nutngrove association 

along the coast of the island of 1'rinidad. 

·. Occurrence: Lisbon formation, cut on Alabama & Vicksburg Railway 31 miles east of. 

Newton, Newton County, :Miss. (collrcted. b~· 

E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke) 

Genus GEONOMITES Visiani. 

Geon9mites claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLVIII, Figures 1, 2. 

It is a great misfortune that no good specimens of this interesting form were collected. 

The coarse sandstone of the Mount Selman 

near Palafox wa~ crowded with its rn.ys in 

places, and in one specimen the rachis was 

preserved for a couple of feet in length, but 

eo Schimper, A. F. W., Dieindomalayische Strandflora: Bot. Mitt. aus 

den Tropen, Heft3, p. 68, Jena, 1891. 
·54 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

the attached rays were so bent and contorted 

that satisfactory material was not obtainable. 

The leaves were obviously large, the rachis 

slender and apparently. round. The rays 

appear to have been separated to t~eir base~ 

thus differing from Geonomites tenuirachis, 

G. schimperi, or G .. visianii; they range in 

.width from 1 .centimeter to 2 centimeters, are 

pointed, and have an indicated length of at 

least 30 centimeters. They ·are coriaceous in 

texture, are slightly narrowed at the base, 

diverge from the rachis at acute angles; and 

are not prominently keeled. The venation 

consists of thin primaries 2 to 3 millimeters 

apart, with still tbj,nner parallel veins in the 

in terspaces. 

The present species, although imperfectly 

characterized, is clearly distinct from. the previously described species, a~ it is also 'from the 

·large species in the Raton formation which 

Knowlton referred to Geonoma 81 or the species 

·of Ohamadorea 82 found in the lower Wilcox of 

the eastern Gulf area. 

The genus Georwmites, which receives its 

name from its resemblance to the existing genus 

Geon()ma of Willdenow, is properly considered 

to represent the un,diffe:rentiated .ancestry or. 

the generically indistinguishable fossil representatives of tP.e tribe Geonomeae'~· The tribe 

includes, according to modern systemat1sts, 10 

genera,, of which 3 are mono typic West African 

forms. ·The ·rmnaining 7 genera are all confined to tropical and subtropical An1erica, the 

only large genus peing Geonoma, which has 

nearly 100 existing species, ranging from southern _Mexico and the Antilles through Central 

. America, along the eastern base of the Andes to 

Bolivia, and along the east coast of South America to Rio de Janeiro. These are prevailingly 

small stemless or short-stemmed palms of 

American origin. . I'he oldest known' species is 

found. in the Ripley forn1ation of Tennessee. 

None were previously known from the Eocene 

of the Coastal' Plain, but the genus is present 

in beds of that age along the Rocky Mountain 

fro:ri.t and in trans-Pecos Texas. i"'he earliest 

known European form comes-from the Lutetian 

of Italy and is of about the same age as this 

Mount Sell!lan species. · 

s1 Knowlton, ~F. H., Fossil fioi·as of the VQrmejo and Raton formations 

of Colorado an~ New Mexico: U. _S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 101, p. 291, 

pl. 61, 19Ui. 

. sz Berry; E. W.,'fhe lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 179, pl. 12, fig. 4; pl. 13, figs. 1-3, 1916. 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, 1 mile 

north of Palafox, Webb County, Tex. (collected 

by A. C. Trowbridge, L. W. Stephenson and 

E. W. Berry). 

Genus PALMOCARPON Lesquereux. 

Palmocarpon sp. 

A spherical nut ( ~) 28 millimeters in greatest 

and 24 millimeters in least diameter is represeuted by a single specimen. The ,botanical 

position is uncertain, but the specimen strongly 

suggests those fruits of the Arecaceae that are 

commonly referred to the genus Palmocarpon. · 

In the absence of more abundant and more 

definite material it can not be satisfactorily 

described. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation (in beds regarded by me as of Jackson age), Rock Creek, 

William Dunn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

(collected hy 0. :M. Ball). 

. Genus SABALITES Saporta. 

, Sabalites sp. 

A fragment of a fan palm, not specifically 

determinable, was collected immediately above 

the Santo Tomas coal seam near Santo Tomas. 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, Santo 

Tomas, Webb County, Tex. (collected by T. W. 

Stanton, July 26, 1895). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Subclass DICOTYLEDONAE. 

Superorder CHORIPETALAE. · 

Order. JUGLANDALE.S. 

Family JUGLANDACEAE. 

Genus JUGLANS Linne. 

Juglans schimperi I.esquere\lx . 

Juglans schimperi Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. 

Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1871, Suppl., p. 8, 

l872; The Tertiary flora, p. 287, pl. 56, figs. 

5, 6, 9 (not :figs. 7, 8, 10), 1878. 

Hollick, in Harris, G .. D., and Veatch, A. C., A 

preliminary report on the geology of Louisiana, 

p. 280, pl. 32, :fig. 5; pl. 33, fig. 2 (not pl. 33, fig. 

·1 i pl. 35, fig. 3)' 1899. 

Berry, U. S. Geol. ·Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 182,. 

pl. 18, fig. 4; pl. 19, fig. 4 (not pl. 18, figs. 3, 5), · 

1916. . . 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 131, 

p. 159, 1923. 

htglans ntgosa · Lesquereux (not Lesquereux, 1878), 

U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 11, p. 13, 1888. · 

Leaves ovate-lanceolate and slightly inequilateral iri. outline. Apex gradually acuininate. Base broadly cuneate or· rounded, inequilateral. Size variable; length ranges. from 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNB FLORA. 55 

iO to 18 centilneters; maximum width, in I Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface 

middle or lower half of the leaf, from 2 to 4.8 of the leaflet, almost invariably curved. 

centimeters. Margins entii·e, slightly undulate. Secondaries numerous, medimu stout, and 

Pet.iolule generally not preserved; in som~ of prominent below; they diverge fron1 the midrib 

the specin1mis frmn Wyon1ing it ranges from at angles of 45° or more and are subparallel 

3 to 7 millin1eters in l~ngth. Midrib stout, and camptoch·ome or craspedodron1e. Tertiusually curved. Secondaries thin, numerous, aries obsolete. 

rather evenly spaced, subparallel, about 14 to This species is .very abundant ii;l the sand15 subopposite to alternate pairs; they branch stones of Brazos County, Tex., which are 

fron1 the n1idrib at wide angles and curve up- referred to the Y egua formation but which are 

ward close to the 1nargins in a camptodrmne included in ·that part of the· Yegua which I 

1nanner. Tertiaries 1nostly percurrent and regard. as of Jackson . age. These specin1ens 

distinct. Areolation subquadrate. are preserved in a coarse matri.-x: in which the 

This species Wi\>S described by. Lesquereux details of venation are son1ewhat obscure, and 

fron1 the Green River Eocene, where it is very all the leaflets are found in . a detached conabundant. It has also been recorded fron1 the clition. Indistinguishable remains showing a 

Denver :fol'lnation at Golden, Colo., and fronl greater or less llUlllber of leafiets attached to 

· the :Raton nnd Fort Union forn1ations. It is the stipe are abundant in the clays at I-Iickman 

abundant in beds of upper Wilcox · age in and Colu1nbus, Ky., where they were described 

Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, as Hicoria pecan by Lesquereux and n1e 

nnd :Mississippi, but has not beenfotmd hereto- and roferrecl to the Pleistocene. The· present 

fore above that horizon ii1 the embayn1ent collections fr<;>m the last-n1e~tioned localities . 

area. Three specimens frmn a locality near contain n1any·new species and suggest that the 

the H.io Grande 30 1niles above Santo Tomas previous age cletenuinations were erroneous 

are t(:}ntatively recognized and included with and that their true age is upper Eocene or 

the Claiborne fiora, although the locality 1nay lower Oligocene. 

b.e of Wilcox age. The genus Hicoria has been rather generally 

l{nowlton (op. cit.) has recently advocated regarded as a Ten1perate Zone type, largely . 

sepa.rating certain of the leaves forn1erly because of its range. in the existing flora, but. 

referred to this species and regarding them as several students have pointed out its probable 

the distinct species .Juglans o'cciclentalis New- tropical ancestry. Comparisons have been 

berry, and I have n.dopted this proposal. 1nade between. these fossil fonns and various 

Occurrence: Near :Rio Grande, 30 1niles above n1mnb~rs of the Sapindaceae, in which fmnily 

Santo 'I'mnas, vVebb County, 1'ex. (collected the habit is generally even. rather than odd 

by '1'. W. Vaughan nnd. '1'. W. Stanton, July .Pinnate. 1'he genus Oupania has so1ne rather 

25, 1895). si1nilar species, but Hicoria seen1s the n1ore 

Collection: U. S. National :Museum. probable, n,s these leaves are associated in KenGenus HICORIA Rafinesque. 

Hicoria jackson.iana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLIII, Figures 6, 7. 

Leave~ of ln,rge ~ize, odd-pinnate. Leafiets 

'lanceolate, :falcate, sessile, generally nutrkedly 

inequilateral, especin1ly proxin1ad. vVidest at 

or below the ntiddle n,nd continued upward to 

n, slender, gradually nanowecl, and generally 

exte.nded acmninate apex. . Base cuneate to 

convex-cuneate. :Margins bear rmnote serrate 

relativ~ly s·mall t'eeth. Texture subcoriaceous. 

Length ranges fron1 8 to 18 centi1neters and 

avero.ges fro1nlO to 12 centin1eters. :Maxin1u1n 

width ranges fr01n 1.25 to 2.75 centimeters. 

tucky with the characteristic and well-n1arked 

fruits \vhich I have described as Hicoria ?'ostratafonnis. 

The hickories are now refened to the genus 

Hicm·ict, proposed· by Rafinesque in 1808, 

although numy systematists, especially in the 

Old World, still use the nan1e Oarya, proposed 

by Nuttall in 1818 and universally used until 

about twenty years ago. 

The genus is entirely confined to North 

An1erica in the existing fiora, more particularly to the eastern UJ!ited States, aithough 

there is an indigenous specie·s in Mexico. 

(Hicoria mexicana), and three or four other 

species reach their northern l~mi t of growth 

beyond the Great Lakes in eastern Canada. 
56 MIDD~ AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERicA. 

The existing species number· from eight to In America there are numerous Pleistocene 

fifteen, according to the rank assigned to the records, the leaves being preserved in the ciay. 

varieties of the eight or nine easily distinguished dep9sits of the river terraces. and the fruits in 

main types.· They fall naturally into two the buried swamp deposits. · 

groups~ the true hickories and the pecan Occurrence: Y egua formation (in beds rehickories-groups which were already clearly· garded by me as of Jackson age), Rock Cr~ek, 

defined in preglacial Pliocene time. William DJ.Inn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

The true hickories are fine, .slow-growing (collected by 0. M. Ball).· · 

trees, with hard, strong wood, which live in 

general on temperate dry soils. The .buds are 

full, with overlapping scales, and the nuts are 

generally thick shelled and thick husked-. The 

leaflets number from three to nine. The pecan · 

hickories are treeR that require warmth and 

moisture and have relatively' weak wood. The 

buds are thin and narrow, without overlapping 

scales, and the J?-Uts have thin shells and thin 

husks. The leaflets are numerous slender ' ' and falcate, 

Over a score of fossil species have been. 

described. Unlike the walnut, the hickory is 

not known with certainty from the C~etaceous, 

but it is present in very early Eocene deposits 

in Wyoming ~nd on the Pacific coast. I-Iickories occur in the upper Eocene of central 

Europe, and there is a fine large-leafed species 

from deposits of this age at Kukak Bay, 

Alaska. 

Most of the Oligocene specin1ens are referred' 

to Hicoria ventricosa, which is abundantly represented by leaves and fruit in the Oligocene 

brown-.coal deposits of Europe. 

The late Miocene appears to have been the 

period of widest extent of the hickories. From 

deposits of this age al:wut a dozen species are 

known. The forms were scattered all over 

Europe, and the genus extended to Iceland, 

Greenland, and Spitzbergen. In North Amer-. 

ica there were species in Oregon, California, 

Colorado, and Vermont. A species very close 

to the existing pecan occurs in the late Miocene 

of New Jersey. 

During the succeeding Pliocene epoch the 

hickories were· as abundant and vigorous as in 

the late Miocene in Europe, although their 

northern limit appears to have ·shifted somewhat to the south. Even as late as the upper 

Pliocene several species of hickory were abundant in Italy and Germany., but none survived 

the ice age on that continent. A species resembling the pecan is represented by both 

leaves and nuts in a late Pliocene lagoon de'-

posit in southern Alabama. · 

Order MYRICALES. 

Family MYRICACEAE. 

Genus MYRICA Linne. 

. Myrica claiborniana Berry, n. sp. 

Leaves of variable but relatively sn1all size, 

linear-lanceolate in outline, base pointed and 

tip extended acuminate. Length estin1ated at 

5 to 10 centim:eters. Maximum width in the 

middle· part of the leaf ranges fron1 5 to 12 

'millin1eters. Sn1all, remote, serrate teeth on 

margins. Texture coriaceous. Petiole not preserved. Midrib stout, prominent. Secondaries numerous, subparallel, diverging fr01u the 

midrib at wide angles, curved, mostly camptodronle, but craspedodrome veins run to most of 

the nlarginal teeth. Areolation consists of fine 

isodiametric meshes, of a kind characteristic of 

the numerous Tertiary species that have been 

referred to this genus. · 

The present species is based upon very 

abpndant but broken material. It is, however, 

readily recognized by the marginal characters 

aJ.?-d the well-marked but 1ninute tertiary areolation. It greatly rese1nbles a number of 

Europe~n species 9f. Myrica but does n.ot exactly agree with any one of these. The foliage 

of many of these species is polyn1orphic, however, and it is possible that the Claiborne form 

may represent a geographic variety of one of 

these, which flourished a1nong the dunes or 

inner beaches that skirted the Claiborne sea. 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Monro·e County, Ala. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). · · 

Collection: U. S. N atioual .Muse urn. 

Order FAGALES. 

Family FAGACEAE. 

Genus DRYOPHYLLUlVI Debey. 

Dl'yophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXIII, Figure 3. 

This species is described in the section of this 

report that deals with the Jackson fiora. The 
MiDDLE EOCENE OR Ci:...AIBORNE :Fto:R.A. 

specin1en here discussed is a single fragment 

that is sOinewhat ~arger than the similar leaves 

fro1n the Jackson and represents a le~f that 

reached a n1axin1u1n width of 4. 7 centimeters. 

It is clearly referable to Dryophyllum and is 

very close to if not identical with this Jackson 

species. . 

. OccmTence: :Mount Sehnai1 formation, sandstone on hill above Santo Tomas coal sea1n, 

Santo Tomas, Webb County, Tex. (collected by 

D. D. Davis, 1895). 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. 

Order URTICALES. 

Family ULMACEAE .. 

Genus MOMISIA F. G. Dietrich. 

Momi:s.in americana Berry. 

Mom.1:sict americana Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 139, pl. 27, fig. 13, 1914. 

Leaf ovate in outline, 6 to 7 centimeters in 

length by 2.6 centi1net~rs in greatest width, 

which is in the lower half of the leaf. ·Apex not 

preserved, presutnably acute. Base obtusely 

pointed. :Margin entire as far as seen, but 

possibly it was sparsely toothed apically. 

Three pritnaries riM from the ~j:)p of the petiole, 

the 1nidrib the stoutest, all slender. : 

This species was unfortunately t>ased on a 

single incon1plete specimen £ron1 the lower 

Jackson, and a single doubtful specimen occurs 

in the Claiborne of Texas~ It is very like the 

leaves ordinarily referred to the gen.us Cinnamomum, of which three or four European spec~es have been recognized at irinumerab~e horizons fr01n. the Eocene to the Pliqcene and at a 

large nmnber of localities both in this country 

and abroad. Some of these ~orms are undisputable Cinumnonnuns, as is attested by \veilpreserved fruiting specimens; others find their 

only relation to that genus in their palmately 

tri-·veined character. The present species, 

though it 1nay represent a Oinnamomum, has 

seelned to 111e to be 1110re closely related to 

the Ulmaceae, for it rese1nbles certain South 

Atner.icl1ll. species of Celtis, as, f.or example, 

Celt'is 'iguanens (J.acqujn) Sargent, of Bolivia. 

It n1ore closely res01nbles,. however, Momisia 

acttleata (Swartz) l{lotzsch, a widespread speci~s of tropical An1erica and the West Indies, 

which re11ches its northern continental limits 

ln the valley of the Hio Grande and on the 

Florjda lteys. 

In the living flora Momisia has more than a 

score of species that are cm1fined to tropical 

America. Engler8211 reduces it to a subgenus 

of Celtis, but there is little doubt that it $hQuld 

be accorded generic rank. 

Occurrence:· Yegua fqrmiJ..tion, 1 mile below 

head of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U.S. National :Museum. 

. Family MORACEAE. 

Genus .FICUS Linne. 

Ficus unionensis Berry, n. sp .. 

Leaves of mediun1 size, oblong-elliptical· in 

general· outline, the apex bluntly pointed or 

broadly rounded and the · base rounded or 

bluntly pointed .. Length about 10 centimeters. 

Maximum width, at or slightly below the middle, 4 centimeters. ·Margins entire, son1ewhat 

undulate. Te~ture coriaceous. Petiole stout; 

its length undeterminable. Midrib stout, pron1- · 

inent on the lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries stout, about 15 opposite to alternate 

pairs; they diverge from the midrib. at wide' 

angles, ·many of them even at 90°; a.s a rule 

they are regularly spaced and run nearly 

straight to the marginal· region, where they 

curve abruptly upward, forming flat. campto-

.d_ronle arches that. are parallel with the margins. Tertiaries immersed in the leaf substance, obsole-te. 

This is a typical Ficus of the oblong, pinnateveined type, exemplified by the. n1odern 

Ficus je?'T'I.tginea and Fic'l.tS angustijolia. An1ong 

preYiously described fossil forn1s it· is similar to 

Ficus puTyeare11tsis Berry, a Yery common 

species of the Wilcox group. It differs from 

that species. in. its son1ewhat s1naller size, 

straighter lateral n1argins, andn1ore nun1erous 

seconda]:ies, which arch much closer to the 

margin than in that spe.cies. It also resmnbles 

the less elongated leaves of Fic?.ts claibornensis 

but .is s01newhat broader ·and has a 1nore 

pron1inent venation. It survives the Clai-· 

borne and it is not tincomn1on in the J·ackson 

of Arkansas and :Mississippi. 

Occurrence: Yegua forn1ation, 1 1nile below 

head of Cedar Creek, N eYils Prairie, fious~on 

County, Tex. (small forn1, collected by C. L. 

Baker); Columbia, Caldwell Parish, ·La. (collected by E. W. Berry) .. 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

B2a Die natiirlichen Pf1anzenfrunilien, Teil 3, 1894. 

' 
58 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTJ-IEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Incus ungeri Lesquereux. 

Fic1ts 1myer~ Lesqi.1ereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. 

· Survey ~err. Ann. Rept_.· for 1871, S_uppl., p. 7, 

1872; The Tertiary flora, p. 195, pl. 30, fig. 3, 

.1878; The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, p. 

163, pl. 44, figs. 1-3, 1883. 

Knowlton, U.. S. Geol. Survey Mon._ 32, p. 713, 

pl. 91, fig. 3, 1899. 

This species, which has been recorded by 

Knowlton from rocks of Fort Union age ·in the 

Yellowstone Park and by Lesquereux from 

several localities in the Green River shales of 

Wyoming, differs greatly in size and outline. 

The type· shown by Lesquereux 83 as coming 

froll?- the Green River beds is unmistakably 

present in the Claiborne. The question whether 

all the forn1s referred to this species are properly 

so identified is not under consideration here, 

but the species is briefly characterized from 

the Alabama material. · 

Leaves of prevailingly large_ size, oblong· in 

general outline, rounded at the apex and base.· 

Length about 20 centimeters. Maximuni 

width, in the middle part of the leaf, about 6.25 

· centimeters. Margin entire, regularly curved. 

Texture coriaceous. Petiole short arid ·stout. 

Midrib · stout, prominent. Secondaries thin, 

numerous, equidistant, subparallel; ·they diverge from the midrib at wide angles, about 

70° to 75°, slightly curved in passing outward·, 

the curves becoming accentuated in the marginal regions, where the secondaries are camptodrome. Tertiaries thin, mostly percurrent, 

. largely immersed. Iri outline this ,species is 

very clo'se to numerous modern· species of socalled rubber plants; as .. for example, Ficus. 

elastica. The venation is, however, more like 

that of the. modern Ficus ferruginea. There. 

are numerous existing species in the An1erican 

Tropics, and numerous described foss~l species. 

are closely parallel with this type. It is much 

like Ficus c~aibornensis but larger, relatively 

longer, and less pointed at both ends. 

Occurrence: Gosport saud, Claiborne Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Ficus newtonensis Berry, ·n. sp. 

Plate IX, Figures 1, 2, 3. 

Leaves of different size, ranging from 5 to 12 

centimeters in length and from 1 centimeter to 

83 Lesquereux, Leo, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, pl. 44, fig. 1, 

1883. 

3 centimeters in maximum width, which is 

about midway between the apex and the base. 

Outline_lanceolate, the margins entire and regularly curved, ·somewhat extended distad and 

decurrent at the base. Petiole short and stout. 

Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface 

of the leaf .. Secondaries not prominent, uu- . 

merous, opposite to alternate, subparallel pairs; 

they diverge from the midrib at wide angles- · 

70° to 80°-and curve slightly upward in passing 

outward; their tips are joined by relatively 

stout, scarcely ever arched marginal veins, 

which are aerodrome from 0.5 to 1 millimeter 

from the Inargins. that they parallel. There is 

considerable variatioi1 in the spacing of secondaries, the intervals ranging fron1 1 nlillinleter to 4 Inillimeters in sn1all leaves of, approximately· equal size. Tertiaries innnersed. 

Texture' subcoriaceous. 

This species is based upon abundant but 

fragmentary material from the Lisbon fornlation~ It is clearly marked by the wide angle 

of ·divergence of the riun1erous subparallel and 

nearly sti~aight secondaries-a type of venation 

exemplified ii1 the leaves of the existing Ffcus 

elastica. The larger leaves are son1ewhat like 

those of Ficus unionensis Berry, which is found 

in both . :the Y egua formation and. the lower 

Jackson .in the western Gulf H.rea; ··but Ficus 

uniiJnensis' is larger and more elliptical in outline and has fewer and more· curved secondaries. 

There is some resemblance to the form described 

by Lesquereux 84 from· the Green River formation of Wyoming as E1.walyptus? americana?. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, in a cut 011 

the Alabam~ & Vicksb~rg H.ailway· 3-!; miies 

east of Newton, Newton County, Mi"ss. (collected by E. N. Lowe and C. W. ·Cooke). 

Mount Sehnan for1nation, 1 i miles north of 

Palafox, Webb Cotu~ty, Tex. (collected by A. C. 

Trowbridge, L. W. Stephenson, and E .. ·w. 

Berry)"; Palestine, Anderson Cow1ty, Tex. (collected by 0. C. Funderbunk). 

_Collection: U .. S. N a tiona! :Museum. 

:F!cus sp. 

. Plate IX, Figure 4. 

Small ffuit, elliptical in outline, with a 

round~d · .tip and a slender · short peduncle. 

Length about 2.3 centimeters. Maxin1um diameter, at or slightly above the middle, about 

84 Lesquereux! Leo, The Tertiary flora, p. 296, pl. 59, figs. 11, 12, 1878. 
MIUDLB :EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE :FLORA. .59 

11.5 millimeters. Sulface fibrous in appearance but apparently not of a coriaceous texture, 

for the single specimen collected is much 

fiattened. 

This specimen represents a very obvious 

small-fruited species of fig. It altogether lacks 

specific diagnostic c~aracters and may represent the fruit of any one of the several species 

of Ficus described from the Claiborne group 

and based on· the remains of the foliage. 

·Occurrence: .Yegua formation, 1 mile belo-\v 

the mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorado River, 

Fayette County, Tex. (collected by Alexander 

Deussen). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order ARISTOLOCHIALES. 

Family ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. 

Genus ARISTOLOCHIA Linn~. 

Aristolochia claiborniana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate IX, figures 7, 8. 

Leaves of n1edium or small size, broadly ovate 

or slightly has tate; presumably the tip was 

pointed and the base proJ.ninently cordate. 

Length about 7 centin1eters. Maximum width, 

at the base of th~ leaf, about 4.2 centimeters. 

Margins entire, slightly undulate. Petiole long 

and very stout, s01newhat fiaccid, preserved .for 

a length of 3 centin1eters. Midrib straight, 

prominent, very stout. About ten pairs of 

stout a.nd pr01ninent secondaries diverge from 

the midrib at different angles. The lowermost 

three or four subopposite pairs diverge digitately fron1 the lower 5 millimeters of the Inidrib, the lowest pair at angles with the midrib 

of about 130°, the next pair at about 100°, the 

next pair at about. 90°, and the next pair at 

about 80°. The rest ·of the secondaries are 

somewhat irreguln.rly but n1uch more distantly 

spaced n.nd diverge at angles of 45 ° to 60°. 

All are. regularly curved, especially distad, 

where they all arch in a camptodrom~ n1anner 

pu.rallel with the margins. The lower pair.s 

give off reguln.rly and similarly arched lateral 

camptodr01ne tertiaries. The rest of the tertiaries are thin and mostly percurrent. Leaf 

substn.nce rather tough but not coriaceous. 

This fine and obviously new species is unfoi·-: 

tunately represented by only a single reasonably 

c01nplete specitnen H.nd its counterpart, both of 

which have been reproduced photographically. 

There are other very fragn1entary specimens in 

68844-24--5 

the collection fr01n Columbia, so that the species was probably not uncommon in the Yegua 

flora. It seems. much closer to Aristolochia 

than to any other genus with which it has been 

compared. Ettingshausen .

85 has recorded a 

species of Aristolochia from the somwehat older 

Eocene horizon of Alum Bay, England, but his 

species has unfortunately never been descr~bed 

or figured. 

The rnost of the existing species of Aristolochia have rather conspicuously palmately threeveined leaves, although there is considerable 

variation in this character, and Aristolochia 

acuminata Larnarck of ~he Asiatic. region and 

Aristolochia injlata Hrunboldt, Bonpland, and 

Kunth of the Antilles have leaves that approach 

this fossil form, which is also much like the existing Aristolochia rumicifolia. I know of· no 

described fossil forms that approach it at all 

closely. I have not discovered leaves. of Aris~ 

tolochia in the antecedent Wilcox fiora, ·but 

rather characteristic fruits have been described 

under the name Aristolochia wilcoxiana Berry. 86 

I have collected a very similar and possibly an~ 

cestral form from the ·Upper Cretaceous Black 

Creek formation of North Carolina, which will 

probably be desctibed eventually as a new 

species of Aristolochites.· Mention should also 

be made of the large ovate-cordate leaf so com- . 

mon in the Fort Union flora and described as 

Aristolochia cordifolia by Newberry. 87 Some of 

the smnller leaves of this form-as, for example, 

that shown in Newberry's Plate XL-are not 

unlike Aristolochia claiborniana Berry. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Columbi~, 

Caldwell Parish, La.. ·(collected by E .. W .. 

Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order POLYGONALES. 

Fa.ln.ily POLYGONACEAE_. 

Genus COCCOLOBIS P. Browne. 

Coccolobis claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate IX, Figures 5, 6. 

Leaves of medium size, broadly ellipt}~~l 

and somewhat inequilateral in outline, broadly 

rounded or bluntly poi~ted at the. tip, and 

s:1 Ettingshansen, C. von, Report on pilyto-pal~eo~tologlcal inve~_ti­ gations of the fossil flora of Alum Bay: Roy. Soc. London PrJ>c., vol. 

30, p. 233, 1880. . . 

86 Berry, E. \V., The lower Eocene floras or southeastern North Amet:. 

ica: u.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 211-212,1916. · 

87 Newberry, J. S., The later extinct floras of North America: u.S. 

Geol. ·survey 1\ion. 35, p. 90, pl. 39; pl. 40, fig. 7; pl. 60, fig. 4, l898. 
60 . MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

·broadly cmieate. or slightly decurrent at the Occurrence: Gosport sand, Claiborne Landbase. Length avei·ages about 8. centimeters. ing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W . 

. Maximum. width, in the middle part of the Berry). Lisbon ·formation, near Lexington, 

leaf, averages abo.ut 5 centimeters. Margins Holn;1es County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

entire, slightly. ti:q.dulate. Texture subcoria- ·Crider). Yegua formation, 1 mile below mouth 

ceous .. Petio1eshor.t, stout, usuallymucJ:lcurved, of Rabb Creek, Colorado River, Fayette. 

about 8 millimeters in length. .Midrib· stout, County, Tex. (collected by Alexander Deusprominent. ·.Secondaries well marked, about sen) 0). Mount Selman formation, 1 t miles 

six irregularly spaced pairs; 'they diverge from north of Palafox, Webb County, Tex. ·(colthe midrib at acute angles in a curved ascend- lected by A. C. Trowbridge, L. W. Stephenso:n, 

irig. course subpa.r.a1lel with ·the lower lateral a'nd E. W. Ber:ry). 

leaf .margins and are eventually camptcdrome. Collection: ·u. S. National Museum. 

Tertituies dis"tinct, mostly curved; they generally run at right ·angl~s. to the principal veins, 

and most of them: are forked and anastomose 

midway between the secondaries. 

This species· ha:s: some of ·the characters of 

several fossiLforms that have been referred to 

Ficus. It is ~n close agreement, hm:vever, with. 

·some ex.isting: speCies of Coccqlobis ( Coccoloba 

. Linne), two species ·of which, both of the1n 

arborescent strand.: types, reach northward as 

far as southern peninsular Florida. The genus 

·has more than 120 existing species which are· 

confined to the American equatorial region and 

range from southern Florida and · Mexico 

through the Antilles and Central America to 

-Brazil and Peru. Coccolobis claibornensis appears to be most similar to Coccolobis uvifera 

(Jacquin) of the Antilles and Coccolobis p1tnctata (Linne) of the Antilles and northern coast 

.of South America: ·I have described a fossil 

species from the Wilcox group, which is not, 

however, especially close to this species from 

the ylaiborne group·. . The Claiborne species 

appears to have had a considerable range during Claiborne time, but it is not represented in 

the collections by especially complete material. 

It survives the Claiborne and is found in the 

Jackson of Arkansas and Texas .. 

Lesquereux 8

·

8 described a species from the 

late Cretaceous or early, Terti11ry of Wyoming 

in 1872, and Ettingshausen 89 described two 

well..:marked species from the Aquitanian of 

the Bilin Basin ·(Bohemia) in 1866. Ettingshausen's species are much like Coccolobis claibornensis. 

88 Lesquereux; Leo, 'Lignitic formation and fossil flora: U.S. Geol. and 

Geog. Survey Terr. :Ann. Rept. for 1872, p. 387,. 1873; 'l'he Tertiary 

flora, p. 208, pl. 35, fli: 7, 1878. · · 

89 Ettingshausen, ·C? von; Die fossile Flora .des Tertiar-Bcckens von 

Bilin; pt. 1; K. Akad:~wiss. Wien, Math.-nat. Classe, Dcnkschr.,·Band 

. ·26," Teill, pp. 88, 89, pl:- 30!. tigs. 1, 2, 1866. 

Coccolobis columbianus Berry, n. sp. 

Plate X, Figures 1 and 2. 

Leaves of relatively large size, orbicular or 

broadly elliptical in general outline, and the 

apex and base.broadly rounded. Length about 

12 centimeters. Maximun1 width, midway 

between the apex and the base, ranges from 

10 to 11 centi1neters. Margins entire, regularly curved. Texture coriaceous. Petiole 

m1ssmg. Midrib stout, curved or ·slightly 

flexuous, prominent on the lower surface of 

the leaf. Six to eight opposite to alternate 

pairs of stout prominent secondaries diverge 

from the n1idrib . on the lower surface of t.he 

leaf at wide angles, which becon1e less toward 

'the tip of the leaf and average about 55° .. The 

secondaries are rather straight proximad, the· 

curvature increasing progressively toward the 

margin, where they sweep upward in broad, 

sharply .curved arches. Tertiaries thin, per0Urrent. 

The presen~ species is very distinct fro1n the 

other Claiborne for1n referred to Coccolobis; 

which is described as Ooccolobis claibornensis. 

Two species frmn the Wilcox group that are 

based upon foliage are referred to Coccolobis. 

The present species is Inuch like one of th~se 

species, ()occolobi's 1J,Viferafolia Berry, in size 

and outline but· is 1nore coriaceous arid has 

more numerous second~ries and more. prOininent venation throughout. Several fossil spe-. 

cies are known from the European Tertiary· . 

. Occurrence: Yegua · fonnation, Colu1nbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. W. Berry):, 

and 1 1nile below mouth. of Rabb Creek," .Col-

.orado River, Fayette County, Te:x; .. (collected 

by Alexander Deu:ssen) . 

Collection: U. S. N ationarMuse~m . 
MIDDL~ EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 61 

Order CHENOPODIALES. 

Family NYCTAGINACEAE. 

Genus PISONIA Linn~. 

Pi sonia claiborniana Be~ry. 

and t~is I?ay '~ell have been the means adopted 

by P~son~a cla~bornensis, for many of its assoCiates seem to have been similarly adapted for 

sea voyages. 

Members of the genus are not rare in the fossil $tate . .- The oldest recorded species is based 

Pisonia claibornensis Berry,. u. s. Geol. Survey Prof. on leaves described by VeleP:ovsky from the .. 

Paper 84, p. 140, pl. 28, figs. 3, 1914. · C~o~eker sa:ndstohe near Leipa, Bohemia, as 

Plate X, Figure 3. 

Leaves ovate in general outline, 1.5 to 2 P~son~a atav~a.ot They are of Upper Cretacentilneters in length by 0.8 centimeter to l.l ceous a~d probably Senonian age. I have 

centilneters in greatest width, which is a little also described a species frorr:t. the Upper Oreabove the 1niddle to 2 centinleters.. Apex ob- taceous Black Creek beds ih North Carolina 

tusely pointed. Base cuneate, slightly Inore (probably Turonian) ·

112 

No other Cretaceous 

prod~ced an.d more pointed than the apex. leaves have· been referred to Pisonia, although 

~argins. entire. Petiole very stout, alate or Lesquereux referred the only American species 

shghtly sheathing, expand'ed laterally proxi- ever described, Pisonia Tacemosa, o~ to the Lara-

:mu.te, about 5 n1illimeters in length. Midrib mie .. The material came from the Black 

rather stout, in cOinparison with the small siz~ Butte.s coal group of Wyoming, the exact age 

of the.le~f. Secondaries few, branching from of ~~ICh ~as. never been settled, although i~ my 

the 1n1drib at. an ~cute angle, 45o or slightly opmwn It Is probably basal Eocene. This 

less, and curvmg upward, cmnptodrOine. Leaf species, which was based upon both leaves and 

su?~t~nce t~in bu~ apparently coriaceous. fruiting. specimens, had somewhat larger, more 

· Ih1s spec~men was described from beds of rounded leaves and more ascending secondaries 

lower Ja~kso~ ~ge in Georgia. ~Except for its than. the Claiborne fossil. . Five species are 

smaller size, I.t Is very similar to Pisonia eoce-. recorded from the European: Tertiary; and I 

:~icn described by Ettingshausen from the have recently described two species from beds 

.bocene o.r . lower ~ligoc. ene of the Tyrol. oo of Wilcox . age in ,th~ Lagrange formation of 

Amona l1 t b Tennessee. . . b VIng speCies I resem les Pisonia 

jloridwna Britton of the Florida J(eys, which is, Pisonia eocenica Ettingshausen, which is rephowe~er, somewhat more rounded apically, so resented by leaves and fruit, occurs in the 

that Its leaves have a more obovate outline. lignites of Haering in the Tyrol. These beds are 

The fossil is identical in every particular with referred to the Ligurian by Gumbel and Friedth~ sina,ler leaves of the modern Central Amer- rich, to the Stampian by De Lapparent, and to 

ica1~ species Pisonia macranthocarpa Donnell the Sannoisian by Douxami and Marty. The 

Sm1th. As the fossil specie$ is based upon a sa1ne species has been identified .in the Oligosmall amount of material it is impossible to tell cene of Saxony, Styria,. Dalmatia, and Switzwhether the specimens collected are below the erland and in the Miocene of Styda and Caraverage size for the species or not. Presum- niola, and Massalongo r.ecords it from the 

ably the leaves did not become more than. 50 Messinian of Italy. 

· · p~r cent lar~er than the one :figured. In Piso- 'l'he modern species of Pisonia are numerous 

· nut mctcra·nthoca'l'pn the leaves differ consider- and occur in the Tropics of both hemispheres. 

ably in size, ranging from those somewhat They are largely developed in Central America 

~arg~r than the fossil to those only one-third and tropical South·America, n,nd several species 

Its size, though large numbers are ahnost iden- occur in the West Indies and Antilles. 

tical. with the fossil in size. The present Occurrence: Y egua formation, . Columbia, 

~pec~e~ .Inay also be compared with Pisonia Caldwell Parish, La. (cpllected by E. W. 

longifoha Sargent, which extends from the Berry). 

Flor.idn. J(eys to Brazil on sea beaches. : Collection: U. S. N a1tional Museum . 

. Several of the modern species are probably 

dispersed through the agency of ocean currents ' 80 Ettlngshausen, C. von, Dlo Tertiiirflora von Hiirlng in Tirol: K.-k. 

gool. Holahsanstalt Abb., vol. 2, pt. 3, p. 43, pl. u, figs. 1-22, 1853. 

91 Velenovsky, Josef, Die Flora der bohmisehen Kreideformation Teil' 

. 4, p. 6, pl. 8, figs. 13, 14, 1885. . · '· 

92 Berry, E. W., Contributions to the Meso•oie flora of the Atlantic 

Coastal Plain; V, North Carolina: Torrey Bot. ·Club Bull. vol. 37 p. 191 

1910. . . .. ' ' ' 

.93 Lesquereux, Leo, The Tertiary flora, p. 209, p1. 35, fig. 4,1878. 
62 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS ·OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Order ROSALES. 

Family MIMOSACEAE. 

Genus INGA Willdenow. l 

Inga arkansensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate X, Figure 13. 

Leaflets oblong-1anceolate in outline ·and 

somewhat inequilateral and slightly falcate, 

abruptly narrowed distad and then slightly 

produced to a bluntly pointed acumen. Base 

ineqtiilateral, rounded on the outside, narrowly 

pointed on the inside. Margins entire, slightly 

undulate. Petiolule apparently wanting. 

Leng~h about 5.5 to 6 centimeters. Maximum 

width about 1.8 centimeters. Midrib fairly 

stout, curved, prominent on the lower surface 

of the leaf. Six to eight subopposite pairs of 

secondaries, irregularly spaced, branch fr01n 

the midrib at anglesof 45° or 1nore, especially 

'toward ~he ape~ of the leaf, curve upward in 

broad subparalh3l curves, and arch in a camptodrOlne manner· close to and approxi1nately 

parallel with .the 1nargins. Tertiary venation 

obsolete. Leaf substance coriaceous. 

The only fossil species wit~ which· it is 

necessary to compare this fine fonn is Inga. 

mississippiens~s Berry, from the Wilcox group 

·of Mississippi, a form very much like and 

probably ancestral to the present species. 

: lnga arkansensis is more coriaceous and has 

a more abruptly narrowed and more obtusely 

pointed acumen, stouter venation, and obsolete tertiaries. Inga puryearensis Berry, also 

from the Wilcox group, is similar but some-

. what larger, coat·ser, and blunter. 

Few fossil species of lnga are known, 

although representatives of this genus have 

been described from the Upper Cretaceous Df 

Europe and America. There are more than 

two hundred existing species which are confined to ·the tropical and subtropical regions 

of America and which are largely developed in 

northern South America and are sparingly 

present throughout the West Indies, but appar.:. 

ently fail to reach the Florida peninsula . 

.A-ttention should be called to the striking 

similarity, amounting almost to identity, between Inga arlcansensis and the smaller leaf 

. from the Eocene at Carbon, Wyo., that Lesquereux 94 includes, probably unwisely, in his 

Ficus oblanceolata. 

A number of existing species of lnga have 

leaflets similar to the present middle Eocene 

fonn. Among these may be mentioned lnga . 

popayanensis Pit tier, 95. described recently from 

Colon1bia, and Inga paucifiora W alpers and 

Duchassaing, 96 of Panatna. 

OccluTence: Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, 

Cross County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry); 

1 mile below head of Cedar Creek, Nevils 

Prairie, Houston County, Tex. (collected by 

C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus MIMOSITES Bowerbank. 

Mimosites georgian us Berry. 

Mimosites georgianus Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 142, pl. 27, figs. 5-9, 1914. 

Leaflets of small size, ovate-lanceolate, somewhat inequilateral, sessile,. ranging from 2 to 

3.8 centimeters in length and from 5 to 10 

millin1eters in maximum width, which may be 

in the apical Qr basal portion of theleaf or half-

\vay between. Apex rounded or obtusely 

pointed. Base somewhat rounded or cuneate 

and pointed. Some of the leaves are perfectly 

symmet1~ical, others are somewhat extended 

apically, and still others have the base slightly 

extended. :Margins entire. Midrib fairly'stout 

belo·w, thin aboYe. Seconqaries thin, 'open, 

can1ptodrome. 

These sn1allleaflets are con1mon in the Y egU:a. 

and Lisbon formations and occur also in th~ 

lower ,J aekson. They are almost identical 

with the leaflets of various modern Mimosn.~eae. 

The fossil speeies of Jfimo8'ites are nun1erous, 

and n1any species haV"e been described fro~n tht~ 

Wilcox group in the Mississippi emba.Y'!llent 

itrea. 97 

Occurrence: Y egua foi·mation, 1 mile below· 

head of Ce~ar Creek, Nevils Prairie, and 1 mile 

southeast of Antioch, IIouston County, Tex. 

(collected by C. L. Baker).· l\1oun t Selman 

formation, Palestine, Anderson County, Tex. 

(collected ~y 0. C. Funderbunk). Lisbo~ 'formation,. in a cut on the Alabama & Vicksburg · .. 9" Pittier, Henry, Freliminary revision of the genus Inua:· Contr. 

LT. S; Nat. Herbarium, vol. lS, pt. 5, p. 185, pl. 91, 1916. 

96 vValper~, Gerhard, and Duchassaing, Piacido, Plantae novae et . 

minus cognitae in isthmo P!tnamensi et.in insulis Guadeloupe et Sancti 

Thomae collectae: Linnaea, vol. 23, p. 746, 1850. 

· 01 Berry:, E. vV.,. The low:er ·Eocene floras of southeastern North 

•• Lesquereux, .Leo, The Tertiary flora, pl. 28, fig. 9 (not figs. 10-12), · America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 226-228, pl. 45, figs. '6-14, 

1878. 1916. 
' c 

MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA . 63 

. RfLilway 3.;} miles east of Newton, N ewtpn 

County. (collected by E. N. Lowe and C. W. 

Cooke); Lexington, I-Iolmes County (collected 

by A. F. Crider), Miss. 

Collection: U.' S. National Museum. 

Family CAESALPINIACEAE. 

Genus GLEDITSIOPHYLLUM Berry. 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum Berry. 

GletlUsio7Jhyll-nm eocenicttm Berry, U .. S. Geol. ·Survey 

Prof. Pn.per 91, p. 238, pl. 46, figs. 1-7, 1916. 

This well-lniown species, which is exceedingly 

connnon at ntnnerous localities in the middle 

n.nd upp~r Wilcox of the eastern embayment 

n.reu and which occurs also in the 

upper \iV.ilcox of Louisiana and 

Wilson County, Tex., survived into 

the basal Claiborne Mount Selman 

formation of Anderson County, Tex. 

It was fully described in 1916 and 

need not be characterized .in the 

present report. 

Occurrence: Mount Sehnan forlnation,Pn1estine,Anclerson County, 

'.l'ex. (collected by 0. C. Funclerbunk). 

Collection: U. s.· National ~1u- · 

seum. 

Genus CASSIA LinnE! .. 

Cassia cockfieldensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plt~te X, Figure 1.2. 

tion, which is now considered a synonym of 

the Yegua formation. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S .. National ~1useum. · 

, Genus COP AIFERA LinnE!. 

Copaifer-a yeguana Berry. 

Plate X, Figure 4. 

Copaifera yeguana Berry, Torreya, vol. 15, pp. 41-44, 

fig. 1, 1915. 

This species is based upon the complete pod 

figured and one additional specimen and may 

be· characterized as follows: Pod of relatively 

S.nv"tll, cmnparatively flat pods, 

rela.ti,.,e]y few seeded, about 1.6 

CentimeterS .in length by 8 milli- FIGURJ<; 4.-Foliago and fruit of Copaifera langsdorji.i Desfontaines, an existing 

· species of Copaifera from Brazil much like the Yeguaspe.oie~. meters in :mu.xirnun1 width. Base 

rounded. Apex slightly narrower and angled . 

.Keel'.thickened. Texture subcoriaceous. Surface smooth and shows a faintly marked transvm·se syste.m of forking and anastomosing veins. 

]~xc~pt for their small~r size; more coriaceous 

texture, and fainter markings these pods are 

much like the pods of Cassia wilcoxiana Berry 

from the Wilcox group of the eastern Gulf 

areu, nnd nre also similar to those of numerous 

exjsting species of Caesalpiniaceae, especially 

those of some of the. very nu~erous species 

that are referred to the genus Oassia. The 

n1une is given in allusion to its occurrence in 

what was formerly called the" Cockfield" formasmn.ll size, short and broadly ellipti~al, greatly 

compressed, pedunculate, somewhat obliquely 

mucronate tipped, two-valved, tardlly if at all 

dehisc~nt, single seeded, very cor~aceous, 2 

centimeters in length by 1.3 centimeters in 

maximum width. Seed large, elliptical, compressed, 1.1 centimeters lol).g ·by 8 millimeters 

in maximum width. ··· ·· · 

These pods are very· similar to the pods of 

existing members of this genus (see fig. 4) as 

well as to those that have ·been described .from 

the Tertiary of Europe. No othe~ genus has 

pods of exactly this character. Those of the 

tribe Dalbergieae of the Papilionaceae ·are com-
64 MIDDLE AND UPPER. EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

monly sin~le seeded, but in that group they are 

less compressed and indehiscent, whereas in the 

present species the pod appears to have been 

dehiscent; at least only half of it is preserved. 

Whether or not the other valve was in place in 

the counterpart of the type I do not know, as 

I did not collect the material. 

There are. about sixteen existing species, all 

trees, and they are now often referred to the 

genus Copaiba· Miller rather than to Oopaifera 

Lmne (as for· example by Taubert in Engler and 

Prantl's Die natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien). 

·Four . of these. species occur in tropical Africa 

·and the remainder in tropical America (the 

West Indies, Lesser Antilles, Central America, 

Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana, and the Amazon 

Valley). They have·unarmed branches, evenpinnate leaves of few s1nall leaflets, and yield 

the gum or bal.sam used in medicine under the 

name copaiba. No leaves have been found 

with the pods in the Texas Eocene, but several 

fossil-leaflets have been referred to this genus 

by European paleobotanists. Fossil forn1s have 

b.een referred to the genus· Oopaifera for over 

half a century. In 1862 Unger described, in 

the second part o~ his Sylloge, a pod of this 

genus .from the Aquitanian of Kumi 98 and 

a 'second pod and leaflets from the· Miocene of 

Racloboj, in Croatia. 99 Subsequently additional species have been described by Unger/ 

Saporta,2 and Engelhardt, 3 some based on 

leaflets and others on ·pods. The genus was 

obviously present in Europe during the late 

Oligocene and Miocene. Ettingshausen 4 referred rather poorly preserved leaflets from,the 

early Tertiary of Australia to this genus, ·but 

they are entirely unreliable, and there is no 

evidence that the genus was ever present in 

Australia. Engelhardt's records 3 from Chile 

(lower Miocene) are also based upon. leaflets. 

and are not entirely beyond suspicion, although 

fr~m the modern range of· the genus the 

probabilities are all in favor of ·the correctness of _his deter~inations. The genus has 

never before been recorded from North America 

nor from strata anywhere as old as the middle 

Eocene. 

A possibly allied genus found in the Tertiary of America and Europe and especially 

abundant. in Europe is Podogonium Heer, 

which has single-seeded, more elongated, readily dehiscent, netted-veined pods. 

Occurrence: Y egua form.ation, Cedar Creek, 

2 miles south of Texas Southeastern Railroad 

bridge southwest of Lufkin, Angelina County, 

Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). ' 

Collection: U. S. National. Museum. 

Family PAPILIONACEAE. 

Genus SOPHORA Linn~. 

Sophora claiborniana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate X, Figures 9, 10. 

Leaflets relatively small, inequilateral and 1 

elliptical in general outline, evenly rounded 

both proxin1ad. and distad. Base slightly 

wider and 1nore inequilateral than the apex. 

One speci1nen has a shallow sinus on the 

narrower ~ide, 1nidway between the apex 'and 

the. base, but this is a fortuitous and not a 

constant character. Length about 2.5 centimeters. Maximum width, at ·or below the 

middle, ranges from·. 8.5 to 11.5 millimeters. 

Margins entire. Texture coria~eous. Petiolule short and stout; slightly widened at the 

point of attachment, not over 1 millimeter in 

length. Midrib stout and nearly straight, 

somewhat prominent on the lower· surface o( 

the leaflet. Secondaries very thin and numerous and not prominent. They diverge from 

the midrib at angles of about 50°, are slightly 

curved, and become obsolete toward the mar~ 

gins, where they merge in a camptodrome 

manner with the tertiary areolation, which is 

only ·faintly . visible ·in well-preserved specimens. In much of the material both the 

secondary and tertiary systems of venation are 

obsolete by immersion in the leaf substance. 

Leaflets of a great variety of species of 

leguminous trees· and shrubs are exceedingly 9B Unger, FranL, Sylloge plantarum fossilium, 'leil2, p. 32,pl. 2, fig. 

10, 1862. common· in the antecedent Wilcox flora. In 99 Idem, figs. 4-9,11. the Claiborne flora, which is much less abun- 1 Unger, Fran7 , Die fossile Flora von Radoboj, p.154, pl. 3, fig.13, 1869. · 

. 2 Saporta, G. de, Etudes sur Ia vegetation du sud-est de la France a dantly preserved, they are not nearly SO numerl'epoque tertiaire, voi. 2,p. 37.'i, pl. 3, fig.14, 1866. ous. The pres.ent species shows. resembfances . a Engelhardt, Hermann, Ueber TertHirpftamen von Chile: l:enckcnbergische naturf. Gesell. Abh., Band 16, Heft 4, p·. 681, pl. s; fig. 8; to several Wilcox forms, as . for example 

pl. 1, fig. 4, 1891. . Oaesalpinites pinsonensis Berry, which is, how- • Ettingshausen, C. von, Beitriige zur Kenntniss der Tertiiirftora 

Australiens, pt. 2, p. 56, pl. 1s, figs. 23, 23a, 1886. .·ever, slightly Sinaller, more equilateral, more 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. ·65 

. pointed distad, and has a coarser vent!).tion. 

The n1ost similar Wilcox form, which I regard 

as ancestral to the ·claiborne species, is Sophora 

'l.vilcoxiana Berry, a form that is exceedingly 

comn1on in the Wilcox strand flora and is the 

most abundant species . of Sophora in the 

\Vilcox collections.· Its s1naller leaflets are 

very close to those of Sophora claiboniiana. 

In general, however, the leaflets of this species. 

n.re \Tery much larger, relatively wider, and have 

n. mo.l·e prominent ventation and a tiny 

mucronate point at the apex of the .midrib. 

The present species is also n1uch like several 

Pxisting species of Sophora of the American 

Tropics. The genus has· about twenty-five 

existing species of shrubs and sin!1ll trees 

wh icli are scattered over the warn1er parts of 

both hemispheres and are found on all tropical 

seo.shores, as, for example, Sophora tomentosa 

Linne, which is perhaps the most widespread 

of these forms. 

Numerous fossil spevies have been describeq 

from the· European Tertiary, ·and I have 

described five species from the Wilcox group. 

Tho present species, which is found also in the 

J'acl~son, is known frmn the vicinity of Savannah H.iver in Georgia to southwestern Texas, a 

distance of over a thousand 1niles. . 

Occurrence: .Lisbon for.mation, in a cut on 

the Alaban~a & Vicksburg Railway 3t miles 

east 'o:f N ewtmi, Newton County, Miss. (collected by E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U.S. National :Museum. 

Sophora wilcoxiana Berry. 

Pln.te X, Figure i.l. 

So}Jhom wilco:dana Beny, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Pn.per 91, p. ·241, pl. 47, figs. 1-13, 1916. 

Leaves pinnate, rachis stout, ~~d opposite 

len.flets at intervals of about 1.5 centin1eters. 

Leafl~ts ciiffering greatly in Bize, elliptical and 

nearly equilateral in outline, the apex broadly 

l'OU11ded, and the base broadly rounded or in 

some specin1ens slightly inequilater'al and 

bt·on.dly cuneate. The length ranges from 2 to 

6 centimeters and averages between 3 and 4 

een t,im.eters. The ma.xinu1m ·width, about 

midwn.y between the n.pex and the base, ranges 

from 8 millin1ete'rs to ~.5 centimeters and avern.ges 11bout 1.75 centin1eters. Margins entire, 

full, and generally aln1ost uniformly rounded·. 

Petiole very. short and thickened. · Midrib. 

stout and. straight, prominent on the lower 

surface of the leaflet, extended distad as a tiny 

mucronate point. Seven or eight thin camp.:. 

todrome secondaries diverge from the midPib 

at angles of 45° or· slightly more. Texture 

coriaceous. 

This fine species is exceedingly common in 

the middle and upper Wilcox, where nearly 

complete leaves are occasionally found. It is 

represented in the Claiborne by few and detached leaflets and has been doubtfully identified from the lower Jackson. It is comparable 

with the exist~ng Sophora secundijlora De 

Candolle of the Texas region and with Sophora. 

tomentosa Linn€, a cosmopolitan tropical strand 

plant. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, 1 mile below 

head of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. S. N R.tional Museum. 

Sophora balli Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLIII, Figure 4. 

Leaflets inequilateral, narrowly. ovate in 

outline, with a somewhat inequilat'erally rounded apex and shortly pointed base. Margins 

entire, evenly rounded. Texture .subcoriaceous. Length about 5 ·centimeters. Maxi-· 

mum width, below the middle, about 1.7 centimeters. Petiolule want.ing. Midrib medium 

stout and prominent on the under surface. 

Secondaries thin, immersed, straight and subparallel, camptodrome. Tertiaries obsolete. 

This ·species is sparingly represented. · It 

is narrower and more tapering than Sophora 

1.vilcoxiana Berry, which is doubtfully recorded fro in ·the lower Jackson of Georgia, 

and is not at all like the other six known 

.Wilcox species of Sophora. -It ;is· a much 

larger and less elliptical form than Sophora 

claiborniana Berry of the ·claiborne and 

Jackson. It is much 'like the for~ .from the 

late Eocene. of Hesse which E~gelhardt 4a 

identifl.es as Andromeda vacciniifolia Unger. 

Occurrence: Y egua formt;ttion (in beds . re-

. garded by me as of Jackson age), Rock Creek, 

William Dunn League, Br~zos County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball). · 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

4a Engelhardt, Hermann, Die alttertiiire Flors von Messel bel Darmstadt: Hess. geol. Landesanst. zu Darmstadt Abh., Band 7, Heft 4, p. 79, 

pl. 24, fig. 9, 1922. . ' 
66 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Order GERANIALES. 

Family RUTACEAE. 

Genus FAGARA Linne. 

Fagara claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XI, Figure 1. 

ceous. Length about 3.i centimeters. Maximum width about 2 centim~ters. Petiole 

missing. Midrib stout but not especially 

prominent. Secondaries few and open, sto.ut 

below, thin above, immersed; four suboppos1te 

pairs ·diverge from the midrib at angles of 

about 45°, curving regularly upward, subLeaves pinnate. Leaflets of medium size, parallel, evenly camptodr?me a co~si~era.ble sessile, elliptical in general outline, the apex distance within the margins. Tertiaries oband base about equally and broadly rounded, solete. 

slightly decurrent at the base, and a faint This species is very close to Fagar~ cla_imucronate point a,t the tip. Length about bornensis Berry of the ~isbon formatiOn In 

3.5 centimeters.. Maximum width,· midway Mi-ssissippi, and possibly the two are variants 

between the apex and the base, about 2.2 of a single botanic species. The present form 

· centimeters. Margins entire. Texture sub- is slightly smaller, inore ovate in form, slig~tly 

coriaceous. Midrib stout, prominent on the thicker in texture, and with fewer secon,daries . 

. lower surface. of the leaflet. Secondaries thin It is also similar to some of the varieties of 

but well marked; about· six subopposit_e ~o Fagara catahoulensis Berry of the Jackson and 

alternate pairs. They diverge from the nndrib . Catahoula formations, and I am inclined to 

~t angles of 55° to 60°, curve regularly up- regard it as intermediate between Fagara 

ward, are subparallel, and are camptodrome In claibornensis and F. catahO?.t,lens'is both biothe marginal region. Tertiaries thin, more ~ logically and chronologically. 

less immersed, mostly percurrent, at angles of Occurrence: Yegua formation, Rock Creek, 

45° to 90° with. the midri?. . . William Dunn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

This well-marked speCies Is a type of leaf (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

· that is usually referred to the genus Ber- . Collection: U. S. N a.tional Museum. 

chemia of the family Rhamnaceae and is well 

· illustrated by the widespread Berchemia multi-

. nervis Heer of the Europe_an Tertiary. It is, 

· however, so · , similar to the leaflets of the 

· existing genus Fagara and so like the abunda~t 

leaves of this genus found· in the lower Oligocene of Louisiana that I am forced to consider it referable to· this genus, which appears 

in the :flora of the Wilcox group (lower Eocene) 

of this area and is even indicated in the Upper 

Cretaceous flora of Alabama. 

·The genus is widely distributed in the existing flora and is _largely tropical. M_ost of the 

. species are endemic in tropical Amenca. 

· · Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, Pales-

- tine, Anderson Coun~y, Tex. (collected by. 

· ·o. ··c. Funderbnnk). Lisbon formation, near 

. Lexington, Holmes Coun~y, Miss. (collected by 

A. F. Crider). 

. Collec.tion: U. S. National Museum. 

Fagara :petraflumensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLIII, Figure 3. 

-Leaves .small, elliptical-ovate in general out1ine, with evenly rounded entire margins, 

rounded apex, and slightly decurrent base· 

Widest below the middle. Texture coriaGenus CITROPHYLLUM Berry . 

Citrophyllum eocenicum Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XI, Figures 2-8. 

Leaves of different sizes, ovate-l~nceolate iD 

outline. Apex rather abruptly pointed. Base 

narrowed almost to .the petiole and then rather 

broadly expended to form a conspicuously alate 

petiole. Length, 5 to · 12 centimeters and 

averages about 7 centim.eters. Maximum 

width,. 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters and the average 

is about 2.5 centimeters. Margins entire, full 

and rounded, more or les·s undulate. Texture 

very coriaceous. Petiole stout, 1.1 to 3.5 

centimeters in length, and averages about 2 

centimeters or slightly less, with marginal 

wings on eac4 side that reach a maxim urn 

width of 8 millimeters in some specimens 

but as a rule are considerably smaller and are 

generaliy inequilateral. Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface of the leaf and more 

or less channeled on the upper surface. Seven 

to nine secondaries, opposite to' alternate pairs, 

branch from the midrib at angles of about 60° 

and pursue a nearly straight ascendi~g course 

for three-fourths of the distance to the margin 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 67 

and then curve upward to form a broad flat 

arch parallel with the lateral margin and join 

the secondary next above. The secondaries 

are fairly stout but are immersed in the thick 

leaf substance, and the tertiary venation is 

prn.ctically obsolete. The wings of the petio~e 

in son1e of the larger specimens show four or 

five ci:unptodro:me veins on each side. 

This species .is very characteristic, for 

though it exhibits considerable variation in 

both size and outline, as is indicated by the 

specimens figured, it is readily recognizable 

by its thick lamina, oblique, distant, and inlInersed secondaries, and alate petioles. Although no line of abscission is shown in the 

forms with the petiole preserved, a region of 

abscission nn1st have been developed, for the 

leaves are often :found without their petioles. 

near Stephens, Ouachita County, Ark. (collected by J.P. D~ Hull); 1 n1ile below mouth of 

Rabb Creek, Colorado River, Fayette County, 

Tex. (collected by Alexander Deussen) ; 1 mile 

below head of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, 

Houston County, and 1 mile south of Climax 

siding, milepost 129, Houston County, Tex. 

(collected by C. L. Baker). Mount Selman 

formation, Palestine, spillway of Elkhart 

Lake, 2 miles from Elkhart, Anderson Cou:p.ty, 

Tex. (collected by 0. C. Funderbunk). Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Monroe 

County, Ala. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Lisbon formation, in a cut on the Alabama & 

Vicksburg Railway 3! miles east of Newton, 

Newton County, Miss. (collected by E. N. 

Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family MELIACEAE. 

Genus CEDRELA Linne. 

Cedrela jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. 

The present species is markedly distinct from 

·previously described Tertiary species. It is 

nu1Ch larger n.nd differs in other respects from 

the \Vilcox species of OitTophyllum but approu.ches, son1~what renl.otely, it is true, OitroI B r h Plate XXXIV. , Figures 4, 5 ,· Plate XLIV, Figures 1-5. phyll'l.tm (/Jlige'l''l.l.m ( ... esquereux) erry 5 01 t e 

Upper CFetn,ceous. These tlll'ee species are all This species is described under the upper 

. that are known. in this genus at the ·present Eocene flora (p.l74). The species is abundant 

time. The genus was nan1ed fr01n its re- in the continental deposits of the Yegua forsenlblance to Oitrus, and it is undoubtedly mation, which I regard as in part of Claiborne 

related to the existing ·tribe Citrinae of the and in part of Jackson age. 

-Rutace~e. The genus Oitr'l.ts has only a few · The Y egua leaflets ar:e of all sizes, from the · 

species in the Indo-M:alayan region of the normal size as given in the discussion of the 

Orient but is widely cultivated with many Jackson ·occurrences downward to le11flets 

. horticultural Yitrieties in all warmer parts of only 2 centimeters in length by 8 millimeters 

the globe. Five species are 1nore or less in maximum width, and there are very many 

thoroughly nn.tm·rtlized in Florida. about 6 centimeters in length by 1.8 centiThe present species is very con1mon at meters in maximum width. As all sizes are 

Cherry Valley and less· con1n1on at Claiborne associated in the Yegua,· mere size can not be 

:Landing and other localities· in ·the Claiborne looked upon as indicative.of specific variation, 

group. A previously described fossil forin but .. it may show the range of variation that 

thn.t n1u.y be congeneric is ATal'ia, con·v,gata, · possibly occurred among the leaflets of dif-

. whieh is described by Saporta 6 fron1 the ferent positions on individual leu,ves. 

· Sanno.isian o:f Aix, in southeast~rn France. Occurrence: Y egua formation (in beds reSt1porta suggested n. relationship with Oitr·us garded by ine as of iackson age), Rock Creek, 

but decided, in the absence of evidences of an William Dunn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

nt·ticulation at the sununit of the petiole, that (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

his for1n was It .le~1flet of a. digitate species of 

ATalia,. 

Occurrence·: Y egua :forn1ation, Cherry Valley, 

Cross County, Ark. (cbllected by E. W. Berry); 

~ Borry, E. W., Contributions to tho 1\Iosozoic flora of the Atlantic 

· Coastal Plain; liT, New Jersey: Torrey 13ot. Club Bull., vol. 36, p. 258, 

pl. 1&\, 1909. 

8 Snport:a, Cl. de, Dorniores ndjonctlons a In floro fossile d' Aix-en-Provenco, pt; 2, p. 76, pl. 10, fig. 3, 1889. 

Genus CARAPA Aublet. 

Carapa xylocarpoides Berry. 

Plate XII, Figure). 

Carapa xylocarpoides Berry, Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., 

vol. 43, p. 298, fig. 1a, 1917. 

Seeds large, somewhat trapezoidal or pyramidal in outline, tapering toward the hilum, 
68 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

rounded distad. Length about 3.5 ·centimeters. Maximum width about- 3.5 centimet~rs. 

Thickness about 6 · millimeters. The lateral 

margins ar~ rounded;· the distal margin,s. tend 

to be somewhat angular, and there is usually 

an angular ridge on the proxi1nal face of the · 

seed. The outline and ·degree of rounding or 

angulation and the variability result from mutual pressure of the seeds in the bead and show 

· considerable range of variation among recent 

forms. The texture is ligneous, and the seeds 

obviousiy formed part of the Eocene sea drift, 

as do those of a number of the existing species. 

Tl~is striking form is unquestionably referable 

to ·the genus Oarapa or to the allied X ylo-

_carp'l.ts, which includes two existing oriental 

species that are often referred to Oarapa. The 

differences are those of floral structure, degree 

of buoyancy. of seeds, and manner of d~hiscence of the fruit-characte~·s which the fossil 

does not clearly show. · The seed coat of 

Oarapa is woody, whereas that of Xylocarpus 

is corky and consequei.1tly 1nore buoyant and 

better ad~tpted for dispersal by ocean currents. 

In this feature the fossil seed is more like Xylocarpus. In form ~Y ylocarpus see~ls arc· SOlnewhat 1nore regularly pyramidal than those of 

Oarapa, and in this respect also the fossil is 

more like X ylocarp1ts, especially the orienta] 

·mangrove Xylocarpus obovatus. However, a~. 

, Oarapa is much the better-known generic namE. 

·for the· modern species of both OarazJa al).d 

. X ylocarpus and as it is represented by leaves 

in the lower Eocene (Wilcox) flora of this general region 7 it seems advisable to adopt the 

. name Oarapa for this American· Tertiary fossil, 

which can hardly be 1nore closely related to 

the oriental mangrove X ylocarpus obovatus 

Blume or· the oriental beach plant X ylocarpus 

molucceT~>sis Lamarck than to the half cfozen 

·existing . species of the American and west 

African Tropics. The absence of the 1nore or 

less massive seeds of the existing species in .the 

. larger herbaria is my reason for ·not making 

more detailed comparisons between then1 and 

the present fossil form~ . . 

Occurrence: Claiborne deposits, 2! miles 

east of Fort Gaines, Clay County, Ga. (collected by Otto Veatch). 

Collection: · U. S. National Museum. 

1 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

u.s. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 253, pl. 55, fig. 4; pl. 60, fig. 4,1916. 

Order SAPINDALES. 

Family CELASTRACEAE. 

Genus CELASTROPHYLL UM Go~ppert. 

. Celastrophyllum gymindoides ·Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XII, Figure 3. 

Leaves of small size, obovate in genf>ral 

outline, the apex broadly rounded and the 

base narrowly cuneate. Length about 3.5 

centimeters. ·Maximum · width, midway between the apex and the bas'e, about 1.5 centimeters. Margins s01newhat irregularly curved, 

with a few ren1ote crenate-serrate teeth in the 

upper half of the leaf, not more than two or 

three on a side, irregularly spaced. Texture 

coriaceous. Petiole not preserved, obviously 

short or wanting. Midrib very stout,. some:-

what curved, prominent on th~ lower surface 

of the leaf. Secondaries stout, four to six 

pairs, irregularly spaced. They diverge frorri 

the· 1nidrib at wide but different angles, are 

c01nparatively straight and eventually camptodrorne · the arches are wide and for· the 1nost ' . part·approximately equilateral. Tertiaries relativeiy stout and form large, nearly isodiametric 

quadi·angular or p·olygonal nreolae. 

This well-rnarked species of a sn1all, thick, 

ren1otely toothed leaf is clearly referable to the 

family Celastraceae. It closely resembles a 

number of existing spec!es of the equatori~l and 

supequator!al· regio~s of America, as well as 

nu1nerous fossil ·species from th.e Europ~an 

Tertiary that are usually referred to the genus 

Oelastrus. 

Among comparable modern forms with which 

it· has been compared it is closest· to Gyminda 

grisebachi.i Sarg~nt, a small.tree common n.nd . 

generally distributed over the keys of south~rn 

Florida, the West Ind~es to Trinidad, sou~h~rn 

Mexico, and Central America. Some of these. 

occurrences, however, may represent v:arieties 

or ch)~ely allied but distinct species. . B~~a~1se 

of the lack of ·absolute oertainty in regard to 

the generic detern1ination of the fossil (r~ving 

to the community ·of foliar characters in this 

family, it. is referred to the form genus Oelastrophyllum, which was established by Goeppert 

for leaves referable to this family and used 

wh<:m the genus can not ·be satisfactorily· determined. Many fossil species have been ~eferred 

to Oelastrophyllum, which is especially abundant in the Upper Cretaceous of the Atlantic 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 69 

Coastal Plain, .and very likely some of these 

forms represent the progenitor of the present 

species. · Several species of Oelastrus have been 

described from the Wilcox group, but none 

of these are especially close to the present form. 

Occurrence: Lisbon fonnation, cut on the 

Alabtuna & Vicksburg Ru.ilw~1.y 31 1niles east 

of Newton, Newton County, Miss. (collected 

by E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U. S. N ationall\1useum. 

Celastrophyllum columbianum Berry, n. sp. 

·Plate XII, Figure 4. 

Leaves of small size, ovate in general outline, . 

the tip narrowed and extended acuminate, and 

the base broadly rounded. Length about 5 

centimeters. Ma..-ximum width, in the lower 

hulf of the leaf, about 2.3 centin1eters. Leaf 

substance thin. :Margins have large dentate· 

teeth, which becon1e n1ore renwte and flattened 

distad. Petiole ·1nissing. Midrib thin, not 

pr01ninent. Secondaries thin; three or four 

n.lternate pairs diverge fron1 the.Inidrib at angles of about 50°, curving regulaTly upwn.rd and 

en.mptodrome. Tertin.ries obsolete. 

·The present species is clearly new and ver)T 

unli kc the other me1nbers of the Claiborne 

:florn.. ·unfortunatel.y, it is based upon incomplete nu1.ter.ial .fr01n a single locality, so that its 

sun1 of clmracters and range of variation can 

not be :fully deter1nined. It is not especially 

close to any of the numerous species o{ Celastracen.e that have been described from the 

W.iicox group. 

Occurrence: Yeg·ua formation; Columbia, 

CnJdweh Parish, La.' (collected by E. W: Be~Ty). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Genus EUONYMUS Linne. 

Euonymus santotomasensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXIII, Figure 1. 

Leaves ovate-lanceolate in outline, the tip 

. ~cun1inate and the base presumably 1Jlunt, apparently som.ewhat . ineq uilateral. Length 

app·at·ently about 11 centi1neters. Maxin1um 

width in the middle part of the leaf. Margins 

have close-set denticulate teeth. Leaf substance thin. Petiole missing. Midrib stout, 

prominent, and smnewhat flexuous. Secondaries thin; about· ten subopposite to alternate 

regularly spayed pairs branch from the midrib 

at different .angles, which are acute in the upper 

part of the leaf and become more open proximad. They form sweeping subparallel curves 

arid are camptodrome in the marginal region. 

Tertiaries obsolete. 

Euoriym1ts is well represented in the Tertiary 

floras of the Northern Hemisphere,. especially 

in the European area. There is a well-marked 

species, E1.wnymus xantho.lithensis Ward, 8 in 

the Eocene· of western North America, which 

is a relatively shorter and broader and· much 

coarser .form than the present species. A very 

similar species, possibly ancestral to the present 

form, is Euonymus splendens Berry,0 which is 

very common throughout the Wilcox of southeastern North America. This form as a rule 

'has much larger leaves, which are relatively 

shorter and ·wider than those of E1.wnymus 

snntotomasensis, and the venation is more 

prominent, the· secondaries are less ascending, 

and the margins are generally more dif3tinctly 

denticulate. A species contemporaneous with 

the present Claiborne form is E1.wnym·us flexifolium Lesquereux,t0 which .is a large.r leaf and 

has fewer secondaries and very prominent, 

upwardly prolonged, serrate marginal teeth. 

The present species is much like the leaves 

from the late Eocene .of Hesse that Engelhardt toa refers . to the European Miocene 

species Rhamnus gnudini Heer. 

About twenty fossil species of Euonymus 

have been described, ranging in age from the 

base of the Eocene to the Pleistocene. The 

existing species nu1nber . about 55 and are 

widely distributed throughout the Northern 

Hemisphere, bGcom.ing n1assed in .the southeastern Asiatic region. Many species live in 

-the uplands. of India and China and. throughout Malaysia .. There are five indigenous 

species in the United States, so1ne. of which 

range n()rthward as far as Canada. There are· 

also five or six species in Central America. The 

genus is distinctly not a me1nber of the strand 

flora, but for the most. part it inhabits open . 

mesophile forests and broken thickets of the 

warmer temperate and tropical zones. 

a Ward, L. F., Types of the Laramie flora: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 37, 

p. 82, pl. 27, figs. 1, 2, 1887. 

9 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Pro(. Paper 91, p. 267, pl. 61, fig. 6, pl. 62, figs. 1-5, 1916. 

10 Lesquereux, Leo, The Qretaceous and Tertiary floras, p.l83, pl. 381, 

fig. 13, 1883. 

loa Engelhardt, Herma1m, Die alttertiiLre Flora von Messel bei Darmstadt: Hess. geol. Landesanst. zu Darmstadt Abh., Band 7, Heft 4, p. 99, 

pl. 33, figs. 3, 5, 1922. 
·70 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

The present species may be :m'atched by the 

leaves of several existing American species, 

both of the tropical and warm temperate types. 

In the report on the Rio Grande coal fields 

of Texas 11 this species is discussed as 'coming 

from the upper. member of the section, 10 

miles southeast of the Guajolote ranch. The 

specim~n bears the locality number 1045, 

however, and the matrix is identical with 

specimens fron1 Santo Tomas. It is· therefore 

cited from Santo Tomas. . . 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, Santo 

Tomas, Webb County, Tex. (collected by T. 

W. Stanton, July 26, 1895). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family SAPINDACEAE. 

Genus CUPANITES Schimper. 

Cupanites parvulis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XII, Figure 5. · 

Leaves pinnate. Leaflets sn1all, sessile, 

markedly inequilateral, falcate, lanceolate in 

outline, the tip narrowed acuminate and ,the 

base broadly rounded or truncate and very 

inequilateral. Length· about 4.5 centimeters. 

Maxin1un1 width, at or below the middle, 

about 1.5 centimeters. Margins finely serrate. 

Texture subcoriaceous .. Petiolule absent. 

. Midrib stout, prominent, curved. · Secondaries 

rather stout, numerous,"equidistant, subparallel. 

They diverge from the midrib at wide angles, 

about 60°, are rather straight and craspedo-

. droine. Tertiaries thin, mostly obsolete. 

. Areolation ·fine, mostly obsolete. 

The present' species is clearly unlike previously described forms but unfortunately is 

based upon very incomplete material. Two 

large-leafed species have been described from 

· the Wilcox group, and other fossil species are 

recorded from the Ypresian of the south of 

England. 

Leaves of. this type jl.re referable to·· the 

Sapindaceae and find their closest living analogues· in the genus Onpania Linne, which has 

about thirty species ·that are confined to the 

·tropical and subtropical regions of America. · 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. W. 

· Beqy)_; 1 mile southeast of Antioch, Houston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection:. U. S. National Museum. 

u Vaughan, T. W., Reconnaissance in the Rio Grande coal fields or 

Texas: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 164, p. 40, 1900. 

Genus DODONAEA Linne. 

Dodonaea viscosoides Berry. 

Plate X:II, Figure 7. 

Dodonaea viscosoides Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 142, pl. 28, figs. 4-8, 1914. 

Leaves somewhat variable in shape, generally obovate but some of them lanceolate. 

They range from 4 to 7.5 centimeters in length 

by 1 centimeter to 2 centimeters in maximum 

width, which as a rule is above the center of 

the leaf .. Sessile or nearly so. Apex pointed 

or rounded, in mariy specimens broadly so. 

Base extended, more or less narrowly cuneate 

and decurrent, with straight sides. Texture coriac~ous. l\1idrib medium but becomes atten-

·uated apically. Secondaries slender, commonly 

obscure· in the specimens, particularly in 

impression,s of the upper surface of the leaves; 

6 to 10 pairs ,'indifferently opposite, subopposite, 

and alternate, camptodron1e; they branch from 

the midrib· at angles which may be as· small as 

12° or as large as 70°, the basal ones becoming 

very ascending in specimens in which· the base 

is much produced, the normal n.ngle of divergence being about 45 °. The basal secondaries 

comn1only branch .from a point near the base of 

the midrib and take a nearly straight ascending course parallel with the leaf margin 

and 1 millimeter to 2 millimeters from ih connecting often almost a third of the length of the 

leaf from the ba.se, with a short· outwardly 

and downwardly directed branch from: the 

secondary next above. The rest of the secondaries are place.d at regular intervals. They 

are more or less straight halfway to the margin, 

at which· point eacl}. curves upward in a 'vide 

arch to join an outwardly directed branch 

from the next succeeding ·secondary, beyond 

which they form a series of very small a.rches 

parallel with the margin and of a caliber which 

might well be termed tertiary. ·-Tertiaries 

straight, lateral or transverse in direction. 

Areolation fine, four or five sided. 

. This speci~s was described from beds of lower 

Jackson age in Georgia, and it is one of the 

commonest forms at all the localities where 

fossil plants have been observed in the beq~ of 

that age in Georgia .. It occurs in the -Yegua. 

and Lisbon formations of the Claiborne group 

but not as profusely as in the Jackson. 

Recently I have described two perfectly 

characteristic species, one based upon the 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE ]<'LORA. 71 

unmistakable remains of fruits, from the Wilcox 

Eocene/ 2 a third from the Pliocene of Bolivia/3 

and a fourth fron1 the late Tertiary of Brazil. 14 

The genus wns evidently much n1ore abundant 

in the warn1er parts of A:merica during the 

Tertiary than we were forn1erly led to suspect. 

It has renuLined more abundant in the Western 

I-Iemisphere than would be gathered from the 

general statements of the distribution of the 

existing species as given by systematists. In 

particular I wa.s greatly surprised ·to find 

Doclonaect viscosa exceedingly abundant in 

eastern Bolivia at altitudes of over 8,000 feet. 

The other fossil species of Dodonaea that 

. have been described, nun1bering ·nbout 15, 

are European, except one rather doubtful. 

fruit thnt is almost certainly an Ulmus from 

Floriss11:nt, Colo. 15 Seven of these species·; including both leaves and characteristic fruits, are 

Oligocene and are recotded from Styria, Prussia. 

:B'rance, the Tyrol, and Switzerland. Seven species are Miocene and include both leaves and 

fruits. Of these European forms Dodonaea venusta I-Ieer, 10 from the Aquitanian of Switzerland, 

and Dodonaea prisca Weber, 17 from the Aquitanian of Hhenish Prusaia, are very similar to 

this species and clearly represent the same type 

of leaf, although with well-marked specific differences; they come from Baden, Croatia, 

Switzerland, Prussia, and Bohemia. It seems 

probable that son1e of the leaves from the 

A1nerican Eocene and the European Gypse 

(Sannoisian) that are co1nn1only referred to 

the willow oaks represent Dodonaea. For 

extLmple, Saporta described two species of 

Dodonaea fruits fron1. St. Zacharie, France, but 

.no leaves, although the late Eocene and early 

Oligocene have furnished a number of suggestive leaves usually referred to Quercus. 

Abundant leaves and characteristic fruits of 

Dodona,ea are present in the vVilcox deposits of 

the en1bayment region. 

· In the n1odern flora there are more than fifty 

species of Dodonaea, and the majority, over 

II no.rry, E. w., 'rho lower Eocene floras or southeastern North AmerIca: u.S. Oeol. Survey Prot. Paper 91, p. 270, pl. 38, flg. 2; pL 64, fig. 3, 

1916. 

&a Singown.l~l, J. •r., jr., and Berry, li:. W., 'rho geology of the Coror.oro 

copp(\1' district of Boll via: Johns Hopkins Univ. Studlesin.G eo logy, No. 

1, p.107, pl. 7, fig. 17, 1922. 

u Hollick, Artlmr, and ncrry, E. W., The Pliocene flora of Bahia 

Brazll, pl. 7, figs. 11-13 (in press). 

1& Lesqueroux, Leo, The Cretaceous and 'l'crtiary floras, p. 182, pl. 36, 

fig. 5, 1883. 

u Hecr, Oswald, Flora tertlaria Helvetiae, Band 3, p. 64, pl. 121, 

Ogs. 13, 14, 1859. · 

u Webor.c. OJ, Palaeontograpbica.;Band 2, p. 85, pl. 5,1lg. 8,1852. 

forty in number, are Australian. There IS a 

single species in the Hawaiian Islands ·and 

another in Madagascar .. The Claiborne and 

Jackson form closely resembles the modern 

Dodonaea viscosa Linne, which is found in 

peninsular Florida and ori the keys as well as 

in the oriental and ·occidental Tropics. It 

ranges as far north as Bermuda (latitude 32°), 

where it frequents the_ inner edges of the sand 

dunes. It is a· small sapindaceous tree of the 

"beach jungle" and is one of the prominent 

forms in .the oriental tropical-plant association 

that is termed the Barringtonia formation by 

Schimper. It is protected from the strong insolation by varnished leaves that have··a thick 

epidermis and reduced stomata, and like so 

many strand plants it is largely distributed 

through the agency of ocean currents. The 

present species is also close to the modern 

Dodonaea angustifolia Swartz, of the West 

Indies. 

In conforn1ity with so n1any other late Cretaceous and Tertiary dicotyledonous genera a 

world-wide cosmopolitanism has given place to 

the n1odern massing of the species of Dodonaea 

In a single region in the Southern Hemisphere, 

though there are a few outlying and scattered 

species in other regions, relics of the day of 

wide geographic range. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation. cut on the 

Alab~ma & Vicksburg Railway 3! miles east 

of Newton, Newton County: Miss. (collected by 

E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke); near Lexington, 

Holmes County, Miss. (coll~cted by A. F. 

Crider). Y egua formation, Columbi~, Cflldwell 

Parish, La. (collected by E. W. Berry).· 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus SAPINDUS · Linn~. 

Sapindus· georgian us Berry. 

Sapindus georgiamts Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 143, pl. 27, figs. 11, 12, 1914. 

Leaflets small, sessile, lanceolate, falcate, 4 

to 5.5 centimeters in length by 0.5 ·to 0.9 

centimeter in maximum width, which is in 

the middle part of the leaf. Apex and hasp, 

both acuminate. Margins entire. Midrib 

stout below, becoming thin above. Rix to 

eight alternate pairs of secondarieR hranch 

from the midrib at acute angles and r.urve 

upward. They are camptodrome, very fine, 

and ·made out with difficulty. ThP- two 

extremes of form are shown. in the specimens 
72 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

previously figured.· 'It will be seen that the 

shortest forms are' also widest and thus much 

more robust than the elongate linear-lanceolatc 

forms. ·A large and still more elongated 

variety of this species has been collected 

from a somewhat. younger horizon (Jackson) 

in Webb County, . in· southwestern Texa,s. 

The modern species of Sapindus number 

about ten and inhapit warm temperata 

and . tropical Asia and America. At least 

four species are fou;nd within ·the limits of the 

United States, and it would not be· difficult 

to select leaflets from the common Sapindus 

marginat~s Willdenow from the same area as 

the fossil·species that would approach it very 

closely. The fossil is, however, more nearly 

related, in all probability, to Sapindus saponaria. Linne, a common West Indian. and 

South American tr~e which reaches the Florida 

Keys · and which · has become a widespread 

member of the littoral flora through the agency 

of ocean currents. Hemsley states that seeds 

· of this species were once washed ashore on the 

south coast of Bermuda and afterward germinated. 

in size but retain· their characteristic outline 

and venation. The present species is rrnich · 

like 'the Wilcox form Sapindus oxfordensis 

Berry. · 

. It seems ·incredible that a single outcrop 

should furnish so many species of a single genus, 

and it is probable that individual variations 

have been made the basis· for specific differentiation; at the same time, the large number of 

species of Sapindus that have been recognized 

in the. Claiborne as well·as in the earlier Wilcox 

.flora are justified in the present state of our 

knowledge. In the Gulf region this species has 

not been detected except at this middle Eocene 

horizon, ·.where.as in the Yellowstone Park section it is said by Kno.wlton to range from rocks 

of Fort Union Eocene age to the Miqcene, 

although there seems to be considerable doubt 

regarding this late age for any of these plantbearing beds. e 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, Lexington, 

Holn;tes ·County, Miss. · (collected by ·A. F. 

Crider). 

· Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, Lexington, 

Holmes County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

Crider). Y egua formation, J mile below head 

of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, and 1 mile south-· · 

east of Antioch, Houston County, Tex. (collected. by C. L. Baker). Mount Selman formation, Palestine, Anderson County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. C. Funderbunk). 

Sapindus rnississippiensis Berry. 

Sapindu,s angustifolius Hollick (not · Lesquereux), in 

. Harris, G. D., and Veatch, A. C.; A preliminary 

report on the geology of· Louisiana, p. 286; pl. 

35, fig. 5, 1899. 

Veatch, u~ S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 46, pl. 17, 

fig. 6, 1906. 

Sapind·us mississippiensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 91, p. 274, pl. 63, fig. 1; pl. 64, fig. 

10; pl. 66, figs. 1, 2; pl. 109, fig. 1, 19~6. 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Sapindus affinis Newberry. 

Plate XII, Figure 8. 

.Sapindus affinis Newberry, Notes on the later extinct 

floras of North America: Lyceum Nat. Hist. · 

New York City Annals, .vol. 9, p. 51, 1868; 

Illustrations of Cretaceous and Tertiary plants, 

pl. 25, fig. 1, 1878; U. S .. Geol. Survey lYlon. 

35, p. 116, pl. 30, fig. 1; pl. 40, fig. 2, ·1898. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, p. 736, pl. 

10~ fig~. 1-3i 1899. 

This species, which is described by N ew~erry 

from the mouth of Yellowstone River, is 

abundantly represented in the collections of 

the National Museum; and the figures published 

by Knowlton are much more adequate than 

those of Newberry. Indistinguishable leaflets 

. occur abundantly in the Lisbon formation 

near Lexington, Miss. Like the western 

· material· they show <?Onsiderable variation 

Leaflets sessile, slightly inequilateral, of 

small size, acuminate-lanceolat~ in outline, invariably more or less falcate. Apex SQmewhat 

abruptly narrow.ed and prolonged as a slender 

acumen. Base cuneate, in ma:r;:ty specimens 

narrowly ·pointed and matching the apex. 

.Length ranges from 4 to 6.75 centimeters. 

Maximum width, halfway between the apex 

arid the base, 1.4 or ,1.5 centimet.ers. · Margins 

entire, rather evenly curved. Texture ·subcoriaceous. Midrib -stout and curved .. Se.condaries thin, about eig~t .subopp:osite· to· altern.ate 

pairs, subequally spaced; they div~rge from 

the midrib at angles of about 45° and: pursue a 

slightly but regularly curved subparallel course, 

·which eventually becomes apP.roximat~ly parallel with.the lateral margins and camptodrome . 

Tertiaries obsolete. . . . . 

·· ·Thisform is a characteristic species· of Sapindus with. numerous sinali falcate ·leaflets. A 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 73 

spec~n1en of it from Louisiana was referred by 

liollick to Sapind'us angustifoliv,s, a species 

which con1es fron1 the Miocene of Colorado, and 

though all t.he species of Sa1Jindtts that have 

s1nall falcate leaflets are n1uch alike, this Wilcox 

and Claiborne forn1 really has nothing in comInon with Sapinclus ang1.1stifolius, the leaflets of 

which are widest toward the base and gradually 

taper upward to a narrow extended tip. 

The pre.sent species may be distinguished 

fron1 the several other small species of Sapindus fron1 the Eocene by the san1e features that 

distinguish it fron1 Sa1Jindus angustifolius Lesqum·mlx. It is common. in the Lisbon formation near Newton, Miss., and is also present in 

the Gosport sand at Claiborne Landing, Ala. 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, ·l\1.onroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). Lisbon forrt1ation, iri a cut on the 

Alabu,:ma & Vicksburg Railway 3t miles east 

of Newton, Newton County, and at Lexington, lloln1es County, l\1iss. (.collected by E. N. 

Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Sapindus yeguanus Berry, n. sp. 

Plate ~II, l'i'igure 6; Plate XLIII, Figures 1, 2. 

Leaflets petiolulate, lanceolate-falcate and 

somewhat inequilateral. in outline. Length 

av·erages less than 5 centimeters. Maximum 

width, in the lower half of the leaflet, about 

1 centimeter. Apex gradually narrowed and. 

sharply pointed. Base more shortly and 

broadly pointed. Margins entire, in a few 

specin1ens slightly irregular, rounded and full 

basally, rather straight, distad. Texture subcoriaceous. Petiolules, where present, relatively stout,. generally straight, about 3 milli-. 

1neters in length. l\1idrib stout, curved, prominent on the lower surface qf the leaflet. Secondaries. thin, abotit eight subopposite to 

alternate pairs; they diverge f1;on1 the midrib 

at angles of about 45°, curve upward, in places 

somewhat irregularly, and are camptodrome a 

considerable distance fron1 t~e margins. Tertiaries obsolete. 

This species rese1nbles the s1naller leaves of 

Sap'indus affinis Newberry from the Claiborne 

and Fort Union but is less inequilateral ancl 

more regularly falcate. It is also c01nparable 

with Sapindus formo-sus Berry fron1 the Wilcox 

and with SapirJ,dus c~ngustifolius. Lesquereux 

from Florissant but is readily distinguishable. 

Among the species of Sapindus from the Wilcox it is of approximately the same size as 

Sapindus mississ.ipp~ensis Berry and Sapindus 

eolignitica Berry. It differs hom Sapindus 

mississippiensis in being widest below the 

middle with straight-sided narrowed tip, broader· base, and long p'etiolule. It differs ·from 

Sapindus eoligniticus in being less abruptly 

pointed distad and not rounded proximad, 

in 1ts less coriaceous texture, relatively nai·-

rower form, more ascending secondaries, and 

longer petiolule. 

It is very similar to the smaller leaflets of 

several existing American species. . 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, in a cut on 

the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway 3% miles 

east of Newton, .N mvton County, l\1iss. (collected by E. N. Lowe rmd C. W. Cooke). 

Yegua formation, 1 mile southeast of Antioch 

and 1 mile below head of Cedar Creek, Nevils 

Prairie, IIouston County; Tex. (collected by 

C. L. Baker); Rock Creek, William Dunn 

League,· Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 

0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. ·National Museum. 

Snpindus dentoni Lesquereux. 

Plate XII, Figure 9. 

Sa1>ind1ts dentoni Lesquereux, 1J. S. Geol. and Geog. 

Survey Terr. Bull., vol. 1, p. 3881, 1876; U. S. 

Geol. and G~og'.' Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. 1.187 4, 

P: 315, 1876; The Tertiary flora, p. 265, pl. 64, 

figs. 2-4, 1878. 

· Leaves elongate-lanceolate in outline, widest 

at or below the 1niddle and tapering upward in . 

a long ac1.unen, 1narkedly in equilateral. Length 

ranges fron1 5.5 to 10 centuneters. Maximum 

width ranges from 7.5 111i.llimeters to 1.75 centimetm~s .. The Claiborne material is especially 

inequilateral, a specimen 1.6 centimeters in 

n1axunmn width having one side 1.1 centimetet·s wide and t~1e other 4 to 5 milluneters wide. 

Apex elongated, ·acuminate. Base rounded, 

bluntly pointed. Margjns undulate. Petiole 

fairly stout, 6 to 10 milluneters in length, 

usually somewhat curved.. Midrib mediun1 

stout, usually more or less flexuous. Secondaries thin, numerous, rather uniformly spaced, 

and subparallel; they diverge from the midrib at angles that are between 45° and 50° ·and 

are but .slightly curved to the 1nargin, where 

they curve abruptly upward to form camptodrome arches. 
c,' 

7 4 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

The p;resent speCies was described by Lesquereux from the supposed Green River beds 

at the mouth of White River in Utah, and identical remains, generally near the maximum in 

size, are common in the buff argillaceous 

Qlaiborne sa;nds nea;r Lexington, Miss., and 

occu;r also in the Jackson of southwestern 

Texas. · It is also present in the Wind River 

Basin of ·Wyoming. 

Occurrence: ·Lisbon formation, near Lexington, Holmes County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

Crider). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Order RHAMN ALES. 

Family RHAMN ACEAE. 

Genus ZIZYPHUS .Linne. 

Zizyphus claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XII, Fig~res 10, 11. 

Lea:ves of medium size, comparatively elonga.ted, ovate-lanceolate, slightly inequilateral, 

and more or less falcate in outline, the tip 

gradually ·narrowed an4 acuminate, and the. 

base rounded or broadly cuneate, slightly decurrent. Length. ranges from 10 to 12 cen timeters. Maximum width, below the middle, 

about 2.5 centimeters. Margins wl.th unequally 

spaced serrate teeth of variable size, mostly 

directed outward. Texture subcoriaceous. 

Midrib stout, prominent, curved. Lateral pri-

'maries thin, diverging at acute angles at or 

near the base of .the midrib, parallel with the 

lower ·lateral margins, joining branches from 

the lowest secondaries near the middle part of 

. the leaf. Five or six opposite to alternate 

pairs of thin, unequally spaced secondaries 

diverge f;rom the midrib at angles of about 35°, 

ascend in long, regular sweeping curves, and 

become subparallel with the margins, along 

which they arch in a camptodrome manner. 

Tertiaries very :fine and comprise ascending 

flexuous nervilles from the midrib which anastomose with upwardly directed branches from 

the secondaries; most· of the angles are acute, 

and the interspaces are filled with a fine areola-: 

.tion of minute meshes. 

Two .large-leafed species of Zizyphus have 

been described from the Wilcox group, and 

one of these, Zizyphus falcatus Berry/8 is much 

IB Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: U.S. Gaol. Survey Prof, Paper 91, p. Z'/7, pl. 69, fig. 5; pl. 70, figs.l, 2, 

1916. 

like the present species. It .is, however, more 

coriaceous in texture and has less prominent 

teeth and stouter and longer lateral primaries. 

The most similar fossil form is Zizyphus longifolia Newberry, 19 which is common in the. 

Green River shales of vVyoming but which 

has stouter lateral primaries and less ·pronrinent 

marginal teeth than the Claiborne species and 

is usually. narrower and more distinctly lanceolate. The common European Oligocene species, 

Zizyphus ungeri Heer, 20 is the most similar 

. European form. Zizyphus has numerous fossil 

species that range from the middle Cretaceous 

(Woodbine sand) to the Pleistocene. The 

existing species number about two score and 

are largely Indo-Malayan forms.· Only one 

or two species of tropical America represent 

the abundant American Tertiary ancestry. · 

Occurence: Y egua formation; Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. V\L 

Berry). Lisbon formation, Lexington,· Holmes 

County, Miss. (collected by A. F. Crider). 

·Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Genus RHAMN ACINIUM Felix. 

[Deutsche geol. Gesell. Zeitschr., vol. 46, p. 89, 1894.] 

Rhamnacinium texanum Penhallow. 

Rham1tacinium texanum Penhallow, Roy. So·c. Canada 

Trans., 3d series, vol. .1, sec. 4, P: 96, figs. 1-3, 

190$. 

Penhallow describes the wood of this species 

as follows: 

Growth· rings medium, not very prominent, but 

defined by an abrupt alteration in the size of the vessels 

and by a zone of two to four cells which are distinctly 

smaller and compressed radially. Wood cells round 

or hexagonal, thick walled, very unequal and often in 

very unequal radial rows. Wood parenchyma want-

. ing. Vessels at first medium to· large, single or upward of four, radially seriate, radially oval and 

generally with co.~spicuous, thin-walled thyloses; thus 

continuing until· the region of ·the summer ·wood 

without obvious alteration; chiefly one, sometimes 

two, or rarely three rows of vessels between two. of the 

principal rays. Medullary rays prominent, one or 

more generally ·about four cells wide, the. cells short, 

thin walled, and with squarish termination ... 

Ray cells all thin walled and very variable, from 

four times longer than high to short and twice higher 

than long1 the two kinds mingled.. Thyloses in the 

·vessels numerous, large, thin walled. All other 

structural details obliterated. 

19 Newberry, J. S., U.S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 119, pl. 65, figs. 3-5, 

1898. 

so Beer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Helvetiae, vol. 3, p. 74, pl.' 122, fig. 25, 

1859. . 
MIDDLE l~OCE:'NE Oft CLAI130R:'NE FLOM. 75 

Medullary rays of two kinds-(1) one-seriate rays: 

upward of 12 cells high; the cells all thin walled, oblong 

or rectangular, uniform but unequal; (2) multiseriate 

rays composed of three to five rows of high thin-walled 

vory unequal and very variable cells which· often 

become one-seriate and much larger at one or both 

extremities of the ray. Vessels bearing numerous thin-· 

walled thyloses and, upon their radial walls, numerous 

hexagonal, bordered pits, which occupy the entire 

area of the wall. · 

This species was described from the Claiborne of Texn.s by Penhallow, who had already 

described Rhamnacinium triseriatum and R. 

porcupinian/t.tm from beds of Fort Union age in 

Saskatchewan. A third sp~cies was described 

by Felix and by Knowlton from the Tertiary of 

the Y ellowsto;ne Park, and there are one or 

tnore Eocene species described from the European area. 

Occurrence: Yegua formation, Somerville, 

Burleson County, Tex. 

Collection: Peter . Ridpath Museum, Montreal, Canada. 

Genus REYNOSIA Grisebach. 

Reynosia texana Penhallow. 

Reynosia texana Penhallow, R.oy. Soc. Canada Trans., 

· 3d ser., vol. 1, sec. 4, p. 97, figs. 4, 5, 1908.· 

Penhallow describes the wood of this species 

ti.s follows: · 

Growth rings narrow and poorly defined, with no 

obvious distinction between spring and summer woods, 

. but the outer limits of the ring are generally marked 

by the presence of more or less numerous, radially 

flattened and tangentially extended wood cells which 

form a disconnected zone, upward of four cells thick. 

Wood cells small, very unequal, about 14 JJ. broad, 

hexagonal in irregular radial rows, the wall very thick, 

the cavity reduced to about 2.63 JJ., Vessels rather 

numerous throughout, very resinous and thick walled, 

round or oval; single or radially two-seriate, at first 

relatively large but toward the outer limits of the ring 

somewhat abruptly reduced to one-half size; . often 

inclosed more or less completely by an irregular layer 

of rather larger and thinner-walled wooq parenchyma. 

Medullary rays numerous, prominent, somewhat resin-

, ous,·two cells wide, distant upward of 12 rows of wood 

cells. * * * · Medullary rays all of one kind, two- or three-, rarely 

one-seriate, the . breadth vnrying much, according to 

the size of the component cells, fusiform, low to medium; 

the cells very uriequal ·and variable, chiefly rather 

thin walled. 

The genus Reynosia contnins· four· existing 

species of coastal shrubs and small trees which 

range' from southern ·Florida .througl;l the 

Bahamas and the Antilles.' The' present Clai68844-24---6 

borne species is the first recorded occurrence 

of fossil wood of this genus.· Its stt-<ucture 

is according to Penhallow very close to that 

of Reynosia septentrionalis Urban, the only 

recent. species that reaches the United States, 

which is found along the ·coast and keys of 

southern Florida from the Marquesas group to 

Biscayne Bay and occurs also on the Bahamas, 

Cuba, and neighboring islands. A species of 

Reynosia, named. praenuntia because of its 

probable ·ancestral relationship, has been 

described by me from leaves preserved in the 

Wilcox deposits of northern Mississippi. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Somerville, 

Burleson County, Tex. 

Collection: Peter Ridpath Museum, Montreal, Canada. 

Genus RHAMNUS Linn~. 

Rhamnus sp. 

Plate XXIII, Figure 2. 

A broken leaf, apparently referable to 

Rhamnus and representing a new species. 

The specimen shows an ovate-lanceolate leaf 

which has about eight pairs · of ascending 

subparallel curved camptodrome. secondaries. 

The tip· and base are acuminate, and the 

petiole is short, curved, stout, and about 5 

:rriillimeters long. The leaf is about 10 centimeters in length and 4.25 centimeters in maximum wid~h, somewhat below the mid<lle . 

The tertiary venation is obsolete,. and it is 

impossible to describe the material with 

sufficient detn.il to warrant the erection of a 

new speCies. 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, Santo 

Tomas, Webb County, Tex. (collected by 'I'. W. 

Stantvn, July 26, 1895). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order MALVALES. 

Family TILIACEAE. 

Genus GREWIOPSIS Saporta. 

Grewiopsis claiborniana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XIII, Figures 1-4. 

Leaves orbicular in general outline. Length 

about 9 centimeters. ~axin1um width about 

11 Gentimeters. Apex broad and ahnost trunc'ate in outline.. Base truncate or subcordate. 

Margins full rounded and entire below, elsewhere with bro~d and shallow dentate teeth. 
7 6 MIDDLE AND. UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERJCA. 

Primaries: three from the top of petiqle or supra~ folia, described by Ward 22 from the Fort Union 

basilar, .stout,· prominent on the lower sur-

. face of t4e leaf, all three of the same caliber; 

the laterals diverge from. the midrib· at acute 

angles and pursue a nearly straight ascending 

CO\U'Se that terminates in a 1narginal tooth at 

the upper lateral angle of the leaf on each side. 

These marginal teeth are slightly produced, 

giving the leaf a suggestion of three distal 

faint, broadly conical lobules. Secondaries 

numerous, prominent. The midrib gives off. 

about six subopposite to alternate pairs at 

· acute angles. These secondaries are but slightly 

curved and are approximately parallel. to each 

other and to the lateral primaries. They are 

rather closely and evenly spaced and craspedodrome. . Each lateral primary gives off externally at acute angles six or seven slightly 

curved craspedodrome secondaries, which terminate in marginal teeth.· The terti.ary system 

consists of a distal craspedodrome branch from 

some of the upper secondaries,oincreasing regularly in number toward the base; the lowermost secondary gives off about five such 

branches, the distal four or five being craspedodrome, wh~reas ·the lowermost one or two are 

carnptodrome. . N ervilles thin but distinct,· 

mostly ·close set, approximately p·arallel and 

percurrent. Texture subcoriaceous. 

The present species, which is obviously new, 

. is based on numerous fragmentary specnnens 

fron1 the upper Claiborne of Louisiana, the 

three n1ost cmnplete specimens being those 

figured. Plate XIII, Figure 1, shows the .character of the. lower lateral n1argin and base in 

a leaf in which the· pri1naries diverge frOin the 

. top of the petiole. Plate XIII, Figure 2, also 

shows the character of the base. Plate XIII, 

Figure 3, shows the marginal characters and the 

.blunt, foreshortened apex. From these and 

.other less co1nplete speciinens Plate XIII, Figure 4, has been built up to show the character 

of the complete leaf. 

The present species is i·ather larger than 

most recent species of Grewia or fossil species 

·of Grewiopsis. .Among the species of Grewiopsis it is similar in size and general character to 

Grewiopsis anisomer:a, Grewif!psis tiliacea~, and 

Grewiopsi.s credneriaformis, described by Saporta 21 frmn the Paleocene· of France, and to 

Grewiopsis_ platanifolia and Grewiopsis populi21 Saporta; G. de, Prodrome d'une fiore fossile des travertins anciens 

de S~z.anne, pp. 116, 118, 121, pl. 12, fig. 9; pl. 13, figs. 7-9, 1868. 

of .Montana. It is, however, distinct from these 

related forms and may be separated by its 

closer secondaries and more prominent petcurrent tertiaries as well as by t;he peculiar 

three-angled truncate upper margin. This species in all its characters, except in its basal 

venat.ion, is very suggestive of the American 

Upper Cretaceous species of Protophyllum Lesquereux or the closely related abundant and 

chiefly European ·types referred to Zenker's 

genus Oredneris.·· A smaller species of Grewiopsis is not uncon1mon in the Wilcox deposits 

of Louisiana and Tennessee. 

Occurrence: . Yegua formation, Columbia, 

Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by E. W. Berry); 

near Stephens, Ouachita County, Ark. (collected by J. P. D. Hull). 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. 

Family STERCULIACEAE. 

Genus STERCULIA Linne. 

Sterculia labruscoides Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XIV, Figure 1. 

. Leaves of small size, digitately tril~bate, 

about 5.25 centimeters in length by about 4 

centimeters in maximum width from tip to 

. tip of the lateral lobes. Margins entire. 

.Texture· subcoriaceous. Base rounded. Petiole not preserved, stout, presumably long . 

Lobes narrow, conical, acuminate, of unequal 

lengths. They diverge at angles of about 50°, 

but the lateral ones. immediately curve upward, and their general courses subtend angles 

of about 30° with the midrib. Secondaries 

numerous, thin, mostly im1nersed in the leaf 

substance; they diverge from the primaries 

at angles that average about 55°, are almost 

straight in their courses, and have their tips 

connected in the marginal ·region by broad 

flat arches.· 

. This species is clearly allied to the 1nodern 

species of Sterculia and is very close to Ster.~ulia 

labrusca Unger, 23 which is so abundant in the 

Styrian Oligocene and is recorded from a large 

number of . European localities and horizons, 

ranging frmn ·the Paleocene of Belgiu1n to the 

Sarmatian or latest Miocene of C~oatia. 

This wide range in time is represented, how22 W9;rd, L. F., Types of the Laramie flora: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

37, pp.'89, 90, pl. 40, figs. 1, 3-5, 1887. 

2a Unger, Frailz, Die.fossile Flora von Sotzka, p. 4.5, pl. 28, figs. 1-11, 

1850. 
MIDDLln EOCEN:E OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 77 

over, by forms that are grouped under five 

varieties, which probably represent more than 

a single species; the typical for1ns are confined to the late Eocene n,nd early Oligocene. 

The type forms from Sotzka ·sho.w bilobate 

or trilobate leaves, scarcely distinguishable 

in any particuhtr fr01n. those of the existing 

Ste'I'C'Itl'iCL diversifolict Don, of the Australian 

Jiora. '.L'he only conspicuous difference between Sterculia Zabrusca Unger and Sterculia 

Zabr?tscoides of the American 1niddle Eocene 

is the telatively shorter and more conical 

lobes and less deeply cut sinuses of Sterculia 

lctb1·uscoides. Another European Tertiary 

species that gr.eatly reseinbles Sterculia labruscoicles is Sterculia tenuiloba Sa porta, 24. which is 

described.from the Sannoisian of Aix, in southeastern France, 1nore particularly the leaves 

fron1 this smne horizon at Bornstedt, in Saxony, 

that ]...,riedrich 25 identified with· Saporta's 

species .. 

Ste7·culia lctbruscoides .is represented by an 

identical or closely related but 'fragn1entarily 

preserved form in the upper Jackson of Texas. 

The existing species of Sterculia number more 

the Lisbon of the Alabama section. An incomplete specimen, which appears to belong to this 

species, is present in the collections from the 

Yegua formation in Louisiana, and it is also 

present in that formation in Texas. · 

A Wilcox species, Sterculia puryearensis 

Berry, is much larger ·than this Claiborne species 

and appears .to be genetically related to the 

abundant Upper Cretaceous Sterculia snowii 

Lesquereux. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, in a cut on 

the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway 3! miles 

east of Newton, Newton County, Miss. (collected by E~ N. Lowe an·d C. W. Cooke) .. 

Yegua formation, 1 mile below head of 

Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston County, 

Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker); Columbia ( ~), 

C~ldwell Parish, La. (collected. by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. 

Order P ARIETALES. 

Family TERNSTROEMIACEAE. 

Genus TERNSTROEMITES Berry. 

Ternstroemites crowleyensis Berry, n. sp. 

thn.n one hundred forms segregated into three Plate XIV, Figures 2, 3. 

sections-Digitatae, Lobatae, and Integrifoliae. ·Leaves of medium size, broadly lanceolate 

Most of the forn1s of the A1nerican Tropics be- in general outline, the apex acuminate and the 

long to the section Lobatae, which also includes base narrowly cuneate. Length ranges from 14 . 

the bulk of the fos·sil forms. The fossils nuni- to 20 centimeters. Maximum width, in. the 

her over 40 species and appear in abundance middle part of the leaf, ranges from 2.75 to 4 

ftnd variety in the 1niddle Cretaqeous, especially centimeters. Margins pron1inently · serrat~; 

inN orth 1\Inerica. One fonn, Sterculia minima the teeth are close set and aquiline in the midBerry,20 which characterizes the ~1agothy· for- dle part of the leaf ·but become less prominent 

.mn,tion :fr01n New Jersey to Maryland, is so and 1nore distant toward the tip, still less 

like Ste·rculia, labruscoides that it must be. pr01ninent and more distant toward the base, 

:regn.rded as ancestral ·to that form. -It has ·and entirely obsolete c~ose to ·the base. TexfrOin tw:o to four lobes, as does also Sterculia ture coriaceous. Petiole missing. Midrib 

lCLbr'u.sccL Unger, the large-leafed Sterculia pur- stout, curved oi' flexuous, and pron1inent on the 

yeare·nsis Berry fron1 the Wilcox group, and lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries thin, 

Ste'l'culia cliveTsifoZ?:CL D?n. Probably if Ster- largely obsolete. ·They are nun1erous and subC'ttlicL letbt·'uscoides were 'rep1:esented by more. parallel and diverge fr01n the 1nidrib at angles 

material .it too would .be found to show similar of about 45°, and pursue a nearly straight, 

v~riation in this feature, which is a character- ascending cours.e until the marginal region is 

is tic of the lobate-leafed S'terculias. The type. reached, where they curve upward ~nd are 

Cttme from inunediately below a bed th~t car- camptodrome. In places short tertiary 

•·ies Ost1·ea seZlaeformis and thus corresponds to branches run from the secondaries to the. teeth. 

u Stlportn, G. do, Etudes su·r in vegetation <Iu sud-ost <Ie ln France it· The present sp'ecies is readily distinguishl't'lpoqno tortiniro, vol. 1, p. 120, Pl. 10, fig. 2, 1SG3. able from the associated Ternstroemites claibor'n- K~ Pl'iodrich, Pnul, Boitrago zur .Kotmtniss dor 'l'crtiiirflora <lor Provinz · 

· . sachsen: oool. Spocialkarto Preuss. Abh., Band 4, p. 141, pl. 18, fig. 8. ensis Berry, or from the Wilcox· species that 

· 1883. have been referred to this genus, by its size, its so Horry, K W., Contributions to tho Mesozoic flora of tti.e Atlantic 

coustal Plain, I: 'l'orrey Bot. Club :Bull., vol. 33, p. 111, 190il. proni.inently and differently toothed margins, 
78 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERJCA. 

and its different venation. · It is a thick-leafed r 

form and is not uncommon at Cherry Valley, on 

Crowleys Ridge, Ark., for which it is named. It 

is not u.nlike several European Tertiary forms 

that have been referred to Banlcsia and Dryandroides, and it is also somewhat like the Wilcox 

species of Dillenites and Dryophyllum. Its resemblance to Banlcsia dillenioides Ettingshausen 27 and Banlcsia haidingeri Ettingshausen,28. from the European Oligocene, is 

worth mentioning. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Cherry Valley, Cross County) Ark. (collected by E. W. 

Berry); Columbia, Caldwell Parish, La.· (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Ternstroemites claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XIV, Figure 4. 

Leav~s oblong-lanceolate in outline, long and 

narrow and many of then1 falcate. Length 

about 11 centimeters. Maximun1 width, in the 

basal half of the lea( about 1.6 centimeters; 

the width narrows gradually upward to the 

slender, elongated, acuminate apex. Base 

rounded or bluntly and shortly pointed. 

Margins entire for a short distance proximad; 

above the entire portion they are regularly 

but not prominently crenate. Leaf substance 

thicl}. · Texture coriaceous. The surface of the 

impressions minutely mammillated by the tinymeshed areolation of the leaf. Secondaries 

thin, irrimersed in the leaf substance, nume.rous 

about thirty opposite to alternate pairs; they 

diverge from the midrib at wide angles, cmnJnonly 90° toward the base of the leaf but more 

ascending distad; they are but slightly curved,· 

and abruptly can1ptodrmne about two-thirds 

.of. the distance from the 1nidrib to the margin. 

This species is 1narkedly distinct fron1 the 

associated Ternstroemites crowleyensis Berry, 

a 1nuch larger leaf with prominent serrate Inargin·s. It is; . however, very sin1ilar to the 

. s1naller leaves of Ternstroerri:ites preclaibornensis Berry and probably represents a n1iddle 

·Eocene descendant of this early Eocene species.· 

. Occurrence·: Yegua forn1ation, Cherry Val-. 

ley, Cross County; Ark. (collected by E'. W. 

Berry). 

Collection: U. s.· National :Museun1. 

~7 Ettingshausen, C. von, Die tertiiire Flora von Hii.ring in Tirol, p. 55, 

pl. 18, fig. 7, 1853. 

2B Ettingshausen, C. von, Die fossile Flora von Sagor in Krain, Theill 

p. 198, pl. 10, fig. 29, 1872. 

Order THYMELEALES. 

· Family LA URACEAE. 

Genus CINNAMOMUM Blume. 

Cinnamomum angustum Berry, n. sp .. 

Plate XIV, Figure 6. 

Leaves ·narrow and elongated, linea:r-lanceolate in outline, the tip gr~dually narrowed 

and acuminate and the base 1nore abruptly 

rounded but recurved and decurrent close to 

the petiole. Length about 10 centimeters. 

Maximum width, at or below the 1niddle, 

about 1.2 centi1neters. ~f"argins entire and 

subparallel. Texture coriaceous. Petiole 

stout, curved, about 1 centi1neter in length. 

Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface · 

of the leaf. Lateral· primaries ·subopposite, 

suprabasilar, considerably thinner than the 

midrib, frmn which they diverge at angles 

of about 30° about 5 Jnillin1eters above its 

base; they are long ascending, par~llel with 

and close to the lateral1nargins. In the distal 

half of the leaf five or six pairs of thin ·alternate 

secondaries diverge from the 1nidrib at angles 

of about 40° and run upward in long, sweeping, 

eventually camptodrome curves. Fron1 the 

outside oi the lateral . primaries small thin 

camptodrome branches fill the ma:rginal area. 

The tertiary venation -is peculiar and serves to 

distinguish this from all previously described 

lanceolate species of Oinnamomum: The areolae are small, four or five sided, and the long 

axis is generally more or less parallel with the. 

long axis of the leaf ... The veins are thin, and 

those .which are longitudinal or oblique in 

direction are 1nore pronounced than those 

which are transver.se. All are relatively prominent on the lower surface of the leaf. 

This species is very close to th~ very common and wide-ranging European· Oinnamom'l.tm 

lanceolatum Heer. 29 The European species is, 

however, more l~nceolate in outline, is relatively shorter and wider, and has a more acute 

b~se and different tertiary venation.· There 

are six species of Oinnamomum in the Wilcox 

flora,·; and one of these, Oinnamomurr~: ·oblm}gatum Berry, 30 is similar enough to this Claiborne 

and Jackson species ·to be regarded as its immediate ancestor. It is more variable in size and 

29 Heer, Oswald, Flora tertiatia Helvetiae, vol. 2, p. 86, pl. 93, figs •. 

6-11, 1856. 

ao Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: U. s. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p, 297, pl. 79, figs. 1, 2; 

pl. 83, fig, 6, 1916. 
.MJ DDT....E EOCENE OR CI. .. AJBORN.l~ :FLOH.A • 

. differs in the basilar primaries and in the· details of vena.tion. Thnt the present species was 

consistently narrow n.nd linear-lanceolate is indicated by the· preservation of leaves of this 

kind only at localities thn.t are about 500 miles 

apart niong the Claiborne-Jackson coast. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation. in a cut on 

the Alabamn & Vicksburg Railway 3i miles 

en.st of Newton, Newton County, Miss. ·(collected by E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cook~). 

Collection: U. S. National Museu1n. . 

Genus PERSEA Gae~tner (son). 

Persea gratissimifolia Berry, n. sp. 

Phtto XIV, Figure 5. 

Leaves of large size; elliptical or obovate in 

general outline, the apex brondly rounded and 

the base slightly narrowed and broadly pointed. 

Length about 14 centimeters. :Maximum 

width, which ~s in the 1niddle part of the leaf, 

about 6 centimeters. Margins entire, full, and 

regularly rounded. Texture subcoriaceous. 

Petiole stout, tun1id proximad, about 1. 7 5. centimeters in length. Midrib stout, somewhat 

flexuous. Secondaries rather stout about ten ' ' nearly regularly spaced, subparallel, opposite 

to alternate pairs. They diverge from the midrib at angles of 45° to 50° and curve regularly 

upward more or less parallel with the margins 

and are camp.todrome. Tertiaries thin but distinct, percurrent. 

Tb,is handsome species is co~Ino.n at the 

Cherry Vnlley locality, particularly in the clays, 

but the leaves a:re represented by a carbonaceous film that- soon weathers, and the ·clay 

slacks, leaving but a poor impression. The 

figure of this species is made from a careful · 

sketch of a specimen that was made in the field 

when it was collected. The present species is 

ol?viously congeneric with the rather numerous 

Tertiary forms that are usually referred to this 

genus and is perhaps most like Laurus (P ers~a) 

S'l.tpe1·ba, which was described by Saporta 31 

from the lower Miocene of Armissan, France, 

and compared by that author with the existing tropical An1erican species P ersea gratis sima 

Gaertner, with which the· Cherry y alley form 

1nay also be compared. The treatment of the 

existing species of Persea has varied· greatly 

since Gaertner characterized the genus in 1805. 

81 Sapor~a, G. do, l~tudes, sur la vegetation du sud-est de Ia France 

A l'6poquo tertiaire, voL2, p, 273, pL 7, flg. 4, 1866; idem, vol. 3, pt. 1, 

p. 76, pl. 15, fig. 5, 1867. 

Engler and Prantl ·refer to it a rather large 

·.number of southeastern Asiatic and but few 

American species. Sargent and Britton include in it but one species of the Old 'yY orld, 

that indigenous in the Canary Islands, and the 

rest, more than fifty species, are confined to 

America, where they are distributed from the 

coast region of Virginia to Brazil and Chile. 

· A species somewhat _like the present occurs 

in the Wilcox of northwestern Louisiana and a . . . . ' sumlar form with relatively shorter and more 

pomted leaves is found at about the same 

horizon as the Cherry Valley o~ tcrop in 

Mississippi; 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, Cherry Valley, Cross· County, Ark. (collectecJ. by E. W. 

Berry). Lisbon forin~tion, in a cut on the. 

Alabamo, & Vicksb1.\rg Railway 3i miles east 

of Newton, Newton County, Miss. (collected 

by E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U .. S. National Muse1tm. 

Persea lexingtonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XV, Figures 1, 2. · 

Leaves of med~um size, ovate-lariceolate in 

general outline, the apex shortly pointed and 

the base somewhat extended and more narrowly pointed. Length about 12 to 13 centimeters. Maximum width, in the middle 

part of the leaf, about 4.5 centimeters. Margins entire, somewhat undulate distad, full 

and evenly rounded, slightly straightened 

proximad. Leaf substance thin but coriaceous in texture. Midrib stout. Secondaries 

rather stout; five. or six alternate pairs, unequally spaced, diverge from the ·midrib at 

angles of 45 ° to 50°, curved, camptodrome. 

The basal secondaries are longest and subparallel with the lower lateral margins; they 

become progressively shorter toward the apex. 

Tertiaries thin but distinct, mostly percurrent. 

The present species is not very different 

from Per sea gratissimifolia · Berry, which . is 

co:n:ull.on in the Yegua formation at Cherry 

Valley, Ark., and in the 'Lisbon formation of 

Mississippi, qut Persea gratissimifolia is _larg~r 

and is obovate in outline and has a broadly 

rounded apex, less straight lower lateral margins, more numerous, secondaries, more uniformly percurrent -tertiaries, and thicker leaf 

substance. · .The present. species is also much 

li~e the Wilcox species Persea ·w~zc·oxiana 
80 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Berry/2 and the one is undoubtedly the direct 

·descendant of the other. Persea wilcoxiana 

has thinner, more numerous, and more regular 

secondaries and. a more entire and symmetrically curved outline. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, near Lexingto~, Holmes County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

Crider). Y.egua formation, 1 mile below head 

of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: Johns Hopkins University. 

Genus OREODAPHNE N ees. 

Oreodaphne obtusifolia Berry. 

Oreodaphne obtusifolia Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 91, p. 301, pl. 80, figs. 1; pl. 83, figs. 2-5, 

pl. 84, figs. 1; 2, 1916. 

Leaves of variable size and forn1, elongateelliptical to ovate-lanceolate ·in outline. 

Length 12 to 25 centimeters, and the. average 

is about 16 centimeters. Maximum width, 

about midway between the· apex and the base, 

3.4 t,o 7.5 centimeters,· and the average is about 

4 centimete~s. Apex variable; pointed in· 

s01ne speciuiens, usually . broadly rounded,· 

retuse in one speci1nen. Base more acute than 

the apex, varying fr01n narrowly . cuneate in 

the more slender leaves to broadly cuneate 

· and ultimately somewhat decurrent in the 

broader leaves. Margins entire, full. throughout most of their course; in: so~e places they 

show an undulation. Texture coriaceous. 

Petiole short and stout, 1.5 to 2 centimeters in 

length, curved. Midrib stout but prominent. 

Primaries suprabasilar, subopposite, diverging 

from the midrib at angles of about 30°, 

curving slightly upward and. then- running· 

·nearly straight to or above the middle of the 

leaf, where they unite with outer ·tertiary 

branches from the lowest. secondaries near the 

margins. Secondaries ·four to seven pairs, 

opposite to alternate, thin but prominent; 

they branch fro1n the midrib at an angle· of 

about 50°, sweep upward in a broad curve, and 

are ultin1ately camptodrome. ·Internal tertiaries thin, numerous, ancl percurrent. Marginal tertiaries from outside of. primaries for 

the most part camptodrome, generally almost 

straight. Epidermal cells very small but have 

thin walls. They differ on the upper and 

lower surface of the leaf, the substance of which 

a2 Ber~y, E. W.: The lower Eocene floras of southeastern ·North 

America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 300, pl. 86, fig. 3, 1916. 

is sometimes preserved, indic~ting that in life 

the leaves were glossy . above. Preparations 

fail to show stomata, but the lower epidermis · 

is poorly preserved, which may explain this 

feature. Yellowish globules in the preparations would seem to indicate that the len.ves of 

this species were ·aromatic and punctate as in 

most of' the existing Lauraceae, for they have 

the exact appearance of the secretory cells· of 

the -Lauraceae. A:teolae minute, isodiaJnetric, · 

strongly marked i_n good n1ateriaL 

The present species was described frcnn the 

Wilcox group, where it constitutes a very 

distinct type that is easily distinguishable from 

the numerous other lauraceous forms of the 

Eocene, especially when c01nplete specunens 

are available for con1parison. The species is 

exceedingly comn1on in the Wilcox gr~n~p. 

The specimens fr01n the Claiborne are not positively detennined, for only the iower parts ·of 

the leaves are represented. They show, however, the 1ninute incised areolation, the percurr'ent nervilles between the primaries, and 

the comparatively straight Jnarginal tertiaries, 

as well as. the .straight upper lateral prin1aries 

that approach close to the n1argins-all characteristic of this species. 

The species is very sin1ilar to Oinnamom:u.m 

sezannense W atelet 33 of the European Eocene; 

in fact a frag1nent from the Wilcox of Louisiana 

was identified as that species by Hollick.=l 4 

Occurrence: Yegua fotn1ation, 1 1nile below 

mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorad<? Bivm~, Fayette 

County, Tex. (collected by Alexander Deussen). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. · 

Oreodaphne inequilateralis Berry, n, sp. 

Plate XVI, Figures 4-6; Plate XLIV, Figure 6. 

Leaves of 1nediu1n or large size, oYate and 

usually markedly inequilateral in_general outline, the apex ae1uninate and the base si1nilar. 

Length ranges from 11 to 15 centimeters. 

Maxunu1n width, ·at or slightly below the 

middle; ranges frOin 3.5 to 5 centimeters. 

Margins entire, slightly undulate. Texture 

coriaceous. Petiole in no specimen preserved, 

which may indicate that it was lon:g. Midrib 

stout, prominent, usually somewhat curved. 

aa WatP.let, A .. , Description des pJantes fossiles du bassin de Paris, p. 

175, pl. 50, fig. 2, 1866. 

at Hollick, Arthur, in Harris, G. D., and Veatch, A: C., A preliminary 

report on the geology of Louisiana, p. 283, pl. 42, fig. 2, Louisiana Geol 

Survey, 1899. 
M;t DDLI<: BOCENE OR CLAIBORN:E FLORA. 81 

SeeonclnJ·ies of medium size, i.O to 12, mostly becomes thin distad, prom~nent on the lower 

alterna.te, pu.irs; they diverge f.rmn the mic;lrib surface of the leaf. Secondaries .thin, about 

at angles of 50° to 60°, curve regularly a.nd ten dist~nt, irregularly spaced, mostly alternate 

eonsiclerably \lpwn,rcl, usually subparallel, al- pairs; they diverge from the midrib at angles of 

though somewhat unequally spaced, cmnpto- about 45° and almost ·immediately curve 

dro:me in the marginal region. Tertiaries sharply upward subparallel with the margins, 

thin, typically lauraceous in their areolation. at length camptodrome. Tertiaries obsolete. 

The present species is cl~arly new and mark- This handsome·species is widespread but not 

eclly unlike any of the other Lauraceae known individually abundant, which may .be due to 

from the Claiborne group, although it greatly . the generaJly srriall collections from the sandy 

resembles several of the· species of. Oreodaphne deposits of the Claiborne group.. It survives 

ttnd Nectandrct described by me from the into the Jackson of Arkansas. It greatly reantecedent Wilcox group. Though not rare it · sembles Mespilodaphne eolignitica. (I-Iollick) 

is, like most of the Claiborne plants, rather Berry 35 of the Wilcox group, which is a slightly 

poorly presenred. The figured specimen from larger, more coriaceous leaf that ha.s somewhat 

Claiborne Landing, owing to a deposit of fer- less ascending secondaries, a stouter midrib, 

rug.inous material along its s'econdaries, appears .and a more distinct tertiary system but may 

somewhat different from the specimens figured represent the ancestral form of the Claiborne 

from Columbia. species. Among recent species ~fespilodaphne 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, Claiborne Land- columbia1i,a is much like the existing Jfespiloing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W. daphne sassafras Meissner, of the Brazilian 

Berry). Yegua formation, 1 mile below head Tropics. 

of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, :Houston County, Occurrence:. Lisbon formation, near Le~ingTex. (collected by C. L. Baker) ;·Rock Creek, ton, Holmes County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

William :Ounn League, Brazos County, Tex. Crider); .in a cut on.the Alabama & Vicksburg 

(common) (collected by 0. :M. Ball); near Railway 3! miles east of Newton, Newton 

Stephens, Ouachita County, Ark. (collected by Cou:nty Miss. (collected by E. N. Lowe and 

J·. P. D. IIull); Columbia, Caldwell Pa:dsh, La. C. W. Cooke); roadside north of Willow Branch 

{collected by E. W. Berry). Mount Selman about 4 miles southwest of Silas on road to 

formation, spillway of Elkhart Lake, 2. miles F~il, Choctaw County, Ala. ~collected by W . .C. 

from. :Jmkhart, A~derson County, Tex. (col- Mansfield). Yeguaformation,Columbia,Caldlected by 0. C. Funclerbunk). Lisbon forma- well Parish, La. (collected. by E. W. Berry); 

tion, roadside north of Willow Branch a.bout 4 1! miles northeast of Bienville in cut on rail-

:mi.les southwest of Silas ·on road to Fail, Choc- road between. Bienville and Hodge, La. (coltaw County, Ala. (collected by W. C. M~t~s- lected by ~idney Powers); 1 mile below head 

field). of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston Cotmty, 

·Collection:· U. S. National Museum. Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker); near Stephens, 

Genus MESPILODAPHNE Nees. 

Mesilodaphne columbiana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XV, Figur~s 3-5. 

:Leaves narrowly elongate-lancelote in outline, some of them somewhat inequilateral and 

slightly falcate. Length about 14 centimeters. 

Maximum width, in the middle part of the leaf, 

about 2 centimeters. Margins. entire, irregularly and shallowly undulate. Leaf substance 

thin, subcoriaceous; Apex elongated, gradually narrowed, a~uminate. Base ·elongated, 

gradually and narrowly cuneate, decurrent 

nearly to the base of the petiole. Petiole short 

and stout, tumid proximad, about 7.5 .millimeters in lengt~. Midrib stout proximad but 

Ouachita County; Ark.' (collected by J. P. n·. 

Hull. Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by E. W. Berry) 

Collections: U. S. National Museum; Johns 

Hopkins University. · 

Mespilodaphne caudata Berry, n. sp: 

Plate XV, Figures 6, 7. 

Leaves of small size, elongate-lanceolate in 

general outline, the base narrowed and pointed 

and· the tip extended, gradually narrowed, acuminate, and caudate. Length ranges from 6 

to 8 centimeters. Maximum width, at or below 

as Berry, E. w., The lQwer Eocene floras or southeastern North 

America: U• S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 307, pl .. 80, figs. 2, 3, 1916. 
82 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOC.ENE J!""'LORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

the middle, about 1.1 centimeters. Margins 

entire. Texture coriaceous. Petiole missing,· 

obviously stout and probably short. Midrib 

stout and prominent, ·curved. Secondaries 

stout but not prominent, about eight pairs; 

. they diverge from the midrib at angles of about 

45°, rather straight at first, eventually cainptodrome. Tertiaries mostly obsolete. 

This small coriaceous species had developed 

a conspicuous dripping point. It is clearly unlike previously described fossil forms, although 

it is not unlike a large number of existing species 

of Mespilodaphne of the American Tropics. It 

is smaller than any of the· numerous Wilcox 

species of Lauraceae, although it has the form 

of Oreodaphne pseudoguianensis Berry.36 It is 

not uncommon in the y egua clays of eastern 

Texas and Louisiana and survives into the beds 

of lower Jackson age in the Lagrange formation 

of western Tennessee. 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, spillway of Elkhart Lake, 2 miles from Elkhart, 

Anderson County, Tex. (collected by 0. C. Fun:... 

derbunk). Yegua formation, Columbia, Caldwell Parish, La. (collected by 'E. W. Berry); 

1 mile below the head 9f Cedar Creek, Nevils 

Prairie, Houston County, Tex. (collected by 

.C. L. Baker); Rock Creek, William Dunn 

League, Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 

0. M. Ball). . 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus NECTANDRA Roland. 

N ectandra gosportensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XVI, Figures 1-"--3. 

. Leaves of medium size, lanceolate in general 

collected near Bienville, La., have much 

fuller basal margins than normal. 

.. This species is represented .by abundant 

but fragmentary material fr01n the Lisbon 

formation in Mississippi, the Gosport sand in 

Alabama, and the Yegua formation·.in Texas . 

A somewhat larger. and more attenuated 

variety has been discovered in the upper 

Jackson of Texas. ·It is very. distinct from 

other members of the Claiborne flora but 

resembles Ficus newtonensis. Berry and Nectandra lowii B~rry of the Wilcox flora and is 

undoubtedly descended from one or the other 

of these antecedent species. . .The genus 'Nectandra has about seventy existing species, 

which are confined to tropical and subtropical 

parts of America. I have described several 

species from the Wilcox group, and r'.!.nnerous 

comparable forms have been described fr01n 

the Tertiary of the western United States and 

Europe and referred to the form· genus Laur1.ts 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, in a cut on 

the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway 3! miles 

east of Newton, Newton County, Miss. (collected by E. N. Lowe and C. W. Cooke). 

Gosport sand, at Claiborne Landing, Monroe 

County, . Ala. (collected by E.. W. Berry). 

Y egua formation, 1 mile below head of Cedar 

Creek, Nevils PraiTie, Houston County, Tex.; 

Cedar Creek, 2 miles south of Lufkin, Angelina 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker); 1-?! 

miles northeast of Bien ville, in cut on railroad 

between Bienville and Hodge, La. (collected 

by Sidney Powers); near Stephens, Ouachita 

County, Ar~. (collected by J. ·P. D. Hull.) 

·Collection: U. S. N a tiona] Museum. 

~:mtline; the apex and base are about equally Nectandra arkansana Berry, n. sp." 

acuminate and the lateral margins full and Leaves of medium size, ovate-lanceolate in 

· equally· ~ounded. Length about 10 ·ce:q.ti- ge!leral outline, sides full and rounded, tip 

meters. Maximum width, midway between narrow, incurved, acuminate, and somewhat 

M

the ~pex an.d tbeTbase, 2 to. 2·8 6entimpet~rs· , extended, base acuminate and ··decurrent. 

arg1ns entire. exture conaceous·. et10 e L n th b t 12 t' t M · e g a ou cen 1me ers. ax1mum 

short and very stout, curved and somewhat Wl'dth 'd b t th d th b . . . . . , m1 way e ween e apex an e ase, tumid proximad, about 1 centlin_ eter In length. b t 3 5 t·. t M · t' I' htl 

M.d ·.b · . · . a ou . cen 1me ers. . arg1ns en Ire, s 1g y 1. n stout, pronunent on the lower surface d 1 t L. f b t t th' k. b t f · . . . · un u a e. ea su s ance no IC u o a 

of the leaf. Secondaries thin, not prominent, fir · t p t' 1 t t · t 1 t . . m cons1s ency. e 10 e very s ou , a eas 

more or less Immersed, numero_us; they 1 25· t' t · 1 · th M'd 'b t t · 

d. f h · 'b . cen 1me ers. In eng . 1 n s ou , 1verge rom t e m1dn at angles of about p · · t. th 1 · rf f th 1 ·f 0 . : · · rom1nen on e ower su ace o e ea . 50 , curving gradually upward, and are camp to- S . d · t t b t b ·. th' di t d . . h · . . . . econ anes s ou _u ecome In s a ; drome In. t e marginal regiOn. Tertiary areo- b t · ht. b. . ·t · 1 1 d 

l · fi · ll 1 . · a ou e~g su opposi e, 1rregu ar y space . a.t10n ne, typiCa y auraceous. SpeCimens Th d' f th 'd ·b t · 1 · pairs. ey Iverge rom e m1 r1 a ang es 

ae Berry, E. w:, op. cit., p. 305, pi. s1, figs. 3, 4, _1916. . of about 45 ° and curve regularly upward in a 
.Ml DDT .... E EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE :FLORA. 83 

subparallel manner; eventually they become 

parallel with the margins, along which they 

form a series of- diminishing flat camptodrome 

arches. Tertiaries thin, percurrent, more or 

less trnnsverse to the long axis of the leaf. 

This well-n1arked species of }lectandra is very 

sim.ihu.· to Nectandra lancifolia (Lesquereux) 

Berry, of the Wilcox group, which has the same 

general character and elega~t outline. Nectnndnt m·lcansana is slightly smaller ·and relatively s01newhat narrower and bas fewer ~econdaries, the basal ones diverging at a Wider 

angle; it also has a longer petiole. a~d a so~ewhat thinner texture. Among eXISting speCies 

it greatly resembles a number of Ainerican 

tropical fo~·ms anP, is especially close to Nectand?·a antillnna Meissn·er, n coinlnon tree of the 

woods and river banks throughout the West 

Indies. Its points of dissimilarity are its somewhat smnller size, less coriacecius texture, and 

longer petiole. It survives the Claiborne and 

is not uncominon in the .J .. ackson. 

. O~currence: ·Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing,· Monroe County, Ala. (collected. by E. W. 

Berry). · 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

N ectandra antillanafolia ·Berry, n. sp. 

This species is described under the Jackson 

flora (p. 187). 

Occurrence: Yegua formation, Rock Creek, 

Willimn Dunn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museu1n. 

Genus LAURINOXYLON Felix. 

This genus was proposed by ~elix 37 for 

.lauraceous woods where the specimens were too 

imperfect or too little known to warrant generic 

determination. It has served a very useful 

purpose, and a large number of species have 

been described, ranging in age from the top of 

the Lower Cretaceous (Albian of Madagascar) 

to the Recent but chiefly Tertiary. Some 

of the features which serve to distinguish 

the secondary wood of the Lauraceae are the 

unifonn size of the vessels, their .simple or 

sparingly scalariform perforations, . the ?noseriate to three-seriate rays of varying height 

and differentiated marginal cells, the septate 

prosenchyma, and the abundance of g~. 

a1 },olix, Johannes, K.-ungnr. geol. Anstalt Jahrb., Band 7, p. 27, 1884. 

Laurinoxylon bakeri Berry, n. sp. 

Plates XVII, XVIII, XIX,. XX. 

Transverse section: Vessels single or in radial 

pairs or triplets; here and there a radial row 

consists of five vessels or there may be a tangential pair with a radial one on each side. 

Some of the p~tirs are eccentric or tangential. 

The vast majority are single or radially double, 

however. Well di~tributed; no zonal arrangement or diminution in size throughout the year. 

Oval in cross section, averaging 0.10 to 0.1.5 

millimeter in diameter, thin walled. 

Xylem parenchyma scattered through the 

prosenchyma, not arrange4 in definite bands 

or tracts, thin walled, oval in cross section, 

about 0.025 millimeter il1 diameter. Prosenchynla abundant, son1ewhat thicker walled. 

Diameter about 0.012 1nillimeter, wnlls about 

0.004 1nilluneter in thickness. 

Rays. undulating, one to three cells wide, 

full of gum, about 0.2 millimeter apart but 

showing considerable variation in this respect . 

Radial section: Vessels are full of tyloses 

and have considerable fungal mycelia. Their 

walls are covered with polygonal or hexagonal 

simple pits, which are better seen in the 

tangential sections. 'The rays differ greatly in 

height, fron1 two cells to eighteen cells. · These 

rays consist of one or more rows of marginal 

cells, square or rectangular in radial outline 

and from twice to three times the height and 

about half the lEmgth of the more centrd cells. 

Marginal cells, height 0.032 millimeter, len.gth 

0.024 millimeter. Central cells, height 0.016 

millimeter, length 0.04 to 0.06 millimeter. 

Prosenchyma irregularly septate with attenuately pointed ends, no markings observable . 

Parenchyma abundantly septate and shows 

numerous round simple pores. Rays partly 

filled with gum. A constant feature that is 

well shown in the drawing of this section is the 

J~ingle series of large vertical ray cells that 

serve to co.nnect the rays in vertical series. 

This series may consist of but three or four 

cells or it may be as much as 10 cells high. 

These stringers of ray cells are less numerous 

and less constant a feature in this species than 

they are in a remarkable new species of 

Laur.inoxylon from Hope, Ark. (No. 239). All 

the walls of the large marginal and inframaroinal ray cells are perforated by numerous 

round simple pores. The sketch of a radial 
84 MIDDLE AND UPPF.R EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTH~EASTERN .NORTH AMgRICA. 

ray section shows them in the radial, tangential, 

and upper and .lower w.alls. They are sometinles seen in the central ray cells but usually 

can not be distinguished, possibly because 

these cells are generally filled with gum. 

Tangential section: The photograph repro-

. duced in Plate XVIII, Figure 2, brings out 

clearly ·the essential features of this section. 

The pores on the walls of the vess'els come out 

beautifully, but the .character of the end partitions can not be made out. The abundance 

of tyloses is a feature of this section, as is the 

pitting on the radial· and tangential walls of the 

xylem parenchyma. The. rays are closely 

crowded, generally in altern~ting series but 

somewhat irregular in height. They are one, 

two, or three cells' in width and h~ve one or 

more larger marginal cells on each end. ·Some 

of the rays consist of two fusiform parts . of 

equal size that are connected by large uniserial 

cells. Short uniserial rays. are occasionally 

seen. These variations as well as the character of the marginal cells are shown in the 

illustrations. All are almost invariably wholly 

or partly filled with guDJ.. 

This species is rather well preserved and 

clearly . distinct from previously described 

forms. It resembles somewhat the antecedent Wilcox species Laurinoxylon wilcoxianum. 

Without more comparative material of recent 

species it is impossible· to discuss this phase of 

the subject. This new species represents, 

however, either Oinnammmwn, Persea, Oreodaphne, or Ne.ctandra. 

It is named for Charles Laurence Baker, forInerly of the University of Texas, in recogni-

·tion of his valuable assistance in furnishing 

colle'ctions from inaccessible localities in the 

east Texas Tertiary. 

Occurrence: Y egua form~tion, in a cut on 

· the International & Great Northern Railway 

at milepost 44 (No. 217); Westmoreland Bluff, 

Trinity River (No. 230); head of Cedar Creek, 

one-half. mile south of Antioch, Houston· 

County, Tex. (No. 251). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Laurinoxylon branneri Knowlton. 

Plate XXI. 

Lwurinoxylon b.ranneri Knowlton, Arkausas Geol. Survey Ann. Rept. for 1889, vol. 2, p. 256, pl. 9, 

figs. 8, 9; pl.lO, figs~ 1, 2; pl. 11. fig. 4, 1891. 

Penhallow, Roy. Soc. Canada Trans., 3d ser., ·vol. 

1, sec. 4, p; 98; fig~. 6-8, 1908. 

Knowlton describes the wood of this species 

as 'follows: 

The annual ring can not be clearly distinguished, 

although there are slight evidences of its having been 

present. The wood celJs are thick walled and ordinarily arranged in radial rows. The vessels are placed 

singly or .ar.r:anged in radial rows of from one to three 

or rarely four. They are usually separated by the 

medullary rays,· although in one exceptional instance 

a row of three vessels was in immediate contact with 

another row of four. When single they are oval in 

shape; when more than one, each is modified by pressure. The medullary rays, as seen in this section, are 

numerous; two cells broad, and usually but little curved 

in their course. 

· · On account of the poor state of preservation it is 

difficttlt to make out the exact shape of the wood cells 

as seen in this section. Some of them have been rather 

short with square ends, but probably the. larger number have had pointed ends. The medullary rays are in 

vertical plates of six to thirty or more rather long cells, 

and so far a~ can be determined were ~ot provided witlJ. 

pits or markings. The large vessels are of course very 

prominent in this section. They are long, rather thick 

\valled, and provided with numerous elliptical or nearly 

circular bordered pits. 

This section, from another portion 9f the same 

specimen, shows the wood cells clearly. Some have 

square and others pointed extremities. The medullary 

rays are always arranged in two vertical series of from 

six to ·thirty or more cells: . They are very numerous. 

* * * · The l~rge vessels are provided with net-form thickenings over the entire stirface. It seems hardly 

probable that the vessels have been p'rovi!=led with 

circular bordered pits 01i one wall and with net-form 

thickenings on the other, sfnce there can be no satisfactory explanation or transition from one to the other 

in the same vessel, but the fact remains that in all the 

instances in which it has been possible to ·make out the 

nature of the thickening on the walls, the circular pits 

ar~ ~lways confined to the radial walls and the net-form 

thickening~ to the tangential walls. 

This species was based upon silicified specimens from two different horizons in Arkansas 

and was probably represented by poorly preserved lignified material from which sections 

were cut. The exact age of these horizons can 

only be approximately determined .. The locality in Poinsett County is either near the top 

of the Wilcox or the base of the Y egua, whereas 

that iri St. Francis County is ·at the top of the 

Yegua or_the base of the Jackson, probably the 

latter. The species is unique in having. been 

the first anatomical dicotyledonous species described from the United States. It. was compared by Knowlton with Laurus _biseriata, 
1Vl:LDDLE BOCENE OR CLAIBORNB ]fLORA. 85 

described hy Caspary 3s from the Tertiary of rectangular cells on each side of the medullary rays 

Prussia. but differs in most of the. other characters. Laur'-Lts 

In eo,st-central Tex~ts Laurinoxylon branneri 

has been described by Penhallow from the Yegua forn1ation. 

Occurrence: Y egun, formation, Son1erville, 

Bur.leson County, Tex. 

l.nurinoxylon lesquereuxiana Knowlton. 

l~o.u1·inoxylon lesquerenxia.nn Kn'owlton, Arkansn.s Geol. 

Survey Ann. Rept. for 1889, vol. 2, · p. 258, 

pl. 10, figs. 3, 4; pl. 11, figs. 3, 4,. 1891. 

Knowlton's description follows: 

The annual ring is very indistinct yet clearly observable. It consists of a layer of two or three more compressed cells in which the lumen is almost entirely 

closed. The wood cells are much larger than in L: 

branneri and much thicker walled, and they are less 

clea,rly arranged in radhtl rows. They are ·more. 

nearly square or by mutual .pressure six-sided. The 

tnedullary rays are very numerous, three or four cells 

broad, and run \~ith but slight undulatio~s amongst the 

wood cells. The vessels are also large and usually in 

twos, although it is not rare to find them single or in 

threes. In exceptional cases there may be four in one 

row and three smaller ones in another contiguous row, 

when the entire space between two medullary rays is 

filled by them. It is somewhat difficult to determine 

but apparently the rays have consisted of rather .short 

cells. 

Agttin on account of the poor state of preservation 

of the specimen it is impossible to d'etermine with confidence the slutpe of the wood cells as seen in this section. That some of them have had the ends square is 

cCt·tttin, and also some of them have been sharp 

jointed, but the relative proportion or distribution of 

the various modifications can not be satisfactorily 

made out. The vessels have been numerous and large, 

but if there have been markings on the walls it is 

impossible to make them out. The vessels were filled 

with amorphous quartz before solidification and now 

appeu,r .filled with rounded drops of greater or less size~ · 

The medullary rays as observed in this section are 

large, moderately short celled, and filled with a black 

substance. Above and below many of the medullary 

mys is a single or mrely double layer of large rectangulttr cells, likewise filled with an intensely black substance. 

The 1ned u llary rays are numerous, . of three or not 

rarely four series of superimposed cells, which are large 

and very thick walled. Tl~e rays are from twenty to 

thirty or more cells high, and very regular. 

This species is, on the whole, very distinct, although 

it shows points of resemblance with described forms. 

Thus L. dil'twiale 'Unger sp.39 has the peculiar large 

118 C;~spary, It., :I~inigo fo3sile Holzer Proussens: Geol. Specialkarte 

Prous~. Abh., Bond 9, Heft 2, pp. 54-60, pl. 10, figs. 10-17; pl. n, figs. 

1-5, .1889. 

118 Folix, Johannes, Untorsuclmugon Uber fossile Holzer: Deutsche 

geol. Oosoll. Zcltschr., Baud 35, p. 59, pl. 2, figs. 2, 3; pl. 3, fig: 1, 1883. 

triseriata Caspary,40 recently described from Prussia, 

resembles it yet ·differs in important points.· 

This species is based on silicified material of 

either upper Claiborne or lower Jackson age, 

and of these alternative horizons the former is 

more probable. 

Occurrence: Y egua. formation, bed of Rice 

Branch, near Wittsburg, Cross County, Ark. 

(collecte'd by R. E. Call). 

Collection: U. S. National ~I useunT. 

Order MYRTALES. 

Family COM~RETACEAE. 

Genus COMBRETUM Linn~. 

Combretum petraflumenses Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLV, Figures 1-4; Plate LVIII, Figures 2-4; 

Plate LIX, Figures 1-5. 

Leaves of Vttri~tble size, eUiptical in general· 

outline, though having a cuneate vase and · 

an apiculate tip. Margins entire, in nutny 

spemme.o.s son1ewhat irregular in contour. 

Texture coriaceous. Length ranging from 7 

to 13 centimeters. · Maximum width, in the 

median part of the ·leaf, ranging from 3 to 7 

centimeters. No definite petiole is preserved, 

but several specin1ens sho\\r a decurrence at 

the base, indicating a ve_ry short and stout 

petiole. The midrib is stout and generally 

somewhat curved, prominent on the under 

surface of the leaf. The secondaries are stout 

but in most specimens not prominent; they 

number si..x or seven subopposite to alternate 

pairs, which are subeq~ally spaced; their angle 

of divergence' differs somewhat according to 

the relative width of the leaves, though in 

general it is about 60°; they curve regul~rly 

upward in a subpara1lel course and. are camptodrome. The ·tertiaries are obsolete,· but 

whether because of the coarseness of th~ matrix. 

or becam~e of immersion· in the substance of 

the· leaf can not be certainly determined .. 

The name proposed is . given in allusion to the 

locality. . 

This species is very abundant in the outcrop of the Yegua oil Rock Creek, where it is 

represented by leaves of all sizes and a considm·able variety of form. It 1:epresents the first 

record of the genus in beds later than the 

Wilcox, but it is quite distin,ct from the three 

to Caspary, R., op. cit., pp. 60-67; pl. 11, figs. 6-12; pl. 12, figs. 1-5. 
86 MIDDLJ<J AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHI~~ASTERN NORTH Al\lKRJ.CA. 

known species from that horizon, although 

it shows considerable resemblance t·o all three 

in one or. another of its characteristic features. 

The genus has been recognized in the Miocene 

of Chile and in the Miocene and Pliocene of 

Europe. There are about 130 existing species 

in all the Tropics, except Australia and Polynesia, and about one-third of these are endemic 

in South America. The genus. appears to 

have be~n of American origin ·during basal 

. Eocene time. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation (in ·beds · regarded by me as of Jackson age), Rock Creek, 

William Dunn League, Brazos· County,_ Tex. 

(collected. by 0. M. Ball). · 

Collection: U. S. National :Museum. 

Genus TERMINALIA Linne. 

Terminalia claibornensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXII, Figure 1. 

Oligocene and Miocene. More than one. hundred existing species are almost equally divided 

between the tropical and subtropical regions of 

Asia, Africa, Australia, and America.· 

Occurrence: Gosport sand, at Claiborne 

Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by 

E. W. Berry). Lisbon formation, near Lexingt<;m, Holmes County, ·:Miss. (collected by 

A. F. Crider). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Genus CONOCARP{!S Linne. 

Conocarpus eocenicus Berry. 

Conocarpns eocenica Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 147, pl. 28, figs. 4-7, 1914. 

Leaves of medium and small size, lanceolate · 

·and generally inequilateral in outline, the apex 

an.d base obtusely pointed, margins entire. 

·Length 6 to 10 centimeters; greatest width, 

which is about midway between the apex and 

the base, 1.5 to 2.6 centimeters. · Midrib stout. 

Leaves of medium size for this genus, oblong- Secondaries remote, about six pairs, opposite 

ovate in general outline, the apex abruptly or subopposite; they branch from the midrib 

pointed and the base gradually narrowed and at. angles of about 50°, extend outward, and 

cuneate. Length about 15 centimeters. Max- then sweep upward in a broadly rounded curve, 

imum width, above the middle, about 5 centi- . parallel with the margin and approximately 

meters. Margins entire, regularly curved. parallel with their fellows, ultimately camptoTexture coriaceous but leaf substance rela- drome. Tertiaries fine, forming a polygonal 

tively thin. Petiole short and stout. Midrib areolation. 

very stout, about ten to twelve subopposite to ·This species was based on considerable nlaalternatepairs, which diverge from the midrib teriHJ from beds of lower J~ickson age in Georat angles that range from 35° in the relatively gia, where .it appears to be more common than 

narrower leaves to 70° in the broader leaves, it is in the Mississippi embayment region. It 

the average angle measuring about 40o. The is obviously related to Conocarpus, both in outsecondaries are relatively straight and ascend- line and in venation, and probably. had a similar 

ing, . curve gradually upward in the marginal habitat. 

region, and eventually become' camptodrome. Conocarpus is a monotypic genus· in. the 

Tertiaries thin, the prominent nervilles being. existing :flora, and the single species, Donomostly percurrent, the areolation being open carpus erect11:s Linne, is widespread along low 

and prevailingly quadrangular. muddy or sandy tropical shores in Central 

The genus Terminalia is an important mem- America and South America and on the west 

her of. the pre-Miocene :floras of southeastern coast of Africa (Guinea ·and Senegambi~). 

North America. There is one species in the It is found in the Galapagos Islands and 

Midway ( ~) of Texas which becomes commoner extends northward from the West Indies to 

and more widespread in the Wilcox. A second the Florida Keys and to Bermuda, where it is 

Wilcox species, not greatly different from the found on the sand dunes. Its distribution 

present form, has been described, and a third has been effected through the agency of ocean 

is based on fru.it. A larger. and broader form currents. The fossil . form appears to be 

is found in the lower Jackson. The present closest to the modern variety arbo_reus Grisespecies is very similar to the common Termi- bach, of Central America. The modern species 

nalia radobojensis Unger, 41 of the European is not only a typical member of the mangrove 

41 Unger, Franz, Chloris protogaea, p. 142, pl. 48, fig. 2, 1847. association of Africa and America but much 

' -
MID])LE l~OCE~E OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 87 

tnore widespread than the nla.ngroYes, for it I along the equatorial part of the west African 

is equuJly a plant of .strand and dunes. The coast. I haYe described, a~ Lag?.tnc?.daria pretexture and anatomy of its leaves differ some- racemosa, 42 both leaves and fruit of an ancestral 

what according to their degree of exposure to species from the Wilcox group. The present 

the rays o:f the sun. · species may 'be a· descendant of this Wilco2 

This species 1nay be con1pared with certain species, and it is even more like the modern 

European Tertiary forn1s that· are referred to form· than tlie Wilcox species. 

the allied genus E?.tgenia, of which seYeral have Occurrence: Gosport sand, · at Claiborne 

been described, n1ore especially from the Landing, Monroe County, Ala. (collected by 

OligocOJie. Both E?.tgenia aizoon Unger and E. W. Berry). 

JJ)~tge'nin ham·ingiancL Unger are somewhat Collection: ·u. S. National Museum. 

sin1ilar .. A species of Oonocarpites is recorded 

frmn the Tuscaloosa formation of western 

Alaban1a, and a typical and possibly _ancestral 

~pecies of Oonocm·1nis is present in the flora of 

the beds of Wilcox age in the Lagrange formation of western Tennessee. 

Occunence: Gosport sand, at Claiborne 

Lu;nding, M:onroe County, Ala. (collected by 

E. vV. Berry). Yegua .formation, on Cedar 

Creek, 2 1niles south of Lufkin, Angelina 

· County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). · 

Collection: U. S. National :Museum: 

Genus LAGUNCULARIA Gaertner. 

I.aguncularia ~laiborniana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXII, Figure 2. 

Leaves of small size, elliptical in general 

outline, the apex and base broadly rounded. 

Length about 5 centi1neters. Maximu1n width, 

in the :middle o.f the leaf, about 2.5 cei1tirrieters. 

:Margins entire, regularly rounded. Texture 

extrmnely coriaceous. Petiole very stout, 

length unknown. Midrib extremely stout, 

so:mewhat curYed, Yery pro1ninent on the 

lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries stout 

but i:tnmersecl in the thick leaf substance; 

ftbout six pair·s diYerge fr01n the n1idrib at 

n.ngles of 45° to 60°, curve regularly upward, 

n.nd are cmnptodrmne but hugely effaced by 

innnersion toward the margins. Tertiaries 

irreguln.rly percur.rent. Areolation extremely 

:tninute, almost. isodian1etric, giving the surfttee a :minutely rugose appen.rance. 

'.l.'his well-1na.rked species is unforttmately 

l'epresented by 1nuch broken material. It is, 

howevel', clearly referable to the .genus LagunC'ItiaTia 1md is alnwst identical in all its charn.cters w.itl1 Lagunc?.da?·icL 1·acemosa Gaertner. 

. '.l.'he genus is nwnotypic in the existing flora, 

and the single species is co1nmon along muddy 

tidal shores of estuaries and lagoons from the 

Florida ICey~ to northern South America and 

Family MYRTACEAE. 

Genus MYRCIA De Candolle. 

Myrcia trowbridgi Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XL VIII, Figures 3-5. 

Lea.ves of different· sizes, lanceolate-falcate 

in outline. Apex and base equally acute, but 

as the leaf is widest below the middle the . 

uppe,r part is consequently 1nore .tapering than 

the lower. ·Length ranges from 4 to 14 

centimeters. Maximum width ranges from 8 

to 30 millimeters. Margins entire. Texture 

coriaceous. In no specimens is a petiole preserved; if present it must have been short and 

stout, as indicated by the way the midrib 

swells proximad. Midrib stout, prominent, 

and curved. The secondaries are largely inlmersed in the leaf substance and are numerous, 

closely sp~ced, and subparallel. They diverge 

fro1n the 1nidrib at angles of about 45° to 55°, 

are rather straight in their courses after diverging outward from the midrib, and their distal 

ends are connected by a11 aerodrome marginal 

vein. The tertiaries a1~e obsolete by iinmersion. 

. These leaves, which are very abundant and 

whi"ch comprise the vast 1najority of the specimens collected at the locality cited, reseinble 

the leaves of a number of unrelated genera, as 

n1ight be expected fr01n their lanceolate fonn 

and coriaceous texture. They are, however, 

entirely distinct from previ.ously known forn1s 

and clearly related to nli.rnerous species of 

Myrcia, both fossil and existing. The gen.us, 

which includes several hundr~d existing species· 

that are confined to the Western Hemisphere, is 

found in both the Wilcox and Jackson but has 

not heretofore ·been found in the Claiborne, 

although its presence was suspected. Six 

ts Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of ~outheastem North 

America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 320, pl. 95, figs. 4-8, 1916. 
88 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

species of Myrcia are ·known from the Wilcox. 

Among .these M.vrcia vera Berry 43 is . very 

.. ~imilar in form to Myrcia · trowbridgi, but it 

has fewer secondaries and its average size is 

3maller. Among nUll)erous existing forms, 

sucP, a leaf as· that of M.11rcia rostrata from 

South A1nerica, previously figured,44 may be 

· con1p.ared with the pi·esent fossil. 

Occurrence: Mount Selman formation, 1! 

miles north· of Palafox, Webb County, Tex. 

(collected by A. C. Trowbridge, L. W. Stephenson and E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. N ationai Museum. 

Order UMBELLALES. 

Family ARALIACEAE. 

Genus OREOP AN AX. Decaisne and ·Planchon. 

Oreopanax mississipiensis Berry, n. sp. 

·Plate XXII, Figures 3, 4. 

Leaves digitately compound. · Leaflets of 

Jnedium size, slightly · inequilater.al, ovatelanceolate in general outline. Apex acute. 

Base narrowly decurrent to or nearly ·to the 

base of the petiole. Length about 10 centimeters. Maxiinun1 width, in the middle part 

of the leaf, about 3.5 centimeters. ·Margins entire below for about one-fourth of their length; 

· above this entire portion they are characteristically and prominently toothed. The usua~ 

for~ is a regular alternation of a shor.t, serrate, 

outwardly directed tooth and a large, narrow, 

aquiline-serrate tooth; in son1e places two 

s1nall teeth intervene between successive large 

teeth; the sinuses are all narrowly rounded. 

Petiole very stout, margined by the narrow 

wings of the decurrent leaf base,. at least 2.5 

centin1eters in length. Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries thin, very numerous, and subparallel. 

"fhey diverge from ·the midrib at angles that 

range from 45 ° in the tips of the leaflet to about 

70° in the base, at rather uniform intervals of 

about 2 to 3 millimeters. They curve upward, 

become subparallel to the margins and camptodrome, and send short tertiary branches into 

the larger teeth. Tertiary venation ·consists of 

intermedi.ate veins, as a .tule one to each interval 

between adjacent secondaries, and thin close-set 

percurrent nerv-illes. Texture subcoriac_eous .. 

48 :Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastem North 

·America.: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 3t4, pl. 90, fig. 3, 1916. 

u Idem, pi. 90, fig. 4. 

. This very characteristic form is a strikingly 

distinct element in the Claiborne and Jackson 

floras. · . Two species of Oreopanax are found in 

the antecedent Wilcox. flora, ·but· neither is 

close to the present. species, which resembles 

somewhat remotely Panax latijolium, which 

was. described by Friedrich 45 from the Oligoci:me of Saxony, and the existing Panax gaudichaudi De Candblle, of the Hawaiian Islands. 

It may also be compared with the leaflets of · 

certain tropical Alnerican species of Symplocos. 

Occurrence: Lisbon formation, near Lexington, Holmes County, Mjss. (collected by A. F. 

Crider). · 

Collection: Johns Hopkins University. 

Family CORNACEAE. 

Genus NYSSA Linne. 

Nyssa texana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXII, Figure 5. 

Stones very large, elliptical in outline, some 

of them pointed at the distal end, and a few of 

them at both ends, circular in transverse outline. Length ranges fron1 2.5 to 3.6 centimeters. · Diameter, 1 centime~er to 1.5 centinleters. Longitudinally ribbed with 8 to 10 · 

prominent broad, rounded ridges that are 

separated by furrows of about the same form 

and dimensions as the ridges, as a rule more 

pron1inent toward, the distal end of the stone. 

Substance thick and ligneous. This is the 

largest Nyssa stone known to the writer. It 

'resembles somewhat Nyssa lescurii (HitchGOck) / 6 from the lignite of Brandon, Vt., but 

is larger. It_is also similar to the stone from 

beds of Wilco·x age in Tennessee that has been 

described as Nyssa eolignitica Berry/7 but is 

larger and more prominently ribbed. It is. 

abundant in the Y egua· clays of/ Angelina 

County southwest of Lufkin, Tex., and in the 

Fayette sandstone of Trinity County, ·Tex. It 

is evidently represented by the material mentioned by Buckley 48 1n 187 4 as follows: 

In none of the Tertiary coals of the State have we 

seen vegetable remains in good preservation in the 

4o Friedrich, Paul; Beitrii.ge zur Kenntniss.der Tertiarflora der·Provinz· 

Sachsen: Geol. Specialkarte Preuss. Abh., Band 4, p. 188, pl. 24, figs. 7, 

8, 1883. 

46 Hitchcock, C. H., A new species of Carpolithes: Portland Soc. Nat. 

Hist. Proc., vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 95, pl. 1, fig. 5, 1862. · 

47 Berry, ·E. W., The lower Eocen,e floras of southeastern North. 

America: U. S. Geol. Sun·ey Prof. Paper 91, p. 332, pl. 99, fig. 8, 1916. 

ts Buckley, S. B., Report of reconnaissance in part of eastern Texas: 

Texa~ GeoL and Agr. Survey First Ann. Rept., p. 25, Hquston, 1874. 
MIDDLB. EOCENE OR CLAIBORNE FLORA. 89 

shales in contact with ~he coal, excepting ·in Fayette 

County, where are oblong ribbed fruits about an ir1ch 

in length. 

These stones are of special interest, f~n· in 

the dense carbonaceous brown clays of the 

Yegun. they lie horizontal and are thoroughly 

ligni:(i.ed, whereas in the Fayette sandstone 

they 11re represented exclusively by casts without a trace of carbonaceous matei·ial and are 

oriented at all angles, as if they had been 

preserved in ·wind-blown deposits. 

I have referred these fossils ·to Nyssa only 

.after some hesitation and after comparing 

then1 with the fruits of· Anona, Terminalia, 

Oh?·ysobalan'tl,S' ancl other genera with which 

comparisons seemed promising. They have, 

however, exactly the characters of large Nyssa 

stones and do not greatly exceed in size some 

of the. nu1nerous remains of tbis genus that 

are preser.ved in the lignites of Brandon, Vt. 

The specimens preserved in the clays are .conclusive in indicating that the remains are 

stones and not ligneous ribbed capsules, as the 

specimens from the sandstones might be interpreted. The most similar foreign fruits are 

those described in 1833 fron1·the Sannoisian of 

Saxony, which ai·e nan1ed by Zenker 49 Baccites 

C(Waoides. These fossils have since been found 

at a nun1ber of locn.lities in the European 

Oligocene and lower Miocene and have been 

generally referred. to the genus Anona. 5° They 

are son1ewhat snuiller," more globular, and less 

strongly ribbed, as well as somewhat younger· 

than the Texas species. 

The genus Nyssa is represented in fossil 

:floras from the late Upper Cretaceous onward, 

for the water-side habitat of 1nany of the 

species and the resistant nature of the fruit 

stones are very favorable to fossilization. The. 

genus cmnprises five or six species in the 

existing :flora, all of which are confined to 

southen,stern North An1erica' except one Asiatic 

form, which ranges from the eastern Hi1nalayas 

to the island of Java. 

Occurrence: Y egua fonnation, beneath lignite in bed of CedarCreek about 2 miles south 

of the 'l'exns Southeastern Railroad bridge and 

tt.bout 2 1niles southwest of Lufkin, Angelina 

County, 'l'ex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. S. National :Musemn. -·~· ··- ----·---------------- 49 Zonkor, J. C., :Boitrii.ge zur Nuturgeschichte der Urwelt, p. 10, pl. 1, 

1\g~. 4-16, JS:l3; . 

no "l!'rlodrich, ·pllul, :Boitrilgo zm Kcnutniss der Tertiilrflora dcr Pro,· in~ 

Sach~ou: Geol. Spochilktuto Preuss. Abh., l3and 41 p.·218, pl. 6, fig. IG, 

1884. 

Nyssa wilcoxiana Berry 

Nyssa 'l.oilcoxiana Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof 

Paper 91, p. 331, pl. 99, figs. 5-7, 1916. · 

Stones·ernedium-sized to large, terete or more 

or less compressed,. ovate in general outline, 

widest in the middle, rounded at the base, 

acuminate distad. 'rexture ligneous. Surface 

orna1nented with close-set, narrow, longitu· 

dinal ridges. Length from 1.6 to .2.25 centimeters and width from 4.5 to 10.5 millimeters. 

This species is ~ot uncon1mon toward the top 

of the beds of middle Wilcox age in the Lagrange formation of Tennessee and is also 

found· in the upper Wilcox of Louisiana. A 

single well-preserved specimen has been found 

in the lower Y egua of Texas.. The Texas 

speciillen is 2 centimeters in length by 9 millimeters in maximum diameter and has 14 or 15 

well-marked ribs. It differs from Nyssa texana 

Berry in its smaller size, more pointed apex, 

and more numerous ribs. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, about 7 1niles 

southwest of Smithville, Bastrop County, Tex;. 

(collected by Frank Rundus). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Superorder GAMOPETALA.:E. 

Order EBENALES. 

Family SAPOTACEAE. 

Genus MIMUso:rs Linne. 

Mimusops claibornensis Berry, n: sp. 

Plate XXII, figure 6 .. 

Leaves ovate-elliptical in outline, the apex 

broadly rounded, retuse, or e1narginate and 

the base somewhat narrowed and cuneate. 

Length about 7.5. centimeters. Maximum 

width, in the middle part of the leaf, about 3.5 

centimeters. Margins entire, irregularly and 

slightly undulate. Texture very" coriaceous. 

Petiole missing·, obviously stout. Midrib very 

stcmt and prominent all the way to the apical 

sinus, more .or less curved. Secondaries very 

stout and prmninent, about ten opposite to 

alternate pairs; they diverge from the 1nidrib 

at angles that range fron1 45 o to 70°, curve 

graduall)r upward until they are close to the 

margin, where they curve ·abruptly upward 

parallel with and close to the margins, and 

each joins the adjacent superior secondary in a 

camptodroine manner. Tertiaries mostly obsolete, percurrent. 

These . characteristic leaves as . a rule are 

somewhat inequilaterai and are readily. recog-
90 M!DDLE AND UPPER EOCENE . FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

nized by their stout prominent secondaries of 

scarcely diminished caliber almost to their 

distal terminations. They greatly resemble 

those of several existing species of Mimusops 

and Sideroxylon. They are also ·much like 

those of the American tropical monotypic 

genus Bucida Linne. 

The present species is very ·close to and· 

undoubtedly a descendant of the Wilcox 

species. Mimusops eolignitica Berry, 51 from 

which it differs in its relatively shorter length, 

more robust form, and stouter secondaries. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, at Cherry 

Valley; Cross -County, Ark. (collected by E.· 

W. Berry). 

·Gollection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus EOACHRAS Berry. 

Eoachras eocenica Berry. 

Plate XXII, Figures 7-'-9. 

interest is the presence in the upper Eocene 

of· Texas (Fayette sandstone, of ·Jackson· age) 

of leaves that agree almost exactly with those 

of the existi.ng Oalocarpus viride Pittier. 

It is not possible to suggest the char~cter 

of the foliage in Eoachras. Achras has a dense 

cover of smooth, thin-veined coriaceous ever- . 

green leaves. Oalocarpum, on the othe:r; hand, 

has very large ovate-lanceolate coarse decidu-.. 

ous leaves. Remains of leaves are associated 

with the seed of Eoachras, but none of these 

remains can be definitely correlated with the 

seed, and none are comparable with those of 

A.chras. There are fragme:p.ts of large leaves, 

which are tentatively referred to the genus 

Terminalia·, that might possibly represent 

Oalocarpum-like leaves. 

The fossil seed, though it has the general 

characters of the seeds of the large.-fruited 

genera Achras, Vitellaria, Lucumn, and Onlocarpum o.f the Sapotaceae, · is not exactly like 

any of them. In size and form it is perhaps Eoachras eocenica Berry, Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 

most like the seeds of Achras, but in the 39, pp. 208-213, pl. 1, figs. 1-3, 1915. 

Achras the . umbilical area is narrow and 

Seed of 1arg~ size, COlnpressed laterally, shortened, whereas in the fossil this area attains 

obliquely elliptical in outline when viewed the f'ulllength of the seed Q,n~ is as wide as it' is 

from the side, proxin1al end more broadly in the genus Oalocarpum. The real difficulty 

. rounded than the distal end. Length about lies not so much in any uncertainty with 

3.6 centimeters. Maximum height from dorsal regard to its relationship to still.existing forms, 

to ventral margin about 2.2 cen-timeters. but in the purely taxonomic tangle that inMaximum thickness about 1.5 centimeters. vo1ves these forms and. the lack of. knowledge 

The seed has· been subjected to pressure after regarding the relationship of these among 

burial by s·ediments, and this has destroyed themselves and their true generic limits. 

the sym1netry between the lateral surfaces. · For example, Achras in the existing flora is a 

·Dorsal margin broadly rounded, sigmoid in genus that was artificially distributed in preoutline, and a restricted bu.t pronounced sinus historic times and is now cultivated in all 

toward the distal end. V ~ntral 1nargin thick- tropical countries. Pit tier has recently deened, considerably deformed,· curved in out- ·scribed two new species of it, but the single 

line; the umbilical sinus open; extending the species previously known.has served ·as the type 

whole length of the seed. of at lea'st two genera-Achras Linne (1753) 

This seed differs -fron1 those of Achras zapote: and Sapota Miller. (17 59)'. Miller's genus Sapotn 

in its slightly larger size and in 'its more open gives its name to the family. Sapotaceae. 

umbilicus, which ·also extends the whole· Moreover, .Achras differs in the extent of its 

length of the seed. As .I have interpreted the umbilical area from the fossil. The .genus 

orientation of the fossil its sm.aller end is Achras obviously has had a geologic history, 

distal and not proximal as in Achras, but this though it is as yet unknown, and it is quite 

is a negligible feature. The -seeds of Oq,locar- possible that· the umbilical character of . the 

pum as a rule are much larger, fusiform, and seeds may ·have differed in the unknown 

. not compressed;. the umbilicus . occupies the fossil ancestors of the existing form. At the 

whole inner face. The seeds o£ Lucuma are same time it does not seem proper to amplify 

also very similar to the fossil.. · A fact of what is one of the diagnostic characters 0f the 

r~cent g·enus to include hypot~etic fossil 

species. ai Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of ·southooste':rn North 

America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 339, pl. 99, fig. 3, 1916. 
MIDDLE EOCENE OR. CLAIBOR.NE FLORA. 91 

The fossil agrees with the se~ds of Calocarpum 

in the character of the un1bilicus but is smaller 

in .size and more compressed. There are only 

two known species of CalocarpumJ· one was 

described as recently as 1914,. and the other, 

which has been known since 1762, has been 

plttced successively in the genera Side~oxyZu:n 

(by J'ncquin in 1762), Achras (by L1nne 1n 

1782), LucumcL (by Gaertner in 1805), Vitellm·ia 

(by H.adlkofer in 1882), CcLlosperm_um (by 

Pierre in 1890), Achradelpha (by Cook 1n 1913), 

nnd still 1nore recently, in 1914, Pittie1~ has. 

tnken up the generic nan1e Calocarpum; \vhi~h 

wns first proposed by Pierre in 1904. It w1ll 

be seen that the paleobotanist can reu.dily use 

t't generic name for the present fossil seed that 

will bring up in the mind of each botanist, 

according to .his taxonomic taste, either a 

different concept of 'the plant that bore it or 

else no concept whatever. Moreover it is the 

n,cmc of improbn.bility to suppose that the existinO" O"enera AchTas, Calocar·pum, Lucuma, 

·l"iteU(t?~ci, Hiileroxylum, and .Chrysophyllum 

were nil Jully difrerentiat.ed as eady as the 

middle ]~ocene ttnd that they have 1naintained 

their existing lin1its since that time. 

The modern OaJoc(LT1J'Um is an up~and form, 

wheren.s Achras is not. Eoachnts was probn.hly. it coltstttl for:m, and it 1nay be considered 

to represent the 1tncestr1tl line that probn,bly 

gtwe ·rise to n1ore than one of the existing 

lttrcre-fruited forn1s. These form·s are well 

de;cl'.ibed in tt recent pttper hy Pittier .. 52 

Occurrence: LiRbon formation, near Lexington, llolrnes County, :Miss. (co.llected by 

A. F. Cridel'). . 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family EBEN ACEAE. 

Genus DIOSPYROS Linne. 

Diospyros brachysepala Alexander .Braun.5a 

D·ioS1Jyros brachyse7Jaln Alexander Braun, Neues Jahrb., 

1845, p. 170. 

Beer Flora tertiaria Helvetiae, vol. 3, pp. 11, 

19l, pl. 102, figs. 1-14, 1859; Flora foss~lis arctica, vol. 1, p. 117, pl. 15, figs. 10-12, 1868; 

idem, vol. 7, p. 109, pl. 79, figs. 1-8, _Pl. 9~, 

fig. H); pl. 94, fig. 6, 1883. 

G~ Pittior, Henry, Now or noteworthy plants from Colombia .and 

Contml America: Contr. 'u.S. Nat . .Elcrbanum, vol. ~8, pt. 2, }Jp. 7b-86, 

1914. ' . . u s 63 A fairly complete list of citations or this species is gtven m . . 

a col. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 333, 1916. 

68844-24-. 7 

Lesquereux} The Tertiary flora, p. 232, pl. 40, figs. 

7-10; pl. 63, fig. 6,· 1878; The Cre~aceous and 

Tertiary floras, p. 174; pl. 34, figs. 1, 2, 1883;· 

U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 10, p. 41, 1887. 

Ward, Synopsis of the ·flora of the Laramie group, 

p. 556, pl. 60, figs. 4, 5, 1886; Types of the· 

·Larainie flora, p. 104, pl. 49, figs. 1, 2, 1887. 

Aridromeda dubia Lesquereux, Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser. 

vol. 27, p, 364, 1859; ·in Safford, Geology of 

Tennessee, p. 428, pl. K, fig. 5, 1869. 

Loughridge, Report· on the geological and eco-

. nomic features of the Jackson's Purchase region, 

p. 196, fig. 5, Kentucky Geol. Survey, 1888. 

This polyn1orphous species has been recorded 

frmn tt very large nurnber of localities and 

horizons and· probably 1.·epresents several 

si1nilar species, although no criteria other·· 

than stratigraphic · are available for their 

separation, and the stratigraphic method ·is 

not dependable. The type material . came 

frmn both the en.rliest and latest plant beds 

of the Swiss Miocene (Aquitanian to Tortonian), 'ttnd other European records include 

all horizons 'o:f the Tertiary. 'The species is 

also abundant in the Arctic Tertiary. In 

America it has been recorded from horizons 

as old tts the later Upper Cretaceous nnd from 

different Tertiary outcrops. Remains that 

present no differentin.l characters occur in the 

Wilcox deposits of the Mississippi embayn1ent 

region,· and siniilar remains are sparingly 

represented in the upper Claiborne of Mississippi 

and the Jackson of Texas. The occurrences in 

Texns m·e based upon rather small leaves that 

agree closely with the snutller figures of the 

Swiss types. 

Occurrence: Y egua formation, 1 mile below 

the mouth of Rabb Creek, Colorado River, 

Fayette County, Tex. (collected by Alexander 

Deussen). Lisbon formation, at Lexington, 

J-Iolmes ·county, Miss. (collected by A. F. Cride.r). 

Collec.tion: U. S. National Museum. · 

Order GENTIANALES. 

Family APOCYNACEAE. 

Genus APOCYNOPHYLLUM Unger. 

Apocynophyllurn texensis Berry, n~ sp. 

Plate XXII, Figures 12, 13. 

Leaves of mecliun1 to large size, narrowly 

lanceohtte and elongate in' form, the tip gradually narrowed and acuminate and the base 

·similar but somewhat less extended. Length 
92 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

-ranges frmn 12 to 14 centimeters. Maximum 

·width, at or slightly below the middle, 1.4 to 

'3.0 centimeters. Margins entire, as· a rule 

sligh,tly undulate and the two· halves of the 

lamina not entirely equilateral. Texture coriaceous. Petiole not preserved but apparently 

short and stout. Midrib narrow but relatively 

very ptominent on the lower surface of the leaf, 

cq,rved in some specimens. Secondaries thin, 

numerous, abruptly ~amptodrome, prominent 

on the lower surface of the leaf; they diverge 

·from the midrib .at1 somewhat irregular ·interV'a1s at angles that average about 65° or 70°. 

Tertiaries illlmersed in the substance of .the 

leaf. 

This species appears to be new. Fragrnents 

that were collected several years ago. from. the 

Lisbon formation of :Mississippi have remained 

unidentified until better ma.terial was discov-, 

ered recently in the, Jackson of the Texas area. 

The species is clearly distinct from the numerous and prevailingly larger species. of Apocynophyllum of the Wilcox group. It may be com-; 

pared with several recent forms of Apocynaceae 

of the American Tropics, and. it ·is ··also somPwhat suggestive of the nar~·ower forms of Ficu,Q· 

and of some of the Lauraceae. ·The venation· 

however, is more nearly that of numerou~ 

recent and fossil formfi of Apocynaceae. It j~ 

very close to if not identical with some of the 

leaves from the Green River beds of Wyoming 

which Lesquereux referred to 'the European 

Miocene species Salix angusta Alexander 

Braun. 54 It is not uncommon in beqs of Jackson age in the Texas area. 

Occurrence: Lisbon · fonnatio;n, Lexington, 

I-Ioln1es County, Miss. (collected by A. F. 

Crider). Yegua formation, 1 1nile below head 

of Cedar Creek, Nevils Prairie, Houston 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker): 

Mount SeLman for1nation, a small leaf that 

appears to· be this species from Palestine, 

Anderson Couhty, Tex. (collected by. 0. C. 

Funderbunk). 

Collection:. u: S. National Museun1. 

Apocynophylluin grev~lleafolium Berry_, n. sp. 

Plate XXIII, Figures 4 and 5. 

Leaves linear-lanceolate in outline, gradually narrowed to the similarly acuminate apex 

and base. Length about 10 centimeters. 

~l Lesquereux, Leo, 'l'hc Tertiary flora, pl. 22, figs. 4,.5, 1878. 

Maximuin width, in the n1iddle part of· the 

leaf, about 9 1nilhrneters or less. Margins 

entire, distinctly revolute in the specuni:ms 

preserved ·jn the Mount Sellnan clay. Textu1~e 

coriaceous. Petiole n1uch abbreviated, stout 

and · enlarged, 5 to 6 1nillimeters in length. 

Midrib very stout and pr01ninent on the lower 

surface of the leaf, channeled on the upper 

surface. Secondaries thin, nu1nerous, subparallel, can1ptodrmne, diverging fron1 the 

1nidrib at angles that average about 45°_, 

largely inunersed in the substance ·of the leaf. 

Tertiaries obsolete by imniersion. 

Narrowly linear leaves· like those of this 

species have little distinctive individuality 

and are liable · to be confused with several · 

genera. · In some r·espects they resemble s01ne 

of the narrower forms that have been referred 

to Sapindus. For exan1ple, they are SOlnewhat similar to the leaflets of Sapindus 

georgianus Berry, of the upper Claiborne and 

Jackson; but lack the falcate forn~ of that 

species and are both actually and relatively 

n1ore elongated. They also resemble i·ather · 

closely the leaflets of the Wilcox species 

Sapi1idus linearijolius Berry but differ · decidcly in ':enation. 

In some ,respects the present for.in suggests 

the fa111ily · Proteaceae, especially the genera 

Grevillea, Oonospermum, and Protea, but this 

resmnblance is not conclusive, and ·as authelltic 

representatives of this family are absent f1·om 

the Claiborne and are !united to a single species 

of Banlcsia in the Jackson and a species of· 

Embothrites iri. the Ca tahoula no reliance can 

be placed on this resemblance. Several genera 

in the Santalaceae and Anacardiaceae have 

linear-lanceolate -leaves of this aspect, as do 

several fossil and existing species of Apocynaceae. 

The species has a considerable range. It is 

co1n1non in the s1nall collection fr01n the clays 

of the Mount Sellnan forn1ation at Palestine 

and is also present in the Fayette sandstone of 

Louisiana and Texas near the top of the 

Eocene. 

Occurrence: Mount · Seln1an formation, 1 

mile south of Palestine, Anderson County, 

Tex. (collected by 0. C. Funderbunk); 1i 

miles north of Palafox, Webb County, Tex. 

(collectei by A. C. Trowbridge, L. W. Stephenson, and E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 
-- --~================================================= 

PL.LL\.1-,E·S II~XXIIl. 

9:3 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SU llVEY PHOFESSI ONAL PAPER 92 PLATE IC 

3 

2 

4 

5 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1, 2 . Mycelia and conidia of Cladosporites fasciculatus Berry in vessels of Laurinoxylon bakeri, Westmoreland Bluff, Houston County, 

Tex., X 400; p. 39. 

3. Athrotaxi• sp., Cherry Valley, Cross Cow1ty, Ark.; p. 46. 

4 , 5. Canna jlaccidafolia Berry, n. sp., Columbia, La.; p. 50. 

All from Yegua formation. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURV}~Y PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE III 

1 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1. Lygodium kaulfussi Hcer, Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Monroe County, Ala.; p. 39. 

2. Pteris inquirenda Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, near Newton, Miss.; p. 46. 

3, 4. Acrostichum hesperium Newberry, Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 43. 

5. Lygodium kaulfussi Heer, Eooene rocks, Barrel Springs, Wyo. Introduced for comparison. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE IV 

1 

2 

3 

4 5 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Goniopteris claiborniana Berry, Ycgua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 44. 1- 3, Fragments of pinnae; 4, the alate rachis; 

5, detail of venation, X 4. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE V 

2 

3 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. ! 

Goniapteris claiborniana Berry, Ycgua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 44. 1. Detail of venation, X 4; 2, fragments of pinnae; 

3, detail of venation, X 4. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE VI 

:--

!'---" 

II . 

~~ 

0 88 G 00 0 G G 8G 

.: 8G 8 

8 G. ~ 8 G 8G 

8 88 GG w I 0 G 8 80 8 

-

\ 00 f)Q_(i) _-\ 0 GJorr O' !loG OCG} Q G I !r---

../ J 

000 o I GGG __\ IG lo 

\ 800 00 I I I 1£"1 0 

1 GGG G0 1 00 08 \ 

Ge 000 G00 Q Gl o o 

' J GGG 0l 'GG018jOOI 0 

1 I _VGOG jQ J 

8 8 r--

~ r:::.. - ~ 

- 1 3 

2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Cuprc$Sirwrylon tlawsoni Pen hallow, Yegua formation, along International & Great Northern Railway in Houston County, Tex.; p. 18. 

l, Transverse section, X 25; 2, tahgential section, X ·u; 3, radial section, X about 300. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SUHVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE VII 

1 

2 

6 

3 4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Bactrites pandanifoliolus Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, Newton, :l.fiss.; p. 52. 1-4, Manner of preservation; 5, 6, range of variation 

of t he marginal spines (fig. 5, X 3; fig. 6, length of spines, X 7; spacing of spines, X 2). 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE VIII 

2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUJ>. 

Thrinax eocenica Berry; p. 51. 1, Restoration or lea r, X about l/16; 2, specimen from Yegua formation, Columbia, La. 
U. S . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE IX 

1 

4 

2 

8 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM CLAIBOR E GROUP. 

1-3. Ficus newtonensis Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, Newton, Miss.; p. 58. 

4. Ficus sp., Yegua formation, near Rabb Creek, Fayette County, Tex.; p. 58. 

7 

'5, 6.' Coccolobis claibornensis Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.; p. 50. 

7, 8. Aristolochia claiborniana Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 59. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE X 

3 

9 

2 

1 

4 5 6 

10 

11 12 

:FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1, 2. Coccolobis columbianus Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 60. 

3. Pisonia claiborniana Berry, Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 61. 

4. Copaifera yeguana Berry, Ycgua formation, Cedar Creek, Angelina County, Tex.; p. 63. 

5. Copaifera langsdorfii Desfontaincs, Bmzil. Introduced for comparison. 

6 . Copaifera radobojana Unger, middle Miocene, Croatia. Introduced for comparison. 

7. Copaifera kymeana Unger, upper Oligocene, Kumi. Introduced for comparison. 

8. Copaifera armissanensis Sa porta, lower Miocene, France. Introduced for comparison. 

9 , 10. Sophora claiborniana Berry, n . sp., Lisbon formation, Newton, Miss.; p. 64. 

11. Sophora wilcoxiana Berry, Yegua formation, NevUs Prairie. Tex.; p. 65. 

12. Cassia cockfieldensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 63. 

13. lnga arkansensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, Ark.; p. 62. 

7 

13 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XI 

1 

3 

4 

8 

9 

7 6 10 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1. l!'agara claibormnsis Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation. Lexington, Miss.; p. 66. 

2-8. Citrophyllum eocenicum Berry, n. sp.; p. 66. 2, Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Ala .; 3-6, Yegua formation , Cherry Valley Ark.; 

7, Yegua formation , 1 mile south of Climax siding, Houston County, Tex.; 8, restoration of a large leaf. 

9. Citrus limonum Risso, a recent leaf in troduced for comparison. 

10. Citrophyllum aligerum (Lesquereux) Berry. an Upper Cretaceous leaf introduced for comparison. 
U. S . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XU 

1 

4 

5 

7 

-~ 

10 

8 9 11 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1. Carapa xylocarpoides Berry, Claiborne beds near Fort Gaines, Ga .; p. 67. 

2 . Xylocarpus ( Carapa) obovatus (Blume), after Schimper, an existing form introduced for comparison with Carapa xylocarpaides. 

3. Ce/.astrophyllum gymindoides Berry, o. sp., Lisbon formation. Newton, Miss.; p. 68. 

4. Celastrophyllum columbianum Berry, n. S[)., Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 69. 

5 . Cupanites parvulis Berry, n . sp., Yegua formation , Columbia, La.; p. 70. 

6. Sapindus yeguanus Berry (?), n. sp ., Ycgua formation, Ne,·i!s Prairie, Tex.; p. 73. 

7. Dodonaea viscosoides Berry, Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; p. 70. 

8. Sapindus affini.! Newberry, Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.; p. 72. 

9 . Sapindus dentoni Lesqucreux, Lisbon forma tion, Lexington , Miss.; p . 73 . 

10, 11. Zizyphus c/.aibornensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua forma tion. Columbia, La.; p. 74. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVJ'Y PHOI'ESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLA'l'E~'XIII 

4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Grewiopsis claiborniana Berry, n. sp.; p. 75. 1-3, Specimen from Yegua roramtion, Columbia, La.; 4, restoration or specimen 

shown in Figures 1-3. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 

5 

, . 

.. /; 

/:'i 

. ': 

1 

6 

2 

/;I ,,1 

/I\ 

Jil 

Ill 

I I 

,' I I I 

I I 

: I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

' ' 

\ --... _ 

1. Sterwlia labruscoides Berry, n. sp ., Lisbon formation, Newton, Miss.; p. 76. 

3 

4 

2, 3. Ternstroem'ites crowleyensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, Ark.; p . 77. 

4. Ternstroemitcs claiborncnsis Berry, n . sp., Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, Ark.; p. 78. 

5 . P ersea gratissimifolia Berry, n. sp.,Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, Ark.; p . 79. 

6. Cinnamomum angustum Berry, o. sp., Lisbon formal ion, Newton, Miss.; p. 78. 

PLATE XIV 
U. S. ~O ,OG CA , SU ~VEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 pf,ATE XV 

2 

6 

5 

3 7 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1, 2. Persea lexingtonensis Berry, n. sp.; p. 79. l, Lisbon formation , Lexington, Miss.; 2, Ycgua formation, Nevils Prairie, Tex. 

3-5. J.fespiwdaphne columbiana Berry, n. sp.; p. 81. 3, 4, Lisbon forma tion, Lexington,Miss.; 5, Yegua formation ,Columbia, La . 

6, 7. J.fespilodaphne caudata Berry, n . sp.; p. 81. 6, Yegua formation, Columbia, La.; 7, Yeguaformation , Nevils Prairie, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XVI 

2 

1 

3 

5 

4 

6 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1- 3. Nectandra gosportensis Berry, n. sp.; p. 82. 1, 2, Lisbon formation, Newton , Miss.; 3, Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Ala. 

4-6. Oreodaphne inequilateralis Berry, n. sp.; p. 80. 4, Gosport sand, Claiborne Landing, Ala.; 5, 6, Yegua formation, Columbia, La. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XVII 

Laurinozylon bakeri Berry, n. sp.,Ycgua formation, Westmoreland Bluff, Tex.; p. 83. 1, Trans,-erse section (No. 230), 

X 100; 2, tangential section (No. 230), X 100. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

2 

3 

PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XVIII 

I I I 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM CLAIBOR ' E GROUP. 

1/1 I I 

I 

I 

4 

Laurinoxylon bakeri Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, cut on Internal ional & Great Northern Railway at milepost 44, Houston County, 

Tex.; p. 83. 1, Transverse section (No. 217), X 25; 2, 3, radial sections (No. 217), X 25; 4, drawing of radial section showing 

character and pitting of ray cells and Iongit udinal connections between rays, X about 300. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XIX 

1 

4 

6 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Laurinoxylon bakeri Berry, n. sp. (No. 230), Yegua formation, Westmoreland Bluff, Tex.; p. ~. 1, Marginal ray cells in tangential view; 

2, a short ray in tangential view; 3, marginal ray cells in tangential view; 4, marginal ray cells in radial view; 5, vessel, xylem 

parenchyma, and double ray in tangential view; 6, vessels, xylem parenchyma, and prosenchyma. All X about 300. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XX 

1 

2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

Lauri!Wxylon bakeri Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation , Westmoreland Bluff, Tex.; p. 83. 1, Radial section (No. 230), X IO; 2, radial 

section (No. ZIO), X 100. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXI 

1 2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FHOM CLAIBOHNE GHOUP. 

Laurinoxylon branneri Knowlton, Yegua formation, Westmoreland Bluff, Tex.; p. 84. 1, 1.'rans,·erse section (No. 231), X 20; 

2, tangential section (No. 231), X 50. 
U. S. GEOLOGI CAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXII 

2 

3 

5 

8 

1 

7 

9 

10 

11 

6 

FOSSIL PLANTS }'ROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1. Terminalia claibornensis Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.: p. 86. 

2. Laguncularia claiborniana Berry, n. sp., Gosport sand , Claiborne Landing, Ala.; p. 87. 

3, 4. Oreopanax mississippiensis Berry, n. sp., Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.; p. 88. 

5. Nyssa texana Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Cedar Creek, Tex.; p. 88. 

6. Mimusops claibornensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Cherry Valley, Ark.; p. 89. 

4 . 

12 

13 

7-9. Eoachras eocenica Berry, Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.; p. 90. 7, Side view; 8, distal view; 9, view showing umbilical area. 

10. Lucuma salicifolia Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth (after Pittier). a living species introduced for comparison. 

11. Calocarpum viride Pittier (after Pittier), a living species introduced for comparison. 

12, 13. A pocynophyllum texensis Berry, n. sp .; p. 91. 12, Lisbon formation, Lexington, Miss.; 13, Yegua formation, Nevils Prairie, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

I 

I 

\ 

\ 

\ 

' \ 

1 

4 

:, 

I\ ;\ 

1 \ 

\ 

\ 

' / ·~" 

, 

, 

5 

I 

I 

I 

( 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

/1\ 

1 I I 

I I I 

I I \ 

I I 

I \ 

' I // 

' I / \./ 

3 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

' 

PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXIII 

2 

6 

:FOSSIL PLA TS FROM CLAIBORNE GROUP. 

1. Euonymus santatomasensis Berry, n. sp., locality 1045, San I o Tomas, Tex.; p. 69. 

2. Rhamnus sp., locality 1045, Santo Tomas, Tex.; p. 75. 

3. Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, n. sp., sandstone on hill above Santo Tomas coal seam, Santo Tomas, '!'ex.; p. 56. 

4-6. Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium Berry, n. sp.; pp. 92, 196. 4, 5, Mount Selman formation, Palestine, '!'ex.; 6, Fayette sandstone, Horn heck, La. 

I 
' 

THE UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 

PRI~VIOUS STUDIES. 

The history of the study of the deposits 

which n.re referred to the Jackson is not within 

the scope o:f this report, for the fossil plants of 

this n.ge were not .collected or s'tudied prior to 

the work that forms the basis of the following 

pnges. Lignite, petrified wood, and leaves 

h!ive often been n1entioned _by field students, 

but no collections were made or determinations 

n.tten1pted. . 

In 1914 I described 17 species of plants from 

beds of lower J n.cksoi1 age in Georgia, 1 which 

were n.t that time refened to the upper Claiborne. 2 The sn.n1e year I described· 3 the fruits 

of a dn.te pn.ln1 from deposits of this age in 

Texas, n.nd two years ll1t~r the fruits of a.nutmeg 

fr01n the same locality. 4 :Meanwhile a petrified 

fungus was recorded 5 from these beds,· and the 

following Jackson plants were included 6 in .an 

n.ccoun t of the flora of the Catahoula sandstone: 

Pa,lmoxylon lac'l.t?WS'I.I/m, A nona texana, Fagara 

cataho·ulensis, Fagm·a orbiculata, and Faga;a· 

r~longa.ta. W.i th these exceptions the · :florn. 

described .in this report f:ron1 beds of Jackson 

ago is here published for the first time. 

CHARACTER, SUCCESSION, AND DISTRIBU· 

'.flON OF THE DEPOSITS. 

The deposits of J·~ckson age constitute ~:me 

of the· n1ost difficult of our southeastern Ter-. 

tiary div.isions n.dequately to interpret and subdivide. In theireasternrepresentationin North 

Cn.rolina they consist of a well-marked imp1ue 

:marine limestone (the Cn.stle I-In.yne limestone) 

and a formation c01np'osed ln.rgely of Inarls (the 

~['rent Inarl)' which mn.y not be even Eocene in 

n.ge. Ill Gem·gin the initin.l deposits of Jackson 

tin1e, which nre pn.rtly estmw.ine in . origin, 

1 :Bony, E. ,V., 'l'ho Upper. Crotar.cous and Eocene floras or South 

Gnrollnll and Clcorgia: U.S. Gco\. Survey Pror. Paper 84, 1914. 

2 Cooke, C. ,V., and Shearer, H. K., Deposits or Claiborne and Jackson 

transgress widely over earlier formations, completely burying the earliei· Eocene and n.ll the 

_U.pper Cretaceous in the region east of OCinulgee 

R1ver and resting on the Lower ( n Cretaceous 

in the area between Ocnnllgee River and 

eastward throt1ghout the drainage bn.sin of 

Sa vn.nnah River. . · 

In weste~n Georgia t1nd southward in Florida 

as well as westward across Alabama, the sediments of Jackson age. comprise alternating 

beds· of shallow, soft-bottom materials that 

contain remains of Zeuglodon, and limestones 

of different degrees of impurity, which are distinguishable with difficulty from the overlying 

limestones of ·Vicksburg age. In Alabnma 

these argillaceous limestones or" Jackson and 

Vicksburg age are of great lithol~gic diversity 

. nnd between 200 and 300. feet thick. They 

have been tetmed the" St. Stephens limestone" 

but have recently been differentiated by Cooke 

into several formations/ and the name {(St. 

Stephens limestone" has been abandoned by 

the United ~tates Geological Survey. . 

· The type locality of the Jackson 8 is in and 

near the city of tlackson,· Miss., where the 

richly fossiliferous beds _of the formation are 

well exposed. The Jackson dep~sits of ~1ississippi are now separated, on the basis of their 

lithology, into the following members: 0 . 

Generalized section of the Jackson formation of 

·Mississippi. 

Ya.~;oo clay (upper member): 

Drab or yellowish calcareous clays, with 

dark lignitic clay toward base and thin . 

. beds of lignite in places, probably at 

least _______________________________ _ 

Moody's Branch marls (lower member): 

· Calcareous, glauconitic, sandy marls, passing downward into ·lignitic clays having 

nodular linie concretions_~ ___________ _ 

:Feet. 

300 

150± 

ngoin Cleorgla: U.S. Goo\. Survoy Pror. Paper 120, pp. 41-81,1919. 7 Cooke, C. W., ·correlation or Jackson and Vicksburg deposits in 

3 Bl'rry, K W., Fruits or a date palm in the 'J'ertiary deposits or cast- Mississippi and Alabama: Wsshington Acad. Sci. Jour., vo\. s, pp. 186-

em 'l'exo~: Am. J6m. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 37, pp. 400-•J06, 1914. 198, 1918. · 

t Berry, 1~. W., A fossilnut;mog rrom the 'l'crtiary or Texas: Am.~ our. s Conrad, T. A., Observations on the Eocene deposit or Jackson, Mh;s., 

Sci., 4t.h SCI'., vo\. 42, pp. 241-245, 1916. with descriptions or thirty-Com new species or shells and corals: Acad. 

~Berry, E. W., Hcmorkablc rossil rungi: Mycologia,. vol. 8, pp. i:>- .

1

. Nat. Sci. Philadelp-hia Proc., vol. 7, p. 257, 18.56. 

10.16. 9 L E N M' · · · · 

8

. ~ , , • · · owe, '· ., Jssrss!ppJ, Jt.s geology, geography, soil, and mineral 

~or.ry,. L. "., 'Iho floJa or the Catnhoula sandstone: u. R. Geo resources: Mississippi Geol. Surve)~ Bull. 14, pp. 80-89, 1919. Sec also 

Sun c) P1or. Paper 98, pp. 227-251, 1917. . 1 Cooke, C. W., Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 8, pp.186, 198, 1918 .. 

95 
96 MIDDLE AND UPPJ!}R EOO]!}NE J~LORf1S OF SOUTH[!}ASTEHN NORTH AMERICA. 

Toward. the center of the embayment, in 

the region around ·Vicksburg, Miss., weLl 

records show enormous thicknesses of both 

the Claiborne and· the overlying Jackson, 

indicating a much longer period of setlirncntation in that region or a very Inuch faster 

accumulation of these sediments, or both. 

The only deposit of Jackson age in Tennessee 

is the smaU belt of lignitic sands and clays in 

w~stcrn Shelby,. Tipton, arid Lauderdale counties .. and possibly Obion County, which is 

mostly covered by loess or surficial deposits 

and is exposed only in· stream channels, as at 

Raleigh, and in some of the Chickasaw bluffs, 

as at Ra,ndolph. These d.eposits are unfossilifcrous, except for lignite and scattered impressions o.f leaves. Beds containing fossi! plants 

tentatively regarded as of upper Jackson age 

are present in southwestern Kentucky. 

In Arkansas the Jackson is cut out by the 

flood plain of Mississippi River. but reappears 

west of the river along Crowleys Ridge from 

the northern part of St. ·Francis County southward. Lithologically it comprises massive or 

cross-:-bedded sands·, which· are interstratified 

with massive or laminated, more or less lignitic 

clays and shallow-water. marine fossiliferous 

marls, that represent the marked northerly 

transgression of the lower Jackson. Similar 

fossiliferous calcareous clays and sands are 

present. in a belt that extends fron1 western 

Jefferson County through Cleveland, Lincoln, 

and Drew counties into northern Ashley 

County. Southwest of this area and farther 

south, ·in northern Louisiana, they arc reprcs.entcd by lignitic sands and clays without fossils .. 

In Louisiana fossiliferous Jackson again 

~ppcttrs in Caldwell and Catahoula parishes, 

whence .it extends southwestward in a narrowing belt between the Y cgua formation of the 

Claiborne group below and the Fayette sandstone above and crosses Red River at Montgomery and Sabine· River just below Robinsons Ferry, in Sabine County. · 

The materials and stratigraphic relations 

that have just been described continue across 

cast Texas, but west of Brazos River the Jackson· marls are absent and the Fayette rests 

directly on the Y egua. In confirmation of 

the obvious interpretation of these relations 

the Fayette, whose thickness in Louisiana and 

east Texas is riowhere more thn 200 feet, 

thickens westward UP.t.il q~ l3razos~ Colorado, 

and Nucces rivers it ranges from 600 to 800 

feet in thickness. · 

The Fayette sandstone was named by Penrose 10 in 1890 from. Fayette County, Tex .. 

I-Ic included in it deposits that ranged in age 

from Claiborne to Miocene or later. Two 

years later Dui11blc 11 segregated the Yegua 

formation, or the Claiborne portion, and .in 

1903 he. differentiated. the Oakville sandstone, 

or· Miocene pm~tion. 12 The name Fayette hn.s 

now been officially restricted to beds of Jackson age, which, as described b~y Dcusscn, 

comprise n1assive or flaggy gray sandstones 

and mostly coarse sands, brown and chocolatecolored lignitic clays and lignites, and so1nc 

small beds of volcanic ash. The Fayette contains a great abundance of silicified and opalized wood and but few remains of plant foliage 

and these usually in a poor state of preservation, although under favorable conditions, as 

at the localities in Brazos County, Tex., a fairly· 

abundant and well-preserved flora is found. 

In southeastern Texas and western Louisiana the Fayette was fonncrly confused with 

the overlying Catahoula sandstone, but the 

stratigraphic work in that region by Dcusscn 

and Matson and the presence of a snutll1narine 

fauna in the western extension of the forn1ation, 

together with the evidence of· the plants, have 

led to the reference of the Fayette to the 

Jackson epoch. 13 

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE FLORA. 

THE PLANT-BEARING OUTCROPS. 

Fossil plants have been found in the deposits 

of Jackson age at 40 localities. These localities are very unequal in their yield of material 

and range fron1 outcrops that have furnished 

a single species of pet1ificd wood to others like 

those around Grovetown, Ga., that have 

furnished 20 species, or those .in the kaolinite 

of Brazos County, Tex., from one of which 25 

species have been recorded. Outcrops that 

contain representatives of a diversified flora, 

such as are so common in ' the Wilcox, arc 

10 Penrose, R. A. F., jr., A preliminary report on the geology of the 

Gulf Tertiaries of Texas from Red River to the Rio Grande: Texas 

Geol. Survey First Ann. Rept., pp. 47-58, 1890. 

n Dumble, E. T., Report on the brown coal and lignite of Texas, p. 

148, Texas Geol. Survey, 1892. 

12 Dtllilble, E. T., Geology of southwestern Texas: Am. Inst. Min. 

Eng. Trans., vol. 33, p. !)57, 1903. 

1a Matson, G. C., ·The Pliocene Citronelle formation of the Gul(Coastal 

Plain: u. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 9R, pp. ~67-192, 1917; The Catf\· 

M\1111 sa~dst<?ne: Idem, :Pf>· 20~226~ · · · · 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXIV 

A. GROVE OF EXISTING DATE PALMS, FOR COMPARISON WITH THE JACKSON SPECIES. 

From U.S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 271, pl. 9, fig. 1, 1915. 

B. SUCCESSION OF OYSTER BEDS IN THE LOWER PART OF THE JACKSON 

FORMATION ON LITTLE CROW CREEK, ARK. 

The successive positions of oyster beds (a) as deposition continued are indicated by the black 

Jines. Photograph by L. W. Stephenson. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXV 

A. STRATA OF LOWER JACKSON AGE ALONG WOLF RIVER NEAR MEMPHIS, TENN. 

Photograph by L. W. Stephenson. 

B. NEAR VIEW OF STRATA SHOWN IN A, TO SHOW ALTERNATING BEDS OF SAND 

AND LIGNITIC CLAY. 

Photograph by L. W. Stephenson. 
UP.P.l~R lWCEN.l~ OR· .JACKSON FLORA. 97 

fmtire.ly n.bsenL from Lhe J 11.ckson. In this 

respeet the tln.ckson .is even poorei· than the 

Claib~wne, RO t.hn.t t.he present discussion, 

which is based on the ,Jn.ckson plants thus 

:fn.r discovered, must be considered. entirefy 

preliminn.ry in chn:rn.cter. 

One 6f the most pro.lific n.rea.s, a.s 'veH as the 

most en.stedy known, is the area in the immedin.te vicinity of Grovetown, Ga., where there 

nrc n. lUlmher. of local outerops th11.t have been 

g1·ouped together in the table· o:f d\stribution 

for convenience of treatment. 

Grovetown is in. Cohnnbia County, about 15 

miles west of Augustn.. The deposits ·of Jackson age in this area consist of laminated clays 

tba.t contain fine sand partings and local 

lignitic l'n.yers, one of. ~vhic4 reaches a thickness of 10 feet about 31 miles south of Grovetown. These laminated clays, which ·belong 

to the Twiggs cln,y 1nmnber of the Barnwell 

formation, contain scattered impressions of 

leaves together with casts of ~Modiolus and 

other pelecypods. '.l.'hroughout eastern Georgia 

the sediments of lower Jackson -time have 

trn.nsgrcssed the en:rlier :Eocene and rest with 

Inarkcd unconformity upon the Cretaceous; 

in places · they extend westward beyond the 

Cretaceous and rest on the crystalline rocks 

of the Piedmont Plateau. GroYctown is situated on what appears to haYc been a ·preJ.ackson or early J·ackson estl..1ary, 2 or 3 miles 

wide n.nd about 18 .miles long, whose strand 

. wn.s lined with Acrostich'l.l/m swamps and Inangro·ye plants. (Sec Pl. XXVII.) The :following 

20 species have been identified from ·this early· 

. Jackson estuary and river valley coastal flora: 

Spha.erites claibornensis. 

Pestalozzites minor. 

Acrostichum georgianum. 

Po1;a.moget"on megaph)rllus. 

Pistia claibqrnensis. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Thrinax eocenica. 

Castanea· claibornensis. 

Momisia a.mericana. 

Ficus claibornensis. 

Pisonia claiborniana. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Sophora claiborniana. 

Leguminosites sp. (pods). 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Cinnamomum angustum. 

Rhizophora eocenica. 

Terminalia phaeocarpoides. 

Conocarpus eocenicus. 

Besides the t-.;vo fungi, which n.re pn.ra.sitic 

forms, the list includes one m.n.rsh fern, two 

aqua.tic inonoc'otyledons, a. m.a.rsh grass, a 

strand pahn, and 1.3 dicotyledons, o:f which 

two are :mangrove p]n.uts that grow in m.uddy 

tidal waters and a.t lea.st six are typicfl.lly strand 

plants· that.grow in the jungle of sandy beaches 

behind beach ridges in a subtropicn.l climate. 

The .most a.bundf\.n t forms are the .Acrostich1tm 

and the Dodonnea, and almost 11.s plentiful are 

the lea \Tes of the Ficus, Oonocc~.Jrpv,s, and the 

thatch palm ( ThTina,x). 

The remaining. iocali ties in Georgia where 

Jackson plants have been found show exposures 

of material similar to that around GroYetown-that is, massiYe to laminated clay which 

is locally known as fuller's mirth. These outcrops are scattered from east to west as far as 

the locality 10 miles south of Macon, which is 

near Ocmulgee RiYer, on the border of Bibb 

and 1\~iggs counties. · At this lo~ality, which 

is one of the most prolific in the Jackson, the 

following 13 species haYe ·been obtained :from 

the Twiggs clay member of the Barnwell formation: 

Sphaerites claibornei1sis. 

· Acrostichum georgianum. 

Pteris inq uirenda. 

Potamogeton sp. 

Ficus claibornensis. 

Pisonia claiborniana. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Cupanites nigricans. 

Dodonaea viscosoides . 

Malapoenna sp. 

Rhizophora eocenica.. 

Conocarpus eocenicus . 

Carpolithus najasoides. 

These plants include two or three forn1s that 

are not found at the other localities, but the· 

g~neral :facies o:f the flora is exactly the same, 

and· the beds are undoubtedly of the same age: 

No palms haYc been collected from this locality, 

but otherwise there arc the same plants of the 

beach jungle an:d the .Acrostichmn and mangrove swamps that have been already mentioned in connection with the Grovetown 

localities. An additional Potamogeton occurs 

here, as well as seeds ·of a Najas-like plant, so 

that undoubtedly here also \Ve are dealing with 

the flora which lived along the shores of an 

estuary. No fossil plants have yet been aiscovered in the deposits of Jackson age in Alabama, 

which are prevailingly marine and mo:re or le$S 

calcareous. 
9 8 MIDDLE AND UPPER. BOO ENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTER.N NORTH AMERICA. 

. There are two localities in Mississippi where 

fossil plants have been collect.ed, both of them 

in the vicinity of Jackson. ·The locality 8 

rniles south of ~Jackson hns furnished only 

petrified wood, but the othei·, 10 .miles north 

of ·J~wkson, furnishes a small but interesting 

florule. · This florule is found in the· Forest 

I-Iill sand, which lies· between the mnrine fossiliferous Jack~on and the marine Vicksburg 

::1.nd which recent students place in the Vicks.., 

burg group. 14 The ·following section; given by 

Hopkins/ 5 well illustrntes the chnracter of the 

materials: 

Section of Forest Hill sand at Rocky Hill Church, 10 

miles north of Jackson, Miss. 

Mariana (?) limestone: Ft. in. 

Hard and soft layers of limestone_________ 25 

Forest Hill sand: 

Massive yellow sand ____ ~ ___ :_ ___________ · 4 

Brown carbonaceous gypsiferous clay______ 1 

Micaceous sand with clay laminae_________ 12 

Sand and some·clay ___ .:, ________________ _ 

Micaceous san'd with clay 'laminae _______ ~..: 

Sand alternating with thin clay beds ______ _ 

Hard yellow sand with little clay ________ _ 

4• 

7 4 

19 6 

·s 3 

intervenes between them and the marine Vicksburg, confirms the floral evidence that these 

sands are of Jackson age. 

'Three localities in western Tennessee, which 

nre more or less doubtfully referred to the 

Jackson epoch, nre Randolph. Bluff and Slip 

in Hill, in· Tipton County, and Cane Creek; in 

Obion County. Though the plants are few in 

number and poorly preserved, they are of the 

utmost importance, for they furnish the clue to 

the interpretation of the bluish lignitic' clays· of 

Shelby and Tipton counties. Unfortunntely 

the precise age .of these outcrops has not been 

conclusively established. 

In col)nection with the extended study of the. 

underground waters during the develop1nent of 

the public water supply for Mempliis, bluish 

clays from 150 to 200 feet in thickness were reported by Glenn 16 at the top of the Lagrange 

formation.. He speaks of them as the clay 

member of the Lagrange formation. These 

beds are almost entirely covered by the socalled "Lafayette" and loess or are cut out in 

the Mississ_ippi bottom, so that exposures are 

Argillaceous sand, becoming dominantly 

clay:ey below _________ ·----------.,.----- 16 1 .very scarce, and the data fron1 well records are 

unreliable: The beds outcrop toward the 

eastern boundary of Shelby County and extend 

northward beyond Randolph in Tipton County. 

Jackson (?) formation: 

Clay, slightly sandy above, grading dowr!-

ward to plastic gray . clay of Jackson 

type ________ ~-------.,.~-------------- 27 

123 5 

6 They reappear west of the Mississippi bottom. 

in Crowleys Ridge in Arkansas. The section 

exposed in. ravines at the bridge across Wolf 

Hiver about 1 mile north of Haleigh and 10 

The following plants have been recognized 

from this outcrop of Forest Hill sand: 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Ficus unionensis. 

Banksia jacksonensis. 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

Mimosites mississippierisis. 

Oreopanax mississippiensis. 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

It is possible and even probable that the Forest Hill sand mny be partly Vicksburg in ·age, 

but there can be little doubt that this florule 

belongs in the Jackson. These sands undoubtedly represent littoral and continental 

deposits that mark the oscillation of the strand 

in this area between Jackson and Vicksburg 

time, and the thin bed of lignite, which usually 

H Cooke, c. w., Corrcla:tion or the deposits of Jackson and Vicksburg 

ages in Mississippi and Alabama: Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 8, 

pp. 186-198,1918. Lowe, E. N., Mississippi, its geology, geography, soil; 

and mineral resources: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 14, p. 89, 1919. 

u Hopkins, 0. B., Structure of the Vicksburg-Jackson anm, Miss., with 

spectaJ refere~ce tc:> o~l and ras: 'V. S: Geol. Survc;v Bull. 6411 P· 100! 1916: 

miles northeast of Men1phis shows the following 

sequence: 

· Section on Wolf River near Raleigh, Tenn. 

Loess : Feet. 

1.. Brownish massive loam which becomes 

somewhat coarsely sandy toward the base, 

about_~-----------------~----------- 33 

"Lafayette" formation: 

2. Gravel bed composed of angular flint and 

more rounded and scattered quartz pebbles, the largest of which are 3 inches in 

diameter, about _____________________ _ 

3. Coarse ferruginous massive.· or in places 

stratified and cross-bedded loose to case-· 

hardened sand, which contains scatt'ered 

pebbles and local ledges of iron sandstone 

· · or conglomerate toward the bas~, al;>out_ 

2 

20 

16 Gleun, L. C., tJnderground waters or Tennessee and Kentucky west 

of Tennel'see River and of an adjacent area in Illinois: U. 8. Geol. Survey 

Wa~er Suppl;y Paper 164, :p. 34, 190~: · · · · · · 
tJ;PPEn EOCENE on JACKSON J ·r...onA. 

LtLgt'tt.nge. formation: l~'Mt .. 

4. Lignite or black cn.rbonaceous clay_ w ___ ~ _ 2~3 

5. Mu.sslvc fit1e loose sand _________________ 3-4 

6. :Laminated bluish-gray sand and clay t.hat 

contain thin llgnitic laminae and some 

yellowish and brownish layers__________ 6 

7. Ln.minated bluish at•enaceous clay that 

contn.ins cn.rbonn.ceous films and poorly 

preserved fragmentary impressions of 

lcn.ves of lower Jackson (?) age; exposed__ 4 

'.L'he len.ves preserved in bed No. 7 are in the 

form of 1nuch broken lignitic films of v:ery little 

vn.lue fo1· purposes of correlation and not certn.inly identifiable. 'Sections were prepared of 

the lign'ites, but these were found to he too 

decayed for determination. 

Although I was unable to detern1ine positively any of these leaf remains, ·because of 

their fragmentary ·condition, I believe that 

the lower part of tl.lis section is of Jackson age 

· n.nd is equivalent to the beds of lower Jackson 

age as developed nt Jtandolph, Tenn., and in 

northeastern Ar1\:ansas. This determination 

of the age rests on the geographic and topographic position of the beds, their lithologic 

similarity to beds of similar· position .and 

.known age in Crowleys Ridge, and the condition of preservation of the contained plant 

rmnains. (See Pl. XXV.) 

The . old Chickasaw Bluff at Randolph is 

now about a 1nile fro1n Mississippi River, 

except during high-water stages, and about 2 

miles below Randolph Landing. As active cut~ 

ting is a thing of the past the bluff is now n1uch 

covered with vegeta:tion. My ·section agrees 

substtmtially with that given by Safford 17 at a 

time when the exposure was much better, so 

thn.t I quote his section.: 

Section ex1JOsed at Randolph Bluff, Tenn. 

Feet 

Bluff lonm [loessl----------------------------- 68 

Bluff graveL _________ --------------------.---- 24 

Bluff lignite: 

A mass of dark-grayish laminated micaceous 

sand with lignitic woody fragments, leaves, 

etc. [of Jackson (?) age]. Laminae of sarid 

alternate with other laminae containing more 

or less clay. Interstratified \vith these are 

two beds of lignite; the upper one 6 feet 

from the top and from '6· inches to 2 feet 

thick; the other, 12 feet lower and about 8 

inches thick. Some thin laminae of .lignite 

occur below this bed. This portion in 

all _______________ :- ___ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 48 

Laminated sand like that above____________ 42 

p S!lfiord~ J. M., Geolog?' or Te!J.~essee~ p. 4291 186~: 

Mr. L. C. Glenn hnR furnished me with the 

following section, which was n1casured 3 miles 

below Randolph Landing: 

Section meas·ured $;niles below Randolph Landing, 1'enn. 

:Loess-----~------------~------------------ Gravel ___________________________________ _ 

Pinkish clay ______ -- ___ ---------------------

Fairly massive lignitic cla.Y--------~---------

Lignite. _ .. __ _ --.:-- __ - _-- _- _ --- __ - ~------- ·_ -

UnderclaY---------------------------------

Laminated sandy clay ______________________ _ 

Feet. 

65-70 

20-25 

8 

8-12 

. i 

2!-3 

35-40 

The lignite is not comp~tet, and considerable 

carbonaceous matter is ·scattered through the 

sands. Fragments of leaves are not uncommon 

but are poorly preserved and for the most part 

indeterminable. The state of preservation of 

the n1aterial is the' snme as that of the material 

at Raleigh, Tenn., and the litholqgy of the 

beds is ·also v-ery similar to that at Raleigh. 

The following three species have been identified from Randolph: 

Cupressites sudworthi. 

Mespilodaphne ca:udata. 

Mespilodaphne texana . 

The bluffs on Mississippi River in western 

Kentucky near Hickman, in Fulton County, 

and Columbus, in Hickman County, are 

conspicuous landmarks. They were visited by 

Sir Charles Lyell, David Dnle Owen, and Leo 

Lesquereux .. Owen a~d Lesquereux discovered 

fossil plants at the Columbus bluff,· and these 

wer(3 described by Lesquereux,t 8 who referred 

them to the Pleistocene.. Loughridge Ill subsequently described the outcrops in detail, 

naming.them the" IIic'kman group," which he 

regn.rded as the oldest Eocene in the· embayment · region. Glenn 20 has also described 

these deposits. He discovered fossil plants 

near Hickman, and these were discussed by 

Knowlton, who referred them to the Pliocene. 

I visited the bluffs in 1913 n.nd Inade collections 

which.I referred to the Pleistocene. 21 

Most of the fpnns discovered were referred 

to the existing species which they most closely 

1s Lesqucreux, Leo, On some fossil plants or recent formations: Am. 

Jour. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 27, pp:364-365, 1859. 

19 Loughridge, R. H., Report on the geological and economic features 

of the Jackson's Purchase region, Kentucky Geol. Survey, 1888. · 

20 Glenn, L. C., Und.erground waters or Tennessee and Kentucky west 

or Tennessee River and or an adjacent area in Illinois·: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 164, p. 38, 1906. 

21 Berry, E. W., The Mississippi River bluffs at Columbus and Hickman, Ky., and their fossil flora: U.S. Na~. M4s, Proc., vol. 481 pp. 2!}~ 

. ~ 03, pis. 12! 13? 19151 
// 

100 lVUDDLE ANJJ ·uppJ~H !.J!:OUJ~;Nt!; :FI.OIMS (}!!"' . SO:Ui'HBASTERN NORTH AM.ERICA. 

resembled, aitJl.ough the i11atrix wits coarse }\nd at' ·some localities in the upper part of · the 

the . preservation not ·especially· good.· The ~1.ississippi·em:ba};rrient i·s·a reasmia.hle nssurnpuncritical character of.some of these.determina- tion, fthd ~he. two .most promising places to extions would not1 have been rea.lized had it not pect such ·deposits are in the erosion .remnants 

been for· the field .work of B1:uce W~d.~, ··who i~epresented by· Gtowleys .Ridge WGSt of the 

studied this region in some detail during 1.919 present .Mississippi· River and the Chickasaw 

and made large collections of plants fr01~1:the bluffs east of the river. 

earlier known·locality nen.r I:Iickmn.n and from Much farther soutJ~ well7defined continental 

several new localities extendii1g southward .into deposits have been recognized in the Oligoc€me 

western Tennessee. At some of these localities Catahoula s~ndstone. and the overlying Mio~ 

the plants were more abundant anc( better c.e~e Hattiesburg ~lay .. The Miocene Pascapreserved than those at the two localities that goi~la clay is' only part rp.arine, and the Pliocene 

I visited. I~· particular certain arenace~:ms. Citronelle f<?rmation is entirely nonmarine. It 

lenses. stratigraphically above the plant~bea:ring · has not been possible to recognize any probable. 

horizon in the Hicklnan bluff contain a variety equiva~~nts of . thes·e · 'formations outside the 

of strange fruits that have proved to be very region. wP,ere the succession, attitude, and 

puzzling. I rec~gnized at· once the ·in1proba- lithologic continuity of their sediments have 

b!lity that these plants were y.·ourig as 'Pleisto~ not been d~stroyed. 

cene, and this led to a.Inore careful compal:i$On . It would.· be perfectly easy to detect farof the· previously identified :forms with their ·removed reriuiants of contemporaneous beds by 

·existing relatives. In all' the foi·ins· slight their fossil plants if a ·standard section were 

differences are apparent. A further fact' that available, but unfortunately our knowledge of 

.. has simplified. their study is our present the Oligocene and Miocene floras of southknowledge of .over a hundred' species of plants I eastern North America is extremely limited. 

fron1 deposits of Jackson age, described in this A small flo~·a of but 24 species has been depaper,. which were unknown at the time of s~ribed 'fl~Om the. Cat'ahoula sandstone, 22 and a 

my work on the plants from Hickman and · still s1naller flora of 13 species has been deColunlbus. · scribed from the Hattiesburg clay and Alum 

The present. study· shows that Lesquereux, Bluff forniation. 23 The Pliocene Citr"onelle 

Knowlton, and particuli\rly I myself were ·in formation ·has furnished 18 species of fossil 

error in referring this flora to· the late Tertiary plants.H · None are known from the Pascaor Pleistocene. It is obviously consider~bly go~1la formation. Th~se florules are much too 

older. It can not be older thari lower Jackson small to furnish conclusive data for detailed 

anci may he considerably younger. ··It appears comparison; nevertheless· they show certain 

-to ha-ve more in 'conunon with the Jackson general features which can not be overlooked 

flora thnn with any other flora known at the l.n an atterilp~ to picture the evolution of floras 

present -time, and an account of it is therefore in southeastern North America during the 

included 'in this paper. It is tentatively con- Oligocene and later Cenozoic. The florules of 

side~ed to be of upper Jackson age, although it the Catahoula and its equivalents ·approach 

1nay be so1newhat younger, for the collection the tropical in character. Th~ florule of the 

contains several. types not knoivn frol'n the Alum Bluff and Hattiesburg shows a mixture· 

J·ackson or Catnhoula and apparently out of of tropical and temperate forms, and that of 

place in the en-vironn1~mt that has been deduced the Citronelle is decidedly modern in its facies. 

for those times. I allude to fornis like the The~e · consideration~ would seem to limit 

.. Planera, Liquidamb(Lr, and llicoria, which the {).ge of the deposits under consideration to 

suggest .a Mioc·e1ie age, ·unless· it- is ·adrnitted·, ·some horizon in the upper Oligocene or lower 

as many have thought, that these genera are Miocene, and I wo.uld be dispose·d to so conof southern origin. sider ·.them were it not for a certain number of 

The sea has not been .present in western 

Kentucky ·and Tennessee since early Jackson 

time. That the enormous· interval . of time 

between . the upper Eocene and the present 

should be represented by continental deposits 

22 Berry, E. W., The flora of the Catahoula sandstone: U. S. GcoJ. 

Survey Prof. Paper 98, pp. 227-251, pls. 55-60, 1917. · 

2a Berry, E. W., The physical conditions indicated by the flora of the 

Galvertformation:· Idem, pp;··41-59, pls,·7-10. 

2• Berry, E. w., The flora of the qtroneUe form,~ti(m: Idem, p,p. l93-

2081.Vls. 44-47, 
UP.P..KR I~OUBNE O.R JACKSON .ITLORA. 101 

fo.r.rns tJ:ut.t HJ'e eonunon to the Jn.ckson. This 

ln.st eonsidcrn.tion len,ds .nte to include them in 

t..he ~Jn.ekson tentn.tivcly, :for' it is desirnble to 

correct .my :former error n.t ns en.rly a dn.te as 

possible, although, ·as l lutv-e indicn,ted above, 

fut11ro work .mn.y show these deposits to be of 

Oligoeene or en.rly Miocene age, as they exhibit 

the ~mme .mingling o:f older wtl.rmer types with· 

younger tempern.te types that is seen in the 

very s:rnnJl flora :from the Alum Blufr sn.nds and 

lln.ttiesburg eln.ys. · 

'J'he .localities ll.l'e seven in nJl, Jive in southwcstiern ]{entueky and two in western Tennessee, one o:f which is in Tipton County and the 

other n.nd the more in1portant of the two in 

Obion Com1~y. CollectiYely these localities 

]utve :furnished 30 identifiable forms, !n addition to which,-there ru·e a nu1nber that for one 

reason or another can not be identified at the 

present tim~. Of the 30 named species the 

following 1.4: are not known fro1n l9calities 

outside this inuncdiate area:· 

Bauhinia waclii. 

Bignoniaccous fruit. 

Cassia obionamt. 

Grcwiopsis waclii. 

H icoria rostrataformis. 

Lauraccous fruit. 

Liquiclttmbar sp. 

Lonchocarpus anccps. 

Mcnispcrmitcs carolinaformis. 

Plancra hickmancnsis. 

lthamnitcs krugiodcndroidcs. 

Cttppariclocarpus sphcricus. 

Tccoma prcmclicans. 

Tcrnstrocmitcs variabilis. 

·Most o:f Utese n.re i nd icn,ti ve of the older 

'J'ertin,ry i11. this latitu!Je, b~1t the Menispermites, 

Plane'/'(L, find Rhamnites and, to a less ·degree, 

the Tecoma ri.nd Iiicoria suggest younger 

Tertin.ry. The :forms :found in these deposits 

that have an outside distribution,. CJ'nbracing 

mo.t~e than half the total nmnber of species 

known :fro.m this region, are all fonns that range· 

throughout the Jac.kson ( Cedrela jacksoniana, 

Jf.eszYilod(tphne texCL'na, Pisonia jacksoniana), or 

that are confined to the Fayette sandstone 

(Bnrserites fayette·nsis, Ilicoria jacksoniana, 

Palmocarpon sp., Papilionites erythrin~formis), 

or that range fron1 the part Qf the Qfl,tahoula 

\, 

sn.ndstonc which I consider to be of upper 

.Jackson age .iqto that part of it which is of 

Vicksburg age~ 

The distribution of the foregoing spceics 

'would indicate that t.his Jlorn lies ncar the 

bound~uy between tlu.'. ·.Jackson n.nd tl1e Vicksburg, or that it is ln.tc J:~wkson in age, but the 

considerable clement o:f peculiar :forms (14 

species) introduces n.n uncertainty which it 

scorns to me "is insoluble n,t the present time. 

The two coniJerophytes, Glyptostrob'I.U3 e?J,rozxuw,s 

n,nd Taxodium dnbi'l.tm, are both probably polymorphic, and ·both have been recorded throughout the Tertiary in son1e regions. Taxodi1tm 

dubi'l.tm is not distinguishable with certainty 

:fr01n the existing Taxodi'l.tm of this same region, 

and Glyptostrobus europaeus is unknown in either 

the. Jackson or Vicksburg deposits. The distribution of this whole -Aorule is shown· in the 

accornpanying table. 

Five plant localities of Jackson age are known 

from Arkansas, including Crow Creek, on Crowleys Ridge,. fr01n which only a single species of 

Caurinoxylon has been described, and· Red· 

Bluff, ·on Arkansas River; from which a second 

poorly presm;\red Laurinoxylon is recorded. 

White Bluff, on the south bank of Arkansas 

River, in Jefferson County, Ark., was visited by 

Owen/5 who referred its lower portion to the 

8ocene and 1nentions the presence of Cardita, 

Fus'l.ts, Corbu,la, and other fossils. Sections 

were given by Call 26 in 1891 and by :Harris 27 

i1i 1894 .. I-larris r9corded fo~silleaYes from the 

upper part of the section· and considered the 

shell marl at the base to be uppennost Cln.ibornc 

or transitional between Claiborne and Jackson .. 

I visited this outcrop in the summer of 1913. 

The 1naterials show considerable latm~al variation, and I ·attach no iinpm~tan9e to the differences which· appear between the following 

section and that given by previous. obse~·vers. 

The section as it appeared ·in 1913". is shown in 

the acc01npanying diagrain (fig. 5). 

2j Owen, D. D., Se:!ond report ora geological re:-:onnaissance of Arkan· 

sas, p. 35, 1860. 

26 Call, R. E., 'J1he geology of Crowley's "Itidge, Ar~.: ArkansBs 

Geol. Smvey Ann. Rept. for 1889, vol. 2, p. 7, 1891. 

21 Harris, G. D., .The Tertiary geology of southern Arkansas: Arkansas 

Geol. Surver Ann. Rept. for 18921 vol. 21 pp. 87-91 1 fig. 161 1894. 
102 1\HDDLB AND UPP:ER :EOCENE .l!~LORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Flora do1tbljully of Jackson age from we:stern Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Colum-

. bus. 

One-half 

mile 

above 

Hickman. 

Kentucky. 

Hickman, 

)ower. 

Tennessee. 

Five 

!i;I~,- ~~\~- CCan~. upper. of Hick- · ree · · man. 

Slip in 

Hill . 

Distribution in other areas. 

-·--------------1---------------------------1----------------

Banksia.jacksonensis _____________ .__ X ______ ______ ______ X Forest Hill sand. 

Burserites ~r~~~~f:c:o~siiir~it====~===== fayettensis~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ =====: ====== X ---~-- ____ ==·==== ---x-- ====== ====== · __________________________ . Fayette sandstone. 

Carp.olith~Is bumeliaformis ____ --'---- ______ ______ X ·X ; ____________ Vicksburg group .. Cassia obwnana_____________ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X 

Cedrela jacksoniana _________________________________ ---"'-- -x 

Fagara catahoulensis coriacea ___ -·~ _ _ X X _________________ _ 

Fagara catahoulensis elongata_ _ _ _ _ _ _ X _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X . _____ _ Fagara catahoulensis major _____________________ · X _________________ _ Glyptostrobus europaeus (?) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X 

Grewiopsis wadii_ ________________ ~ X X _________________ _ 

Throughout the Jackson. 

Vicksburg group. 

Jackson and Vicksburg.· 

Do. 

Throughout the Tertiary. 

Hi coria j acksoniana __________ . X X X . __________ _ .: Fayette sandstone. 

Hicoria rostrataformis_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X · X 

Lauraceous fruit___________________________________________ X 

Liquidambar SP------------- ------ X X ,______ X ------

Lonc.hocaq~us ancep~--~---.-- ---:--------------- X ------ X 1------ Memspermites carohnaformis_ X X ___ . ____________________ _ Mespilodaphne texana_______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X 

Paliurus catahoulensis_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X 

Pahn rays_ ..... _______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X ___________ _ X 

Throughout the Jacksou. 

Vicksburg group. 

Palmocarpon SP-------------~------ __ .____ ______ X ______ X Fayette sandstone. P~pili.on~tesery~hrinaformis ___ -----:- ______ X ______ ______ ______ ______ Do. 

P1soma Jacksomana _____ .:.____ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X X Throughout the Jackson. 

Planera: hickma~ensis __ -.- ___ -1- _ _ _ _ _ X _x X X ·x 

Rhammtes krugwdendroides ______ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X . X _________________ _ Solanocarpus sphericus _______ , _____________ ,__...:_·_ X ___________ _ 

Taxodium dubium ____ ~------ ______ X __________________ . X Throughout the Tertiary. 

Tecoma·preradicam; _________ l X ----·-- X ------ _____ :. ·------ ------ Ternstroemitesvariabilis _____ ----~- ----~- ____________ ·------ ·X 

E. 

~~~~~------- #.;· > >··.··.·• T /•.•·.•· < <:">_._· ··.·• ·. ·. ·.·.·.· .. 

Horizontal scale 100 ZOO FEET 

~~~~~~~~------~--~-----------~ 

50 100 

Vertital scale 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 FEET 

w. 
UPPER EOCENE. OR JACKSON FLORA. 103 

Section at White Bluff, A. ric., somewhat generalized. From a locality 2 miles south of New EdinPleistocene: Feet. burgh in Cleveland County, not visited by me, 

1. Yellow sand with heavy gravel at base__ 5-10 G. ·p. Harris collected the following plants: . 

Jackson formation: Taxodium dubium. 

2. Sand grading downward into bed 3_____ 8 Thfinax eocenica. 

3. Brow.nish laminated· leaf-bearing clay___ 8 Ficus unionensis. 

4. Lens of gray compact sand; maximum Cinnamomum spectabile. 

thickness _______________ ~_________ 9 Nectandra antillanafolia. 

5. Brownish laminated clay that contains Myrcia sp. 

beds of loose en.rthy lignite and broken In the summer of 1911 I made a considerleaves____________________________ 5- 10 able collection from a. cut on the St. Louis, 

(i. Gray compact sand; nuiximum thickness----------------------------- 8 Iron Mountain & Southern Railway at McMur7. Fine compact cross-bedded greenish.sand rains Crossing, 3.3 miles north of ElDorado, in 

interbedded with laminated lignitic. Union County. The section, which has been 

leaf-ben.ring claY---------.---------- 10 described by Harris, 28 ·shows the sequence of 

8. Sparingly fossiliferous argillaceous, glau- h F · materials t at is illustrated in igure 6. This conitic, slightly lignitic, calcareous, 

ferruginous sand, more or ·less cross- section is apparentiy at the extreme base of the 

berldecl in the upper part ___________ 18-..,20 Jackson of this locality, as. it shows continental 

Horizontal scale 

2~5~~~Lo ____ ~2~5~----~5~0--~--7~5 ______ l~OOFEET 

Vertical scale 0 5 10 FEET ~~~~------~~--~ 

FtOURI~ G.-Diagrununatic section of Jackson formation at :McMurraius Crossing, Ark. a, Yellowish loamy sand, passing gradually into the· 

undOI'lying member, or which it is the weathered portion, 3 toG feet; IJ, fine gray to greenish cross-bedded, finely micaceous saud with clay 

laminae oud pellets; 2 to tl feet; c, more or less thinly laminated brownish sandy clay with gray sand films, more or loss ferruginous, 

townrd tho top, carrying Vnin, lfivipara, nnd numerous poorly preserved plnnts, maximum.thickncss 7 feet. 

The ·identifiable leaves, few in number and 

poorly preserved, con1e froni bed No. 7. Those 

in bed No. 3 that were noticed by Harris we1;e 

n.ll unidentifiable. There are also fragmentary 

remaii1s of leaves in bed No. 5, especially toward 

the eastern end of the blu'ff. Beds Nos. 4, 5, 

t'tnd 6 are obviously lenses, for they thicken 

and thin along the face of the bluff .. The unconforn1ity noted by I-Iarris is 1nerely the result 

of the littoral character of the sedi1~1ei1ts, and 

I am convinced that the entire section is· of 

J·u.ckson age with the exception of .bed No; 1, 

which is of Pleistocene age and is ·markedly 

unconformable on the underlying materials. 

The following plants have been determined 

from this outcrop: 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

Cedrela jacksoniana. 

Mespiloclaphne texana. 

deposits transgressed by littoral sands at the 

beginning of the lower Jackson marine invasion 

of this region. 

The following plants have been determined: 

· Eqtiisetum sp. 

Arunclo pseudogoepperti. 

Engelharcltia jacksonensis. 

Myrica zachariensis. · 

Ficus unionensis. 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Mimosites spatulatus. 

Cassia jacksoniana. 

· Dodonaea vi'scosoides. 

Nectandra arkansana. 

Cypselites jack~onensis. 

There are five plant localities in the deposits 

of Jackson age in Louisiana, all· of which are in 

beds referred to the Fayette sandstone by Deussen and· Matson ·and contain but few plant 

remains that are determinable. 

2s Harris, G. D., op. cit., p. 140. 
104 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF· SOUT~EASTER.N NORTH AMERICA. 

There are eleven plant lbcalities in the deposits of Jackson age in Texas. Four of these 

localities have fuFnished but a single species, 

and the only prolific localities are one near 

Miraflores,. in Webb . County, from which 14 

species of plants were collected by .G. C. Matson 

and 5 additional species w'ere collected by A. C. 

Trowbridge in 1920, and several localities in 

Brazos County, from which extensive· collections have been sent to me by 0. M. Ball. As I 

have been unable to visit any of these outcrops 

I can give only the following sections, which 

were furnished by Alexander Deussen, who 

made ·most of the collections studied by me. 

Section on Color.ado River 1 mile west of Plnm, Fayette 

County~ Tex-. . 

Pleistocene terrace No. 3. 

Faye~te sandstone (of Jackson age): Feet. 

Hard blue semiquartzitic sandstone~·-_____ 5-6 

Lenses of white clay with Pisonia jacksoniwhich occurs elsewhere near Christie, La., and· 

near Miraflores, in Webb County, Tex .. 

The following plants were collected by 

0. M. Ball from Alum Creek, in the S. W. 

Robertson League, about i miles east o:f 

Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex.:· 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

Bombacites jacksonensis. 

Burserites fayettensis. 

·conocarpus eocenicus. 

Cedrela jacksoniana. 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum. 

· Ficus claibornensis. 

Inga jacksoniana. 

Mespilodaphne caudata major. 

Mespilodaphne texana. 

Nectandra antillanafolia,. 

Pisonia balli. 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

Sophora Glaiborniana. 

The two species of Apocynophylltun, lnga 

15 jacksoniana, Pisonia jacksoniana, and Sophora 

Section exposed on W. F. Hamilton le.ag'ue about 3 claibo'l'niana are the most abundant forms. 

mUes ;;onthenst of West Po'int, Fnyette County, This flonlle is of especial interest, as it comC£1La ________________________________ _ 

Brown clay _____ -.- __ ~ _________________ _ 

2 

'J'ex. 

Pleistocene terrace m;tterials ________________ _ 

Fayette sandstone: 

Soft white massive volcanic ash that 

carries fossil leaves ________________ ·_.__ 

Feet. priseS 16 species .and COmes frOill the region 

2 where the "Wellborn formation" (Fayette 

sandstone) was originally described. · Tl1e beds 

are of J'ackson age. 

Brown ~ An extensive iens of fine white clay, locally shale __________________________ _ 

The fossil plants identified ·£1-om the Fayette 

. Sitndstone at this outcrop are Sabalites viclcsbu,rgensis, Oaloca'l'pttm vi'l'idifonnis, and · 

A pocynoph ylht m texen.sis. 

Section on branch of Y egua Creek about 11 miles northwest of Somerville and one-fourth mile west of the Gulf, 

Colorado & Santa Fe Railway in Hnrleson Cmmty, 

'l'ex. 

Quaternary: 

Brown loam soil that contains small 

pebbles of quartz and jasper _____ ~ ____ _ 

Fayette sandstone: 

Lens· of laminated shale interbedded with 

thin sand beds; maximum thickness ____ _ 

. Massive brown shale that .contains flakes 

of gypsum and leaves . of Bombacites 

jacksonensis __________ .., __ .,;, __ -, _________ · 

Feet. 

This outcrop, which .is on the Paul Taylor 

place, has furnished two or three fragments of 

·what appears to be. very promising material. 

The only determinable form is the Bombacites, 

known as kaolinite, 15 feet in maxin1um 

thickness; occurs in the Fayette sandstone 

at several openings from 1~ to 3 miles et_tst of 

Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. · 

The horizon is probably about the same as 

that from which the flora listed from Ah.i.nl 

Creek .was collected. Around the borders of 

this clay lens fossil plants, beautifully preserved, are. not uncommon. The following 

spec1es. were collectea from this loca:li ty by 

0. M. Ball: 

. Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Apocynophyllum texe·nsis. 

Canna jacks.oniana. 

Cinnamomum spectabile? 

Combretum · petrafl umerise. . 

Diospyros ll).irafloriaim. 

F~gara cata\l(?ulensis major. 

· Ficus mississikriE:msis (Lesquereux). 

Inga jacksoniana. 

Mespilodaphne caudata major. 

· N ectandra antillanafol ia. 

Sabalites vicksburgensis .. 
U:PPER EOCENE OR .:f ACKSON FLORA.. . 105· 

This :is a typical Inesophytic plant associa~ 

t.ion n,nd :includes novelties in tt beautiful new 

Ca,nna, and a form of Fic'us not heretofore 

known. ttt horizons younger than the Wilcox in 

the einbayinent region. It also includes a bun-: 

d11nt renutins of a'fan palm, some of the leaves 

.of which are complete and stand upright in-the 

chty. The n1ost abundant.forn1 at this locality 

is the Necta/nclTct in all sizes, and this, together 

with the paln1 and Apocynophyllum gTevilltwfoli~um, u.re the nwst abi.1ndant species. 

At a locality in the Barrera League, about 3 

:miles northeast of :.Millican, in Brazos County, 

the following plants have been collected by 

O.l\1. Ball: 

Anacardites balli. 

Ardisia sp. 

Buettneria jacksonia.r;a. 

Ceanothus jacksonensis. 

Ceclrela jacksoniana. 

Coccolobis columbianus. 

Combretum petraflumense. 

Euonymus srtntotontasensis. 

Ficus bmzosensis. 

Ficus sp. 

Mespilochtphne jacksonen_sis. 

Mespilochtphne texrwa .. 

M:)rrcia catahoulensis. 

Oreoclaphne brazosensis. 

.Ptthnocurpon sessile. 

Phoenicites sp. 

Pteris inquirencla. 

Sapotn.cites millicanensis. 

Smilax fn.yettensis. 

'.!.'his florule of 19 forms has the same significance as the others found in these kaolin.ite beds 

in the :F'1tyette bu·t contains a nu:mber of species 

not found at the other outcrops, especially the 

pn>lm fruits, len.ves o:f Smilax, n.nd lm·ge J~aves 

of B~nettnm"l:ct. 

Another prolific locn.lity in the kaolinite 

lenses of the F11.yette is at l\1ossy Creek, 3 miles 

southwest of vVellborn, in Brazos ·County. 

'.l.'he following species have been eollectecl from 

t;his outcrop by Q. l\1. B1tll: 

Antholithes balli. 

AI'Ciisht sp. 

Buettncria jacksoniana. 

Bumclia balli. 

Cacnomyccs jacksoncnsis. 

Ccdrcla jacksoniana. 

Chrysophyllum preoliviforme. 

Citharexylon brazosensc. 

Combrctum pctmfiumense. 

Conocarpus eocenicus? 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Ficus brazosensis. 

Marchantites stephensoni. 

Mespilodaphne texana. 

Mimosites georglanus. 

Myrcia ambiguaformis. 

N ectandra antillanafolia. 

Nipadites burtini umbonatus. 

Nyssa jacksoniana. 

Papilionites erythrinaformis? 

Phoenicites sp. 

Rhamnites krugiodendroides'. 

Sapotacites millicanensis. 

Tilia jacksoniana. 

This locality' is remarkable for the diversity 

of its flora and for the abundance of the very 

variable leaves of Combret'l.tm, which must have 

·beei1 growing in the in1mediate vicinity in large 

numbers during this part of the ,Jackson. It 

contains a fine exan1ple of the ra~·e MaTchantites stephensoni and a chn,racteristic new species 

of Tilia, the first representative of this genus 

that has been f~:mnd in .the Tertiary of the 

Atlantic Coastal Plain. Notable is the presence at this locality of the fruits of the Eocene 

littoral paln1 Nipculites, whose discovery here 

n1akes the range of this genus in the Missi§lsippi 

e1nbayn1ent fron1 Wilcox to .Jtwkson, thus 

paralleling its range in the Old vVorld. 

A s1nall flonlle frmn a locality ttt Piedn1on~, 

Grimes County, collected by 0. ~L Ball, cont~tins the following species: 

Anacarditcs balli. 

Calocarpum viricliformis. 

Carpolithus piedmontensis. 

Dryophyllum brcvipctiolatum. 

Fagara catahouicnsis var. 

Collections nutde at a locality on :Mill Creek, 

Brazos County, by 0 .. :M. Ball contain uncle-

.terminable :fragments of dicotyledonous leaves 

and those of Ceclrela jaclcsoninna . . 

The totnl fiora found in the kaolinite lenses 

of the Fayette sandstone in Brazos and adjoining counties, a knowledge of which we· owe 

aln1ost entirely to the energy and cooperation 

of ProL 0. :M. Ball, of the Agricultural and 

Mechanical College of Texas, consists of .the 

following 53 species: 

Anacardites balli. 

Antholithes balli. 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

Ardisia sp. 

Bombacites jacksonensis. 

Buettneria jacksoniana. 

Bumelia balli. 

Burserites fayettensis. 

Caenomyces jacksonensis. 

Calocarpum viridiformis .. 
106,. MIDDLE AND tiPPER E(HJENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NOR.TH AMERlCA. 

Canna jacksoniana. . 

Carpolithus piedmontensis. 

Cedrela jacksoniana. 

Chrysophyllum preoliviforme. 

Cinnamom urn spectabile? 

Citharexylon brazosensis. 

Coccolobis columbiana. 

Combretum petraflumense. 

Conocarpus ~ocenicus. 

Diospyros miraflorianus. 

Dodonaea · viscosoides.· 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum. 

Euonymus santoto:rn,asensis:. 

Fagara catahoulensis major. 

Fagara catahoulensis var. 

Ficus claibornensis. 

Ficus brazosensis. 

Ficus mississippiensis. 

Ficus sp. 

Inga jacksoniana. 

Marchantites stephensoni. 

Mespilodaphne caudata major. 

Mespilodaphne jacksonensis. 

Mespilodaphne ·texan a. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Myrcia ambiguaformis. 

Myrcia catahoulensis~ 

N ectandra antillanafolia. 

Nipadites burtinii umbonatus. 

Nyssa jacksoniana. 

Palmocarpon sessile. 

Papilionites erythrinaformis. 

Phoenicites sp. 

Pisonia balli. 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

· Pteris inq uirenda. . 

Rhamnites krugiodendroides. 

· Sabalites vicksburgensis. 

Sapotacites millicanensis. 

Smilax fayettensis. 

Sophora claibornian~. 

Tilia jacksoniana. 

The foregoing list presents the largest florule 

as yet known from deposits of Jackson ageJ 

and it contains representatives of many species 

not found at any other localities. It is. distinctly coastal in its general facies and contains many Claiborne elements as well as forms 

prenuncial ·of . the Oligocene. The question of 

the· origin of these lenses of l'elatively pure 

kaolinite in an essentially sandy littoral formation,.like that of the origin of.the sedimentary kaolins in the Cretaceous of South Carolina and· Georg~a, is a phase of environmental 

interpretation that is decidedly uncertain at 

the present·time, but it is hoped tluit the fossil 

plarits may help toward a solution of the. 

problem. 

At a locality about 45 miles southeast of. 

Laredo and ·~bout 4 miles north of Miraflores ranch ~ouse, in Webb County, Tex., a 

light volcanic ~sh contains well-preserved leaves 

that are somewhat sparingly represented. A 

considerable collection was made by G. C. 

Matson and A. C. Trowbridge. The following 

Oipecies ·are represented~ . 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Apocynophyllum ·texensis. 

Bombacite~ jacksonensis. 

Cinnamomum sp. 

Coccolobis claibornensis? 

Conocarpus eocenicus. 

Diospyros mirafloriana. 

Inga jacksoniana? 

Mespilodaphne texai1a. 

Myristica ~atahoulensis? · 

Nectandra antillanafolia. 

Papilionites erythrinaformis. 

·Pisonia ·jacksoniana. 

Sabalites vicksburgensis. 

Sapindus dentoni. 

Sapotaci tes :miraflorian us. 

Sophora claiborniana. 

Terminalia phaeocarpoide~. 

Ternstroemites claibornensis? 

Only two of .the foregoing species, namely, 

the Papilionites and Sapotacites, are peculiar 

to this outcrop. The age indicated IS either 

middl~ or uppei· Jackson. 

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. 

The following~ table .shows the localities at 

which th~ different species of .the Jackson. 

flora have been found and also gives the occurrence of the species in the Wilcox, Claiborne, 

and Vicksburg depos_its. 
UPP.Ell JWCENE OR JACKSON. FLORA. 107 

-------------------·-d_n_o_J5_5J_n_c_ts_)[_J_!,_\-'--·'-:_x_:_: : : :X : :X : : : : : : : : : : :X X ;c--. 

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, , , : . : ; : : ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; : : 11 mile east of Gail breath, Rapides Parish. 

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: . : : : ; : . : I Near Mira(!orcs, Webb County. 

, , , , , . . , , : : : ; : · ; : : : : : I Hibbensville-Zapato.road, Webb Connty. 

: : ':: : : : .X: : : : : : : : :· : X I Wilcox group. 

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: : : : :. X: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I I I )( ~. . . . . . . 110 miles south of_ Macon. 

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1 : : : : : : : : : : : : : :. : : : : : : : I Randolph Bluff. Tip~on County. 

: : : : : : : X: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I Columbus. Hickman County. 

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: : : : X : : : X : : : : : : : : : : : :. : : : : : : I Hickman, Fulton County. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :. : : : : : : I ~mile north of H_ickman, Fulton County. 

1 : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I i:i inilcs south of Rickman, Fulton Countv. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ·: : : : : : I Crow Creek, St. Francis County. 

: : : : : : : : : : : . : : : : : : : : : : : : I White Bluff, .Tctrcrso~County. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I Rcd.DluiY, Jctrerson County. 

: : X: : : : : : . : : : : : : : : : : : : JMcMnrrain's Crossin!;; Union County. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : · : X : : : I 2 miles south of New I~ din burgh. Clcvel;~d-County. 

1 : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I North of Pollock, Grant Parish. 

: : : : : : : : ; : : ; : : ; ; ; . : ; ; : : : ; ; I 1 mile cast of Gail breath, Rapidcs Parish. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : ·: : ·: : ; : : : : XX j1~milcsnortheastofChristie. I : : : : : : : : : : : : : :-:::-: :-: -: _:_:_:_ :-~~~ilcsnorthofHornbcck, Sabine Parish. 

: :_ : : : : X: : : : : : X: : : : : : : : : : I 4 miles northeast of Hornbeck, Sabine Pm~ish. 

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::: :: ::: x::::: :. :::: x:::;: ICancyandWhitcRockcreeks,TrinityCounty. 

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: : : : : : : "X: : :. : : : :. : : : : : : : : : X· I Alum Creek, Brazos County. 

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.: : :. : : : : : : ; : : : : : : : .: ·: I Stryker, Polk County. 

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: : : : : :-:-:-~:-· :_:_:_:_:_:--:-:--: : I Hibbensville-Zapato road, Webb County. 

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U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXVI 

A. RESTORATION OF THE JACKSON COAST OF ALABAMA. 

Zeuglodon in the foreground. Reproduced by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

B. RESTORATION OF A SKULL OF ZEUGLODON. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXVI! 

A. ACROSTICHUM AUREUM ALONG CALOOSAHATCIIEE RIVER, FLA. 

PhotograiJh I y John W. Harshberger . 

8. MANGROVES IN BERMUDA, SHOWING THE CHARACTJ<;R OF THE VEGETATION 

IN EARLY .JACKSON TIME IN THE ESTUARY AT GROVETOWN, GA. 

Photograph hy Harvey Bassler. 
UPP.I~R EOCBNE OR J'ACKSON :FLOHA. Ill 

THI~ JACKSON FAUNAS. 

'.l.'hc t·iehly fossiliferous mn,r.ine beds of certn.in lomtlities :in the J·nckson have been fn,vorite collecting grounds :fot; students of 1narine 

invcrtcbrn.tcs for mai1y decn,des, n.nd a large 

n um bet· of species have been recorded. The 

fnunn, ns a whole has never received monographic trcattnent, although parts of it have 

been revised by C. v..r. Cooke, so that very 

m.any new species await the consideration of 

systenuttists. :Mr. Cooke infor1ns me in a 

letter dated May 3, 1915, that there are in the 

N at.ional Museun1 collections 214 namerl species 

of 1nollusks and corals fron1. Jackson, Miss. 

About 50 of these species, or nearly 23 per 

cent, n.re common to the Claiborne, and the 

genern. of the J'ackson n.re prevailingly the 

sam.e ns the genern. of the Cln.iboi·ne, so that 

the f1teics of the invertehrn.te fttUIHt of the 

J·n.ckson soft wns not markedly diffetent ft·oln 

tht1t of the Claiborne sen.. The :most spectacultu· ~lemont in the Jn.ekson fn.un11 is Zettgloclon, a gt·eat niarine lllallllll!tl or A.ncestrnl 

cetfteetm (Pl. XXVI), which reacl~ed a length pf 

()0 or 70 feet but wns slender in forn1 and n 

powerful swinuner and diver. These Zeuglodons n1ust hn,ve been present in large nmnbers 

in the ancient Gulf of Mexico during ,Jackson 

time, possibly as 1nigrants from the Mediterranean Sea of the Old W odd, for their bont~s 

nrc :found ft·otn North CA.rolina and FloridH 

to Arkansas and Louisin,na. Teet1i of several 

species of shark arc COffilllOll in the Jackson, 

and ft small cetacean (Do'ruclon sen·at'l.tS Gibbs), 

a large aquatic snake (Pterosphem'l.ts sclwcherti Lucas), n.nd a fresh-water turtle (Haclrian,'l.tS sch'l.teherti Jlay) arc associated with 

the two species of Ze'l.l.glodon or Basi.losa'l.tTus, 

ns it is n1ore properly called, but no traces of 

terrestrial vertebrA.tes haYe been discovered. 

The terrestrial faunas nearest the age· of 

the Jackson n.re those of the top of the Bridger 

. formation in southwestern an·d southern central 

Wyoming and of the Uinta formation and un-· 

derlying late Eocene deposits of northern Utah, 

Although these faunas . are geographically 

remote from the area of Jackson sedimenta-· 

tion they are interesting in that they show Yery. 

slight changes when compared with the middle. 

Eocene :fatmn.s of the s~une region and. also in 

their indicti.tions of a well-watered country of 

interspersed SA.Yannas and forests in what 

subsequently became a semia.rid region. The 

Rocky Mountain types of Jackson time include several genera of cnmelids, large ambly-

·pods (Eobasileus), rhinoceroses (Amynoclon), 

seYeral genera of titanotheres (Dolichorhinus, _ 

DiJJlacoclon, Manteoceras), giA.nt pigs (Achaenoclon) ,. horses (Epihipp'l.ls), tapirs (lsectolophvs)., 

and primitiYe carnivores or creodonts. 

BOTANIC CHARACTER OF THE JACKSON 

FLORA. 

The Jackson flora, although it has been found 

at 40 localities scattered from a point near 

SA.Yannah ·RiYer in Georgia west,vard to a 

point within a few 1niles of the Rio Grande in 

southwestern Texas, is unfortunately small 

and nu1nhers but 133 species. In this respect 

it is smnewhn;t ln.rger than. the Claiboyne flora 

nnd ahout one-f<:>urth the size· of the Wilcox 

flora. This n1eagerness of the known J A.ckson 

fiora can not be ascribed to any acttial din1inu-

.tion in the flora that grew along the coasts of 

southeastern North America throughout the 

Tertiary period but n1ust be explained by the 

character of the Jackson sediments, which are 

largely eithct· coarse smHls 01: nlA.rine marls and 

limestones throughout the grenter part of 

their outcrop. The lack of exploration A.lso 

is a cnuse of the meagerness ·of the flora, for 

not only is. the actual amount of field work less 

than usual, but I lutYe not hA.cl A.ny opportunities ·of collecting from more than one-third of 

the known localities. Thougb the Jackson 

flora will probably never be as thoroughly 

known as that of the Wilcox, it may receive 

many ·additions as the different areas fi·on1 

Georgia to Mexico are studied in detail. · 

The Jackson florn, as described ~n this preliminary report, . consists o:f 133 species, as 

compared with 90 in the Claiborne or middle 

Eocene and 353 in the Wilcox or lower Eocene. 

Thl.s is an extremely small basis for any dis-· 

cussion of floral facies, physical conditions, or 

correlation, and. hence the conclusions deri-ved 

from it are only tentative in character. 

These 133 species comprise 4 fungi, a Marchantites, 4 ferns, an equisetum, 2 or possibly 

3 gymnosperms, 15 monocotyledons, and 106 

dictyledons. They represent 89 genera in 52 
112 MIDDLE AND UPPER J!}QCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTE.ftN NORTH AMERICA. 

families and 32 orders. The orders with more 

than two species are the following: 

Fungi, 4. 

Filicales, 4. 

Coniferales, 3. 

Arecales, 8. 

Juglandales, 3. 

- Urticales, 8. 

Chenopodiales, 3. 

Ranales, 3. 

Rosales, 13. 

Geraniales, 7. 

S~pindales, 5. 

Rhamnales, 4. 

Malvales, 6. 

Thymeleales, 16. 

1Vly!tales, 7. 

Umbellales, 3. 

Ebenales, 6. 

This list shows that the two most abundantly represented orders are the Rosales, with 

13 species, almost entirely belonging to the 

leguminous alliance, and the Thymeleales, 

with 16 species, all of which belong to the· 

majority of these are leaf-spot types that are 

based upon re.al or. fancied resemblances and 

are found on impression of foliage and lack 

definite botanic characters. Some undoubtedly represent· fungal ra·vages, others are due 

to insects, some are glandular, and others 

are purely imaginary. z!l 

Sometimes the traces of fungi· preserve:.. in 

petrified .plant tissues are .fortunately disclosed 

in sections, and a number of well-authenticated 

forms are .knQwn, principally from the Car-

·boniferous, their discovery being due aln10st 

entirely· to the relatively large amount of histologic work that has been expended on the 

Carbonif~rous flora. The exceptional conditions of preservation afforded by the accumula- family Lauraceae. 

The families ,V.ith 3 

following: 

or more species are the tions of amber at a time long subsequent to 

the Carboniferous have givm'). us a glimpse of 

some few fungal. (ypes of the older Tertiary. Arecaceae, 8. Rutaceae, 4. 

Juglandaceae, 3. Sapindaceae, 4. In studying the numerous specimens of petriMoraceae, 6. Rhamnaceae, 4. fie.d wood, which are especially abundant in the 

Nyctaginaceae, 3. Lauraceae, 16. m!?re sandy beds of both the Claiborne and the 

Mimosaceae, 4. Combretaceae, 3. Jackson, I have frequently noted the r~vages 

Caesalpiniaceae, 4. Myrtaceae, 3. of parasitic fungi as well as branching mycelia 

Papilionaceae, 4. · Sapotaceae, 5. of both ·sep~at~ and nonsept·ate hyphae. Most 

All but the last. of these belong to the more of these forms are too indefinite for incorporaprimitive choripetalous group of . .families. tion in the record, but it may be safely concluded 

There are 86 species of Choripetalae, or Inoro that fungi were as abundant then as now, and 

than 85 per cent of the dic9tyledons repre- among th~ remains discovered several are exsented, and but 12 species, or less than 15 per ceptionally well preserved. Among these 

. cent, belong to the later and more spec~ia1ized fungi is Gladosporites fa,scic'Lt,lat'l.t,S, an intracelGamopetalae. lular Gladospori'ltm-lik.e form that ranges from 

· Among the relics of former vegetation thai the Claiborne to the Forest i-Iill sand, th-e latter · i~egatded by me as larbO'e}y of J ack.son abO'e. 1'·wo 

carry the record back 1nany millions of years additional species of fungi are recorded from 

the remains of fungi are so rarely. found that h J 1 B • • • • r • t e' ac \:SOU. oth these species are leaf-spot . then presence Is always exceptiOnal, although t f l bt·f 1 · J t·'t n. h' 1 · · · b · h · . h ypes 0 C OU . U lCI.eD I y. \VDe, W .IC.l IS COmIt. IS o vwus. t at many times d~rmg t e long monlyfound on the leaves of Ficus, is referred to 

h1story of. the eartl~ . the envJr~nment ·has. the genus SphaeritesJ· the other, which infests 

offered optimum cqndi~IOns for thmr abun~ant palm rays, is referred to festalozz~tes. The indevelopme~t. To m~ntwn but one such period,. definiteness in the identifications of previously 

the fonnatwn of the coal measures must have described fossil leaf-spot ~ungi makes any sumwitnessed an exceedingly abundant mycologic mary of the occurrence of similar types in other 

flora. That these plants were present thus early regions and at different geologic horizons a useis indicated by the abundance of hyphae and le~s proceeding. 

other traces of fungal activity, such as butyric . Thus far no traces of bryophytes or moss 

fermentation, in the tissues of Carboniferous plants except a well-marked Marchantites 

vascular plants, and the scarcity of described' ·have been discovered in· the Jackson, a feature 

forms ·must be attri9uted to the perishable ·that conforms to us_ual experience. Arthronature of most fungal tissues and to the lack phytes are represented solely by a single fragof systematic work by experienced mycologists mentary specimen on an Eq_1t,isetum. 

on the more or less obscure material available.· The pteridophyte phylum is represented in 

To be ~ure, a ~onsiderabie number of fossil forms the Jackson by four ferns.· Thus the Jacks<?n 

referred to fungi have been recorded fr9m 29 For a rather complete illustrated list of all these forms down to 

d

. the year 1900 the student is referred to Mescl:\inclli, J.., Fungorum fossiIfferent geologic horizons, but the vast lium omnium iconographia, H4 pp., 31 pls., 190~. 
UPPBR EOC:ENE OH JACKSON FLORA. . 113 

ferns 1u·e only about hn.lf 11s nmnerous 11s those shallow· sandy shifting sea nutrgin, as was the 

of the 'iVilcox 11nd Claiborne, each of which area now occupied by the Jackson deposits, 

.has furnished six or seven species. The Jack- and it 1nay confidently be assu1ned that other 

son :ferns con1prise two species of Ly,qodi1Lm of and unknown Jackson ferns dwelt inland, 

the :fmnily SG:hizaeaceae and two species of the although these could not have been as varied 

fn,:mily Polypodin,ceae, which represent the as the present fern flora of the Tropics, for the 

genera Pte·ris and .Acrosticlmm. One Lygo- Jackson land was prevailingly low and without 

(liu,m survives into the Jackson fron1 the Clai- elevated 1nountains or conspicuously great 

borne, and the other originates in the J·ackson hmnidity or rainfall. 

and survives into the Catahoula. Lygodium ~s The Jackson Eg_uisetum is· a fragn1ent that 

a scandent type fron1 coastal thickets and is has no special- significance. The genus has 

represented. in the 'iVilcox by an allied form. been in existence since the dawn of the l\1esoThe genus Pteris .is prese1.1t in both the 'iVilcox zoic era o~ earlier, and the 25 existing species 

and Claiborne and is a genus that has many for the 1nost part have a wide range. The 

fossil and recent species of wide range and genus is conunon in Tertiary floras where the 

gJ'ef.tt variety of cliinatie and edaphic require- sandy or lllal'shy habitats o.f Equisetum becOine 

1nents and therefore of unknown significance overwhehne·cl with :river or lalte deposits. The 

in the present connection. The .Acrostich'I.Lm Jackson species was of large size, ·as c01npared 

belongs to a genus of large swamp ferns that with our 1noder.n t01nperat~ species, and but· 

makes :its appearance in the Claiborne, or pos- slightly s1naller . than· so1ne recent tropical 

sibly in the Wilcox, of this region and at about fonns. It 1nay have inhabited the wet areas 

the san1e tin1e in Europe. Its modern species, back of the· .Acrostichum swamps or sanely 

pm·ticularly Acros.ticl~um aurev,m (Pl. XXVII, depressions behind beach ridges or coastal 

A), are widespread on tropical shores in brackish dunes. It is of about the sa1ne size as existing 

swan1ps, as for e...-x:ample along the Central speciJuens of Equisetum giganteum that were 

An1erican coasts, where· extensive tracts are seen in irrigation ditches in Pel'u, and if similal' 

covered ahnost exclusively with this fern, in its requirmnents to the existing larger 

whose ft·onds t:tre 6 to 10 feet tall. Equisetl.uns it indicates a wet substratmn. 

Ferns are n.bundant in Jnost tropical coun- ·As is usual in Tertiary floras the seed plants 

tries---for example, there are about 800 species constitute . the great bulk of the collections: 

in the Recent flora of the Philippines. In The gymnospern1s thus far found in the 

Porto Rico the Polypodiaceae is the htrgest Jackson are very sparingly represented both 

fainily runong the higher plants and has 182 in species. and in individuals. The relative unspecies (Urban, 1.912). Jan1aica is sin1ilarly 'importance of this Glass of plants in the Ceno:. 

noted for its variety of fern life. It 1night zoic as compared with the Mesozoic is thus 

seen1, t.hen, that four ferns under the favorable emphasized and also further emphasizes the 

conditions of Jackson tiJne is entirely dispro- fact that the nature of the habitat and .the 

portionate, but it is obviously not so when it is climate were not favorable for most gymnosperis recalled that the known·Jackson flora is very mous genera. An exception to this statement 

largely a strand flora, and the great variety of is furnished by the cycads, of which two species 

ferns that are recorded fron1 Porto Rico, that belong to the genus Zamia have be·en 

Jan1aica, and other tropical lands are not 1nen1- ·discovered in the Wilcox. Zamia is a genus 

bers of the strand fl.ora but of tho upland rain- that contains· about 30 existing species, which 

forest valleys, as in the Inountains· of . Porto are confined to the tropical and subtropical 

Rico, Blue Mountain b1 J111naica, the highlands_ regions of America, and was undoubtedly 

of the Malay Peninsula and East Indies, New present in this region throughout the Eocene 

Zealand, and the 1nontafia zone of the Andes. and Oligocene· epocP.s, although no traces of it 

'l'he Jackson ferns aro· in agreen1ent with the have been discovered in either the Claiborne 

balance of the Jackson flora, as Lygodium is a or. the Jackson. Among the Coniferales the 

fonn of coastal thickets; Acmstichum, one of genus Podocarpus might be expected to have 

coastal brackish swamp~; and Pteris, of the invaded southeastern North America at some 

coastal sandy strand. It would be a n1atter fol' time during ·the Tertiary , period. Eocene 

surprise if upland ~nd epiphytic types were species occur in Europe northward as far as 

encoun~ered in abundance in an assmnblage of southern England,. and in the existing flora a 

plants of the sea 1nargin and especially of a species is found as far north as Costa Rica. 
114 MIQDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA .. 

None have been found in the region here 

considered, however, and the three· known 

Jackson conifers are represen-ted by poorly 

preserved. cones that are referred to the genus 

Oupress.ites and by a few leaf-bearing twigs 

identified as Glyptostrobus europaeus and Taxodium dubium. The Taxodium has a wide 

geologic and geographic range and is probably 

polymorphous. ·It is found in North America 

from the base of the Eocene to the. Chesapeake 

group of the Miocene, and from the· Pliocene. 

of the Gulf coast it passes insensibly into ·thd 

Pleistocene and .. ·still existing bald cypress~ 

from which even the older remains are not 

certainly dis'ting:uishable. Taxodium is a mesophytic type, and this Jackson representative 

probably lived in a habitat like that of the wellknown bald cypress of our Southern States:--

that is, in the coa~tal or river swamps. · 

The genus Athrotaxis, which is doubtfully 

determined, is recorded from both the· Wilcox 

and the Claiborne; Glyptostrobus has been 

recorded from the Wilcox and · Claibqrne; and 

Sequoia from the Claiborne; but the first and 

last of these have not been discovered in the 

Jackson. 

Possibly a third coniferous type is represented in the Jackson by the object described 

as Carpolithus callitriformis, which appears to 

represent the valvular cone of Oallitris, a 

genus of Cupressinae which is common throughout the European Tertiary deposits and which 

has a single existing species in northern Africa. 

· The genus has never been ·recognized in North 

America, and the Jackson remains are too 

meager to substantiate its presence in the 

Jacl.):son. Similar and larger remains in beds 

of supposed upper Jackson age in the Lagrange formation of western Kentucky and 

Tennessee have not been ~:le~cribed in this 

paper but await further study. . 

Among the monocotyledonous angiosperms 

only the families N aiadaceae, Araceae, Poaceae, 

Cannaceae,· Smilacaceae, and Arecaceae are 

represented in the Jackson. The fan;1ily Nai-. 

adaceae, or Pota:mogetonaceae as it is sometimes called, is represented by two species of 

Potamogeton. Between 30 and 40 fossil spe~ies 

have been.referred t·o this genus, none of which 

appear to be identical with the forms from 

Georgia. They range in age- from the Arctic 

Senonian through the Eocene, Oligocene; 

Miocene, and Pliocene to the Pleistocene 

epoch, and several still-existing species are 

recorded from Pleistocene beds, both in this 

country and abroad. Well-defined forms are 

present in the. Upper Cretac~ous of the Atlantic 

Coastal Plain. 

. The modern species, all of which are aquatic 

to a greater or less degree, number more than 60 

and occur both in the Tropics and in the T~mperate Zone, though -the larger representation is 

i~ the Temperate Zone. Most of the species· 

have a wide and many a cosmopolitan range, 

and a· single species commonly extends over 

many degrees of latitude-for example, Potamo-·. 

geton perfoliat1.ts Linne extends over more than 

20° of latitude in America, from Newfoundland 

n,nd British Columbi~t to Florida and California, 

and also occurs in Europe and Asia. It is an 

interesting fact that all the wide-ranging species 

extend into both comparatively high and low 

latitudes, whereas species of more restricted 

range, such as Potamogeton jloridanus Small 

and Potamogeton curtissii Morong, of Florida,· 

are commonly confined to ~varmer regions. · 

This condition may indicate either that species confined to low _latitudes in the existing 

flora, or their immediate ancestors in more an-· 

cient floras, had originally a much wider range 

than _now, or that the modern wide-ranging 

species have greatly extended their range in 

recent times. I incline to accept the latter supposition, although the majority· of aquatic organisms, both ·animal and phtnt, are little influenced even by rather wide differences in lati.:. 

tude. . . 

A fossil species of about the same size as the 

la-rger Jackson species but with a more open. 

venation has been described by fleer from the 

Tertiary of Spitzbergen as Potamogeton ~orcl"enslcioldi. · Both this species and the Georgia 

species probably represent floating, not emerg~d 

or submerged leaves. 1;heir significance, as 

indipatiye of sluggish rivers discharging. into 

Jackson estuaries, is obvious. 

The ·order Arales (Spathiflorae of Engler) is a. 

distinct and diversified group of monocotyledons 

that comprises more than a thousand existing 

species, most of them belonging to the family 

Araceae. The kindred family· Lemnaceae, 

which consists of smaller forms, all aquatic, 

_comprises but few species, which, however, 

have. a very wide distribution. The distinctive 

features of the plants that- comprise these allied 

groups are the differentiation of the leaves into 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 115. 

stn.l k 1tnd bln.de, the netted venation of the 

bln.d.e, cet.'tain anatmnic11l differences, and the 

n.ggregtttion of the flowers into a spadix. The 

floral structure is V11riecl, ntnging :frmn bi1nerous 

to tetrn.merous, pentacyclic, syncarpous forms, 

such ns Galam'l.u;, with its bractlike spathe, to 

the more abund11nt hisporangiate forms that 

have n.n obsolete perin.nth and a. much developed petaioid . spn.the that is specialized for 

entomophily. · 

The Araceae are costnopolitan, but 1nost of 

the forms {\re found in the Tropics and are 

nlllssed in South An1erica and the southeastern 

Asiatic region. There is little evidence that the 

n1ain differentiation of the aroid.s was not relatively 1nodern, although Pis.t·ia is found in the 

lower beds of the Upper Cretttceous of both 

North An1erica and E'-n·ope and is especin.lly 

conunon in the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain. 

The . only knowr:t Tertiary species are a wellmarked :fonn in the Grenada formation or 

upper 'Vilcox, evidently of estuarine habitat, 

a~1d a species in heels of lower Jackson age in 

Georgia. ·All the n1odern species are floating 

plants., and their presence in the .Jackson points 

to the same conclusions ns the presence of 

Pota,mogeton in these deposits. . 

'.l'he order Po11les and the ftunily Poaceae 

(Graminen.e) are represented by a large reedlike 

gt·ass in the J·n.ckson, which is referred to Arv:'!'do 

11nd which is n.lso common in· the underlymg 

Claiborne. Its generic relationship i~ regarded 

n.s uncertnin. . 

That the gntsses are not pr.i1nitive is suggested by their obviously hydrophytic origin 

and specin.lized florar bracts. It is the one. 

group of monocotyledons that has become 

thoroughly established on dry land, and both 

in indiviclu11l abundance and number of specie's 

it ranks as one of the great angiospermous 

alliances, :for it contains over"350·genera a:o.d 

over 5,000 species. The group is cosmopolitan, and its range extends to ·the. p·olar 

regions and to the snow line of high mountains. 

The largest ·ntunber of species are present in 

the Tropics, but the largest r~umber of individuals grow· in temperate regions of unifonn 

rainfall. Grasses also predominate _in steppes 

and savannas, and in the ·savannas they are 

commonly tall and reedlike. The bamboos 

form a prominent part o:f tropical :forests, 

especially in regions of 1nonsoop. climates, and 

shrubby species in the arid region of southeastern Bolivia and 'northwestern Argentina 

form an entirely closed cover. 

·Many species of grass· have become artificially cosmopolitan. Others are .naturally 

present in both hemispheres. Still others of . 

the wooded regions of the North Temperate 

Zone reappear in similar situations in the 

South Temperate Zone (Deschampsia, FestucCL, 

P.oa), and others that have a similar range, 

such as Phleum alpinum Linne, are also found. 

. in isolated localities on high tropical mountains, thus indicating an interesting geologic 

history. At least 90 genera are common. to· 

the Old and New worlds. No one tribe is 

confined to one hemisphere and no large genus 

to a single floral region. Th,e Paniceae and 

Andropogoneae are prominent in the Tropics, 

and the Festuceae, Aveneae, and liordeae in 

the Temperate and Frigid zones. 

The wooded region of eastern North America 

has preserved many more types than Europe, 

but I suspec~ that the little-known area of 

west China probably rivals it in this respect. 

Grasses lacK a perianth and are anemophilous. The place of ~ perianth is _taken by 

specialized bracts, but these ensheath individual flowers, and not flower clusters as in the 

Pandanales and Helobiales. Some morphologists regard the lodicules and certain hairs and 

hracts as the reduced remnants of a _true 

peri an th, although there is much diversity of 

opinion on this point, which will become . of 

slight importance when systematists cease to 

regard· the Monocotyledonae as a genetic 

serie~ and look to something beside floral 

structures as a key to relationships. 

T~ough many fossil species· have been recorded, 'the va.st majority are based upon 

fragments of linear pa1~allel-veined leaves 

which have been referred to as Poacites, Phrag- · 

mites, Arundo, and other genera and are of 

slight botanic ·interes~. Occasior:tally more 

definite materi~l has been discovered, and ~here_ 

is no doubt that grasses were in existence 

during the Upper Cretaceous and probably--in 

the later part of the Lower Cretaceous. Their 

degree of differentiation or individual abundance is. entirely unknown. Nor is the Tertiary record much better, although the great 

expansion of grazing animals and the den tal 

evolution of .the Mammalia in the early Ter- · 

tiary give clear evidence of the abundance of 

grasses at that .time. 

The order Arecalc:~s, which includes the pahns, 

was already well differentiated in pre-Jackson 

time, for no less than 22 species, w4ich repre-
116 MIDDLE AND UPPBR EOCENE FLORAS O:F SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

sent the genera Nipa, Oenocarpus, Areca, friartea, Livistona, Sabal, Ohamaerops, Thrinax, 

Asterocaryum, and Elaeis, have been recorded 

from the lower Eocene (Ypresian) of Sheppey, 

England. The genera Sabalites, Ohamaedorea; 

and Nipadites are· common in the Wilcox of 

southeastern North America, and Thrinax, 

Bactrites, Geonomites, · Sabalites·, and Palma·-

. carpon occur in the Claiborne of this region. 

The Jackson species of palms number eight, 

including petrified wood that is oreferred to 

Palmoxylon. The five genera that are based 

upon foliage or fruit are Sabalites, Thrinax, 

Nipadites, Phoenicites, and Palmocarpon. Sabalites is a genus of fan palms that appears 

in southeastern North. America continuously 

from the Upper Cretac,eous to the present and 

range through northern Africa and southern 

Asia; the majority being Asiatic. (See fig. 7 .)· 

They are all confined to hot cFmates, and two or 

three of the species are small coastal forms. 

The Jackson contains two types of pahn 

fruits, that described as Palmocarpon. sessile 

being a remarkable example of fossil paln1 inflorescence with numerous small sessile nutlets. 

The presence of the fruits of Nipadites, which 

are not uncommon at one locality in the Fayette 

sandstone, is of exceptional interest, as it is 

·indicative of tidal conditions. Nipadites is the 

earlier Tertiary representative of the 1nodern 

oriental nipa palm. Its fruits have long been 

known throughput the older Tertia,ry of the 

Old World. 'J;'ypical specimens were discovered son1e years ago in the Wilcox, ~nd what is 

FIGURE 7.-Sketch map showing area of distribution of existing species of Phoenix and the Tertiary occurrences of Phoenicites. 

is now represented by several species of Sabal, 

all of which are prevailingly coastal types. 

The genus Thrinax;·represented by the modern thatch palms of the Florida Keys and .the 

Antilles, appears in the Claiborne, and a single 

species survives into the Jackson. It represents a small fan palm of sandy-beach habitat. 

Feather palms are represented by. Phoenicites, the genus to which the ancestors of the 

existing genus Phoenix or date palms are referred. The genus appears in the European 

Eocene, and several species have been described, this being the first record of an American form, which is represented by characteristic 

fruits . and foliage. The m·odern date· palms 

(Pl. XXIV, A) number about 12 species and 

apparently the same· species extends upward 

inoto the Jackson, thus approximately paralleling its range in the Old World. 

The order Scita1ninales is represented by a 

splendid and characteristic species of Canna, a 

genus which . appears in the geologic record in 

the Wilcox an~ is also represented in the Claiborne by closely related· and apparently affiliated species. It is a strictly hygrophilous type 

of river arid estuary swamps and moist valley 

bQttoms. It is confined to the warmer parts of 

America in the existi~g flora ·and has undoubtedly been present in this general region throughout the Cenozoic era. . 

The order Liliales, which is large and diversified in modern floras, is represented in the upper 
UPPJ!}lt BOCBNB OR J'ACKSON FLORA, 117 

Eocene by the :fn.mily S.milace·ae, with a single 

species of Sm1:lax, the :first :found in the :B~ocene 

of the Atln,ntic Con,stn1 Pln,in. :Many fossil species hn,-ve been described :from other regions in 

beds rn,ng.ing in n,ge :fro.m Upper Cretaceous to 

the P.liocene. The genus hn,s about 200 existing n,nd widely distributed species, mostly aggressive cliJnbing shrubs of rnesophytic env.iron-

:ments. It :is .most n,bundn,ntly represented at 

the present time in tropicn,l Asia n,nd An1erica. 

The ])icotyledonae, which are the predominn.ting pln.nts in the J11ckson flora, number 98 

species, of which the mn.jority, as might be expected, cu·e choripetn.lol.ts forms. The follmving orders are unrepresented in the Jackson: 

Cn.sunJ·inn.les, Pipern.les, Aristolochiales, Papn.vcrltles, S11licn.les, llalanopsichtles, Leitnerin.les, Sn.ntalales, StuTaceniales, and Opuntiales. 

The abscn.ee of the Bnlanopsidales,Sn,rracenia.les, 

and Opuntiales is to be expected, for they are 

nil spec.inlized types of rather 1noclern evolution. 

The presence of the primitive Casuarinales. and 

PipernJes 1night be expected, as also son1e 

n1eJnbers o:f the Snlicales, :for. the Piperales and 

Salicales were both present in this region during 

the Upper Cretaceous. The Aristolochiales are 

present in both the vVilcox and Claiborne, and 

their absence in the Jackson may be clue to the 

accidents of preservation and discovery, for 

they iu·e never abundant in fossil :floras and 

have but a single specie~ in the Wilcox and 

CJn.iborne. The same reason probably accounts 

:for the absence of the Pn.pavern.les, wl1ich have 

a single species :in the Wilcox but none in the 

Claiborne. 

The order Juglandales, which contributes 

eight species to the Wilcox and two species to 

the Claiborne, is represented .in the Jackson by 

three species-a single species of Engelhardtia 

and two species of Hicoria. The genus 

Engelhc~rcltia,, which has about ten recent 

species .in the southeastern Asiatic region and 

one in Centrn,l America, has a nu1nber of extinct species. It appears in the w·ilcox of 

sottthen,stern North America together with 

1nore pt·.irnitive :fonns of the same stock, which 

n.re regarded as ancestral and referred to the 

genus Pnrcwngelharcltia, but is first found in 

JDurope :in the lower Oligocene. Its history 

hn.s been so1newhat fully described elsewhere 30 

and .need not be repeated here. The hickories 

80 l3orry, B. \V., An Engelllardtia from the American Eocene: Am. 

Jour. Sci., 4th sor., voJ. 31, pp. 491-496, 1911; Notes on the geological 

history of tho walnuts and hickories: Plant World, vol. 15, pp. ~34-238, 

1912; 'l'ho lower Eocene floras of southoast.eru North America: U. S. 

Gool. Survey Prof. i~apor 91, pp. 78-SO, 1916. 

(H,icoria) are represented by both leaves and 

characteristic fruits in the Jackson. They 

represent a type which is not certainly known 

from earlier horizons but which has existed 

in America from the middle Eocene to the 

present, n.nd their former range· covered 1nost 

of the Northern Hemisphere. In so far as I 

know, this ·is the earliest record. of undoubted 

fruits of this genus. Its present range and 

geologic history have been discussed by me in 

other papers, to which the reader is referred 

for fuller information regarding this most interesting genus.:11 

The order Myricales has a single species of 

Myrica in the Jackson. Myrica is a .very old 

generic type and has n, large number of fossil 

species, which range fro1n the middle Creta-

·ceous to the present and is especially well represented in the Ripley fonnation of this region. 

The existing species are relatively few in num .. 

ber, are widely scattered geographically, and 

represent survivors ·from a Tertin.ry cosmopolitan distribution. The allied monotypic genus 

Oomptonia, which by some students is included in ltfyrica, has an extended geologic 

history, which I discussed 32 in 1906; Myrica 

is n1uch less abundant in our Eocene. than in 

the European Tertiary, although it was present 

in the embay1nent area throughout the Upper 

Cretaceous. Its Ineager representation in 

Eocene tin1e may possibly be due to the more 

tropical climate or n1ay simply represent accideD:ts of pre-servation and discovery. The 

modern Myricas are tmnperate n.nd subtropical, 

and n, nmnber of the species are coastal forms 

of either swan1j)S or sand dunes. Myrica 

zachariensis of the Jackson was evidently a 

coastal form and very sin1ilar to the existing 

Myrica cerifera, which ranges from New Jersey 

to Texas and is also found in the Bermudas 

and Bah~unas. Myrica cerifera is most abundant and vigorous in the sandy swamps along 

the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and its 

habitat n1ay also be· compared with that of 

Myrica wilcoxe'(l,sis of the earlier Eocene in this 

region, which seems to be the ancestral stock 

of the· species that occur· along the Eocene 

coast of the embayment. 

The order Fagales, which includes many 

well-known timber. trees of the Temperate 

s1 Berry, E. W., Not~s on the geological history of the walnuts and 

hickories: Plant Worlo, vol. 15, pp. 225-240, figs. 1-4, 1912; Smithsonia.n 

Just. Ann. Rept. for 1913, pp. 319-331, 1914. 

82 Berry, E. W., Liviqg and fossil spe~iesof Comptonia: Am. Naturalist, vol. 40, pp. 485-521), pis. 1-4, 1906. 
118 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS O:E' SOUTHJMSTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Zone and a very large number of fossil forms, are confined to tropical America, and it is 

comprises the two families Betulaceae and sometimes made a subgenus of Celtis, as. by 

Fagaceae. · These ftunilies together contain Engler. The present species is similar to 

about 4.50 existing species, about three-fourths Momisia aculeatct, a widespread form. of 

of which belong to the. Fagaceae. Although tropical America and the Antilles, which 

the Betulaeeae are characteristically developed reaches its northern limits in the valley of _the 

in the Upper Cretaceous of North America, Rio Grande-and on the Florida I(eys. Planera, 

they are unrepresented in the Eocene flora of a monotypic genus in the existing flora, where 

southeastern North America, · probably be- it is confined to the warmer and wetter part 

cause . the cliinate was too ·warm, and this of southeastern North America, has been · 

. probability may also account for the absence present in this region ever since Upper Cretaof true oaks, the ·Fagaceae being represented ceous time. · · 

in the Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson floras The Moraceae, which is by far the largest 

by the ·genus Dryophyllum, which includes six family of the order Urticales and the only 

rather widespread and locally common species. one ·abundantly represented in the Jackson 

The genus Dryophyllum is of world-wide _flora, contains between 900 and 1,000 existing 

distribution and sho·ws consistently· uniform species, which are segregated an1ong about 

characters throughout a wide vertical range 55 genera, of which. the genus Ficus is by far 

in. the late Cretaceous and early Eocene de- the largest., including about 60 per cent of 

posits from the Senonian to the Bartonian . the existing species of the family. The.· 

stage. It especially characterizes the dawn of . Moracen.e .are distinctly tropical and warm· 

the Eocene and :represents the ancestral stock, temperate types cwd are most abundant in 

froin which the genera Castanea, Castwnops·is, the oriental Tropics; tilthough the dominant 

. PaMJnia, and Quercus took .their origin, al- genus F'icus is widespread and the family also 

though this origin was in the late Cretaceous. is largely represented in the South American . 

As might be expected, Dryophyllum has long Tropics . 

. since .become· extinct. . The Jackson species, . There are 23 species of Mor~ceae in the Wilwhich survives from the Claiborne, apparently cox flora, which represent the generaArtocctrpus, 

was .. a strand type, as were also the many ArtocarzJidi·um, Pseudolmedia, and· Fic·us, but. 

species .from the sandy shores of the Upper F1:cus is the only genus ot the fm:nily that ha1;i 

Cretaceous sea of Rhenish Prussia which have been discovered in· the Claiborne or the Jackbeen .enumerated by Debey, the describer of son. Ficus has about 600 existing and 300 

the genus~ Dryophyllum is abundant in the fossil s.pecies and ha·s nearly a score of species 

Montian ofBelgium and in the littoral sands in the Wilco~, four species in. the Claiborne, 

·of. the French Eocene. A species of Castanea and six species in. the Jackson, two of which 

is .recorded from the _Jackson; but: it is quite originated in the Claib01:ne. As Ficus is sl.ICh · 

possible that _it :r,nay represent a second ·species a. large genus and as its numerous speCies have 

ofi.Dryophyllum. such a variety of habitats, the Jackson species 

The Urticales include the families Ulmaceae, do not afford definite evidence of their environMoraceae., and Urticaceae, . which together ment, but I assume fr01n the associated. flora 

contain . about ·1,600 existing species. The that they were coastal fonns, as are so 1nany 

· Ur.ticaceae ar.e larg~ly herbaceous forms and of the existing species, and grew in the beach 

are not represented in the Eocene of south- jungle, where they were distributed by fruiteastern North America. eating birds, so that they are thus comparable 

The ·Ulmaceae, · which . are partly extra- with_ the bowers of wild figs that have been 

tropical, comprise 13 genern and about 140 recorded by Se~Inan 33 in his description of the 

existing species that ar·e widely distributed existing flora of the coast of the Isthmus of 

in temperate and tropical regions. A single Panama. 

species of· Momisia, · which survives from· the The order Protenles includes the single fum-

. Claiborne, is present in the Jackson, and a ily Proteaceae, which has about 1,000 existing 

species of Planerct occurs in those beds which species. They include the prominent arboresare .doub.tfully referred to the upper Jackson. cent fonns of the Choripetalae in the Southern 

Momisia, which is not known elsewhere as 

~1 fossil;· has about 20 existing species, w}lich aa Seem;;1n, B. C., Flora. panamcnsis, Botany of H. J\f. S. Herald, pp. · 

57-346, 1852-1857. . 
UPPl~R EOCENl~ OR JACKSON' JTLORA. 

Hemisphere, t_o which regi_on all but the four I the .Unit~d States (the sea gr~pc and ~h. e. pigeon 

genera Roupala, PTotea, Leucosperm'u..m, and plum). rhe genus Goccolob~s contams about 

Iielicict are confined. They are usually con- 120 existing species, all ·confined to the warmer 

sidered as ·Australian types, and in fact 1nost 

of the genera and species are confined to that 

continent, yet there are four· genera in South 

America which together contain more than 

50 e;xisting species; several' genera are peculiar 

to the African flora; and the genus Helicia is 

predominantly Asiatic. 

The geologic history of the Proteaceae affords -a .most striking exmnple of the great 

difference in geographic distribution in fonner 

ages fro1n what could possibly be inferred fr~:m1 

a ~turly of the present geographic distribution 

of the n1embers of this fmnily. Although 

there are six species in the Wilcox, which 

represent the genera Palaeoclendron, Banlcsia, 

Proteoides, and J(nightiophyllum, no Ineinbers 

of the :family have yet been found in the 

Cln.iborne, and but a single species of Banlcsia 

11ppears in the J'ackson. Banlcsia is confined to 

the Australian region in the existing flora and 

contains about 50 species, which ha\'e a variety of habitats.· The fossil species are 

found t~u·oughout the Northern Hemisphere 

from the Upper Cretaceous and later deposits. 

'l'he Jackson species was probably a sandclune and ·beach-ridge type, as are several of 

th.e existing species. 

The order Polygonales includes the single 

fmni.ly Polygonaceae, which has about 800 

existing species that are segregated in about 

30 genera and widely distributed. They embrn.ce herbs, shrubs, . vines, nml trees. The 

flowers 11re nwstly cyclic nnd in their morphologic features ·show son1e evidences of 

tt·imsi tion between the choripetnlous alliances 

enumerated nbove and the Chenopoclinles. 

Except the widely distributed and much differentiated herbaceous genera Polygonum and 

R'nmex, the family is essentially An1erican. 

The geologic history of the family is practically 

unknown, but a large part of the .specific 

vn.rin.tion, particularly of the temperate herbaceous forms, seems to be relatively modern. 

'l'he fn.mily is represented· in the Jackson by 

the single genus Goccolobis, with two' species, 

which n.re survivors from the Claiborne. 

There ai·e two species in the Wilcox and two 

additional in th~ Claibm;ne, which represent 

the Eocene prototypes of the only two existing 

arborescent species of Polygonaceae that reach 

regions of America, and it ·appears to be of 

American origin .. These species, most of which 

are coastal forms, range from southeni Florida 

to Mexico, .Central Ainerica, Brazil, and Peru. 

The two modern species, which are so much 

like these ancestral Eocene :forms, are strand 

types, found from the F.loi·ida Keys through 

the West Indies to the northern coasts of South 

America. The conclusion is aln1ost irresistible 

that the Eocene forms had a simila.r range and 

an identical habitat. 

The Chenopodiales (Centrospermae of 1Dngler) include 10 familes, which ·culminate in the 

Ca.ryophyllaqeae and contain about 3,500. 

existing species. They appear to be illy 

assorted and show a wide range in fioral and 

·other morphologic characters. Perhaps ·a nla.-

jority are n1odern types. ~rhe single family 

Nyctaginaceae reptesents this order ·in the 

Jackson. · 

The Nyctaginaceae, which include about 150 

existing species, are predominantly American. 

They occur within the limits of the southern 

United· States on the. north to Chile and Argen-

'tina on the south. The genus Pisonia Plumier, 

the only genus thus far found in the Jackson 

flora, is represented by three especittlly wellmarked species. It comprises about 40 existing species, which live chiefly in the American 

Tropics, and includes the only existing arborescent form of the family found within the 

United States. It has a.n extended geologic 

history, for well-marked forms are found in 

the European and A1nerican Upper Cretaceous. 

The Jackson species were undoubtedly sti·and 

types, u.s are so n1any o~ the modet·n sp'ecies 

which inhabit the sea beaches, the shores of 

salt-water 1agoons and marshes, the scrub of 

beach ridges, n.nd the jungle behind them. In 

the existing flora Pisonin is associated. with 

Pithecolobium, Reynosia, Afetopium, Acncia, 

Bumelia, Gord~n, Goccolobis, Ocotea, Fagaia, 

Mimusops, Gonocctrpus, Cassia, Eugenia, Anona, 

Ficus, and other. genera, exactly as it· was 

during· the Wilcox, Claiborne, and. Jackson. 

Species of Pisonin occur in the Upper. Cretaceous of the Atlantic Coastal Plain (Black 

Creek formation)', as well as in the lower (Wilcox), middle. (Claiboi·ne), i111el upper (Jackson) 

E'ocene. 
120 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS ·OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

The order RanaJes, a highly unnatural as- The third family of Ranales, the Menispersemblage, is represented by three families in maceae, is represented by a single form referred 

the Jackson. The families Magnoliaceae ·and to the genus ~fenispermites, a type abundantly 

Nymphaeaceae, which were ·present in this represented in the Upper Cretaceous and still 

·region in· the. Upper Cretaceous· and lower present in this region. 

Eocene; have not been found: in the Jackson. · The order Rosales includes about 18 families 

The Anonaceae, which were abundantly repre- and more than 1,400 existing species. The 

sE:mted in the Wilcox, have a single Jackson largest modern families are the Mimosaceae, 

species, and the family Myristicaceae appears Caesalpiniaceae, Papilionaceae, Rosaceae, Saxifor the first time ·in the record at this time, fragaceae, and Crassulaceae. The first three, 

being represented by the fruits of a species of which belong to the alliance or superfamily 

Myristica. Myristica, to which the commercial ·Leguminosae, are represented in the Jackson. 

nutmeg belongs, contains more than 100 exist- The Mimosaceae of the Jackson comprise three 

ing species, which are widely distributed in the species of Mimosites and one of lnga. The 

Tropics of both hemispheres. About 25 species Jackson forms are plants of. the strand. I 

are American-mainly South American-a!- would expect to find Pithecolobium in the Jackthough the sections (often considered genera) son flora, for it "is present in the· Wilcox, and it 

Virola and Compsoneura both occur in Central may ~ventually be discovered. The. CaesalAmerica. They are small t~ees, commonly piniaceae is represented in the Jackson by three 

insular in their range, and ~ndicate a strictly· species of. Cassia, which are also coastal tropical 

tropical climate. Four species are recordeq. by types, and one species of Bauhinia. There are 

Schimper in his Indo-Malayan strand flora, so . five genera and 26 species of Caesalpiniaceae 

that the Jackson species is not out of place in the Wilcox and two genera and threespecies 

among the representatives of an upper Eocene in the Claiborne, so that the Jackson material 

strand flora (beach. jungle), The Jackson is evidently not especially i'epresentative. 

Anona belongs to a family,· the Anonaceae, The genus Bauhinia has many existing spewhose 700 existing species are almost· exClu- cies of "trees or clilnbing shrubs with characsively confined to 'the Tropics. teristic leaves. They inhabit the . equatorial 

The gerius Anona includes 15 to 20 fossil regions and the warn1er parts of the Temperate 

· species, .five of which are also represented by Zone. Bauhinia appears in the geologic record 

seeds. The oldest species comes from the as early as the Upper Cretaceous in this general 

Dakota ·sandstone. A second species is found region (from New Jersey to Alabmna and Tenin the late Cretaceous or· e$,fly Eocene of the nessee), characteristic species having been 

Rocky Mountain province, and there are four found in the Raritan, Magothy, Tuscaloosa, 

well-marked species in the Wilcox. I assume Eutaw, and Ripley fonnat~ons. This is, howthat the· Jackson form had habits similar to ever, the ·first recorded occurrence of the genus 

those of rriost of the existing species, as exem- in the Tertiary of southeastern North America~ 

plified by Anona glabra .Linne, the pond apple The Papilionaceae, the most highly evolved 

of Florida, which grows in shallow fresh-water florally and also the .most 1nodern types of Leswamps, iow shady hammocks, or along stream guminosae, are represented in the Jackson by 

borders near the coast. Otner specl.es occur in two species of Sophora, one of Lonchocarp'l.."s, 

tl).e low coppice association or on edges of arid one· of Papilionites. The genus Sophora 

brackish swamps on the Ba~amas. The culti- contains about 25 existing species of shrubs 

vated species, tt,s the Americ:tt-n Anona retic·u.lata and s~all trees,· which are scattered over the 

Linne, whieh is planted in Guam, often spread warmer parts . of both hemispheres and are 

naturally along the inner beaches. From the found on all tropical seashores. About a dozen 

prevalent habit among the existing species, the fossil species are known. In addition to North 

growth in wet shaded soils i~: evidently an old America they. are found in both Europe_ and 

characteristic, and as the J·a.ckson Anona is Asia- during th~ Eocene epoch. Though. few 

associated with a strand flor·a, the assumption species have been described, the genus is widely 

that it grew on the inner beaches ·or the shaded distributed in .the European Miocene deposits, 

and swampy edges of lagoons possesses every where Sophora europaea Unger was a common 

.. degree of probability. coastal form of the Mediterranean region 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON ~LORA. 121 

throughout the Miocene and in to the Pliocene 

epoch. . There are seven species in the Wilcox 

and three in 'the Claiborne, and·t:wo of the Claiborne species survive into the Jackson. They 

are ,;cry similar to the existing Sophora tomentOS(L, u. cosmopolitan tropical beach plant. I 

would expect to find Dalber;gia and Canavalia 

in the J·ackson, for both are u.bundant in the 

lower Eocene of southeastern North 4,Inerica, 

but neithm: has yet been discdvered. 

The genus Lonchocarp'ltS, which belongs· to 

the tribe Dalbergieae, is found in the deposits 

which are tentatively referred to the upper 

Jn,ckson, where it is present in the f0rm of 

numerous characteristic pods. The many existing species are 1nainly tropical and largely 

An1erican. The only fossil; occurrences of 

LO'Iwhoc(trp'ltS outside of the South American 

Tertiary are the present species and another, 

also bu.sed on pods, found in the Cohansey sand 

of southern New Jersey, of late 1'ertiary age. 

A fourth Jackson family of Rosales is the 

limnamelidaceae, which is represented by 

nmnerous fruits of Liguidambar in the deposits 

that are here tentatively referred to the upper 

Jackson. No traces of leaves have been 

found, but the fruits are characteristic. The 

genus has :four existing species, n1uch alike but 

hu.ving a very disconnectecl range in the 

Northern llemisphere. Several Tertiary species, which serve to bridge the .gaps in the distribution of the existing species, are known. 

The n1odern species are not tropical but are 

1nesophytic forms of warm temperate regions, 

or upland types of tropicu.l regions. 34 

The order Geraniales includes 21 fa~n'ilies 1111el 

1nore thu.n 10,000 existing species, of which 

nearly hnlf belong to the f111nily El.1phorbiaceae. 

The other large families in the order of. their 

size are the Rutaceu.e, Melia·c.eae, Malpighia-· 

ceae, and Polygalaceae, each of which contains 

1nore than 500 existing. species. The Rutaceae, 

Meliaceae, Malpighiaceae, and Burseraceae 

are sparingly represented in tl1e J acl):son flora. 

Only the first two occur in the Claiborne, but 

· there are representatives of ~{.X. families in the 

Wilcox-the Rutaceae, Meliaceae, · Simarubaceae, l~[umiriaceae, Malpighi~?e~e, and Euphorbiaceae, the last of which ha$':· five species; It 

is surprising that the gener.'a.;:·.Orotonophyllum 

and Drypetes of th~ Euphqi:biaceae, which . ,; 

84 Berry, E. W., Tho geological history }>f the sweet gum and witch 

hazel: Plant World, vo!': 22, pp. 345-354, figs. 2, 1919. 

·appear in the Wilcox of this area, have not 

been detected in either the Claiborne or the 

Jackson. 

The Rutaceae of the Jackson comprise four 

forms of Fagara which· are common to the 

overlying Vicksburg. The ·genus Fagara Linne 

is substituted for Xanthoxylum by many recent 

·systematists, although F pr~er· to consider it 

'as the ancestral stock and use it in the older 

sense, as including the 150 cosmopolitan tropical species. To X anthoxylum I would refer the 

extratropical forms of Asia and North America. Undoubtedly sev~ral if not all of the 

fossil forms descrihed .. as species of X anthoxyl'ltm are more prop~dy referred to Fagara, 

although none have heretofore been described 

under this name except:forms from Florissant, 

Colo., and from California, which are probably 

referable to .LYanthoxyl'liin. · The Tertiary flora 

of southeastern North A~eri.ca contains several 

·very ·characteristic fopns of Fagara. The 

oldest forms are three species from the Wilcox 

group. There are two· a_;qditional species in the 

qverlying Claiborne gi·.oup. The Vicksburg 

group has furnished a.· very common form, 

·which· has several well-marked varieties, in 

some of the leaves of· which ·the glandular 

punctate character is beautifully preserved. 

'l'hese forms make their first appearance in the 

Jackson. Still another. form is found in the 

Alum Bluff fol'mation of Florida. 

The family Meliaceae ·is represented in the 

Jackson· by an abundint species of Cedrela, .. 

although the· genus Carapa occurs in both the 

Wiicox and Claiborne. The. gen.~s Cedrela, 

wh\ch is sometimes made the t'ype of an independent fu.mily, the Cechelaceae, is represented 

in southeastern North America by four Wilcox. 

and one Claiborne and-·!Jackson species, which 

are the Eocene prototypes of ·the existing 

American sp~cies. . '"fhis genus, which includes 

nirie or te'n existing species,. is confined to 

America at the present .time and is known outside this area only in two species from the Miocene deposits of Croati~, which Unger referred 

to ·cedrela, and an un4e~ribeq Cedrela, which 

is recorded by Ettingsh~u~en from the Y presian 

of the south of .Englanct:· . 

The family Malpighiff6eae, which is confined 

·to tropical and subtropical countries, contains 

about 55 genera and 650 existing species, many 

of which are scandent, i:p.cluding some of the 

finest lianas of the Tropics, ~hose stems are 

0 . 
122 MIDDLE AND UPPER. EOCl<}NE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NOltTH AMERICA. 

as much as 2 decimeters "in diameter. Others are confined to . America. As .in both the 

are .shrubs and trees. The.leaves are opposite Wilcox and Claiborne, the Jackson representaand simple and the fruits drupaceous, ·capsular, tives of this family comprise the g'enera Oupaor nutlike· and many of them winged~ . The nites, Dodonaea, ·and Sapindus. The ·modern 

only species .that reaches the United States is Cupanieae . are represented in· paleobotanic 

Byrsonima lucida (Swartz) De CandoHe,. a .literature not only by Oupania but by species 

small evergreen tree of the Florida Keys. of Oupanites and Oupanoides. · The term OupaThe . family is J"i'edominantly American in ·noides was proposed by Bower bank for. cupaits distribution,· more than 67 per cent of both niaceous fruits and seeds, of which he described 

genera and species being confined to th~ West- several characteristic species from the Ypresian 

ern Hemisphere (37 genera and 440 species). of the Isle of. Sheppey. Similar forms ·have 

None of the genera occur in more than ·one also been recognized in the Miocene· of Carcontinental area. The Jackson representative niola and .in the Pliocene of Italy. The genus 

of· the family is ·a single species of Banisteria, . Oupania Linne ·contains about 35 existing 

a descendant of one of the four species of this species, which are confined to· the American 

genus that is represented by both foliage and .Tro·pics. Several Ypresian species from t~e · 

fruit in the antecedent Wilcox. south of England have been referred to. it by 

The family Burseraceae includes about 16. Ettingshausen, and it has also been recorded 

genera and over 300 existing species. Ten of from the Miocene of the Island of Sakhalin . 

. the genera and about 210 species ~re confined The greater number of Oupania-like forms 

to the Eastern Hemisphere, mostly in·· Asia have, however, been referred ·to the genus 

and 'Africa; .. four genera and ·about 90 species Oupanites Schimper, of which about a dozen 

are· confined to the Western Hemisphere; and .'species have been described, and with the 

the genera Protium and Pachylobus are com:- exception of extremely_ doubtful forms froin. 

mon to the two hemispheres. The family is the Upper Cretace'ous of .New Zealand and the 

made. up of resinous trees or shrubs 'that bear Tertiary of Australia the oldest authentic ocalternate exstipulate, pinnate leaves- and dru- . currences ·are the two species of the Wilcox 

paceous fruits. The Jackson form represents ·flora. · There is a third species in the o~erlying 

either the modern Bursera or Protium, both of . Claiborne group and a fourth in· the Jackson. 

which are largely developed in the American The oldest ;European form comes from the late 

Tropics. Oligocene of Styri~. Miocene species are 

The order Sa.pindales, which is sometimes. recorded from Germany, Bohemia, Austria, 

.called the Celastrales, includes adout 20 fami- . Croatia, and Hungary. 

lies and about 3,200 existing species. The The genus Dodonaea Linne, which .is often 

. largest fampies in number of species are ·the made the type of a distinct family; the DodoSapindaceae, which cc:mtain more than twice naeiweae, 'includes about 50 existing species, 

as inany species as any of the .others; the four-fifths of which are .Australian. Dodonaea 

Celastraceae, J\..rtacardiace'ae, Balsaniinaceae, viscosa Linne is cosmopolitan in ·the 'lropics, 

·and Ilicaceae. The only. families represented and ·there are one or ·two additional species in 

in the Jackson are the Sapindaceae and Ana- the American 'lropics, as well as one in, the 

cardiaceae, although the Celastraceae is found Hawaiian Islands and another in Madagascar. 

in the Claiborn~ and the Ilicaceae occurs in The genus (including Dodonaeites) was. evithe Wilcox. dently widespread in former times, and more 

·The family .Sapindaceae consists of about than a sqore of fossil species, based on beth 

118 genera and more than 1,000 existing speci~s .leaves and fru~ts, have been described. The 

9f ·trees or shrubs that bear alternate pinnate .oldest kiwwn forms ·are two· species in the 

e~stipulate persistent or .qeciduous leaves .and Ypresian stage.of the south of England and 'the 

drupaceous or capsula.r fruits, whose seeds ·are two. contemporaneous species in· the Wilcox, . 

cr.ustaceous and mostly solitary. About one- which are represented by both leaves and chatthird· of the ·genera ar~ liarias. The family is. acteristic fruits.. l'he Claiborne species, which 

chiefly. co11fi~ed to tropjcal and subtrop~cal survives into the Jackson, is very si:r:nilar to the 

.. regions,· and 27. of the genera, or· about 23 per existing strand plant Dodonaea viscosa, and this 

cent·, and. 345 of. the. species, or 34 per c.ent, same species is ~xceedingly. abundant ill the 
. 123 

lower J'nckson. The genus Sct1Jinclns includes a species, all large tropical trees and almost conln.rge number 'of fossil species n.nd is n.bundn.nt .fined to America. There is a single species in 

and widespread from the dawn of the Upper Africn., ~ibout six in southern Asia, and one in 

Cretn.ceous epoch to the present. There ai·e Australia.. 'l'he fossil species number more 

two well-marked species in the Tuscn.loosa for- than 20, the old~st known being a common 

mation of the eastern Gulf area and one in the form in tl;te Perucer beds (Cenomanian) of 

Bingen and Woodbine formations of the west- Bohen1ia and Moravia. There are three species 

ern Gulf area·. Nine species are n.bundantly in the Ypresian stn.ge of southern ~ngland and 

represented in the Wilcox, five. occur in the two well-marked forms in the Wilcox; fron1 

Claiborne, and t\\ro occur.in the Jackson. The one of the last of which the Jackson species is 

J·ackson species luis survived from the Cln.i- probably a direct descendant. Five_ or six 

borne. They are similar in character and Oligocene species are recorded from Frn.nce, 

identical in habitat with the existing Sapinclus Saxony, Bohemia,· and Carniola. · The genus is 

S(tponm"ia, a prominent member of the strand represented in the early Oligocen~ (Sannoisian) 

flora of the. American Tropics, which is dis-:- of southeastern France not only by the foliage 

persed ln.rgely by n1eans .of ocean currents. but by beautifully preserved flowers, so that 

The ordet· Rhan1nales, which comprises the there is little ground for questioning the cortwo fan1ilies H.hamnaceae and Vitaceae, is rectness of the identifications. There are seven 

usually represented in fossil floras of the Upper Miocene species from Bohemia, Croatia, Styria, 

Cretaceous and "l''ertiary by at least l:t few species and Australia, arid others in the Miocene of 

of Rhamnus. Thus Rhamnus and Zizyph·us were South America. 

both present in this area during the Upper Ore- The family Sterculiaceae includes about 5 

tn.ceous epocl~; Rhamnus, ~hamnites, Zizyphus, genera and SOO existing species of mostly 

. PaU·wnts, and Reynosia are abundant in the tropical shrubs and trees which· bear prevailWilcox; and Rhamn1ts, Rhamnacini·um, Zizy- ingly large simple or digitately lobed or divided 

phus, and Reynosia occur in the Cla.iborJJe. leaves. ·The geologic history of the family exThe genera Rhamnites, Euonymus, Oeanothus, tends back to the base of the Upper Cretaceous 

and Pali'W''I.ts, the last representing an early. but is confined to a relatively few genera. 

occurrence of an Oligocene (Vicksburg) .species, The mos.t abundant of these genera is Sterculia 

are· i)l·esent)n 't:Q,~ Jackson; the two last are, Linne, which in· the .~xisting flora comprises 

unknown in 'the Claiborne. . · about· 100 species. of large-leafed trees. It is 

The ord~i·; Mal vales is represented in th<::: repFesented in bq.th ·the Wilcox a":ld Claiborne 

Jackson by the f~milies Tiliaceae, Bombaca.:.. of this area but is represented in the Jackson 

. ceae, and Sterculinceae~ The family Tiliaceae at hut a single locality. Large and characterhas two species in the Jn.ckson, representi1ig the istic leaves of a species of B1.tettneria are found 

genera Grewiopsis and Tilia. . ~'he first is an in the Fayette sandstone. The other member 

old genus of American origin in Upper Creta- o{ this· family fro~ beds .of Jackson age is 

ceous time, and the Jackson species is probably based upon pet~ified wood that is referred to 

lt descendant of a Claiborne form. The modern the genus Dombeyoxylon and that is· supposed 

species are referred to the genus Grewia and 'are to be related to the genus Dombeya, which is 

African. and. oriental in their distribution, an African genus in the existing flora but which 

although the genus was present in Europe dur- has n.ncestral forms, known as Dombeyopsis, in 

ing the Tertiary.· There is an especially well- both North America and Europe. · 

marked species of Tilia in the Fayette sand- ~rhe order Parietales includes 30 familie~ and 

stone, of Jackson age, representing this familiar more than 4,000 existing species. The largest 

and ;mostly temperate type of tree. · families are the Guttiferae (77 5 species), 

The second family, the Bombacaceae, which Flacourtiac.eae (530 species), Begoniaceae (425 

includes 20 genera and about i20 existing species), Violaceae (400 spede~), and Dipterospecies, is confin~d to the Tropics, and prin- carpaceae (330 species). .None of these families 

cipally to the American Tropics. The only are found in the Jackson, where the order is 

known fossil forms are those of the genus Bom- represen~ed by the family Ternstroemiaceae, 

bax or the allied Bombaciphyllum and Bomba- which is also present in the Tuscaloosa, Ripley, 

cites. Bombax Linne includes about 50 existing Wilcox,· and Claiborne floras of this region. 

68844-24-9 
124 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA~ 

The . family Ternstroemiaceae (Theaceae) ' and Tertiary time, like that of 1nany other 

contains . about 16 genera and 175 cxi~ting · plant groups, is surprisingly extensive. The 

species, :which are mostly tropical, though they original home. of the genus is unknown, for it 

extend into the N 6rth Temperate Zone in both appears in the early part of the Upper CretaNorth America and eastern Asia (Thea, Gor- ceous at about the srune tune in central Europe, 

dania, and Stewartia). The remarkable pair- Greenland, North Alnerica, and South A1nerica. 

ing between North America and Asia indicates The European and North A1nerican records 

an extended geologic history, which is unfor- appearto be slightly older than the others and 

tunately for the most part entirely unknown. would indicate that the Asiatic region 1nay 

The genus Ternstroemia Nuttall (antedated by have been the . original home of the· genus, 

Taorwbo Aublet) includes several fossii speCies, which spread northeastward across the Bering 

the oldest of which ( Ternstroemiphyllu.m) region to A!nerica and northwestward into the 

comes from the Perucer beds (Cenomanian) of European region, which was largely an archiBohemia.· It is represented by two species in pelago at that time. .The Eocene records inthe Ypresian of the Isle of Wight, one in the elude all the co:b.tinents except· the Antarctic 

Miocene of Bohemia, and another in the , Continent and South America. The Oligocene 

Miocene of Croatia. I have. described four records are chiefly European and African, alwell-markcd species of Ternstroemites from the though the genus is still represented in Florida. 

Wilco·x group, two from the Claiborne group, During· the Miocene Oinnamomum was a bunand two in the Jackson, one of the Jackson dant in Europe and also occurred. in Asia but 

species surviving ...from the Claiborne~ appears ·to have bec01ne extinct in North 

The order Thymeleales, to which I refer the America. At least there r are no conclusive 

Lauraceae, has 31 Wilcox species, 12 Claiborne· North American records; The Pliocene rocspecies, and 16 Jackson species. The.Lauraceae, ords are entirely European and East Indian .. 

·which includes more than 1,000 existing species The genus appears to have lingered as- a conlin ~bout 50 genera, is often placed near the mon type in Mediterranean Europe until the 

Anonaceae in the R~nalian plexus. It is, changing climates that ushered in .the Pleistciabundan'tly represented in all the Tropics, and cene glaciatiol). ,yaused its extinction. 

·some of the ancient genera like Sassafras have-. The genus Persea, which was present in both 

_.penetrated long distances into the Temperate tl};e Wilcox. artd Claiborne, has not been discovZone. The Lauraceae are. abundant in all ered in the Jackson. There are five species of 

Upper ·cretaceous and Tertiary floras, particu- 'Mespilodaphne in the ·Jackson, as compared 

larly in areas adjoining the equatorial zone, as: ~with two in the Claiborne and four in the W:llin southeastern_. North America. Th~ largest . ~cox. The ffiodern species of Mespilodaphne . 

tribe of Lauraceac, the Cinnamomeae, includes are confined to. South Africa and tropical 

m_ore.than 500 species, which are ehdemie on all America. The fossil record is almost entirely 

the ·continents but, Europe, though chiefly the merged in the forms referred to the form genus 

Asiatic and American. 6J'he fc;>.ur genera Persea, Lauru~. The ·genus Oreodaphne, which is repPhoebe, Notaphoebe, and M~spilodaphne (all resent~d by characteristic forms in the Upper 

large genera except Mespilodaphne) are found Cretaceous of this region, has seven Wilcox and 

' in both hemispheres; Oinnamomum and Ma- two Claiborne species b.ut is represented by a 

ch~lus are Oriental; and Oreodaphne·, Strychno- single species in the Jackson,· 

daphne, and. Nectandra and the n1onotypic Nectandra is represented in the Jackson flora 

genera Pleurothyrium, Umbellularia, Dicypel- by thr~e species. The geologic history of Neclium, and Synandrodaphne are OccidcJ?-tal. tandra, which includes ab.out seventy ex·isting 

There are two· species of Oinnamomum in species that are confined to tropical and subthe Jackson-one a new type 9o:nfi.nfid to the tropical America, l.s probably entangled with 

Claiborne and Jackson and .the .second~ a ·thatofthefossilformsthatarereferredtoLaurus. 

widely distributed form. Though the :r·ecor,q$ It qccurs in the Anierican Upper Cretaceous and 

for constructing the geologic history of. Qinna-. the Eu~opean and South American. Tertiary. · 

momum are far from complete, the knownJo~~il, There,!!. are at least five characteristic Wilcox 

species are more numerous tha;n. the .. ·. :~:e~~}il:t: ... ~p_eci~~,- some o_f which were abundant along the 

· 'sp~des,· and the r~nge_dur~ng 'QpperCrt{t_~ce~,li;~.::-.}Yilco:x: cQasts a;nd sorri_e range from the base to 
i25 

the top o:f the deposits of that age. There are A1nerica and in con1paratively recent tin1es has· 

t!1ree Cln.iborn.e species, n.nd mie of theJn con- extended.its range northward through the Batinues .i1.1to the J·ackson. Like Oreodaphne, hamas to Bennuda. On the west coast it is 

this gen~1s appears to hn.ve been of A;merican found northward to Lower Californi~1 and southorigin, but it became cos1nopolitan in the Ter- ward to the Galapagos _Islands. RhizophoTa 

tiat·y period and was restricted to its original mv,cronata Lrunarck ranges :frmn southern J fl.-

home during the Pleistocene epoch. It is still pan to northern Australia and westward to 

a vigorous and nuwh differentiated type on the east Africa. Rhizophm~a conj7.t[lata Linne is ' 

AJnericn.n continents. confined to tropical Asia. Douhtless ni.oclern 

A doubt:fu:IIy detennined fruit fro1n the Jack- systernatists will differentiate additional speson is referred to the genus MalazJoenna, and cific fonns, but because o:f the rather unifonn 

two varieties of petrified wood are referred to habits of these plants such difrerentiation will 

the .fonn genus Ln1.t1·inoxylon . . A second type be based on 1ninor cluu·acters .. These and 

of fntit is described under the sunple category other so-called mangrove plants possess the 

o:f In.uraceous fruit. ·· singular ability to flourish in sea water .and in 

The order Myrtales, as developed in the their manner of life and clevelop1nent have 

Jn.ckson, contains representatives of three fain- become well adapted both structurally and 

ilies-the H.hizophoracen.e, C01nbretaceae, and physiologically to their Jnode of existence, so 

~{yrtaceae-seven species in all, as COlnpared that they have beCOJne \videly dissen1inated 

with n.bout 7,000 existing Myrtales, 22 in the and individually .abundant; in :fact, they are 

W'ilcox flot'a, and five in the ,Claiborne flora. the 1nost rmnarkably specialized p~ants :for this 

Among the 1nost interesting Jackson forms habitat known, n.nd their specialization was in 

.is a species of Rhizophora. The· Rhizophora- a 1neasure reached in the Eocene epoch. 1'his 

ceae consists of about 60 species of shrubs and specialization inch1de~ the development of 

trees, which ai'e ·segregated into 16 genera. pnemnatophores and prop roots, the tolerance 

They ai'e all fonns that live on tropical coasts, of salt water, the gennination of the seeds beand mn.ny of then1 have becmne specialized for fore shedding (viv!parity), and the floating 

a tidal habitat, so that they form thickets in power of the seedling,· which is horizontal in· 

the 1nud. o:f tidal estua1·ies and· ai'e abundant ·sea water of full density but becmnes vertical 

even in regions like the Pacific coast of Central in water of reduced specific gravity, so that 

.America, where the high tides sub1nerge the1n the seedlings cmne to rest in the shallow water 

:more or less COlnpletely twice a. day. They of estUai'ies ana sinlilar situations where 

h,ave also become specialized to run extraordi- strea1ns a.re. disc.harging into the sea. The 

nary degree for distribution by OG~ ttn currents~ mangroYes ·do 1nuch work n.s Inakei·s of land, 

The center of distribution o:f the Ihodern fornis as has often been described; and they ai'e espeseems to be the Indian Oeean. · Most of 'the cially well developed on low shores around the 

species 111·e :found fr01n Madagasc·ar to the East heads of tropical or subtropical bays and estuIndies, whence they range for gi·eater or less anes. 

distances t]u;ough Polynesia to and beyond The family Combretacen.e (Terminaliaceae) 

the north con.st of Australia. Little is kno\vn embraces about 16 genera and 285 existing 

of the geologic history of the :fa1nily, for Rhizo- species of shrubs or tree's and tropiqal vines 

11h01'a, is the only genus represented by fossils that bear simple, entire, coriaceous, persistent, 

and is not certainly known· outside the Jackson. exstipulate, alternate or opposite leaves. The 

There 111·e tlU'ee existing species of Rhizo- inflorescence is racemose or· capitate, and the 

21h01'a. flhiZ01Jhorn mctngle Linne of the Ameri- flowers are regular, perfect or polygamous, 

can Tropics is fopnd as far· north as Mosquito and many of them apetalous. The stamens 

Inlet and Ced111· ICey in peninsul111· Florida anct are two or three times as num~rous as the petals, 

at .the n~outh of the ~1ississippi; it also extends and the one-celled ovary develops into a 

frOJn the Mexican coast for son1e distance along drupaceous or berry-like indehiscent fruit, 

the coast of Texas. It occurs throughout the which in many species is crowned with the 

Bahn.m·as and West Indies and very generally accrescent calyx and which contains a sqlitary 

tlu·oughout Central America and northern South seed wit.hout endosperm. The existing species 

• 
126 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

are all tropical or subtropical and range from Eugenia, which includes about 1,300 species340 north latitude to 35° south latit~de, and a are the only two genera found on all the conrelatively large number are littoral or strand tinents. America contains 135 species of 

types. · Myrtus and 850 species of Eugenia,· or n1ore 

The geologic history of the family is most than 7 5 per. cent of ·the species in the genus 

incomplete, but it is exceedingly prominent Myrtus ·and more than 65 per cent of those in 

in the Wilcox flora, where it is represented not the genus Eugenia. The· second subfamily, 

only by characteristic leaves but by . flowers the Leptospermoideae, comprises the Leptoand fruits. The Wilcox genera are Oombretum, spermae, which contain 28 genera and about 

Oombretanthites, Terminalia, Oonocarpus, and 700 species, and the Chamaelaucieae, which 

Laguncularia. Four of these genera, namely, contain 12 genera and about 165 species. Both 

· Terminalia; Oombretum, Oonocarpus, and these tribes are even more strikingly Australian 

Laguncularia, are continued through the Clai- than the 'Myrtoideae are American. The 

borne. Lagunc11:laria has not· been found in Chamaelaucieae are entirely Australian and 

·the Jackson, but Termi7~;alia, Oombretum, and ·are mainly confined to western Australia. The 

Oonocarpus are present, the two last mentioned Leptospermae include a single . monotypic 

being represented by the same species as in the genus in Chile, and the distribution of the other 

Cbiborne. · · men1bers of this tribe suggests that it should 

. The genus Oonocarpus is a member of the be placed in some other alliance, for with the 

tropical mangrove association, very close to exception of Metrosideros, which is represented 

the modern form of the American Tropics. in Africa; and Baeckea, which reaches the , 

Fruits of Oonocarpus have also been described re- Asiatic mainland, 'all the genera are confined 

cently from the Aquitanian of Rhenish Prussia. to Australia or the surrounding islands southTerminalia is a large genus in the existing east of Asia. 

flora and contains more than 100 species that The genus Myrcia probably goes back to the 

are almost equally divided between America,. Upper Cretaceous. It is abundant in the 

Asia, Africa, and Australia; several of the Wilcox and is. sparingly represented in the 

species are very wide-ranging littoral types. Claiborne ;and Jackson; as well as in tlie later 

In southeastern :North America one species· ·vicksburg: · A great :,inany of the existing 

has been obtained from the Midway ( ~), three species are tropical and subtropical strand 

froJ:.Il the Wilcox, represented by ·both leaves pla~ts. 35 It··is singular that the allied large 

an!f fruit, one from the Claiborne, and another :'and · typically . American family Melastomafrom the Jackson. Oombretum has about 130 t·aceae is not represented in either the Claiexisting species in all tropical lands except borne or Jackson. It has two characteristic 

Au.stralia and Polynesia. There are three species in t4e. Wilcox, and there are abol}.t 2,500 

species 1n the Wilcox and one in the Claiborne. existing species in the American Tropics, whei·e 

The family Myrtaceae includes over 3,100 several fossil forms have also been found. 

existing species, which are separated by tax- The order Umbellales (Umbelliflorae of 

onomists into two subfamilies. The first of. Engler) includes ~nly three families~the 

these · 'subfamilies~ the Myrtoideae, ··comprises Araliaceae, Umbelliferae, and Cornaceae-but 

32 genera and about 2,400 species, which are more than 3,000 existing species, of which 

niostly tropical forms, and m<;>re than 7 5 per more than two-thirds belong ·to the Umbelli-

·cent of them are confined to theW estern Hemi- ferae. The three families ·are closely related 

sphere. There· are more -than 200 species and stand somewhat apart from the rest. of the. 

in Asia, one of which extends into southern choripetalous orders. Though undoubtedly 

Europe, about 75 in Africa, about 200 in . there ha.s been g~eat. specific variatibn in 

. Australia, and about · 60 in Oceanica. Nine- ;nod ern times, es~eCially among the herbaceous 

teen genera are confined to America, including. o~ms of Umpelhferae, .some members of the 

th l th · t · · th b alliance can be traced back as far as undoubted 

e on y ree mono ypiC genera In e su ..; d' 1 d h b f d · d h' f f ·1 11 . 1 d · tl d'ff Icoty e ons ave een oun , an t IS act a~I y, as we · ~s arge .an g~·ea Y I er- is one of the strongest arguJ?lents for considerentiated genera hke ;Myrc~a, whiCh has more · th 1 t' h'· f th T'r b llif t th · . mg ere a wns Ipso e •ym e erae o e than 450 speCies. The two other large genera....:...__: . a:; Berry, E. W ., The origin and distribution of the Myrtaceae: Bot. 

Myrtus, · which includes 178 species, and Gazette, vol. 59, pp. 484-490,1915. 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 127 

G11mopetaln.e to be less close than some botanists have suggested, a suggestion that is based 

pl'imarily on a. consideration of the floral 

structures apart from the morphologic features 

of the whole plants. · · 

1'he fu.:mily Araliaceae contains about 52 

genern a~d 500 existing species, ·which are 

chiefly inhabitants of the Tropics, though nota-· 

ble exceptions are found inN orth America and 

e11stern Asia. The modern center of developInent is in Asia and Australia, and no less than 

33 genera are confined to Asia, Malaysia, Austn1lia, or Polynesia. The fossil record is riot 

nearly complete e~ough to afford a secure basis 

for generalizations. Several genera are found, 

however, in the oldest deposits in which uncfoubted dicotyledons are known. The ln.rgest 

genu~ is Arnlia, which is commonly used 'by 

pn.leobotn.nists 11s a form genus for generically 

unidentified species of Arn1iaceae, rather than 

for forms falling within a strict I)lodern definition of Arnlia .. No. less than 50 species of 

Ar.cLlicL haYe been described from the Cretaceous, 

n.nd they ar~ abundant ·at this time in southeastern North America~ The 1\.raliaceae of the 

Wilcox .include three species of Arnlin and two 

of Oreopnnnx.. There is a species of Oreopanax 

in the Claiborne which surviYes into the· Jackson and is the sole representative of the family 

in the Jackson deposit. This genus contains 

about 80 exif:?ting species, which are divided into 

sin1ple, lobate, and digitate leaJed sections, and 

is confined to tropical America, though its 

fossil forms· occur in the Paleocene, Tong1:ian, 

and Aquitanian of France. 

The Cornaceae is a relatively small family 

and is mostly confined to the Temperate Zone 

in "the Recent epoch but has lived under .very 

different climatic conditions during its geologic 

history. Tl~e genera · Oornus and Nyssa .are 

represented in both the Upper Cretaceous and 

Wilcox of . southeastern North America, and 

Nyssn occurs in both the Claiborne and Jackson. The genus Nyss.a Linne (including also 

Nyssidium fleer and Nyssi{es Geyler and· 

l{inkelin) con1prises about seven existing 

· species that range from shrubs to large trees 

and are natives of southeastern N orth.America 

and eastern and ce_ntral· Asia. · It is represented by more than 50 fossil. forms, most of 

them based on· characteristic costate stones of 

the fruit and found from the Upper ~retaceous 

onward. The genus is appare.ntly of occidental 

origin. 

No family of the Choripetalae has succeeded 

in maintaining a world-wide distribution, as 

have several families of Monocotyledonae and 

Gamopetalae. No distinctly boreal group has 

been developed, as among the Gamopetalae 

(Ericales). Certain great families: characterize 

~he north temperate· region, and these are 

all herbaceous forms and are believed to be 

of relatively recent. origin, such as Polygonaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cruciferae, Saxifragaceae, Onagraceae, and · a majority of the 

Ul)lbelliferae. Though aquatic forms are common, this habit does not characterize whole 

families, as among the Monocotyledonae. The 

Choripetalae predominate in the American . 

Tropics, and many· of the ·families which are 

represented in· the 'l~ertiary deposits of southeastern North America probably originated in 

that region. 

The sec.ond grand division of the Dicotyledonae, the Gamopetalae. (Sympetalae), constitutes a rather well defined group, which is 

presumably derived from the Choripetalae and 

which is characterized ·by a complete cyclic 

arrangement of the floral parts, a corolla that is 

generally gamopetalous, and ovules that have a 

small nucellus and as a rule a single integument. 

The Gamopetalae contain nine or ten orders 

and more than 50,000 existing species; Most 

of the ~rders appear to be more .compact and. 

natural groups than the corresponding alli- · 

ances among the Choripetalae. 

The . herbaceous forms of the alliance predominate, and several of the families· are distinctly boreal. Though the Compositae, Labiatae, and Plantaginaceae are of world-wide 

distribution, there are no notable continental 

pairings such as. usually testify to an extended 

geologic history. _These and many other facts 

suggest that the Gamopetah1e as a whole, 

especially the more evolved herbaceous extratropical families, are of relatively IJ?.Odern 

origin and that their major specific differentiation was concomitant with their occupation 

of the temperate zones after the retreat of the 

Pleistocene ice sheets. 

The orders Ebenales, Gentianales, Pole-· 

moniales, Primulales, and Personales are the 

only ones certainly recognized in the J acksori, 

and only the first two of these are known in 
128 MIDDLg AND UPPER EOCgNg. FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTgR.N NORTH AMERICA. 

the Claiborne. On the other hand, six order~ species of Apocynophyllum, both of which sur-· 

have been found in the Wilcox, of which only. vive into the Jackson from the Claiborne. The 

the Rubiales have not been found in either the faniily Apocynace·ae comprises 133 genent and 

Claiborne or Jackson. between 1,000 and 1,100 existing species of 

The order Ebenales includes the fa1nilies perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, and trees, most 

Sapotaceae, EbEmaceae,. Styracaceae, and Sym- of which have a milky acrid juice and simple 

plocaceae, which contain more than 1,000 exist- exstipulate leaves. The fruit as a rule consists 

ing species. The larger fan1ilies are the Sapo-· of a pair of folliCles or drupes, and the seeds of 

taceae and Ebenaceae, both of which arc many forms are comatose. 

represented in the Jackson flora. ,The genus Apocynophyllum is a form ge11us 

The family Sapotaceae comprises trees or for fossil members of the family· of uncert~tin 

shrubs that have a milky juice and that bear generic affinities. It.has five· well-marked spealternate, simple, entire, mostly coriaceous, cies in the Wilcox and but two in the Claiborne 

petiolate, exstipulate leaves. It contains about . and Jackson. 

32 genera and nearly 400 e~ist~ng species and The order Pers.onales, as restricted to part of 

is present in all tropical countries. About the Tubiflorae of Engler, comprises 16 families 

half of the existing species are American .. and about 12,000 known existing species. They 

The Jackson genera are Bumelia, Chryso- are distinguished from the members of the orphyZZ~m, Sapotacites, and Calocarpum. Sapo- der Polemoniales, among other features, by the · 

tacites is a fonn genus for sapotaceous leaves of zygo1norphism of ~he flowers. The largest farouncertain generic affinities that are found from ilies, in the order of their rank, are the worldthe Upper Cretaceous onward. The . genus wide and mostly herbaceous Labiatae, with over 

Calocarpum is represented in the existing flora 3,000 existing species, notably developed in the 

by two species which are natives of CeiJ.ttal Mediterranean region; the Scrophulariaceae, 

America and possibly the West Indies and with 180 gener.a and abQut 2,500. existing spenorthern South America and which are cies, mostly herbaceous and modern, inhabitwidely cultivated in · all tropical countries. ants of the North Temperate Zo:o.e; the AcanNo other fossil occurrences are known. thaceae, with about 18.5 genera and 2,000 existThe family Ebenaceae includes about eight ing species, largely developed in tropical South 

genera and more than 300 existing shrubs and America and Asia; the Solanaceae, with about 

trees, of which more than half are referred to .70 ·genera and 1,800 existing species, widely 

the genus Diospyros Linne. The family is distributed and largely tropical but also ternmainly tropical, as are most of the species of perate, especially in the Western Hemisphere; 

Diospyros, though that genus is represented in and the Verbenaceae, with about 75 genera and 

the North Temperate Zone in eastern North 1,400 existing species, a largely t1~opical 11nd 

America, eastern Asia, and the Mediterranean subtropical alliance, especially well represented 

regwn. in South America. 

Diospyros, which includes about 180 exist- The remaining families of this order are much 

ing species, is cosmopolitan. Between 90 and smaller, none having as many as one-half the 

100 fossil forn1s have been described, and the number of known species of Verb.enaceae, and 

genus was present in the. forests of south-. several, such as -the Mediterranean families Oroeastern North America from the dawn of the. banchaceae and Glo.bulariaceac o~·. the tropical 

Upper Cretaceous to the present. There are American Martyniaceac, Noln.nacer.,e, and Cotwo Wilcox species, one Claiborne species, and lumelliaceae, are.extre1nely. small.· -

the Jackson representative is a large accrescent ·But two families of Personales, the Bignoniacalyx of undoubted affinity, associated with ceae and the Verbenaceae, are known from the 

leaves. Jackson, and one of. these oceurs in those de:-

The order Gentianales (Contortae of Engler) posits which are here tentatively referred to the 

inciudes six families .and between 4,000 and· upper Jackson. None . are known from the 

5,000 existing species. The largest family is Claiborne, but the families Verbenacea.e and 

the Asclepiadaceae, which contains more than 'Solanaceae are present in the Wilcox. Tho 

2,000 species. The only family represented in family Bignoniaceae consists of about 102 genth~ Jfltckso11 is the Apocynaceae1 which has two era ~nd 600 ~xisting speci~$ of climbing ~·hrubs 
UPPER EOCENB OR JACKSON FLORA. 129 

n.nd trees, of which n.ll but"34 genera with about 

120 species n,re confined to the Western I-Iemisphere. One-third of these genera n.re monotypic, nnd i1.0 one of thmn has as mn.ny as a 

score of species. The main center of developJnent of the family is in tropical South An1erica, 

n.nd the extrmne limits of the few Temperate 

Zone representatives are 34 ° south and 40° 

north. 

There are twm~ty-OI1e n10notypic genera in 

the vV estern I-Iemisphere, and there are some 

n.nomnlies of distribution, such as the genus 

GnmzJsis, which has a single species in ertstern 

North America and a second one in Japan, and 

the presence of the genus Tecomarin in America 

n.nd Afric·a, Gatnlpa in An1erica and Asia, and 

seYernl genera in :Mn.dn.gascar, the Seychelles, 

nnd Mn.scarene islands. The family shows evidence of antiquity, but the fossil record is most 

incomplete and furnishes little beyond the ocCUlTence o:f such genera as GatnlzHt, J ncarnnda, 

n.nd Tecomn in the Tertiary. 

The genus Tecoma, the sole member of the 

Bignoniaceae found in the Jackson, has about 

80 existing species in the Tropics of both 

he:mispheres, mainly developed in the Amazon 

Bn.sin and its peripheries. One species-our 

fmnilin.r trun1pet creeper-reaches the northern 

li:mitof range of the family. There are five fossil 

species referred to Tecoma, of which the upper 

J·ackson ( ~) form, a lower Miocene form from 

Chile, find a Miocene form from Colombia are 

the only ones certainly identified. · 

FiYe J·ackson species are descr.ibed under 

the heading ''Forms of· uncertain ·po,sition."' 

These species include three forms referred to 

Gwrpolitli/I.Ls, which represent seeds ·or .f~uits 

of uncertain botanical affinity that suggest 

co1nparisons with Gallitris, Nnjns, a.nd Bumelin, 

respectiYely; a species of Gypselites, which 

suggests the Co~I?-positae; and a leguminous 

pod of uncertain aJfmity, which is referred to 

Leguminosites. · 

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS INDICA 'rED BY THE 

JACKSON FLORA. 

In an atte1npt to picture the physical 

con ell tions ~;hat prevailed along the- coast of. 

southeastern North America. during Jackson 

time the reader should remember that this 

epoch was of long duration, for. it seems to 

correspond to the whole of the .. tipper Eocene 

(Priabonian) . of the European section. Not 

only was the time interval long, but the 

physical condidons were· not uniform along 

this great stretch of coast. The sequence of 

events seems to have been different in Texas 

from what it was in the central and eastern 

parts of the· embayment-for example, there 

appears to have been a considerable interval 

of emergence between the Eocene and the 

Oligocene in Texas and continuous ll\~rine 

deposition in southern Alabama. 

If the floras preserved in the Jackson sediments were more. extensive it would be possible to sketch the paleoecology for every 

part of the region. In the western ·Gulf 

region there appears to be a suggestion of 

local aridity at intervals during Jackson time, 

but there is no suggestion of diminished rainfall or humidity during lower Jackson ti1ne in 

Georgia. Wh~ther the ·border lands of the 

region of deposition of the ., 'St. Stephens· 

limestone" (Jackson and Vicksburg) suffered 

any diminution in rainfall i~ practically un-

~rnown, for the only plants are petrified trunks 

of· palms, and the only suggestion that the 

run-off from the land was lessened is the formation of marine limestones that were laid 

down in very shallow water, but these are 

generally so impure as to invalidate any definite conclusions. That the climate ~as at 

least subtropical is, I think, an obvious conclusion. That the rainfall varied from place 

~o place· more than. it did during Claiborne 

time· is, I think, a legitimate conclusion. That 

the precipitation was less in later than in earlier 

Jackson time seems to be indicated by the 

less e~tensive fioras as well as by the extensive 

oxid~tion of some of the upper Jackson sedi,. 

ments; but of this I am not certain .. That 

the conditions· along the Jackson coast were 

more. uniform in earlier than in later Jackson 

tjme i!3 indicated by the character of the sediments and by outcrops like that at White 

Bluff, _in Arkansas, where although but few 

plants are recognizable there is a great abundance of carbonaceous materials, and the few 

plants that have been identified indicate 

conditions like those pr~dicated for the earlier 

part. of the Jackson epoch in Georgia. 

A very fair. idea of early Jackson environment 

in the eastern Gulf area is furnished by the flora 

from the Barnwell formation at Grovetown, 
130 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTER-N NORTH AMERICA. 

Ga. Although· but 20 species are identified 

from this locality, these can be considered as in 

general representing the con1moner types of 

vegetation of early Jackson tiroe. The two 

parasitic fungi (Sph0erite.s and Pestalozzites), 

which represent types that are present in all' 

Tertiary floras and whose preservation and 

identification are more or less fortuitous, can be 

omitted from further consideration. Ferns &re 

represented by the genus Acrostichum, pa~ts 

of whose froncls are the most abundant fossils 

in the clays at Grovetown. Acrostichum is a 

)arge fern whose modern representative is a 

widespread form in the equatorial regions, and 

unlike most ferns it is adapted to a 'marshy 

habitat that is usually more or less submerged 

by marine or brackish waters-that is, it is a 

tidal swamp or marsh species that is never 

found far from. the coast. Four monocotyledons are foun~ here, including the two aquatic 

genera Potamogeton and Pistia. . Potamo(!eton 

dwells in very shallow water and is wholly or 

partly submerged, and Pistia is a small floating 

plant. Both are represented at Grovetown by 

single .. specimens, and it seems obvious 'that 

both inhabited the lower courses or bayous of a 

river ,that emptied into the Grovetown estuary. 

The other two monocotyledons are Arundo and 

Thrinax. Arundo is represented by a great 

abundance of fragments of a large broadleafed marsh grass or reed. Thr{nax, which. is 

also very abundant, is a small fan palm whose 

modern representatives live on the sand strand 

in the· American Tropics and the Florida Keys. 

· There are 12 dicotyledons, three of which~ 

·Castanea, Momisia, and Oinnamomum~do not 

offer certain evidence regarding habitat, 

although all are mesophytic forest types of 

warm· climates. The remaining nine forms 

furnish.ch)ar evidence on this subject. Pisonia, 

Mimosites, Sophora, Dodonaea, Sapindus, arid 

Terminalia are all plants of the jungle ·which 

clothes the beach· ridges and grows behind the 

_coastal lagoons in present-day tropical and subtropical regions.· Among the for.ms· enumerated 

the Dodonaea is the most abundant. · Ficus, 

which is also abundant at Grovetown, is a 

g-enus which has hundreds of living .and fossii 

species, so that it is of no special significance 

here, although. a number of species of figs 

are strand plants of the beach jungle in both 

the American and oriental Tropics. The· remaining dicotyledons are Rhizophora and 

Oonocarpus, both of which are characteristic 

1nangrove plants. Rhizophora, the true mangrove, invariably inhabits tidal swamps, where:... 

as Oonocarpus not only ftequents -the mud 

flats back of the mangtove swamps but also 

grows on sandy beaches in Warm climates. 

·Rhizophora is rare in the Grovetown collections, 

but Oonocarpus is exceedingly common. 

In the deposits that are exposed near Grovetown there are thick-beds of'(earthy lignite and 

fine-grained clays or muds laminated-with partings of fine sand .. · These beds occur -as a long; 

narrow tongue of 1naterials, 2 to 3 miles wide, 

that extends northwesterly a distance of about 

18 n1iles from the main body of the deposits. 

This tongue seems to represent the filling of a 

Jackson estuary. It contains Modiolus and 

other estuarine pelecypods and exactly the 

plant assemblage that would be ·expected in 

such a situation---'Acrostichum and Arundo, 

which live on flats near or slightly below tide 

level; mangrove plants, which invariably frequent estuaries; an abundant sprinkling of 

plants that are characteristic of beaches; and 

two aquatic fonns that owe their presence to 

the· discharge from the river. We may picture 

the early. Jackson coast of Georgia as a lowcoast up.der a subtropical climate,- similar tv 

many spots observable along the' present coasts 

of tropical America. The lagoons and harriet 

beaches and long, narrow estuaries contained 

mangrove and A.crostiohum swnmps, and the 

strand was clothed with a beach jungle of fig&, 

Terminalia, Leguminosae like Mimosites and 

Sophora, soapbel:'ries. (Sapindus), PisC?nias, and 

Dodonaeas, which to-day ·abound in similar 

situations in both the oriental and occidental 

Tropics and which in the American region 

reach their northern limits either in the B aham as and Florida Keys or in the ~ermudas. 

The two plant localities :r;1ear Stryker, on the 

Missour!, Kansas & Texas Railway, and in the 

cut on the International & Great Northern Rail- . 

way in Polk County and the adjoining southern 

part of Trinity County, Tex., respectively, are 

of especial interest, for Deussen refers these. 

outcrops to the- Catahoula sandstone, and the, 

flora seems to be of Jackson age. They acquire 

additional interest because the lithology of the 

material frmn southern 'Trinity County was 

exhaustively studied by M. I. Goldm.an. 37 

a1 Goldman, :M. I., Petrographic evidences on the origi~;~ of tl:c Catohoula: sandstone of Texas: Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 39, pp. 261-287, 

1915. 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 131 

Before quoting the conclusions reached by Golclmnn as a result of his petrogr~phic study 

it will be well to consi·der the floras identified 

fro.m these two localities, which supplenlfint 

each otl~er, as they have but one species in 

common and the con1binecl list numbers 15 

species. The first and 1nost important locality, which furnished the n1aterial for. Golclm·an's petrographic studies, is a cut on the'ln..: 

ternntional & Great Northern Railwny. Frmn 

this outcrop the :following species are known: 

Phoenicites occidentalis. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum. 

lVlyristica cn.tahoulensis. 

Ccdrela jacksoniana. 

N ectandra nntillanafolin. 

N ectn.ndra gosportensis var. jacksoncnsis. 

Mespilodaphne texann.. 

N yssn texan a. 

Carpo'lithtts callitriformis. 

Of the foregoing nine species, the Nyssa, 

which is represented by fruits but no leaves, is 

by far the n1ost conunon. Next in abundance 

tlJ'e the :fruits of J.fyristica, of \'vhich .no foliage 

has been f ouncl. The OarzJolitl~'l.tS and NectwncZTa gospoTtensis var. jacksonensis are represented by single specimens, and the remaining 

species are represented by a few broken specin1ens. Before considering. the clin1atic charn,cter of these forms their condition of preservation de.mancls attention. The matrix is a 

•. light-colored, prevailingly brownish quartz 

sandstone which in n1ost ·specimens has an 

irregular binder. of opal. In 'the specimens 

which do not have this binder the material is 

very friable and contains numerous clay pellets 

or "galls." It is wjthout lan1ination, and the 

leaves are in places n1atted in a subparallel 

n1anner and were appru·ently laid down in 

water. Other specin1ens show but few leaves, 

and these are curled and lie at all angles in the 

sandstone, in a rnanner that is usually interpreted as indicating ·burial in a dry state by 

wind-blown :material. This method of cleposi~ 

tion is also indicated by the loss of the arils in 

the nuts of MyTistica, which n1ust have blown 

around for a while before burial. This evidence is corroborated by the 1nethod of occur-. 

renee of the ]lyssa stones. 

These stones occur also in the clays of the 

Yegua, where they lie pru·allel with one another 

and with the 'beclcling of the clays. In the 

Catahoulti sandstone they are 1nassed, so that 

a single hand specimen, like the one figured, 

Inay contain dozens of these st011es, and elsewhere ~he outcrop n1ay not· contain· a single 

specimen. Where present they are ju1nbled 

togbther and lie at all angles and n1anifestly 

could not have been b:uried by water-laid nlaterials. :Moreover, all the stones have lost 

their fleshy pericarp and were thoroughly desiccated before burial. I:p.vru·iably they are 

represented by casts in the porous s~ndstones 

and are lignified in the clays. 

Botanically I consider all the fonns as coastal 

forms of the strand except the Nyssa and possibly the A.fyristica. In its 1nodern species J.fyristica is conunonly an upland rain-forest type, 

but it also has sandy-strand species in both 

the oriental and occidental Tropics, so that it 

is not conclusive either way. Nyssa, so far as 

its existing sp~cies are concerned, is not a strand 

plant, although it is a coastal type. The general habitat is one of river bottoms and nlesophytic river and estuary swan1ps. Nyssa 

b~flora and Nyssa acuminata an~l to a greater 

or less exten.t ~ll the other existing species are 

found on a sanely substratuln. I would con~ 

sider the Jackson species as -dwelling in sin all 

ponds or "bays" near the Jackson. coast. · 

Phoenicites is a sand-inhabiting fonn. It 

and its . n1odern allies· . all require abundant 

ground water, '&ut if conclusions can be drawn 

from the large, hard fruits of the fossil and the : 

habitat of the existing species that have similar 

large and hard- fruits, it indicates a very long 

growing season undei· a clear sky and in very 

hot sunshine. It n1ay or 1nay not indicate 

abundant rainfall, but its roots require an 

abundant water supply, which is obtained for 

the cultivated species of the African deserts by 

artificial irrigation. Oallitris is a sand plant, · 

and Dryophyllum, Gedrela, J.l ectandra, and 

J.fespilodaphne are strand plants of sanely · 

beaches and dunes. Though Dryophyll'l.tm is 

an extinct type, its greatest display is invariably in littm·al sands of beaches, as in the 

Upper Cretaceous sands of Aix-la-Chapelle, 

which are beach and clune sands; in the lower 

Eocene "sables cl'Ostricourt, "- which are also 

beach and clune sands; and in the Wilcox 

beach sands. 

All the identified species that are based 

upon leaves frmn this locality have leaves of a 

coriaceous texture. This indicates one of two 

alternatives-either an ariel clin1ate, which is 

negatived by the Phoenicites and Nyssa, or an 
132 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

open growth on a sandy .soil in whieli the 

direct and reflected rays of the. sun cause· 

· reduced transpiration by the development of 

coriaceous leaf structure. I regard the second 

alternative as reasonably well established.· 

The seven plants from· the locality near 

Stryker are identified as follows.: 

Sabalites vicksb1..1rgensis. 

Fagara catahoulensis orbiculata. 

Fagara catahoulensis elongata. 

Cedrela jacksoniana. 

Ba·nisteria texana. 

Burserites fayettensis. 

Sterculia cf. S. labruscoides. 

These forms are all coastal or strand plants, 

and only one, the Oedrela, is common to· the 

other locality. All are represented by foliage. 

The Sabctlites is a large-leafed fan palm like 

the modern Sabal palmetto. It c·an not repre- · 

sent the foliage of the fonn that bore the 

Phoenicites fruits, for they have come fro:rJ?. a 

feather paln1. This florule from Stryker, a 

place so near the locality in southern Trinity 

County, and from beds that lie at the same· 

horizon as those that contain the other florule, . 

is decidedly more n1esophytic and shows that · 

the conditions indicated by the other florule 

were purely local. · 

In the study of the petrogr11phic charaCters 

of the deposits at this locality, Goldn1an 38 · 

reaches the following conclusions: 

The picture presented by the combination of these 

different factors appears somewhat as follows: 

A sand flat, either coast.al or inland, containing temporary or more permanent but in either case small.ancl 

quiet bodies of water; the climate ariel and perh_aps 

tropical, with strong winds driving the sand about but 

not accumulating it characteristically in dunes, while 

near-by rocky hills or mountains crumbling under: the 

effects of temperature changes constantly add fresh 

angular fragments to the sand. 

To review the different characters, in the order given 

above, for their bearing on this conclusion we have, 

first, the important feature of sizing supportirig the' 

assumption of sorting of the sand by wind and p~obably · 

by strong wind such as prevails in tropical regions, but· 

the sorting probably not as perfect as would result in· 

a region ()f well-developed dunes. In the very perfect· 

rounding even of grains as small as 0.035 millimeter 

there is pretty certain evidence of wind action, while 

the rather s'mall proportion of rounded grains ~again 

indicates that dunes did not prevail here and that new· 

angular material was being constantly added. This 

conclusion is strongly supported by the abundance of · 

feldspar, which indicates, moreover, that the source of 

supply of this new material was near l;>y. On the 

as Goldman, M. I., op. cit., pp. 2~-286. 

amount of weathering of the feldspars, however, which 

is one of the most important features for the determination of the climate,. the evidence is particularly unsatisfactory. · Still I shall accept as a working hypothesis the 

tentative conclusion, arrived at above, that the feldspars were predominantly fresh when deposited. Then 

we have in them also evidence of mechanical· disintegration-that is, of :irid conditions. 

As stated above there is no basis, in the condition of 

the feldspars themselves, for choosing between arid and 

glacial climate. I reject glacial simply because all 

our other knowledge about the period, as well as other 

evidence presented in this paper, especially that from 

the heavy minerals, precludes such an assumption. 

How easy it is to be misled by the feldspars is shown by 

Mackie's paper on the subject, in which he concludes 

for glacial conditions in formations which are now 

generally believed to have originated in an arid climate. 

The proportion of heavy minerals was seen to lie 

between that characteristic of normal subaqueous 

deposits and a· desert sand and to .be most like that 

of clune sands. The negligible proi)ortion of micaceous 

minerais points to wind action; the· small amount of 

epidote and· absence of chlorite to absence of chemical 

conditions of weathering; the scarcity of ferromagnesian 

minerals to insolation in an arid region; and the predominance ·of the two resistant· minerals magnetite 

and zircon to strong .mechanical wear, such as, under 

the circumstances, is·most likely to have result.ecl from 

eolian action. In the seeming porosity of the rock 

there was some support for the assumption of subaerial deposition. The interpretation of abserice of 

lamination was uncertain, but it seemed 1ikely to be 

clue to rapid deposition, such as: might be caused by 

wind or by emptying of a strong current into a quiet 

body of water. The arrangement of fossils is of two· 

types, oi1e indicating stibaerial b~tria'r in blown sand, 

the other also probably burial by wind but in a quiet .o 

body of water. It \Vas shown that clay galls in general 

are produced in i·egions of loose sand, ariel or at least 

without vegetation, and wl~ere there is occasional 

flooding or washing by rain .. Their concentration 

with the masses of flat leaves is taken to confirm the 

assumption' that the \,;ater was quiet and that the 

burial was by wind-blown material, though it may also 

indicate that these bodies of .water were intermittent 

or variable in their extension. 

There is thus substantial agreement between 

the two lines of evidence with respect to this 

one locality, and similaT petrographic studies 

.should be made I in .connection with a study 

of the field relations at a large number of 

outcrops, especially in the region of the outcrop of the Fayette sandstone, which commonly 

appears· to· be partly subaerial. Matson 39 

implies that the well-rounded . sand grains 

ai1d ·the unweathered feldspars were the 

result of weathering under arid conditions in 

the region east of the Continental Divide and 

ag Matson·, G. C., The Catahoula sandstone: U.S. Gcol. Survey Prof. 

. Paper 98, p. 221, 1917. 
UPPl~H JWC:ENE OR JACKSON :!!"'LORA. 133 

were brought down to the coastal region by I temperature of 18° C. or 64.4° F. is universally 

tlw rejuvenation of the streams of the Great assumed as the zero ·point of activity of the 

Plains area by regional uplift in the Rocky cultivated date as reg~rds flowering and fruitM:ou.ntain region. I'his view nuty, of course, ing, although vegetative growth may go. on at 

account fol' the great quantiti.es of sand in considerably lower temperatures, as in the 

the western Gulf area throughout the Tertiary south of France. The growing season from 

period n.nd the peculiar condition of weather- pollinatim~ to ripening of fruit is about 7 months, 

ing found by Golclman. If. stibsequent studies and the hard fruits. come from the regions of 

show thn.t these features are comn1on to a high temperature and .minimum humidity. 

ln.rge number of localities such an explanation The· Jackson date fruit was large and hard 

will doubtless be accepted: Until this hy- e~1ough to resist decay, and it was covered by 

pothesis is tested no def-inite conclusions can the wind-blown sands of upper Jackson time, 

be for:mu1r1tecl. . so that without attaching too· great a signifiCertainly the f1~cies ·of the Jackson flora as · cance to these facts, it would seem that a high 

n. whole is not thn.t of an arid climate, and I mean annual ten1pei·ature prevailed at th.at 

11111 disposed to consider that such aridity as tin1e. The associated flora . does not lend 

is .indicn.ted in Trinity County is a local special support to an arid climate, ~s I have 

condition due to con.stn.l sand flats. .There is already indicated,· nor to the accumulation of 

no reason for supposing that such sand flats, sediments n.t n.ny gren.t distance from the coast. 

beach ridges, and s1nall dunes can not exist in The net result of these more or less tentative 

n. :moist wann elinutte. In the vVilcox the conclusions that have been derived from a 

:flora, though not tropical, is a warm temperate study of the Jackson Horn. are indicative of a 

flora of what was clearly a region of heavy subtropical climate and a strictly coastal ftorn, 

rn.infn.ll, and yet there ~vere developed very which in the later Jackson was growing under 

exter-lsi,,e n.i·en.s of shifting sands and beach somewhat n1ore ''m;iable conditions of moisture 

dunes interspersed with swamps and beach than in the preceding low"er Jackson <:>r Claiborne 

j u.ngle. In any consideration of climatic times. This coastal flora lived under the usual 

conditions the presence of a 'large and hard- variety of habitats found along a coast.:.._that 

:fruited date pahn is of great significance. is, on beaches, in moist situations behind beach 

Though there are a dozen existing species of ridges, in swamps, partly tidal and ·partly above 

Phoe·nix they are all indigenous in the tropical sea level, in e.stuaries, and along bayous and 

region of northern Africa and southern Asia, lagoons. . 

n.nd. the uncultivated coastal species have The geologic history indicates a more or less 

smn.U fruits. A1nong the cultivated forms the extensive withdrawal of the sen., which was 

grentest rn.nge fr01n north to south is found in slightly reflected ·in the sediments of southern 

]~gypt, where date culture of very ancient Alabama but was prominent :f~·om :Mississippi to 

origin extends fro1n the Nile delta to Khartum, Mexico in the littoral, palustrine-, and continental 

over 1.6° of latitude, or about 1,.100 miles. The deposits 9f the Yegua formation. Partly conextrelnes haYe a difference in mean annual temporaneous \yith these continental deposits 

t01nperature of 15° F. Though . humidity of late Claiborne time there was a n1arked 

records n.re not c01npletely n.vailable Mason '

10 transgression ot' the lower Jn.ckson sea from 

gives extren1es of n1ean annual humidity Georgia to Arkansas and a less pronounced 

:fro:m 24 to 74 per cent. Comparisons with trn.nsgression in the Texas region, which was 

trees growing· under artificial conditions are indicated by the occasional marine horizons in 

unsatisfactory, becttuse muc~1 depends upon the Fayette sandstone and Frio clay. In 

.irrigation. l\1:ississippi the Jackson closes with a deposit'of 

The n.hcestrnl dntes SOCITI to have been coastal littoral plant-bearing sand, included in the 

tropic1tl types, so that the utmost caution is Forest Hill sand, a formation of partly connpcessnry in nln.king comparisons between the tinental origin and apparently contempora .. 

conditions in Jackson time .nnd those necessarv neous in part with the marine Red Bluff marl 

for. the production of cultivated dates. A of the lower Vicksburg. 'That there was such 

an oscillation of the strand line between the •0 Mason, S. C., Dates of Egypt and the Sudan: U. S. Dopt. Agr. 

Bull. 211, p. s, 11H5. · Jackson and the Vicksburg is indicated by the 
134 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

character of the Forest Hill sand, by the palustrine lignites that are commonly present at the 

base of the Vicksburg, and by the enormous 

thickness of the Jackson down the dip, as shown 

by the· well borings in western Mississippi and 

eastern Louisiana in the region around Vicks-

. burg, where prospecting for oil has been active. 

In the Texas region no such pronounced migrations of the strand line are discernible, but there 

appears to have been an oscillation that perJnitted continental deposits to interfinger with 

sl~allow marine deposits-an oscillation that was 

South. 

·C. 

0 

<ll 

.:s:. 

u 

ro 

J 

(!) 

E 

0 

..0 

'(0 

u 

Yazoo clay member 

Ye~ua formation 

Lisbon formation 

This history as thus briefly,outlined is graphically summarized in the accompanying diagrams (figs. 8 and 9). 

CORRELATION. 

CORRELATION OF THE JACKSON PLANT 

LOCALITIES. 

Fossil plants have not been found in sufficient 

ab'undance rior widr.ly enough distributed in the 

deposits of Jackson age for precise correlation of 

the plant-bearing outcrops '\vith one another. 

Thebeds at certain of these outcrops, frmn their 

North stratigraphic· relations and the large 

number of Cliiiborne plants that they 

contain, are definitely referred to lower 

Jackson time. These include the de-· 

posits at localities· in Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The beds at the 

two localities in Mississippi and those 

at m'ost of the localities in Louisiana 

·and Texas are referred to upper Jackson time, but the data are insufficient 

for the precise correlation of the locality on Han1ilton League or the Paul 

Taylor place. The beds of the locality near :Miraflores, ·in southwestern 

Texas, I have· considered probably· 

Jackson, for of the 19 known species . 

from this outcrop 3 are peculiar, 6 are 

upperJacksonforms,.and 10 are lower 

Jackson and Claiborne forms. From 

a consideration of the distribution ·of 

the species in beds of known age and 

their general relations to antecedent 

and subsequent forms, it is possiblE to 

distinguish between the earlier and 

later floras-that is, between the 

lower and upper Jackson floras--a!- · 

though the differences between the 

FIGU.RE 8.-D'iagram showing movement of str~nd line and relation of the geologic tWO are not strikingly COntrasted and 

formations in the central area of the Mississippi embayment. h h 

less. pronounced but was comparable to the 

sequence of contemporaneous even.ts in the 

Paris Basin which· resulted in the gypsum 

deposits of the Ludian stage. This oscillation 

in .Texas was prevailingly negative in character 

and resulted in the continuation of the continental. type of sediments of the Fayette sand-

. stone throughout the greater part of Vicksburg 

time in that region. These se~iments make up 

the Cn.tahoula sandstone and are distinguished 

witl1 difficulty from those of the underlying 

Fayette. 

will probably decrease r~t er t an 

incr.ease as the floras .come to be better known. 

The following 16 spec~es. either have been 

actually coll(:)cted from all horizons in the 

Jackson or are thought to range throughout 

the Jackson because of their occur~Ance in 

beds of earlier or later age or both. 

Pestalozzites minor . 

Cladosporites fasciculatus. 

Lygodium kaulfussi. · 

Taxodium clubium. 

Glyptostrobus europaeus. 

Palmocarpon sp. 

Dryophyllum brevipctiolatum. 
UPPJ!jR EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. ':135 

Ficus unionensis. 

l!'icus mississippiensis. 

Coccolobis clu.iborncnsis. 

Ncctn.nclra u.ntillu.nafolia. 

Terminu.lia phu.eocu.rpoides. 

· Oreopu.nu.x mississippiensis. 

N yssu. texan a. · 

Apocynophyl.lum texerisis: . 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

lmeven of these species range up into t~1e 

Jackson frOln the antecedent Claiborne, and 

two-tho polyn1orphous Taxodium and Glyptost?·obus-go back as far as the vVilcox. On 

tho other hand, none of these 16 species have 

b'een found at horizons as young as the Vicksburg. 

Tho 'flora that in the present state of our 

knowledge is confined to the lower qr earlier 

Jackson and that is. characteristic of those 

bods co1nprises the following 43 spemes: 

Sphaerites claibornensis. 

Equisetum sp. 

Acrostichuni,georgianum. 

Pteris inquirenda. 

Potamogeton megaphyllus . 

. Potamogeton sp. 

Pistia chtibornensis. 

Arundo pseudogoepperti. 

Thrinax eocenica. 

Engelhardtia jacksonensis: 

Myrica zachariensis. 

Castanea claibornensis. 

Moniisia americana. 

Ficus claibornensis. 

li'icus newtonensis. 

Pisonia claiborniu.na. 

Mimosites spatulatus. 

Mimosites ge01·gianus. 

Cassia georgiapa. 

Cassia· jacksoniana. 

Sophora claiborniana. 

Sophora wilcoxiana. 

Cupanites nigricans. 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Sttpindus dentoni. 

'South 

c: 

0 

(f) 

.::c 

u 

co 

""). 

Q) 

E 

0 

.c 'ro 

u 

Two of the foregoing 43 species-a Sophora 

and n, Myrcia-go back to the Wilcox, and 18 

are found in the Claiborne, further emphasizing 

the great distinction between the fioras of the 

Wilcox and the Claiborne and the striking 

continuity in the floras in passing from the 

ClaiborU:e into the Jackson. 

The flora which in the present state of o.ur 

knowledge is not found in the earlier Jackson 

but which makes its appearance in the upper 

Jackson comprises the following 4 7 species: 

Lygodium mississippiensis. 

Cupressites sudworthi. 

Canna j acksoniana. 

Phoenicites occidentalis. 

Sabalites vicksburgensis. 

Palmoxylon lacunosum. 

Hicoria jacksoniana. 

Hicoria rostrataformis. 

Planera hickmanen.sis. 

sandstone 

Cook Mountain 

North 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Ternstroemites claibornensis. 

Cinnamomum angustum. 

Cinnamomum spectabile. 

Mespiloclaphne cauclata. 

Mespiloclaphne columbiana. 

N ectanclra arkansana. 

Malapoenna sp. 

Laurinoxylon branneri. 

FIGURE 9.-Diagram showing movement of strand line and rel~tion of the geoloi;ie 

formations in the Te.;-.:as area. 

Laurinoxylon? sp. · 

Rhizophora eocenica. 

Conocarpus eoci:.micus. 

Myrcia bentonensis. 

Sapotacites iniraflorianus. 

Diospyros mirafloriana. 

Carpolithus najasoicles. 

Cypselites jacksonensis. 

Leguminosites sp. 

Banksia jacksonensis. 

Pisonia balli. 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

Myristica catahoulensis. 

Anona texana. 

Menispermi tes carolinaformis. 

lnga jac'ksoniana. 

Mim:osites mississippiensis. 

Cassia obionana. 

Bauhinia wadii. 

Papilionites e;rythrinaforinis. 

Lonchocarpus anceps. 

Liquidambar sp. 
136 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OlT SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Fagara catahoulensis orbiculata. 

Fagara catahoulensis elongata. 

Fagara catahoulensis major. 

Fagara catahoulensis coriacea. 

Cedrela j acksoniana. 

Banisteria texana. 

Burserites fayettensis. 

Paliurus catahoulensis. 

Rhamnites krugiodenc:J.roides. 

Grewiopsis wadii. 

Bombacites jacksonensis. 

Dombeyoxylon jacksonensis. 

l;)terculia cf. S. labruscoides. 

Ternstroemites variabilis. 

Mespilodaphne caudata major. 

Mespilodaphne texana. 

N ectandra gosportensis jacksonensis. 

Lauraceous fruit. 

. Combretum petraflumense. 

Myrcia catahoulensis. 

Calocarpum viridiformis. 

Tecoma preradicans. 

Capparidocarpus sphericus. 

Carpolithus callitriformis. 

Carpolithus bumeliaformis. 

Texas area is the possibility-one might almost 

say the probability-that some of the deposit~ 

now referred to the Yegua formation of the 

Claiborne grpup were contemporaneous with 

a part of. the Fayette sandstone, of late Jackson age. This seems to be est::'tblished for certain localities, as, for example, in Brazos 

County. it is not certainly established, howev·er, that the lithologic units now recognized 

as Fayette sandstone and Catahoula sandstone 

are chronologie units, the first of Jackson and 

the second of lower Oligocene age. Certain 

plant-bearing outcrops referred by the field 

geologists to the' Catahoula-those near Stryker and those at the cut on the In ternational & Great Northern Railway---:contain a 

flora which, according to our present knowledge of the floras of this region, is of Jackson 

age and which is so considered in the present 

report. 

the RELATION OF THE JAC~SON FLORA TO LATER 

Eleven species, or nearly one-fourth of FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

foregoing list, continue in deposits in this general region which are of Vicksburg age (Oligocene), and this is a surprisingly large number 

when it is recalled how very small is the known 

Oligocene flora of this area. 

Although thelower Jackson flora is muchli~e 

that of the Claiborne, from which it derives 24 

of its 56 specie's, it is sufficiently distinct to be 

readily recognized when any reasonab1e representation of it is available for study. The gen-

. era present in the Jackson which are not known 

from the Claiborne number· 23 and con1p~ise 

Sphaerites, Pestalozzites, Equisetum, Cupressites, 

Taxodium, Potamogeton, Pistia, Engelhardtia,· 

Castanea, Banlcsia, Papilionites, Cedrela, Banisteria, Burserites, Cupanites, Paliurus, Rhamnites, 

Bombacites, Dombeyoxylon, Malapoenna, Rhizophora, · Calocarpum, Sapotacites, Tecoma, Carpolithus, Capparidocarpus, a:Qd Cypselites. 

On the other hand, the following 24 genera, 

represented in the Claiborne, have not been 

detected in the Jackson: Anerr-ia; Goniopteris, 

Athrotaxis?, Sequoia, Cupressinoxylon, Geo-

. nomites, Bactrites, J uglans, Aristolochia, Gleditsiophyllum, Copaifera, Citrophyllum, Carapa, 

Celastrophyllum, Ev,onymus, Zizyphus, Rhamnicinium, Reynosia, Rhamnus, Persea, Oreodaphne, Laguncularia, Mimusops, and Eoachras. 

One possibility that should not be o'verlooked in further detailed areal work i;n the 

Succeeding the Jackson ~orne deposits of 

Oligocene age which are termed the Catahoula 

sandstone and Vicksburg group. These deposits may be considered. together here, as 

the florules of each are very small and form a 

unit 'and as the lithologic units represented by 

the formational names are at least partly 

contemporaneous. 

Twelve or thirteen of the Jackson species 

have been found in the Catahoula or the 

Vicksburg. These are Pestalozzites minor, Lygodium mississipp.iensis, Cupressites sudworthi, 

Sabalites vicksburgensis, Palmoxylon lacunosum, 

Palriwcarpon sp. ~' Fagara catahoulensis oTbiculata, FagaTa catahoulensis major, Fagara 

catahoulensis coriacea, · Fagara catahoulensis 

elongata, Paliurus catahoulensis, Myrcia catahoulensis, and Cctrpolithus bumeliajonnis. Although the Oligocene floras in this region are · 

very small, still in the clay lenses of the lower 

Catahoula near Chalk Hills, La., a considerable 

number of coastal plants have been preserved, 

the :forms discovered amounting t.o 14 species . 

The number compares :favorably with even the 

most prolific Jackson plant localities, which 

·are those near Miraflores, Tex., with 14 species, 

and near Grovetown, Ga., with 19 species. 

Only 8 of the Chalk I-Iills plants are common 

to the Jackson. These are Pestalozzites minor, 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON l!,LORA .. 137 

Ou,1n·essites S't.Ul'Wo1·thi, Sctbalites vicksb'l.trge'nsis, · 

Fhgwra cntcdw1.tlensis Vitr. m·biculata, majm·, 

co1·incen, n.nd elongntn, and .Afyrcin cntnho'l.tlensis: 

Although there are thus considerable specific 

difrerences between the Jackson flora and that 

of the lower Oligocene, the general facies and 

the generic representation are v~ry si1nilar. 

Thus both floras have,· in addition to the 12 or 

13 identi_cal species muunerated abo\'e, reprosen tn ti ves of the genera Lygodiu,m, -Acrosticlw,m,· F'ic'us,· .Afytcia, m1d Oarpolith'l.ts. 'l'he. 

Oligocene flora is snutll, but as· it is a typical 

subtrop.icnl strand flora,· and as it is corroborn.ted nnd mnplified by the evidence furnished 

hy the n1ore abundant n1arine faunas of the 

J'n.ckson and the Vicksburg, the conclusion is 

reached tha.t physical conditions, particularly 

the clin1n.tic conditions, did not show much 

change throughout Jackson, Catahoula; a.nd 

Vicksburg ~i1ne, :such change as is apparent 

being a gradual approach to more nearly tropical conditions. The s1nall flora of the '' Apaln.chicoln. group," as known fron1 the 13 species 

described fron1 the Almn Bluff forn1ation and 

the Jiattiesburg clay 41 (both of which ah) now 

re:fetTed to the Miocene), is not especially close 

to that of the Jackson b_ut appears to represent 

the s01newhat in1poverished descendants of the 

J'ackson :flora n1odified by the invasion of. a few 

types fron1 the warn1 ten1perate·parts of southeastern North Aniericn. and suggests comparison with the flora froni western Kentucky and 

"l''ennessee which is tentatively referred to the 

upper J'nckson. 

The :Miocene flora of 'the Chesapeake group 42 

and tlw.t of the Pliocene Citronelle forn1at~on 43 

are far removed in tin1e n.ncl present .an entirely 

different :fn.cies. 

COMPARISON WITH · EOCENE FLORAS OF O"THER 

· AREAS. 

In the discussion of the Claiborne flora conlparisons were n1ade with the Green River flora 

of vVyon1ing. and with several little known 

'floras of the Pacific coast region, and the probn.b.ility that the Green Rivei· flora !s partly 

41 :sorry, E. W., 'rho physical conditions and ago indicated by tho flora 

of tho Alum :BluiT formation: U. S. Goo!. Survey Prof. Paper 98, pp. 

41-59, 1!)1(). ( . 

. ~ J3orry, E. W., 1'ho physical conditions indicated by tho flora or' tho 

Calvert formation: U.S. Goo!. Survey Prof. Paper 98, pp. 61-73, 1916. 

48 Bony, E. W., Tho flora of tho Citronelle formation: U.S. Goo!. Sur· 

vey Prof. Paper 98, pp. 193-208, 1916 .. 

contemporaneous with both the Claiborne and 

the J aekson was suggested. Four of the ·Jackson species are found in the Green River formation of Wyoming-A1"nndo pseudogoeJJperti, 

.Af.vr-ica zachaTiensis, Oupanites nigricans, and 

Sapind'us dentoni. Two of these are also 

present in. the un~lerlying Claiborne, leaving 

but two species peculiar to the Jackson-

]fyrica zachariensis, which is abundant in the 

basal Oligocene (Sannoisian) of France, and 

Oupanites nigticans, which is peculiar to the 

Jackson and Green River. The Green River 

is probably at least in part contemporaneous 

with the Jackson, although it contains many 

inland a.nd upland types of hardwood trees of 

a distinctly temperate facies us compared with 

the nearly tropical flora of the Jackson. 

The floras of the so-called "Arctic Miocene" 

have already been discussed in connection 

with the Claiborne. The_ actual resemblance 

between the Jackson and these A.rctic floras 

is very slight, being confined to the single 

wide-ranging species Taxodium dubium. If the 

temperate floras of the. Far North were contemporaneous with the most tropical floras of 

southeastern North America-the Jackson, 

Ca.tahoula, and Vicksburg-this lack of specific · 

resemblance is just what should be expected, 

and these Arctic floras of Jackson· or Vicksburg 

age should contain, as they actually -do, a 

number of types that existed in the Gulf region 

during lower Eobene time. Moreover, if their 

greatest extension occurred during Jackson and 

Vicksburg time they should contain other types 

that are found subsequen~ly at later horizons 

in lower latitudes~ and in this also they fulfill' 

the requiren1ents, as has already been pointed 

out by Count Saporta and J. St~rkie Gardner. 

RELATION TO EUROPEAN FLORAS. 

Elsewhere in this paper (:p. 37) I have show~ 

that there is satisfactory ·evidence for correlating the Claiborne flora with the Auversian or 

fqwer Barton of the European section. The 

Jackson flora is then ~o be compared with that 

found in the upper Eocene of Europe. 

The upper Eocene of Europe, differently 

denominated in different countries, comprises 

in the Paris Ba_sin the Bartonian below, named 

by Mayer Eymar in 1857 from the Barton sand 

and clay of southeastern England,· and the 
13~. MIDDLE AND UPPER J!jOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Ludian above (Munier-ChalmaEl an,d De Lappa- flora is small, comprising but 2l· species,_ and 

rent, 1893). In England the Ludian is repre- though it contains some of the genera found in 

sented by the glass· sands or Headon series the Jackson, such as Sabalites, its chief i~terestcontaining a. few Ohara fruits, a Folliculites, is in that it contains a well-marked date palm, 

and ·an unnamed feather palm. In the Paris which was referred by Saporta to the existing 

Basin the Bartonian marks a slight transgres- genus Phoenix, thus paralleling· the Jackson 

·sion of the sea, less in extent than _that of the· date palm referred to Phoenicites. Saporta 

preceding Auversian or the subsequent Ludian. referred· the Brives flora to the Lutetian~ but I 

The Ludian represents a considerable trans- follo'Y D~ Lapparent (1906) in considering it 

gression and then an oscillation of the strand Bartonian in age. 

that permitted the formation of the successive The pJants · described by Crie 'frcm the 

gypsu1n beds for which that region is celebrated. Sabalites sandstones of :Maine and Anjou, in 

In Belgium the corresponding stages are typi- we~tern France, are of especial interest, as the 

cally marine and are· termed the Wemmelian leaves of the fan palms that are· sometin1es 

(in the strict sense) and the Asschian (Rutot, found in an upright position in these sand1882), respectively. In the region of the Alps stones indicate their burial by wind-blo'wn 

deposition was continuous, but the Ludian sands; and the physical conditions app(:)·ar to 

transgresses somewhat beyond the borders of have been much the same as those that. accomthe underlying 'Eocene. In .the Alpine region parried the formation of the Fayette sandstone 

the upper Eocene is often considered a unit of Texas, where. similarly preserved palms are 

under the term Priabonian, from Priabona, in found. This flora-· numbers 55 species and inthe Venetian Alps. eludes five ferns, five palms, three gymno-· 

The recorded fossil floras from the upper sperms, and several dicotyledons. Genera comEocene of· Europe are extremely small and mon to the Jackson are Lygodium, Sabalites; 

Hagrilentary, so there is little that ·affords any Myrica, Ficus, Diospyros, and Apocynophyllum. 

basis, for comparison with the Jackson flora, Since the account of the Jackson flo·ra was 

, which, small as it is, is much larger than any written, a monograph describing the flora 

contemporaneous European flora. The cele- found in association with the brown coal of 

brated lower Oligocene flora (Sannoi$ian or Messel, in Hesse, ·has been published. This 

Stampian) from the gypsiferous:. :shales of flora. is regarded as of late Eocene age and 

Provence, with which the. town of Aix is more or less transitional to .Oligocene in its 

inseparably associated, was .. considered by facies. It is described in a posthumous paper 

Count Saporta, its describer, as of upper by Engelhardt 45a and comprises repres~nta-

·.)~Qcene age. It is very extensive and includes tives of 66 families, 154 genera, and 3'46 

several hundred species. There seems to be nominal species. There are· no elements 

little doubt but that it is not older than lower exactly identical with those of the jackson, 

Oligocene arid may even be upper Oligocene, but the ·two have a considerable number ol 

so that it is conclusively recognized as some- closely reh1ted species, an~ a large number of 

what younger than the Jackson flora. the genera are common to both floras. The· 

There are some upper Eocene floras in north- Hesse flora differs from that of the Jackson in 

ern Italy, but they are poorly described, and as the large number of forms that it contains 

the term Ligurian, to which they are often re- that are referred to Quercus, in the large nuzy1ber 

ferred, includes both Eocene and Oligocene of species of Ficus, members of 'the Proteaceae 

horizons they can not be utilized for purposes and Myrtaceae, and in the presence of certain 

of· precise correlati9n. There remain for Old World gen~ra such as Amomum, DaZiascomparison the small fiora described: by Sa- trobus, Laurelia, Leptomeria, Elaeagnus '· Ligusporta 4-l from Brives, in Velay; and the plants · trum, Notelaea, Maesa, Ounonia, .Oeratoperecordeci by Crie 45 from the upper Eocene talum, Oallicoma, Knema, Ooriaria, Pamasandstones of Maine and Anjou. The Brives derris, Anaphrernum, }.fangffera, Tristania, 

-------------=-·------- Oallistemon, and Acmena. 44 Sa porta, Gaston de, · Essai descriptif sur les plantes fossiles des 

arkoses de Brives prfls le Puy-en-Velay:.So9. agr., sci., arts ct commerce 

du Puy Annales, vol. 33, pp. 1:-72, pl. 1-6, 1878; 45" Engelhardt, Hermann, Die alttertiii.re Flora von Messel bei Dann45 Crie, L., Recherches sur Ia vegetation de !'ouest de Ia France a stadt: Hess. geol. Landesanst. zu Darmstadt Abh., Band 7,· H.eft 4, 

l'epoque tertiaire: Annales-sci. geoL, vol. 9, pp. 1-72, pis. 8-22, 1877. 1922. · 
UPPER EOCENE OR J ACKSO;N FLORA. 

'.l.'here is thus little evidence for precise intercon tin ental correlation with the Jackson.· It 

is snJ~ to sn.y that it is P:r.ia.bonin.n in. age, but 

whether upper or lower remains inconclusive. 

Thus, in so far as the pAleohota.nic evidenc·e 

is concerned, the Jackson 'florn ;n~n,y he Bartonin.n or it mny be Ludian in age, or it may 

cover the time C<?ncerned in 'the deposition of 

the sediments of both of tbese stages m 

Europe. 

THE FLORA. 

'l'HAI,J~OPHrrA. 

Fungi: 

Sphaerites claibornensis. 

Pestalozzites minor. 

Caenomyces jacksonensis .. 

Cladosporitcs fasciculatus. 

BRYOPHrL'A. 

Marchantiales: 

Marchantites stephensoni. 

AR'rHH.OPHYTA. 

gquisetales: 

:Eq uise~um sp. · 

l''l']~IUDOPHYTA. 

Filicales: 

Lygodium kaulfussi. 

Lygodi um mississippiensiR. 

Aerostichum georgianum. 

Pteris inquirenda. · 

SPEUl\·iA'l'Ol'H Y'l' .... 

Gymnospermae. 

Coniferales: 

Cupressites sudworthi. 

Taxodium dubium (Sternberg). 

Glyptostrobus europaeus. 

ANGIOSPERM AI~. 

Monocotyledonae: 

Naiadales: 

Potamogeton megaphyllus. 

Potamogeton sp. , ~· 

Ara.les: 

Pistia claiborneusis. 

Scitaminales: 

Canna jacksoniana. 

Liliales: 

Smilax fayettensis. 

Poales: 

Arundo pseudogoeppert.i. 

Arecales: 

Phoenicites occidentalis. 

Phoenicites sp; 

Nipadites burtini umbonatu!'l. 

Thrinax eocenica. · 

Sabalites vicksburgensis. 

Palmoxylon lacunosum.· 

Palmocarpon sessile. 

68844-24-10 

Dicoty led~nae: 

Choripetala.e: 

.T uglandales: 

Engelhardtia jacksonensis. 

Hicoria jacksoniana. 

Hicoria rostrataforinis. 

Myricales: 

Myrica zachariensis. 

Fagales: 

Fagaceae: 

Castanea claibornensis. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum. 

U rticales: · 

·Ulmaceae: 

Momisia americana. 

Planera hickmanensis. · 

Moraceae: 

Ficus unionensis. 

Ficus claibornensis. 

Ficus newtonensis. 

Ficus mississippiensis. 

Ficus brazosensis. 

Ficus sp. 

Proteales: 

Proteaceae: 

Banksia jacksonensis. 

· Polygonales: 

Polygonaceae: 

Coccolobis claibornensis. 

Coccolobis· columbian us .. 

Chenopodiales: 

N yctaginaceae: 

Ranales: 

Pisonia jacksoniana. 

Pisonia claiborniana. 

Pisonia balli. 

Myrlsticaceae: ...: 

·Myristica catahoulensis. 

Anonaceae: · 

Anona texana:· 

Menispermaceae: 

Menispermites carolinaformis. 

Papaverales: 

Capparidaceae: 

Capparidocarpus si)hericus. 

Rosales: 

Mimosaceae: 

Inga jacksoniana. · 

Mimosites spatulatus. 

Mimosites georgianus. 

Mimosites mississippiensis. 

Caesalpiniaceae: 

Cassia ·georgiana. 

Cassia jacksoniana. 

Cassia obionana. 

Bauhinia wadii. 

Papilionaceae: 

Sop~ora claiborniana. 

Sophora wilcoxiana. ; 

Papilionites erythrinaformis. 

Lon:chocarpus anceps. 

139 
l4Q MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH Alvmh'rcA. 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

Rosales-Continued. 

Hamamelidaceae: 

Liquidambar incerta. 

. Geraniales: 

Rutaceae: 

Fagara catahoulensis orbiculata. 

. Fagara catahoulEmsis elongata. 

Fagara catahoulensis major. 

Fagara catahoulensis coriacea. 

Meliaceae: · 

Cedrela jacksoniana. 

Malpighiaceae: 

Banisteria texana. 

B urseraceae: 

Burserites fayettensis. 

Sapindales: 

Sapindaceae: 

Cupanites nigricans. 

Dodonaea viscosoides. 

Sapiridus dentoni. 

Sapindus georgianus. 

Sapindus georgianus elongatus. 

Anacardiaceae: 

Anacardites balli. 

Rhamnales: 

Rhamnaceae: 

Paliurus catahoulensis. 

Rhamilites krugiodendroides. 

Ceanothus jacksonensis. 

Mal vales: 

Tiliaceae: 

Grewiopsis wadii. 

Tilia jacksoniana. 

Bombacaceae: · 

Bombacites jacksonensis. 

. Sterculiaceae: 

Dombeyoxylon jacksonensis. 

Sterculia cL S. labruscoides. 

Buettneria jacksoniana. 

Parietales: 

Ternstroemiaceae: 

· Ternstroemites claibornensis. 

. : ~rernstroemites variabilis. 

Thymeleales: 

Lauraceae: 

· Cinnamomum angustum. 

Cinnamomum spectabile. 

Cinnamomum sp. 

Mespilodaphne caudata. 

Mespilodaphne caudata major. 

Mespilodaphne columbiana. 

Mespilodaphne texana~ 

Mespilodaphne jacks.onensis. 

Oreodaphne brazosensis. 

N ectandra arkansana. • 

N ectandra antillanafolia. 

N ectandra gosportensis jacksonensis. 

Malapoenna sp. 

Laurinoxylon branneri. 

La.urinoxylon? sp. 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

Myrtales: 

Rhizophoraceae: 

Rhizophora eocenica. 

Combretaceae: 

Terminalia phaeocarpoides. 

Couocarpus eocenicus. 

Combretum petraflumense . 

Myrtaceae: 

Myrcia bentonensis? 

Myrcia catahoulensis? 

Myrcia ambiguaformis. 

Umbellales:. 

Araliaceae: 

Oreopanax mississippiensis. 

Cornaceae: 

Gamopetalae: 

Nyssa texan a. 

Nyssa jacksoniana. 

Primulales: 

Myrsinaceae: 

Ardisia sp. 

Ebenales: 

Sapotaceae: 

Calocarpum viridiformis. 

Sapotacites miraflorianus. 

Sapotacites millicanensis. · 

Chrysophyllum preoliviforme. 

Bumelia balli. 

Ebenaceae: 

Diospyros mirafloriana. 

Gen tianales: 

Apocynaceae: 

Apocynophyllum texensis. 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium. 

Personales: 

Bignoniaceae: · 

Tecoma preradicans. 

V e'rbenaceae: 

Citharexylon brazosensis. 

FORMS OF UNCERTAIN POSI'riON. 

Carpolithus callitriformis. 

Carpolithus najasoides. 

Carpolithus balli. . , 

Carpolithus bumeli8.formis. 

Cypselites jacksonEl'n.sis. 

Leguminosites sp. 

.Antholithes balli. 

. Phylum THALLOPHYTA. 

Class FUNGI. 

Order PYRENOMYCETES. 

Genus SPHAERITES Unger. 

Sphaerites claibornensis Berry. 

Sphae1·ites claibornensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survev Prof 

Paper 84, p. 132, pl. 24, fig. 6, 1914. ·· • 

Perithecia small and numerous, n.rranged in 

eleva~ed rings, 1 to 1.5 millimeters iri. diameter, 

on the upper surface of the leaves of F~c71.s. 
Large numbers of fungi of this sort have been 

described by European paleobotanists, chiefly 

from Tertiary horizons, and referred to the 

genera Spham·ia I-Ialler or Sphaerites Unger~ 

They possess little biologic interest, except in 

so fm· as they indicate the presence of this 

elass of plants in bygone floras, and American 

paleobotanists have usually ignored them 

entirely. 

The present species is similar to Sphaerites 

myricae (Lesqu~reux) :Meschinelli, 46 from the 

Green River formation of Wyoming, which 

occurs on leaves of a species of Myrica, and to 

Sphaerites nerviseq'J.tus Fritel, 47 from the Sparnacian of the Paris Basin, which occurs on the 

leaves of a species of Lauraceae ·and is somewhat smaller than the Georgia form. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay 

men1ber), Fiske property, Grovetown, Qolumbia County: and .10 miles south of Macon, 

Twiggs County, Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: ·u. S. National Museum. 

Genus CAENOMYCES Berry. 

Cnenomyces jacksonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plri.te LXV, Figure 8 .. 

Irregularly circular spots of discolored and 

disorganized leaf tissue with a circular elevn.ted u1nbilicate fruit mass about 2 Inilli-

:meters in dia1neter, evidently representing a 

spot fungus resembling those of the genus 

Phyllisticta Pe~·soon, which has hundreds of 

existing species. On leaves of Oombretum 

petrajlumense Berry. 

;·: As_ the identification of the thousands of 

existing leaf-spot fungi depends almost ent~rely upon their methods of reproduction 

and the morphology of their reproductive 

parts, the ·pr~sent fossil species is referred to 

the form genus Oaenomyces, proposed by 

:me 48 in 1916 for the reception of undeterminable fossil remains of Tertiary age that are 

undoubtedly fungi and not the resi.Ilt of insect injury. · 

Occurrence: Fayette s·andstone, Mossy Creek, 

3·:miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County,. 

'.l.'ex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. ---------·----------------- ------ IG Losqucrcux, Leo, 'l'he·Tcrtiary flora, p. 34, pl. 1, fig. 4, 1878. 

IT Frltol, P. H., Etude sur lcs vegetaux fossiles de l'etagc sparnacien 

clu bassin do Paris: Soc. geol. France M~m. 40, P- 13, pl. 1, fig. 14, 1910. 

•a Derry E. W ., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: U.S. Ocol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p.l62, 1916. 

141 

Genus PESTALOZZITES Berry. 

Pestalozzites minor Berry. 

Pestalozzites minor Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 98, p. 230, pl. 5~, fig. 2, 1916. . 

Essential characters unknown. · Infests the 

rays and the 1~achis of Thrina-x eocenica Berry 

and forn1s relatively small, usually neR.dy circular spots, which R.verage about 1 n1illimeter 

in diameter. · 

Indistinguishable remains are present in 

abundance on the rays of Sabalites viclcsbnrgens·is Berry, a comn1on species in the 

Jackson and in the succeeding Vicksburg group. 

These remains are of trifling value from 

the viewpoint of either the botanist or the 

geologist, but they are of considerable interest in the indications which they afford of 

the existence of this type of plant life in the 

middle Eocene of southeastern North America. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay 

member),. Grovetown, Columbia County, Ga. 

(collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus CLADOSPORITES Felix. 

Cladosporites fasciculatus Berry. 

This species is described under the ftora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 3.9). It is present in 

the lower Jackson of Texas and in the upper 

Jackson of :Mississippi and was undoubtedly 

widespread throughout southeastern North 

An1er'.ica during the 1niddle and upper Eocene. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 1 n1ile northea,st of Pennington, Trinity County, Tex. (No. 

223); upper part of Jackson fonnation, 8 n1iles 

south of' Jn,ckson, Miss. (No. 281). 

Collection: U. S. National Mu.seu1n. 

Phylum BRYOPHYTA. 

Class. HEPATICAE. 

Order MARCHANTIALES. 

Genus .MARCHANTITES Brongniart. 

Marchantites· stephensoni Berry. 

·Plate LXl V, Figure 2. 

Marchantites· stephen:soni Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 131, p. 4, pl. 4, fig. 1, 1922. 

Plant bQdy thallose, consisting of n, linear, 

repeatedlydichotomouslyforked thallus, prOininently thickened 1nedia.nly and with very irregularly placed oblique and tn1nsverse 1narkings, 
142 MiDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE l!-;LORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH A:MER!CA. 

which I consider represent. appressed rhizoids. j Occurrence: Jackson formation, McMurrains 

The lamina is about. 6 millimeters wide, and Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Dorado, Union 

the margins are very full· and waved. The County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

speciinen figured has a total length of 11 centi- Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

meters and shows three dichotomies, the left 

branch of the main fork remaining entire for a 

distance of 5.5 centimeters before forking and 

the right branch forking at 2 centimeters and 

again 3 centimeters and 3.5 centimeters farther 

on. The thallus appears to have been of considerable consistency. 

There are no features by which these remains 

can be separated from the type material of this 

species, which was described recently from the 

upper Wilcox of Arkansas. The present material, which is more complete, shows a greater 

distance between the dichotomies and has a 

fuller, more undulating margin, in the last feature approximating Marchantia sezannensis 

Brongniart, fruiting specimens of which were 

described many years ago from the Paleocene 

of ·France. The present species is. also much 

like Marohantia pealei, des-cribed by Knowlton 49 

Phylum PTERIDOPHYTA. 

Order FILICALES 

:Family SCHIZAEACEAE. 

Genus LYGODIUM Swartz. 

Lygodium kaulfussi Heer. 

This species is described under the flora of the 

Claiborne group (p. 39). It is not uncoillmon 

in the Claiborne but is rare and fragmentary · 

in the Jackson, occurring at but_ a single locality. 

Occurrence: Forest IIill sand, 11 miles north 

of Jackson, Mich. (collected by 0. W. Cooke): 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

. Lygodium. mississippiensis Berry. 

Lygodi1tm mississippiensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 231, pl. 55, figs. 3~ 4, 1917. 

This species was described by n1e as follows: 

from the Fort Union formation. in ¥ontana, Pinnules small and somewhat coriaceous, bilobate. 

which is a somewhat more robust form. · Thal- ·Base rounded. Margins entire, slightly_ undulate.· 

loid liverworts are so rarely found fossil that Lobes narrow, linear, with rounded tips, ~iverging at 

all records of them are noteworthy, and the an angle of about goo and separated by a right-angled 

sinus that approacJ1es within 6 or 7 millimeters of the · present form is an exceedingly characteristic base. Width of lobes about 7 millimeters; length 

representative of this class of fossils. Similar about 3 centimeters. Venation characteristic of the 

remains have been recorded from several Juras- genus; rather open, considering the small size of the· 

sic and Lower Cre.taceous localities, both in this pinn,ules. At or just above the base the leaf trace of 

country and abroad, and several Eocene and the pinnule forks at an angle of 55o to 60°, the branches 

curving outward :;tnd pursuing a cours~ approximately ·oligocene species have also been described. in the middle of the lobes until they become obsolete 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, by repeated branching. The branches go off at acute 

3 miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County, angles and curve outward, forking one or more times 

Tex.· (collected by O. M. Ball). (usually but once) by a narrow dichotomy and-ending. 

Collection: U. S. National Museum.. in the margin.· 

Phylum ARTHROPHYTA. 

Order EQUISET~LES. 

. Family EQUISETACEAE. 

Genus EQUISETUM Linne. 

Equisetum sp. 

Plate XLI, Figure 5. 

A fragment of what is apparently a rather 

large species of Eg_uisetum with. coarse ribs. 

The material is too incomplete ft>r _a proper 

characterization. 

l9 Knowlton, F. H., Description of new fossil liverwort from the Fort 

Union beds of Montana: u. S.Nat. Mus.Proc., vol.35,p.157,pl.25, 1908. 

The present species was based on very scanty 

and fragmentary remains found in the Cata.- · 

houla sandstone of Rankin County, Miss. It 

is fully recognized that Lygodium pinnules n,re 

in general vai·iable in size, outline, and lobation 

and that the foregoing description is inadequate in many resperts. At the same. tin1e 

this species represents. a characteristic element 

in a meager fiora which is of great interest from 

the standpoint of the comparative. paleobotanist. It is clearly distinct from the Wilcox 

or Claiborne species of Lygodium, the tendency 

seemingly having been in the direction_ of a 

progressive diminution in the size of the pinnules, a feature also noticeable in the records . 

of Lygodium in the Tertiary of Europe. 
UPPJ~R EOCENE OR J"ACKSON FLORA. 143 

Genus PTERIS Linne. 

Pteris inquirenda Berry. 

It resembles somewhn.t; but is perfectly distXnet from ·_Lygodi1.1,m dentoni :Lesquereux,50 o:f 

t;he Green :tlivor fot·mation in the :Rocky This species is described tmder the flora. of M:ountn.in regi~n. It n.lso resembles what J. 

Strt.rkie Grt..rdner terms n. "dwn,rfed bn.rren frond the Claiborne group (p. 46) · _The material 

both from the Claiborne and lower Jackson is of Lygodi?..l/ln 7ca'l.t~(ttl.ssi lleer" :frmn the Lutetian 

b d very incomplete and scanty. of southern ]~ngland. 51 Sn.po_rta has descri e Occurrence: Barnwell formation (1'wiggs three species fr01n the Ligurin.n of southern 1 . ·b ) M · M . · d 10 ·1 

France, n. horizon not very difreren t from the -c aythmefmMer ' Ba~Ibobn-C acotn IOGa ' ( llmlt eds · bl h. sou o .aeon, 1 oun v, a. co ec e 

present one, wlnch greatly resen1 es t IS b C W C k d H K. Sh · ) F tt 

species. They · are Lygodium · z)(u·v1foli,~m, 52 Y d · t · ~ e .. an L · · · ea~er t. 3 ~Y~ 1 e 

Lygodi'!J,m exquisit?..tm:53 and Ly_qodi?..tm dis- sa~ths onte, f aMnilel~a eaBgue, a Cou t. mTI es 54 '""' · ·• • -

11 b"l b t f nm . eas o. wan, razos oun y, ex. tra.~tum. I he ftrst IS a_ smn.. .l .o a e . orm (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

ve.ty close to the present. spec.Ies, 1n fact, the . C ll t' U 8 N t' 1M · l · ..l • 1 b · h t t t o ec wn: . . a wna useum. two may )e 1uent1ca , ut 1n t e presen s a e 

of our information, both being rare and scan-

_tily represented, it is wiser to· keep them 

distinct. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, three-fourths 

of a n1ile above junction of Caney and White. 

Rock creeks, Trinity County, Tex. (collected 

by C. ]~. :!3aker). · . . 

Collection: U. S. N ationn1 :Museum. 

Family POLYPODIACEAE. 

Genus ACROSTICHUM Linn~. 

Acrostichum georgianum Berry. 

Plate XXVIII, Figure 1. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 42). It is -not· 

\lllC(nmnml in the middle n.nd upper Claiborne 

and is exceedingly abundant i~ deposits M 

lower Jn.ckson age in Georgia. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Phinizy Gully,. Columbia 

County, Ga. (collected . by E. W. Berry); 

Marion-Macon road, ·10 n1iles south ·of Macon, 

Bibb County, Ga. (collected by C. W. Cooke 

and H. K. Shearer) ; 2 miles east of Gibson, 

Glascock County, Ga. (collected by Cooke and 

Shearer) .. 

Collection: U .. S. National M:useum. 

~o Losqueroux, Leo, Tho 'l'ertiary flora, p. G3, pl. 65, figs. 12, 13, 1878. 

6t Onrdner, .T. S., nnd Ettingshouscn, C'. von, British Eocene floro, 

vol. 1, p. !i7, pl. 13, fig. 8, 1882. · 

~~ Snportn, G. de, Etudes sur In vegetation du sud-est de ·]a :Fmnce a 

l'6poquc tertiaire, vol. 3, suppl. 2, p. 87, pl. 1, fig. 14, 18Gi; Dernicres 

adjon.ctlons lt.la !lore fossile d' Aix-en-Provence, pl. 2, fig. 6, 1889. · 

Phylum SPERMATOPHYTA. 

·class GYMNOSPERMAE,. 

Order CONIFERALES. 

Family PINACEAE. 

Genus CUPRESSITES Bowerbank. 

·cupressites sudworthi Berry. 

C1tp1·essites sudworthi Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 98, p. 232, pl. 55, fig·. 1, 1~1·7. 

· Cones sn1all, subglobose, 1.5 to 2 centimeters 

in dian1eter. ·Cone scales ligneous, decussate, 

less th~n ten in nun1ber, the exact nu1nber not 

. determinable; pel tate in forn1, with a thick 

axis abruptly dilated to the subangular four or 

five sidecl, expanded,· and transversely flattened 

tip, which is thick and radiately wrinkled from 

the subcentral mucronate umbo. · 

The present species is based upon poody 

preserved and somewhat crushed cones, whose 

substance is replaced by a friable calcareous 

deposit. No traces of coniferous foliage have 

been found in association with them. These . 

cones are very similar to those described by 

Unger 55 from the lower Oligocene of Haering, in 

the Tyrol, as Oupre$sites taxiformis, which 

Gardner, 5

6 on apparently good· grounds,· transfers to the genus Cupressus and associates with 

cones from the supposedly earlier horizon of 

Bournemouth (Middle Bagshot) of the south 

of England. 

The present ID:aterial is too poorly preserved 

to show whether the proximal scales are fused 

or free, or whether sterile scales persist at the 

~a Saporta, G. de, Etudes sur Ja vegetation du sud-est de la }?ranee it ss Unger, Franz, Chloris protogaea, p.18, pl. 8, figs. 1-3; pl: 9; figs. 1-4, 

1 'tipoquo tertiuiro, vol. 3, p. 88, pl. I, 1ig. 13, 1867. 1847. 

••Suporta, G. de, Dorniercs udjonctions _it la · f1oro !o~s\1~ d' Aix-en- o~ Gardner, J. S., British Eocene flora, vol. 2, p. 26, pl. 91, figs. 22-2G, 

:pmvenqc: pt. t, p, 24, ·p!. 2, H~. 8! 18891 •. 2~30~ 1~8.'L ~Other firues sh~w ~he ebar~ter~stiG d~mor.~b~c f~Jia~e:~ 
144 JVUI)DLE AND UPPER EOCENE :FLOHAS O:F SOUTHEASTJ!}HN NORTJI AlVLERICA. . 

base of the cone. As identity with Oupressus .southeastern North America during Jackson 

taxiformis can not be positively established the time, and the material is so incomplete that the 

present remains were described as new, and as identification is queried. It· is represented by 

they can not be definitely referred to the genus sparing ·but more characteristic material fro1n a 

Oupressus rather than to Ohamaecyparis, they single locality in the antecedent Wilcox group. 

were referred to the form genus Oupressites of The species is much like the modern Tctx- · 

Bowerbank and named in honor of Mr. George odium distichum in structure and habit. Its 

·B ... Sudworth, of. the United States Forest rarity in southeastern North America during 

Service. the Eocene and Oligocene is believed to be due 

This species wtts described frmn the Cata- to the warm climate, for it is ·also absent from 

houla sandstone of Louisiana and is repre- the more torrid . periods of' the European 

sen ted by lignified material from the deposits Eocene, as, for example, the Lutetian of France 

of lower Jackson age in western Tennessee. _and England, and is abundant in the far north 

'rhe modern species of Oupressus number about· at about this same time. 

12 forms of con1paratively warm climatic Occurrence: Lagrange formation; in beds of· 

requirements, living in southern Eurasia and upper Jackson 0) age, 75 feet above river, half 

Pacific North America from California· south- a 1nile north of Hickman, Fulton County, Ky.; 

ward to Central An1erica, usually in sandy E. H. Russell place, 8 n1iles west of Union City, 

habitats near· the coast. The modern species on Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn. (~ollected 

of Ohamaecyparis number four or five and are by Bruce Wade). Jackson formation, 2 miles 

confined to the· Atlantic and· Pacific coast south of New Edinburgh, Cleveland County, 

regions of North America and similar mostly Ark. (collected by G. D. Harris). 

swampy habitats in Japan and Formosa. Collection~ U.S. National Museun1. 

Occurrence: Lagrange · formation · (upper 

part), Randolph Bluff, Tipton County, Tenn. 

(collec.ted by E. W. Berry). · 

Collection: U. S. N ationaJ :Musemn. 

Genus TAXODIUM L. C. Richard. 

Taxodium dubium (Sternberg) Heer? 

'J'axodiu1n dubium (Sternberg)· Heer, Flora tertiaria 

Helvetiae, voL 1, p. 49, pl. 17, figs. 5, 15, 1855; 

Flora fossilis arctica, vol. 1, pp~ 89, 156, pl. 2, 

figs. 24-27; pl. -12, fig. 1c; pl. 30, figs. 3, 4; pl. 

45·, figs. 11a-d, 12, 1868. 

'l'n:wrhu,m distich'lun 1niocenum Heer, 'Miocene bal-

. tische Flora, p. 18, pL 2; pl. 3, figs. 6, 7, 1869. 

Newberry, U. S. Geol. Survey 'Mon. 35, p. 22, 1898. 

:Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 27, 

1902. 

Berry,' Jour. Geolo¥y, vol. 17, p. 22, fig. 1, 1909. 

This species is abundantly represented nt a 

large number of localities in the N ortherri 

fiemisphere during the Tertiary by foliage,· 

. cone scales, .seeds, catkins, and wood. It is 

especially common in the lower Eocene of the 

·Rocky Mountain province, the Tertinry of ~ 

large number of Arctic localities, and the 

Aquitanian of Europe. A single frngment of a 

twig i~ th~ gnly i:p.dicatign of its prese-p19e in, 

Genus GLYPTOSTROBUS Endlicher. 

Glyptostr.obus europaeus (Brongniart) Heer? 

Plate XLIX, Figures 1, 2. 

This species is described under the Claiborne flora. It has not been seen in beds. of 

unquestioned Jackson age but occurs in those 

near the head of the embayment which I 

have tentatively regarded as upper Jackson 

and which may be somewhat younger. · The 

remains are of slender twigs with acutely 

pointed, falcate, decurrent leaves, such as are 

freq:uently · refen·ed to the genus Widd·tingtonia. In two specimens the leaf bases are 

·very much extended, and the leaves are qorrespondingly remote. In the absence of cones 

their r·eference to Glyptostrobus is questionable. 

but they appear indistinguishable from remains so identified throughout the Tertiary of 

both North America and Europe. . 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds 

of upper Jackson 0) ~ge, E. H: Russell place, 

8 m,iles west of Union City, on Cnne Creek, 

Obion County, Tenn. (collected by )3rup(3 

Wade)·. ·· 

Qgll~ction: U. S. N ~tion~l ~{u,setun, 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 145 

Class ANGIOSPER~AE. 

Subclass MONOCOTYLEDONAE. 

Order N AIADALES. 

Family N AIADACEAE. 

Genus POTAMOGETON Linne. 

Potamoge~on megaphyllus Berry. 

Plate XXVIII, Figure 3. 

which extends over more than 20° of latitude 

in America, from. Newfoundland and British 

Columbia to Florida and California, and which 

also occurs in Europe and Asia. All the wideranging species extend into both comparatively 

high and low latitudes, whereas species of 

narrow range are usually confined to warmer 

regions, a$ Potamogeton jloridanus Small· and 

Potamo,qeton curtissii Morong, of Florida. 

Pota-mo(Jelon mega7Jhyllns Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey This "distribution may indicate that for1nerly 

Pt·of. Pnper 84, P· 1

35, pl. 27, fig. 2' 1914· the species confined to low latitudes in the 

·Leaf ovate-lanceolate in outline, 8 or 9 centi- existing flora or their im1nediate ancestors in 

m~ters in length by 3.6 centimeters in g~eatest n~.ore ancient floras had a much wider range; 

width, which· is in the basal half of the .leaf. ·or that the 1nodern wide-ranging species had 

Apex not seen, but the margins converge greatly extended their former range in recent 

l\pically to a 1nai~ked degree, so that it was ti1nes. I incline to the latter· supposition, 

rather obtusely or acutely. pointed. Base although it is well known that the majority of 

rounded. Veins numerous, about 1 millimeter aquatic animals as well as plants are little 

apart, unbranched, aerodrome. Midrib not influenced by latitudinal temperature changes. 

differentiated. Transverse veinlets not visible. A·fonn of similar size but more open venaTexture. apparently thin ·and finn. . tion, Potamogeton nordenskioldi, is described 

The present species rese1nbles a number ~f by Heer 61 from the Tertiary of Spitzbergen. 

fossil forms of undetermined 'botanic affinity, Both the Spitzbergen and the Georgia species 

such as Smilacina rackiana Pilar, 5

7 .of the later probably represent floating and not ·e~erged 

Tertiary.of Europe. It comes closest, however, or sub1nerged leav:es. · 

to the leaves frmn Trocadero, in the Eocene Occurrence: Barnwell fornuttion (Twiggs 

of the Paris Basin (Lutetian), referred by clay n1ember), Phinizy Gully, near Grovetown, 

Saporta 68 to the genus Ottelia ~ersoon (Hydro- Colmnbia County, Ga. (collected by E. W. 

charitaceae) but described originally as a species Berry). 

of Potamogeton by both ~rongniart and Wate- C~llection: U. S. National :M:usemn. 

let 50 and referred by Bureau 60 · to the genus· 

Monochoria of the Pontederiaceae. 

Between thirty and forty fossil species have 

been referred to this genus, ·none of which 

appear to be identical with the Georgia :form. 

T.h.ey range in age from the Arctic Senonian 

through :Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and 

Pliocene to the Pleistocene, from which a 

large number of still existing species have been 

i·ecorded, both in this country and abroad. 

The modern species number over sixty, occur-. 

ring in the Tropics as well as in the Temperate 

Zone, which has the larger representation. 

Most of the species have a wide and many a 

cosmopol~tan range, a single species commonly 

extending over a great many degrees of latitude, 

as, for example, Potamogeton perfoliatus Linne, 

67 Pilar, Gcorgio, Flora rossilis susedana, p. 13, pl. 3, fig. 8, 1883. 

6S Sa porta, a. do, Le mondo dos plantcs avant !'apparition de l'homme, 

p. 227, fig. 45, 1879. . . 

n9 Brongnlart, Adolphe, 'l'ablcau des genres do vegetaux fossiles, p.l15, 

1849.. W£\tclot, A., Description des plantes fossiles du bassin ·de Paris, 

p. 86, pl. 23, fig. 1, 1866. 

w 1Jurcau1 K 1 Com pt. ~cud. 1 vol. 1 t5, pp. 1335-1337! t892: 

Potamogeton sp. 

Plate XXVIII, Figure 2. 

Leaves elliptical ovate, with a broadly 

{·ounded apex -and .bn.se, the latter semieircu-· 

ln.r. Narrowed above the middle. :Margins 

entire, evenly rounded. Leaf substance thin 

and apparently flaccid. Venation obscured. 

Lencrth 3.5 centi1neters. :Maximun1 width, in . b ' 

the basal half, 2.1 centimeters. 

Based on a single specimen of what is appa.rently a subn1erged 1nonocotyledon. Of doubtful botanical affinity but clearly distinct from 

the known members of the Claiborne flora. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay 1ne1nber), ~{aeon-Marion road, 10 ·Jniles 

south of.~{ aeon, Bibb County, Ga. (collected by 

C. W. Cooke and H. K. Shearer). 

Collection: u·. S. National Museum. 

61 Heer, Oswald, Flora f()S1ilis !lrctica~ vol. 1

1 p. 157: pl. 130: fi?s. lb: 

. 5o1 d~ fi-8l 186~: 
146 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE J!'LOHAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Order ARALES. 

Family ARACEAE. 

Genus PISTIA Linne. 

·-. Pistia claibornensis Berry •. 

Plate XXVIIi, Figure 4. 

}.J·i~t·in clu.ibornensis. Berry; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 137, pl, 26, figs. 1, 2, 1914. 

Leaves broadly obovate with a retuse. :;tpex, 

which gives them an obcordate outline, 2.5 

centimeters in· length by 2.5 centin1eters in 

greatest breadth. Base broadly cuneate, descending to the wide petiole. Apex with a 

shallow, broadly rounded sinus.· Venation indistinct, fasciculate·, fonning irregular polygonal 1neshes by repeated cross branching. 

There are indications in the fossil of intumes-

.cence and inflation in the basal half of the leaf 

exactly c01nparable to the conditions found in 

the existing species. 

This species was the first to be discovered in 

the Ter.tiary, and only three Cretaceous species 

are known. It is clearly ~listinct frmn any 

previously described ·fossils hut reseinbles 

somewhat certain leaves of Pistia corr1..tgata 

Lesquereux, fr01n the Upper Cretaceous Montana group, but it differs frorn t.his species in 

the degree of apical retuseness and from the 

leaves of the recent species in the sarne respect, 

although the older leaves ·of the recent speCies 

tend to a truncn.te form and many of. them are 

slightly retuse. 

In size, ou_tline, and Yenation this species is 

not very different from the 1nodern species 

Pistia · stratiotes Linne, to which Engler .has 

referred all the living representatives of t.he 

genus. 62 The result is certaip.ly a somewhat 

varia:ble and a n1ost widely distributed species, 

practically confined to the tropical and sub-

. tropical zones of both the Old and. the New 

World. In this country it is found from Florida to Texas. Elsewhere it occurs in the· West 

Indies and southward through Mexico and 

Central America to Paraguay ·and Argentina. 

In Africa it is found from ·Natal to Senegambia and Nubia, occu.rring also in Madagascar 

and tl:le M~.scarene Islands. In Asia it occurs 

throughout the East Indies and northward to 

the Philippines. 

But few fossil. forms hav~ been referred to 

this genus. Hosius and Von der Marek 68 

described in 1880 what· they called Pistites 

loriformis from the Lower Senonian of Westphalia, . but this is probably cycadean, as 

Schimper. 64 suggested. Lesquereux 65 in 1876 

named a remarkably well preserved form from 

Point of Rocks; Wyo., Pistia corrugata. This 

form was later fully described and illustrated 66 

and included leaves of different sizes . and 

.rootlets. It comes from beds belonging to the 

Monta:o.a group (Senonian), which are of about 

the same age as the French -beds from which 

the only other species was known. This 

latter,· Pistia mazelii, w:as mentioned and 

figured fro111 the .lignites ·of Fuveau (Provence), France, by Sa porta and Marion 67 in a 

popular work and has never been adequately 

described. · 

Recently I showed that Heer's Ohondrophyllum nordenslcioldi, described from the Atane beds 

of Greenland, was a true Pistia and was exceediil.gly abun~ant in the Upper C~etaceous ~lack 

Creek for1nation of North Carolina, which is 

of Colorado (Turonian) age. 68 A well-characterized species occurs in the Wilcox group 

in Louisiana. 69· · 

It is significant as showing how iinperfect 

the geologic record really is, even of the Euro~ 

pean Tertiary, that this widespread modern 

type ranged over at least two· continents 

during the Upper Cretaceous and presumably 

·had a still wider range in. Cenozoic tin1e, and 

yet not .a single speci1nen has ever before come 

to light at any of the thousands of localities 

where plant beds of Cenozoic age have been 

exploited. . 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Fiske property, Grovetown, 

Columbia County, Ga. (collected by· E. W .. 

Berry).· 

Collection: U. S. National Museum . 

63 Hosius, A., and Von dli)r Marek, W., Die flora der Westfii.!ischen 

Kreideformation: Palaeontographica, 'vol. 26, p. 182, pl. 38, figs. 151, · 

152, 1880. 

64 Schimper, w.' P., in Zittel, K. A., Handbuoh der Palaeontologie1 

Abt: 2, Paleophytologie, p. 378, 1890. 

66 Lesquereux, Leo, On the Tertiary flora of the North. American 

lignitic, considered as evidence of the age of the formation: U. S. Geol 

and Geog, Survey Terr. Arin. Rept. for 1874, p. 299, 1876. ' 

66. Lesquer-eux, Leo, The Tert\ary flora, p, 103, pl. 61, figs. I, 3-7, 9-ll, 

18&'3. 

fjT Saporta, G. de, and Marion, A. F., L'evolution du regne vegetale: 

Phanerogames, vol. 2, p. 37, figs. 114C, 114D, 1905. · 

68 Berry, E. W., Contributions to the Mesozoic flora of the Atlantic 

Coastal Plain; V, North Carolina: 'l'orrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 37, 

p. 189, pl. 21, figs. 1-15, 1910. 

62 Engler, A., and Prantl, K., Die n~tiirHchett ftl~nzenfamilien, 69 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North Amcr, 

1-'ell2, Abt. 3, p. 152, 1889, . \ca: U~ S~ Geql. Surver Prof. faller ~1, ~· 175, ~l. 1~3, fi~. 4, \9~6, 
UPPJ!}R EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA, 147 

Order SCITAMINALES. 

Family CANN ACEAE. 

Genus CANNA Linne. 

Canna jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLIX, li'igures 4-6. 

Leaves ovate-lanceolate in outline,· of large 

size. . Length estimated fron1 the widest speciInen collected to have been between 45 and 55 

centimeters. Maxin1un1 width about 20 centi-

:meters. :Margins entire. Texture subcoriaceous. Midrib stout below, becoming. incon ... 

spicuous distad, pr01ninent on the lower side of 

the leaf. Secondaries thin but prominent, 

evenly spu.ced at intervals of about 1 to 2 .milliIneters, parallel; they diverge fron1 the midrib 

at very acute angles and imn1ediately curve out·-

ward, becoming slightly less closely spaced, and 

then ptu·sue a nearly straight course, curving 

upward but sliglitly in the marginal region. 

T'heir general angle of divergence is about 55° to 

60°. Every fourth or fifth secondary is very 

slightly n1ore prominent, but there are no interinediate tertiaries parallel with the secondaries. 'l'he laterals are connected by thin, very 

closely spaced percurrent terti~t.ries, nearly :at 

right nngles to the laterals but slightly oblique and visible only on impressions of the 

under side of the leaf. 'I'hese are characteristic 

of this species. 

The spacing of the secOI~dn.ries and the large 

angle which thpy for.m with the n1idrib suggested 

eo:mptuisons with the genus M'l.t,S((, or its commonest existing An1erican relativelieliconia, but 

-these were found to show differences in vena.tion, 

particularly in lacking. the percurrent nervilles 

or anything approaching them, except in the 

in1mediate vicinity of the 1nidrib, whereas.exactly c.Oinparable nervilles have been fotmd in 

htrge leu. ves of the 1nodern . Canna. This reseinblauce, coupled with the known presence 

of species of Oanna in both the Wilcox and 

Claiborne, enable$ this Jackson form to be referred to that genus w!th considerable confidence. · 

Cwnna jaclcsoniana '~as a fine large species, 

·which, although closely relate~l to. its probable 

a.ncestor Canna ficwcidafolia Berry·, of .the Claiborne, shows well-n1arked. specific differences. 

'.rhese n.re the wider spacing of the laterals, their 

more ·open angle of divergence, ~n,d t}l,e well-

~Il:a,rk~q Iwrvillt:3EJ: - . 

. ~'he gen~s has between thirty and :fifty exIstmg s~emes, exclusively American, chiefly 

h:ygroph1lous and largely confined to tropical 

and subtropical regions. They constitute a 

picturesque elem~nt in the Tertiary floras of 

southeastern North America, where they have 

~ee~ represented from the Eocene to the present 

.time. In their ~n:atural_ state they extend 

·northward sparingly along the Atlantic coast 

as f~r as a?ot~t latitude 34 °. They are widely· 

cultivated In ornamental plantings, and I have 

seen tropical forms escaped- from cultivation 

and naturalized in Mississippi, Louisiana, and 

Texas. Aside from the fossil forms described 

by. me, of which, the Wilcox form is the best 

lrnowri and most wide ranging, ha~ing been 

found from northeastern ~ississippi to southwestern Tex~s, the genus is ·spari~gly represented in paleobotanic literature 1nostly by 

doubtful or undeterminable material. Al-. 

though que~ied by Kn:owlton, its describer, I 

regard Oanna magnifolia ~nowlton 70 as an 

undoubte'cl Cann_a. Its features are especially 

well n1arked, and it is of especial interest, as it 

was collected from the Upper Cretaceous VerInejo forn1ation of southeastern Colorado· and 

is therefore the oldest known undoubted representative of this genus. 

Occw·rence: Fayette sa~dstone, .1 t · to 3 

1niles east of Wellborn, Britzos Cot1nty, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: u~ s. NrLtiontLl Museum. 

Order LILIALES. 

Family SMILACEAE. 

Genus SMILAX Linn~. 

Smilax fayettensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXI, Figures 1-3. 

Leaves of variable size and outline, orbicular, elliptical-ovate· or·. ovate-lanceolate 

rounded to P?inted apically; slightly decur~ rent, rounded or broadly cordate at the base. 

Margi~s entire, full and rounded, or narrowed 

in the upper half of .the leaf, where it is extended distad. Length 6 to 9 centimeters. 

Maximutn width, n.t or below the 1niddle, 4 to 

7 centi1neters. Leaf ·Substance thin, but stifl' 

and not men1branous. Petiole short. Midrib 

stout· and prOininent. A stout.la.teral primary. · 

1o Knowlton, F. H:, Geology and paleontologyofthe Raton. Mesa and 

ot~er regions in Colorado and New Mexico: u. S. Oeol. Survey :fro!. 

fa:per 1011 :p. 254, :pl. 36, fi~. 31 1917. · 
148 JVUDDLE ANJJ UPPER BOOBNE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AM;:ERICA. 

on either side diverges fr01n the top of the 

petiole, forming ttn angle of about 5.5° with the 

midrib; these pri1naries curve upward, running 

pari\llel with the lateral leaf n1argins, about 

hn1fw·ay between the midrib and the margins, 

bec01ning attenuated distad, where they are 

acrodron1e. Outside the lateral pri1naries there 

is a pair of thin pseudoprimftries, diverging at 

si1nilar angles from the top of the petiole and 

pn,rallel with and a short distance. within the 

leaf margi_ns; these n,re n·ot p1;omineilt, and in 

the middle part of the leaf they cmn1nence to 

arch fron1 tertiary to tertiary but preserve 

their identity to the npex o:f the leaf and are 

acrodron1e. Tertiaries thin, in genentl transverse in direction, commonly inosculating. 

Areolation prominent, forming transve~·sely 

elongated, relatively large polygont1.l meshes, 

with mostly -rounded angles. 

The genus Smilax has not ·heretofore been 

collected· in the Eocene of the Cqastal Plain, 

although it has an extended geologic history. 

There are five species known frmn the Upper 

Cretaceous, four of which are American and 

the fifth European. The European species is 

of :E1nscherian age, wherens the American 

·species are Cenomanian or Turonian. · There 

are about eight other Eocene species-five 

found· in the United States, three in the Arctic,· 

one in Europe, and one. in Asia. There are 

at least a score of named forms frmn the Oligocene, all from European localities; and about 

twenty-iive :Miocene fonns, also for the n1ost 

part :European. The five or six Plioce~e species are n,]so entirely :European, but the prebut generically characteristic. The present fossil species is not unlike Smilax gla1.wa Walter or · 

Smilax 1.valteri Pursh, of the existing fiora of 

southeastern North America. . 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Bn,rrcrn 

League, about 3 1niles northeast of J\1illicttn, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0 .. J\1. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National MuselJ.m. 

Order POALES. · 

Family POACEAE. 

·Genus ARUNDO Linne. 

Arundc> pseudc>goeppertl Berry. 

Plate XLt, Figure 6. 

This species is described under the fiol'a of 

the Clniborne group (p. 49). It is very cornmon but in an exceedingly fragmentary con .. 

clition in both· the Claiborne ·and Jackson 

floras. 

Occurrence: Jackson fonnatioil, McMurra.ins 

Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Dorado, Union 

Col!nty, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), 

Phinizy Gully (collected by E. W. Berry), and 

one-fourth mile southwest of Forrest station: 

~collected by C. VV. Cooke and H. I{. ·shearer), 

:Jolumbia County, Ga. 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Ord~r ARECALES. 

Family ARECACEAE. 

Genus PHOENICITES Brongniart. 

Phoenicites occidentalis Berry. 

pondet:ance of Europe in both Oligocene and Plate XXVIII, Figures 8-10. 

Pliocene is largely a result· of accidents of Phoen·,:cites occider"Ltal'is Berry, Am. Jonr. Sci., 4t;h ser., 

preservation. I have· seen Smilax in the. vol. 37, pp. 403-406, 1914. 

Cohansey sand of New Jersey. Fruit as preserved in a coarse gray sandstone 

Except that the base in the present species an oblate spheroid about 4 centilneters in 

tends t.o be cordate it much rese1nbles the length and 1.5 centimeters in maximum diamforn1 from the late Eocene of fiesse that Engel- eter. The surface is longitudinally wrinkled, 

hanlt 70a identifies as Smilax retic'ulata I-Ieer~ a probably as a result of desiccation before fossiliJ~uropean Oligocene species. . z~tion, which may also make the dimensions as 

· The genus has about .,200: existing species, given soinewhat less than they were in life. 

widely distributed and 1nost abundant in the The flesh was relatively thin, as compated with 

tropicnl parts of AJnerica and Asia. Its mem- that .of the cultivated date, and fibrous rather 

bers are 1nostly cli1nbing shrubs, and several than of the soft. and almost fluid chnracter of 

extend for long distnnces into the Tempentte some of the modern varieties of the date. 'fhe 

Zone. The lea;ves are remarkably variable seed was ~·elatively as well as actually large-in 

7oa l<.:ngelhardt, J-brmann, Die alttertiare Flora YOn Messel bei Darm- the specin1en mentioned, which ShOWS the extestadt: Hess. gcol. Landcsanst.. w Darmstadt A bh.: Band 71 Heft- 4,_p, 77, . f th f · t · t · d d t b tl d 

pLI,fig.4,1922. .nor o_. -~ :ruJ 1 I 1s roun.~. ~- .o.~ <;}n,_s~ 
UPPEl~ EOCENE OH. .JACKSON FLORA. 149 

about 3 centimeters in length, nen.rly circular in Eocene of the Paris Basin, and in the succeedtransverse section, and about 1 centin1eter in ing Oligocene epoch the ren1ains of date palms 

din.meter. A s1naller speci1nen shmvs a length are ·abundant in Germany, Bohe1nia, and ' 

of nbout 2.5 centitneters and a diameter of 8 especially in no~thern Italy. They are pre-

.rnilli1neters. The larger of these seeds shows served in the early Miocene of France, Switzerthe central hilmn, the deep longitudinal sinus ,land, and Croatia. A species is recorded frmn 

on the opposite side, the tra.nsv-ei~sely lamella ted the \Vest coast of the Adriatic in Pliocene tinu~, 

structure exactly c01nparable to. that of a mod- and a well:.Inarked form which Drude ·calls 

ern date seed, n.nd· the fine1y corrugated surface Phoenix dactylifera fossilis, as it is so much like 

·con.t identical with that of a dried seed of the the existing date, occurs in the Pleistocene 

.modern date: The smaller specimen, though deposits of the volcanic .island of Santorin, in 

not so perfect, shows the general form and the Aegean Sea. This occurrence indicates 

sinus and the la1nellated structure.· that the elate palm was endemic in at least il. 

The considerable range of species of Phoenix- part of southern Europe until comparatively 

like palms in the Tertia!y of southern Europe recent geologic time. 

has led to the expectation of their discovery · The cultivated date belongs to a group of 

in our more tropical southern Tertiary J)eds about a dozen existing species referred to the 

when these should have been thoroughly genus Phoenix, all of which are confined to 

explored.. northern Africa and southern Asia, most of 

There cn.n be no doubt that we are. dealing the species being indigenous in the Indian 

with n. Phoe·nix-like fruit,· and we may con:fi- region. Two of the African species, P. spinosa 

dently expect to disco,•er the foliage eventu:.. and P. reclinata, are small shrubby forms that 

nlly-:in fnct, some of the frn.g1nents of palm bear small fruits, found along the coasts of 

rays found at this and other horizons in our Senegan1bia, Sierra Leone, and Natal. The 

southern Tertiary may represent this foliage. true· date of commerce in countless varieties . 

Petrified wood of se''eral species of palms is has ·existed since' prehistoric times in the hot 

exceedingly abundn.nt in these beds, and dry zone extending from Senegal eastward to 

n.lthough th.e study of pa.hn ~'roods has. not the basin of the Indus. (See Pl. XXIV, A.) 

progressed to 11. point where the generic rela- The cultivated date does not perfect its 

tions of the petrified woods can be mftde out fruit except in exceedingly hot climates where· 

with certainty, still it is significant thn.t wood clouds are not common and where all for1ns of 

of several different species occurs n.t this atmospheric hun1idity are very low-in fact, 

horizon. no a1nount of heat or degree of dryness of the 

Although the geologic record is confessedly air is injurious, provided the roots have access 

ineomp]etc, a number of :fossil speeics of ·to a sufficient supply of n1oisture. Although 

Phorl·nix-liko forms h.ave been described-in the great caraYan routes thR.t tnLverse the 

.. fact, there are more fossil than recent species. deserts of northern Africa and southwestern 

These :fossil species n.re, usuaHy referred to the Asia ·mark the areas of date culture, and 

genus Phoenicites of Brongnin.rt, as I have done .although the finest varieties grow in the oases 

here, ry.lthough ·SOme ·students refer them and sunken gardens of the Sahara, a considerad irectly to the genus Phoenix of Linne. The tion of the ecology of the date and of the other 

previous fossil occurrences are .. all Etirop·e~.n existing species of Phoenix, fl.t least t~o of 

n.nd are bn.sed on both leaves and in:floresence. which are . coastal types, indicates that the· 

In 1.886 Conwentz described a :flower.preserved geologic ancestors were not desert types but 

in perfection in the Bn.ltic amber (Sannoisian) ,

71 inhabitants of coasts and stream bap.ks, where 

and the. staminate infloresence of another the water table approached near enough to the 

species is associated with splendid leaves in surface to bec01ne available for their root 

the Eocene of the Pnris· Ba.sin. 72 The oldest. systen1. When corroborated by the facies of 

known form comes fr01n the middle or upper the associated flora or fauna they may indicate 

;~-c~~~~~n-t?:,~rr.,-Dio Fk,;~ d~s1i;;.~toi;s, ,;ol. 2~- p--:-8, pl. ~-fig-s.-6--9, hot climates accon1panied by a scanty rainfall; 

tsso. · fl.S. they probably do in eastern Texas, and it 72 Saport;a, G. de, Essai doscriptif sur los plantos fossiles des arkoses de 

nr·l.vos pros !c yu>'~oq-Vr!n>• 1 p. 25: pl. !1 ~878, . . ~e(.3l'll.S C(_3rtain th~t th~ t~nlper~ttn·e could POt 

··' 
150 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE l!~LORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NOHT;H AMtm.TCA. 

have gone below 18° C. without having been' 

been fatal to flowering and fruiting. 

Occurrence: Catahouia ( ~) sandstone, in a 

cut on the International & Great Northern 

Hailway in southern · Trinity County, Tex. 

(collected by C. L. Baker). 

·Collection: U.S. National Museun1. 

Phoenicites? sp. 

Plate LXII, Figure 1. 

I refer this frag1nent of a pinnate palm leaf to. 

Phoenicites because of the presence of Phoen'ixlike fruits at 'this horizon, although fully r·ecognizing their inconclusive nature. They might 

with equal propriety be referred to Chamaedorea, Geonomites, lriartites, and other palm 

genera, more or less p'rominent in the geologic 

history and recent palm flora of America. 

The single specimen· figured is the only one 

of its kind collected. It shows the distal part 

of a small pinnate leaf, with- a .slender rachis, 

the linear-lanceolate rays being contracted and 

folded at the base and attached to the side of 

the rachis, as in the existing genera Phoenix 

arid Archontophoenix. The present material 

offers little of diagnostic value but differs from 

previously described forms and is easily recognizable, so that ·additional and n1ore ·complete 

material may subsequently be discovered. 

Associated with this leaf is the unique specimen of palm fruit described as Palmocarpon 

sessile Berry, and this association renders 

negligible the argument from the pr~sence of 

Phoenix-like fruits in the Fayette sandstone,· 

which I 1nentioned above as one of the reasons 

for considering the ·leaf a Phoenicites rather 

than a Geonomites or lriartites. The method 

of attachment of the rays, however, seems 

favorable to my interpretation,. as these other 

·genera. have mostly flat. and commonly un-

. divided rays. . -A fragment subsequently collected has a stipe 5 millimeters .. in diameter, 

showing that these leaves were fairly large. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about. 3 miles northeast of Millican, 

and on Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest of 

'Vellborn, Brazos County,· Tex. (collected by 

0. M. Ball). . 

Collection: U. S. N ~tion~l Museum, 

Genus NIPADITES Bowerbank: 

Nipadites burtini umbonatus Bowerbank.-

Plate LXIV, Figure 6. 

Ni]){Uliles mnbonat1~s Bowerbank, A history of the fossil fruits and seeds of the London clay, p. 9, · 

pl. 1, 1840. 

Nipadites burtini Brongniart var. wnbonatus Bower-. 

bank. Ettingshausen, Roy. Soc. London Proc., 

vol. 29, p. 393, 1879. 

Berry,· U. S. Geol. Survey Pi·of. Paper 91, p. 176, 

pl. 112, figs. 13, 14, 1916. 

Drupelike fruits of different sizes, fr01~1 4 to 

8 centimeters in length and from 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter, obovate in outlip.e, with a 

narrowed truncate~ base and a broadly rounded 

umbilicate apex. · Surface fibrous and obscurely angled. _ 

This species was recognized in the V\Tilcox of 

the Mississippi 01nbay1nent region in 1916, and 

several specin1ens of si1nilar remains in the 

Jackson are referred to the srune species, thus 

bringing the range.in America: n1ore into accord 

with the range of this interesting genus in the 

Old World. 

This 1naterial consists of c01npressed, rather 

poorly preserved but perfectly characteristic 

·fruits of a Nipa-like palm fotind in the kaolinite of Brazos County, Tex. Sirnilar ren1ains 

were noted froni the English Eocene by Parsons 

as early as 1757, and from the Belgian Eoc.ene 

by Burtin in 1784. In 1840 Bowerbank recognized their true affinity and proposed .the name 

NiJJadites, · describing 13 species from the 

London clay of the Isle of Sheppey· (Ypresian). 

Later authors have greatly rechteed the nu1nher 

of species, recognizing that the variations ·were 

clue in. a large n1easure to the position of the 

fruits in the head and to their condition of 

preservation. It is quite po.ssible .to match 

these Eocene fruits from Mississippi and Texas 

with one or. more of Hower bank's types, but 

in the 1nain they are most closely allied to his 

species 'l.tmbonatus. 

The fossil species· of Nipadites and the existing genus Nipa were rather fu1ly discussed · 

in the account· of the Wilcox occurrence, to 

which the ·reader is referred. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, M:ossy Creek, 

3 1niles southwest of Well born, Brazos County, 

-Tex. (collect~d by 0. :M. Ball). · 

Collf)ction: U. S. National Museum. 
.· 

UPPER. EOCENE OR. J A OK SON FLO:lt.A. 151 

Genus THRIN AX LinnlL 

Thrinnx eocenica Berry. 

Plate XXX. 

This species is described· un~er the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 51). 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation ('l\viggs 

clay n1ember), Fiske property and .Phinizy 

Gully, Columbia County, Ga. (collected by 

S. W. McCallie and by E. W. Berry).· Jackson 

fotn1ation, 2 miles south of New Edinburgh, 

Cleveland County, Arlc (collected by G. D. 

'!farris). 

Collection: U. S. N ation·al Mu~eum. 

from Sabalites apalachicolensis Berry 73 .in its 

more slender rachis, longer acumen, thinner 

leaf, and· more prominent venation. It may 

be distinguished fr01n the widespread Wilcox 

form, Sabalites .grayanus Lesquereux./4 by its 

more slender rachis', lack of enlargetuent at the 

base. of the leaf, and thinner texture. 

Sabalites vicksburgensis was a form that resembled in its habitat Sabalites apalachicolensis 

as well as the modern Sabal palmetto Roemer 

and · Schultes-that is, it probably never 

flourished far from· the coast. 

. This· species was described from the · Catahoula sandstone of western Louisiana, which is · 

considered to be of lower Vicksburg age at that 

Genus SABALITES Saporta. outcrop. It is represented by little fu·st-class 

Sa halites vicksburgensis ~erry. material, although the abundance of fragments · 

Plate XXIX. of rays shows that it must have been abund. ant 

along the coast of the ·Mississippi Gulf during 8nlwlite.~ viclcsb~t1·gensis Berry, · U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 233, 1917. lower Vicksburg tune. It is more· common in 

the Jackson than in the Vicksburg but is · Leaves of variable size;. flabellate, the maxi- commonly poorly preserved, largely ·because of 

mum. diameter estimated from collected mate- the large size and thin texture of the leayes. 

rial at about 120 centimeters. Rachis rela- It differs from Thrinax eocenica Berry/5 a fan 

tively slender, unarmed, not ~nlarged at the palm that ·range.s up into the Jackson from the 

base of the leaf, continued upward as a long, Claiborne, in its much larger size, relatively 

slender, gradually narrowed acu:q1en. Whether narrower rays, less prominent veins, and more 

or not the two surfaces of the leaf .differ as extended acumen, which appeaFS to have been 

they do in Sabalites grayanus Lesquereux of equally developed on both surfaces of the leaf. 

the Wilcox and Sabalites apalachicolensis Berry The present species greatly resembles the 

of the so-called ((Apalachicola group". can not European Oligocene forms of the. large fan 

be determined from the available material. palm Sabal major Unger; a species .that is comFragmentary counterparts of the base .of a mon throughout the European Oligocene and 

leaf indicate that the acumen is practically the into the Miocene, if the. identifications from a 

same on both leaf surfaces. Rays carinate, large number of localities can be trusted. · 

about forty in number; basal o;nes becoming Occurrence: Catahoula ( ~) sandstone, 

smaller, narrower, and closer as wel~ .as. more Stryker, Polk County, and three-fourths of a 

curved proximad. All are extended, hnear- ·mile above junction of Caney and White Rock 

lanceolate, and· acuminate, becoming·free distad creeks, Trinity County (collecteq by C. ~· 

for greater qr less distances, generally ·from Baker) ; and Hamilton League, Fayette County, 

one-third to one-half their total length. Maxi- Tex: (colle·cted by Alexander Deussen). Faytuum observed width of rays, Iiear-the middle, ette sandstone, 1.2 miles southwest of crossis 3.6 centimeters. Midrib of rays stout. ing of ·Solomaneno Creek by HubbensyilleLateral veins par~llel with midrib, ~tout, about Zapata road, Webb County, Tex. (collected 

thirty on each side, one or two at irregular by A. ·C. Tr·owbridge).. 

intervals on each side more prominent than Collection: U. S. N n.tional Museum. 

their fellows, connected by fine transverse 

veinlets at right angles to the main parallel 

venation. Leaf. substance relatively thin but 

stiff. 

This species is close to previously described 

f~rms of Sabalites, the specific relations of all 

of ·which are not certainly. assured. Xt differs 

78 Berry, E. W., The pby~ical conditions and age indicated by the 

flora of the Alum Bluff formation; U. S. Geol. Su.rvey Prof. Paper 98, 

p. 46, pl. 8, fig. 3; pl. 9, fig. 9, 1916. . 

74 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 177, pl. 12, figs. 1-3; pl. 

14, fig. 1, 1916. . 

75 Berry, E. Y.l., The Upper Cretaceous and Eocene floras of' South 

Carolina and Georgia: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 84, p. 136, pis. 2.'>, 

26, 1914. 
152 MIDDLE AND UPPER. EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTi:I:EASTER.N NORTH A:M:Eh.ioA. 

Genus P ALMOXYLON Schenk. 

Palrnoxylon lacunosurn (Unger) Felix. 

Ji'asciculites lacmws1ts Unger, in Martius, Genera et 

species palmarum, p. 58, 16, tab. geol. 1, fig. 1; 

2, fig. 8; 3, fig. 1, 1845; Synopsis plantarum 

fossilium, p. 186, 1845; Chloris protogaea, p. 71, 

1845; Genera et species plantarum fossilium, 

p. 335, 1850. 

Palmoxylon lacunowm (Unger) Felix, Die fossilen Holzer 

· Westindiens, p. 23, pl. 5, fig. 3, 1883. (Palmoxylon lacunosum Felix, Studien tiber fossilen 

Holzer, p. 78, Inaug. D1ss., Leipzig, 1882, is 

referred to Palmoxylon anomal'um (Unger) by 

Stenzel, Fossile Palmenholzer, p. 81 (187), 

pl. 8 (6), figs. 64-66, 1904.) 

Schenk, in Zittel, H;wdbuch der Palaeontologie, 

Abt. 2, ·p. 889, fig. 430, 1890. 

Berry, t:T. S, Geol. Survey ~rof. Paper 98, p. 236, 

pl. 57, fig. 1; pl. 58,'1916. 

Fibrovascular bundles not crowded, especially in the interior of the stem; sclerenchyma portion ovate or reniform in transverse 

section. -Vascular portion orbicular. Auxiliary sclerenchyma bundles numerous, thin, 

without modified encircling cells. Groundmass, with intercellular spaces, ·which are 

greatly developed In the peripheral part of 

the stem. 

Stenzel 76 refers to this species the forn1 

Fasciculites anomalus Unger ·in Marti us. 77 

This if cor:rect would according to the laws of 

p'riority involve a change in the· naine of this 

well-known form. Palmacites qxonensis, 78 from 

the valley of the Aisne (Quincy-sous-le~Mont), 

is also referred to this species by Stenzel. 

· ·The species is close to Palmoxylon texense 

and also to P. antiguense. The original locality is unknown, although it is often referred 

to the Island of Antigua, as by Schenk. 79 

My materia] is abundant but not especially 

'fell preserved~ A form that appears · to ·be 

Palmoxylon lacunosum, or that at least differs 

from it in only minor particulars, occurs near 

the boundary between the Tallahatta and 

Lisbon formations of the Claiborne group in 

southern Alabama. 

Occurre~ce: Jackson formation, Texas & 

Pacific Railway, 1 mile _east . of Gailbreath, 

northwest border of Rapides Parish; south 

76 Stenzel, K. G., Fossile Palmenholzer, p. 81 (187), 1904. 

11 Martins, C. F. P., Genera et species palmarum, p. 57, pl. 2, fig. o, 

pl, 3, fig. 2, 1845. 1 

1s )Vatelet, A., Description des plimtes fossiles. du bassin de Paris, 

p. 103, pl. 30, fig.~' 1866. . 

79 Schenk, A., in Zittel, K. A., Handbuch der Palaeontologie, A bt~ 2, 

Palaeophytologie, p. 889, 1890. 

bank of creek just north of Pollock, Grant 

Parish; La. 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus· PALM;OCARPON Lesquereux. 

Palrnocarpon sp. 

ForlnS. that appear to be nuts of some species 

of pahn occur· at a number of localities in beds . 

of Jackson age or of supposed Jackson ·age. 

They present few characters of a ~pecific 

nature, and their generic relationship is unknown. . The larger forms are an inch .and a 

half in diameter, and only this size occurs at 

the locality _in Te~as. The smaller forms are 

about one-half inch in diameter, and both 

large and small forms occur in western Tennessee. 

Occurrence ~ Y egua formation (in beds regarded by me as _of Jackson age), Rock Creek, 

William ·Dunn League, Brazos County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball). Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson 0) age, flickman, ·upper part of bluff, in cove just north 

of city water tower, Fulton County, Ky.; 

E. I:I. Russell place, 8 1niles west of Union 

City, on Cane Creek, Obion County, ·Tenn.' 

(collected by Bruce Wade) . · 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Palrnocarpon sessile Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXI, Figure 5. 

This species is unique. The speci1nen consists of parts of several slender axes of the 

inflorescence of a palm with numerous pendent 

axes and small nutlike fruits. The axes are 

smnewh:;t,t flatten-ed, undulating, about 3 millimeters' _'in diameter, enlarging at intervals 

of aboJ·t a centimeter, where they bear small 

spherical nutlike obJects about 3' millimeters in 

diameter. 'I'he longest frag1nents are 10 centimeter~ in length without any change in character thro:ughout this length. 

I at first thought that the specimen repres~nted a flower cluster, but the nutlike 

objects show no traces of floral parts and appear 

to ];lave been hard _spherical :fruits, for they 

have not been flattened as have the stipes 

or as they . would be if they we:re flowers. 

Subsequently I entertained the tentative opinion that these enlargements represented the 

points of attachnlent of . more normal-sized 

paln1 nuts that had been· shed before fossilization, for the nutlike objects are unusually 
lJPPlDR EOCENE OR J" ACKSON FLORA. 153 

srnnll for palm fruits. This last interpretation 

n~tn.y be the true one, but for the present I 

len.n · town.rd the conclusion that the specin1ens 

rept:esont the :fruit~, perhaps. unusunlly s1nall 

through n.bortion, n.ltl~ough some palms have 

tiny fruits. There can be no . question but 

tihn.t th.e specimen represents pn.rt of n. pn1m 

:inflorescence; in fact, objects sot11ewhJt.t siiniln.r but ln.c:king fruits have been described 

by. Saportn. 80 under the nmnes P(ilaeorachis 

tt.nd. Leptomeria from the Tertiary of southen.stern Fn1nce. !'·have four spe~imens, and 

prob11hly· add.itionn.l material will be forthcoming t1t so1ne :future ti1ne, ~1s longer fragnlei}.ts are seen on the backs of other speci1nens 

in. the collection, where they have been more 

or less destroyed by tri1nming the specin1ens. 

All are alike, tending to confir1n the interpret11tion of functional :fruits. 

.An1ong recent palms a considerable number 

have this type of inflorescence. Two genera, 

both represented by foliage in the Eocene 

o:r' southeastern North America, appear to 

be 1nost si1nilar to the fossil in fruit characters. These are the . genera Ohamaedotea and 

Geo·noma, both ancient and .both still co!nmon, 

varied, and wide-ranging. The fossil is particularly 'like certain existing species of 

Geonom(tJ, as, for example, Geonoma orbign~ana, 

which has small spherical nuts not much larger 

tht1n those of the fossil. · 

This malms seven different palm types known 

fro1n the Jackson, en1phasizing the abundance 

of this type. in the middle and upp~r Eocene of 

southeastern North America and fully in consonance with the abundance of petrified palm 

. wood in the late Eocene and early Oligocene of 

this region. . · · 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

Lm1gue, about 3 n1iles northeast of Millican, 

Brazos·County, Tex. (collected by 0. :rv.(. Bttll). 

Colleetion: U. S. National Museum. . 

Palm rays. -

·Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( ~) age, at Hickman, upper part 

of bluff in cqve just north of city water tower,· 

Fulton County, Ky.; slip in hill, near Corona, 

Tipton County, Tenn. (collected by Bruce 

Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. 

Subclass DIC.OTYLEDONAE.· 

Superorder' CH ORIP~T ALAE. 

Order JUGLANDALES. 

Family JUGLANDACEAE. 

·Genus ENGELHARDTIA Leschen. 

[In Blume, Bydragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch 

· lndie, p. 528, 1825.] 

Engelhardtia jacksonensis Berry, n. sp·. 

Plate XXVIII, Figure 5 . 

Involucre of n1edimn size, trilobate, some-· 

what reflexed. Alae of approximately equal 

size, spreading but slightly narrowed below, 

the· angle between· the median and lateral 

wings about 70°~ Sinuses correspondingly 

openly rounded, 1.5 centimeters fron1 base of 

specimen and 6 m~llimeters from the ·margin. of 

the fruit. Median wing slightly longer than 

the Lateral wings, ovate-lanceolate in outline; 

7 millimeters wide below and 10 millimeters in 

maximum width, about two-thirds of the 

distance to the tip,. which is ·broadly pointed; 

margin full and rounded above,. incurved 

below; total length, 3.4 centimeters. Lateral 

wings of approximately the same size and 

shape as the median wing, slightly inequilateral. 

Each wing is provided wi~h a median vein, 

that of the median wing being stoutest.· 

Midveins of the lateral wings thin and curved, 

their points of origin nel1rer the o~ter. than the 

inner margin. Enlarged secondaries of about 

the same caliber as the primaries radiate from 

the fruit at regular intervals and run approximately parallel with each· other and with the 

Palm rn.ys of undetern1ined generic affinity primaries for a greater or lesser ·distance, sendwere :found in collections f1~o1n. the following ing off short inoscwating branches that bet:wo localities: They are of interest in indi- come thin distad and eventually 1ne1~ge with 

c~ting thC:> pre-Pleistocene age ot' these re~ent- . the secondary system. There are three of 

looking deposits, which are here tentatively these veins between the median and lat~ral 

referred to. the upper Jackson. primaries on one side and four on the other, 

--------------------- and there· are one or two on each side outside 

sosaporta, a. de; Los ir.rfloresccncos des palmierR fosRils: Rev. gen. 

bolamiquo, vol. 1, pp. 229-243, pts. 2, 3, tSS9. · the lateral primaries. .Normal secondaries 
154 MlQDt..E AND. UPPER. E.OCJDNE FLORAS Ol!"' SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

thin, _diverging at a wide angle, curving up- slightly modified descendants of a· common 

ward in a short full arc, can1ptodrome, becom~ ancestry that was. of cosn1opolitan distribution 

ing· thin dista.d and merging with the scarcely during the early. Tertiary. The present isolavisible tertiary system. Essential portioil of tion of Oreomunnea ·furnishes a striking ill usthe fruit poorly preserved; it is, however, tration of- the enormous changes which have 

·preserved and is indicated by a large, nearly taken place in the flora of the world in the 

circular; thick-margined ring of coriaceous relatively short time, geologically speaking; 

tissue, the apex; being crushed almost flat, as that has elapsed since the close of the Creis well shown in the figured specimen. taceous. · 

The present species is very close to the ex- The principle has frequently been enunciated . 

isting species of Engelhardtia. Among pre- that when closely related fornis in the existing 

viously described fossil species it is closest to flora of the world are restricted in range and 

Engelhardtia mississippiensis, described by me 81 isolated from their nearest relatives, or when 

froni the Wilcox group of Mississippi. It dif- · the.existing generaaremonotypic, an interesting 

fers from Engelhardtia mississippiensis in its and extended geologic history is probable. 

· smaller size, relatively larger and more promi- Engelhardtia proves to be another· ~llustration 

nent fruit, in the fuller and .relatively wider of this principle, for its peculiar three-winged 

wings and more delic.ate primaries, in their fruits have· been known in the fossil state for 

somewhat smaller angle of divergence, and in almost a century. They were long unrecogthe ·basal venation surrounding the cupule and nized, however, and ·the earlier students· who 

in the basal part of the wings. .A less robust described thein compared them with the some-

. species, Engelhardtia puryearensis Berry, is also what similar winged fruits of the genus Oarknown from the Wilcox group. pinus (Betulaceae). With the botanical exAm:ong the several Tertiary species of Eu- ploration of distant lands in the early part of 

rope Engelhardtia jacksonensis stands closest to the 19th century,· specimens of 1!-ngelhardtia 

Engelhardtia abscondita, described by Saporta 82 began to be repre~ented in the larger European 

from the Aquitanian of Armissan, in southeast- ·herbaria, and Baron Ettingshausen, 83 that most 

e~n France. ·Sa porta's species; however, is sagacious of paleobotanists, as long ago as 1851 

much smaller, with wider and more rounded pointed out that certain supposed· species· of 

wings,. and is clearly distinct froin the p~esent Carpinus really represented fruits of ·EngelspeCies. hardtia: He returned to the subject in 1858, 

The genus Engelhardtia, which was de- without, however, actually changing the names · 

~cribed by Leschen in 1825, contains about ten of any of the supposed species of Carpinus, nor 

species of the southeastern Asiatic region rang-. does he seem to have been aware of the existing from the northwestern Himalayas through ence of a living species of Engelhardtia in CenFarther India and Burma to Java and the tral America. 8

" 

Philippines. The pistillate flowers are small Since Ettingshausen's announcement a dozen 

and are grouped· in paniculate ·spikes. They or more fossil species have been described. 

develop into small .drupelike fruits, each of With the exception of the present for~ and the· 

which is connate at the base to a large . ex- • Wilcox form recently described, the oldest 

panded trialate involucre. .: known form. occurs in the upper Eocene or 

A single little-known species, rarely repre- lower Oligocene (Ligurian) of France,. and the 

sen ted in even the larger herbaria, occurs in species become .increasingly abundant throughCentral America and is the type and only out southern Europe, especially toward the 

species of the genus Oreomunnea of Oersted. close of the Oligocene and the dawn of the 

This is much more restricted in -its range than· Miocene, Sa porta stating· that the· slabs from 

its kiri. beyond the Pacific. Oreomunnea is ·the leaf beds ·at Armissan, in southeaste~·n 

very close to Engelhardtia, and for. the pur- France, are thickly strewn with their peculiar 

poses of the paleobotanist the two may be fruits. Fossil forms continue 1n Europe 

considered identical, for they . represent. but 83 Ettingshausen, C. von, Fossile Flora von Wien:· IC-k. geol. Reichs-

. 81 Berry, E. W., An Engelhardtia from the American Eocene: Am. ~nstalt Abh., Band 2, Abt. 3, p. 12, 1851. 

Jour. ScL, 4th ser., vol. 31, p. 494, fig. 2, 1911. 8• Ettinghausen, C. von, ~eitriige zur -Kenntniss der fossile1:i Flora 

82 Saporta, G. de, Etudes sur Ia vegetatio)l du ~ud-est d·c Ia France a ·von Sotzka: K. Akad. Wiss. Wien Sitzung~ber., Band 28, p. 12 ,pl. 4, 

l'epoque tertiaire, vol. 2, p. 345, pl. 12, fig. 3, 1866. fig. 4; pl. 5, figs. 1-3, 1858. · 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 155 

throughout the Miocene and Pliocene, and 

specimens of late Miocene or early Pliocene n.ge · 

are recorded from Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, 

and I-Iungary. 

The fruits of Engelhardtia jacksonensis are 

smnller than those of the Central American 

O·reom?.tnnea, according to· a single specimen of 

this form, which is practically unrepresented in 

n.ll the larger A1nerican herbaria, or those of the 

Asiatic Engelhardtia chrysolepis H~nce, but all 

the n1odern species that I have seen have somewhat smaller fruits (I refer to the essential part 

of the :fruit) and relatively longer and more 

slender wings. 

Occurrence: Jackson forn1ation, in a cut on 

the Iron Mountain Railway at McMurrains 

Crossing, 3.3 Iniles north of El Dorado, Union 

County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

· Genus HICORIA Rafi.nesque. 

Hi coria jacksoniana Berry.· 

Plate XLIII, Figures 6, 7; Plate L, Figures 1-3. 

Carya olivaefonnis Nuttall. Lesquereux, Am. Jour. Sci., 

· 2d ser., vol. 27, p. 365, 1.859. 

lficor·ia 1Jeccm (Marshall) Britton. Berry, U. S. Nat. 

. Mus. Proc., vol. 48, p. 297, 1915. 

This species is also abundant in the sandstones of Brazos County, Tex., in beds which 

n.re referred to the Yegua forn1ation but which 

are in that .part of the Y egun which I regard as 

o:f ·J.n.ckson age. These last n.re n.ll detached, 

·and the nui.trix is coarse, so that the details of 

venation are obscure. They are described 

under the Claiborne fiora. 

The genus Hicoria ·has generally been regarded as a Temperate Z9ne type, largely from 

its range in the existing flora, but oseveral students have pointed out that its n.ncestry was 

probably tropica~, and, as I have stated on 

several occasions, the eight to fifteen existing. 

species, which are confined to southeastern 

North Atnerica, n1ay be segregated into two 

natural groups that appear to have diverged 

early in the geologic history of ·the genus-. 

the true hickories and the pecan hickories. 

rrhe true hickori'es are slow-growing trees, .in 

general of temperate . dry soils and with lfard 

strong wood. They have full buds of overlapping scales; the leaflets number from 3 to 9, 

and the nuts are generally thick-shelled and 

thick-husked. The pecan hickories require 

68844-24-11 

moisture and warmer climate; they have relatively weak wood, with thin buds without 

overlapping scales, numerous slender falcate 

leaflets, and nuts with thin shells and thin 

husks. 

Although confined to southeastern Asia and 

southeastern North America in the existing 

flora, the genus during its long geologic history 

is found nearly througholit the Northern Hmnisphere. It is known frOin the early Eocene 

onward, reaching its maXimum range in the 

.Miocene and continuing common in Europe to 

the close of the Pliocene. 

The present species is very similar to the 

existing· pecan in the foliar characters. The 

associated nuts, which I have described as 

Hicoria Tostratajormis, if they represent the 

same species, ,show decided differences from 

the fruit of the modern species. There . is, 

however, a Pliocene species from southern 

Alabmi1a whi~h! as regards both fruit and 

leaves, is very close to the 1nodern pecan. , 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( 1) age, polumbus, Hickman 

County, Ky.; 5 n1iles south of Hickman,. old 

Dickerson farm on Fish Gap road, 4 miles 

north of State line, Fulton County, Ky.; and · 

Hickman, Fulton County, Ky. (collected by 

E. W. Berry and Bruce Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Hi coria rostrataformis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate. L, Figures 6-9. 

Thick-shelled obtusely angled nuts. with 

small kernels. The nuts are pointed at the 

apex and rounded at the base. They differ 

considerably in size, · i.·anging from 1.25 to 

1.50 centiineters in length and slightly under 

these dimensions in transverse dian1eter. The 

husk is thick and indehiscent and pron1inently 

rostrate. 

This species is exceedingly co1nmon in the 

upper part of the bluff at Hickman and is a 

very characteristic fonn, unique among existing species· of the genus· but paralleled by 

HicO?·ia TostTata Ludwig, 85 from the German 

·Tertiary, which is a still more rostrate forn1, 

but as it is said to be very rare in the Salzhausen lignites, it may be a sport or pathological form. It has. a more extended beak 

s5 Ludwig, Rudolph, Fossile Pflanzer aus der iLltesten Abthcilung dcr 

Rhciniscb-Wetterauer Tertiiir-Formation: Palaeontographica, Band 

·s, p. 136, pl. 55, figs. 1-7, 1860. 
156 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AM~RICA. 

i.nnner3ion in tJ1e Arkans~s ~material but said 

to be ca1nptodrome ~n the western material. 

The present spec~es is doubtf11lly related to 

Saporta's French materiaL Myrica zachariert-:-

sis was identified by Lesquereux from the 

"!'here are n.t least two types of leaves asso- Green River .for1nation of Wyoming and adds 

and a _larger kernel than the American form, 

and. the Hicoria leaves associated with the 

two species are entirely unlike, so that there 

can be no doubt as to the distinctness of the 

two forn1s. 

ciated with these nuts-the long, narrow an element to the Ja.ckson flora that is pronli-

_leaves formerly confused with the existing nent in niost Eocene :fl.o:i·as but that has hereHicor·ia pecan (Marshall) Britton and subse- tofore been sparingly repres~nted in the Eocene 

quently described as HicoTia jacksoniana Berry, floras of southeastern North America. Myrica 

and the larger leaves formerly confused with i~ represented by very numerous fossil species 

the existing HicoTia glabTa (Miller) Britton. ·from the Upper Creta~eous to the present. 

These m,1.ts may belong to one or the other Two species are known from the antecedent 

of these foliar fonns, but at any rate they are Wilcox flora. In the existing flora there ·are 

entirely distinct frmn the fruits of any of our about two score species widely distributed in 

existing hickories · the temperate and tropical zones of both the 

Occurrence: L~grange :forn1ation, in beds of Eastern and the Western I-Iemisphere. 

upper Jackson ( ~) age, I-Iicklnan, Fulton Occurrence: Jackson formation, McMun~ains 

County, Ky.; upper part of bluff, half a mile Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Do~ado, Union 

north 'of Hickman, 15 feet a.bove river, in County, Ark. (collected by R. E. Call and by 

Fulton County, Ky.; . ]~. fl. H.ussell place, 8 E. W. Be:iTy). 

1niles · west. of Union City,· on·. C~ne Creek, Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Obion County,_ ·Tenn. (coll~cted by Bruce 

Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order MYRICALES. 

Family MYRICACEAE. 

Genus MYRICA Linne. 

Myrica zachariensis Lesquereux. 

Plate XXVIII, Figures 6, 7. 

Myrica zachariensis Lesquereux, The Cretaceous and 

Tertiary floras, p. 146, pl. 25, fig. 5; pl. 45A, 

figs. 6-9, 1883 (probably not of Sa porta). 

'Leaves nearly sessile, alternate,. oblongla~lCeolate in general outline, widest below the 

middle and gradually narrowing upward to the 

acute apex. Base bluntly cuneate, more generally broadly rounded and ·slightly inequilaterai. Length about 8 centimeters. Maximum. width, in the basal third c)f the leaf, about 

1.6 centimeters. Margins entire in the rounded 

base; above this point 'they are beset with 

somewhat irregularly spaced, not prominent, 

serrate teeth. Texture subcoriaceous, punctate. P~tiole practically obsolete, wanting in 

the Jackson material, about 1.5 millimeters 

long· in one rather doubtfully detern1ined 

specimen from Wyoming that Lesquereux figured· as belonging to · this species. Midrib 

stout. Secondaries thin, mos9y obsolete by 

Order FAGALES. 

Family FAGACEAE. 

Genus CASTANEA Adanson. 

Castanea claibornensis Berry. 

Castanea claibornensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 138, pl. 28, figs. 1, 2, 1914. 

Leaves oblong-lanceola.te in outline, of a 

thin, ·firm texture, about. 18 or .19 centimeters 

in length by 4.5 centimeters in greatest width, 

which is about· halfway between the apex and 

the base. Apex acuminate ( ~). Base cuneate, 

acute. Margin coarsely serrate, with sharp 

ascending teeth, becoming less marked proximad, the margin finally en ti1;e toward the base 

of. the leaf .. Petiole· and midrib stout. Secondaries or medium size, numerous, regular, 

parallel and alternate, craspedodrome; they 

branch from the midrib at angles of about 4.0° 

·and curve slightly upward, terminating in the 

marginal teeth. Tertiary venation consisting 

of numerous close-set and nearly transverse 

vein·s, which constitute about the onlyfea.ture 

in which these leaves differ from those of our 

modern American chestnut Castanea dentata 

(Marshall) Borkhausen. 

The genus Castanea is represented by a 

large number of fossil species, one doubtful 

form occurring as early as the Senonian of 

Europe. In addition the genus Dryophyllum 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 157 

Debey, often and properly considered as in 

part ancestral to Castanea and forming a link 

between the Castctnea and Q'l.te'rcus, has a number of ::;peeies .in the Upper Cn~t~eeous and 

Pnleozoic. 

Species of Castcmtea .are found .in the Eocene 

beds of Montan~t, Oregon, Canada, Alaska, 

Greenland, Fn'tnce, Italy, and England. There 

are a nun1ber of species in the- European Oligocene ttncl .in the :Miocene of Japan, Europe, 

nnd An1eric11, including records in New Jersey 

on the east coast and Oregon on the west coast. 

No less than eight species have been described 

frmn the European Pliocene, all of which are 

very similar and are variously con1bined and 

segregated by different authors. They at 

len.st indieate the abundance of the chestnut 

in southern Eurn.sia during preglacial time. 

'J.'he coininon 1nodern chestnut of Europe 

( Castctnea 'l)'tdgwris) is recorded from in torglacial beds in northern Italy and· France, 

and 'the nwdern chinquapin (Castanea pumila) 

is recorded frmn the An1erican Pleistocene in 

:Kentucky and West Virginia. 

Stnrkie Gardner comments on the incongruity of the presf5nce of Castanea in the warm 

tmnperate or subtropical Eocene flora and 

expresses the belief that these supposed 

chestnuts are really referable to the tropical 

genus Godoya Ruiz and Pavon (Ochnaceae). 

After a careful comp'arison of the fossil species 

with. the foliage of this n1odern genus I am 

strongly of the op'inion that Gardner's compn.rison has no actual basis. On reviewing 

the possible evidence bearing on the supposed 

incongruity of Castanea in association with 

various tropical and subtropical genera we 

find that the modern species of chestnut 

number four or five.:_ Castanea vulgaris Lamarck 

of southern Europe, another species in eastern 

Asia, and three species in America. Of the 

American species Castanea nana ·Muehlenberg 

is found in the sand hills and. barrens of Georgia 

and Florida to Louisiana; Castanea dentata 

(Marshall) Borkhausen is found on rich, 

noncalcan}ous soils from Maine and Ontario 

to Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. 

In Alabanut it occurs as far south as Tuscaloosa 

County, where the 1nean annual temperature 

is about 65° F., ns ttgainst 42° for Maine and 

about the san1e for Ontario, Canada, indicating 

n. very wide actual range of temperature. 

We find that ·the allied genus Castanopsis 

Spach, which Prantl 86 makes a section of 

Castanea, although it appears to be a little 

nearer Quercus than Castanea, has about 35 

species, mostly of southeastern Asia · and 

tropical India, with one western American 

species, which ranges from southwestern ·washington to southern California. The closely 

allied genus Querc'us, although primatily a 

te:t;nperate type, has a large number of st.rictlyo 

tropical species. These considerations effectually disarm any critici~m of the presence 

of Castanea in association with Thrinax, 

Acrostichum, Pisonia, and similar forms in 

the Claiborne of Georgia. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Grovetown, Columbia County, 

Ga. (collected by S. W. McCallie). · 

Collection: U. S .. NationalMuseurn. 

Genus DRYOPHYLLUM Debey. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXVIII, Figure 11; Plate XX:~I. 

Leaves of variable proportions, lanceolate in 

general outline, ranging from linear-lanceolate 

to broadly ·lanceloate in forn1, gradually narrowed and abou·t equally acuminate both distad 

and proximad. Length ranges from 12 to 17 

centimeters. Maximum width, about midway 

between the apex and the base, ranges from 1.5 

. to 3.25 centimeters. Margins entire proximad, 

their distal two-thirds beset with approximately 

uniformly spaced, serrate teeth, separated by 

inequilaterally rounded sinuses·. The teeth 

are not produced, and they increase in accentuation distad~ There is considerable variation in. their prominence ~on different leaves,. 

·and this variation is well shown in the specimens figured. Texture coriaceous. Petiole 

short and stout, tumid proximad. Midrib. 

stout, prominent on the lower surface of the 

leaf. Secondaries numerous· and stout, most 

of them regularly spaced, although there is a 

depar.tu~e from this arrangement in some of the 

larger leaves. There are from twelve to fifteen 

opposite to alternate pairs of secondaries diverging from the midrib, at angles of about 50° 

and promptly curving upward in regular sul;>-

parallel ·curves; the lower three or four pairs. 

are camptodrome close to the margins, but the 

sa Engler, A., and Prantl, K., Die natiirlichen Ptlanzenfamilien, 

Theil 3, 1894. 
158 MlUDLE AND UPPER EOCBNE' FLORAS OF SOUTHBASTBRN NORTH AMERICA. 

succeeding pairs are generally craspedodroine, possible that Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum inay 

running to the tips of the marginal teeth. In a be identical \~ith· 011e or the other of these· 

few of the larger leaves that have more prominent teeth like the tip figured an intermediate 

camptodrome secondary is. inserted between 

two adjoining craspedodrome seco~daries. 

Leaves of the sort last described suggest in 

both their outline and venation those of the 

species from the Wilcox group-Dryophyllum 

opuryearensis Berry ~nd Dryophyllum anomalum 

Berry .. They are, however, obviously the extreme variants of the more abundant and typical leaves with which they are found associated. 

The coarseness of the matrix renders the tertiary venation very obscure. In places, however, percurrent nervilles can be made out, 

which show that these leaves are those of 

Dryophyllum andnot Castanea or Quercus. 

The present species is. clearly unlike the 

numerous Wilcox species of Dryophyllum, the 

most similar of which have relatively very long 

petioles. It resembles somewhat some of th~ 

European early Eocene species of Dewalq_11ea 

but is readily distinguished by the differences 

in venation between the two genera. The larger and wider leaves of Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum approach very clo~e to the. form from 

the upper Claiborne of the eas_tern Gulf area, 

which I have described 87 as Castanea claibornensis and which may be a true Dryophyllum, not far removed from the present species, 

or even identical with it, although I do not so 

consider it, for Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum is 

distinctly more slender, especially in its nar-. 

Sannoisian forms, and .if not identical it is 

certainly closely· allied to them. 

In the systematic literature of paleobotany 

the genera Dryophyllum, Quercus, and Castanea ~re very much confused, Recently both 

Laurent and Marty 91 have discussed in a most 

admirable manner the diagnostic foliar char-

~cters of these genera, which they find no difficulty in distinguishing when reasonably complete material is available for study. 

The present species is exceedingly common 

in the Fayette sandstone and in the basal beds 

of the Catahoula sandstone in eastern Texas· 

and is questionably identified fron1 the Claiborne. 

. Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, three-fourths 

of a ~ile above the junction of Caney and .White 

Rock creeks, Trinity County,· Tex., and Piedmont, Grimes Qounty, Tex. (collected by C. L. 

Baker)'. Catahoula( ~) sands-tone, in a cut on 

the International & Great Northern Railway in 

Trinity County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Jackson formation, 4 miles northwest of Hornbeck, Sabine Parish; La. (collected by Alexan., 

der Deussen and G. C. Matson) . 

Collection: U.S. ,National Museum. 

Order URTICALES. 

Family. ULMACEAE. 

Genus MOMISIA F. G. Dietrich. 

rower forms. Momisia? americana Berry. 

The present species may also be compared This species, nowhere abundant, is described 

with a number of previously described Euro- under the flora of the Claiborne group (p. 57). 

p·ean f_o:ms, more par~icularly those from ~he Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

. Sann01s1an of Menat, 1n the Auvergne, whwh ·clay member) Phinizy Gully Columbia County 

Laurent 88 ident~es as Dryophyllum dewalq_u~i· Ga. (collected by E. w. Ber~y). ' 

· Saporta and MarlOn 89 an~ Dryophyllum curt~- Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

cellense. Sa porta and ¥arwn. 90 The types of 

these two species were from the basal Eocene 

of Belgium, and there is a possibility that the 

basal Oligocene forms from Menat may repre..; 

sent closely similar but distinct species .. It is 

87 Berry, E. W., The Upper Cretaceous and Eocene floras of South 

Carolina and Georgia: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 84, p. 138, pl. 28, 

figs. 1, 2, 1914. 

88 Laurent, Louis, Flore fossile des schistes de Menat (Puy-de-Dome): 

·Mus. hist. nat. Marseille Annales, vol. 14, pp. 93-100, pl. 8, fig. 5b; 

pl. 9, figs. 2-5; pl. 10, figs. 1, 2, 1912. 

89 Saporta, G. de, and Marion, A. F.; Essai sur l'etat de la vegetation 

a l'epoque des marnes heersiennes de Gelinden, pp. 33-40, pl. 2, fig. 6;. 

pl. 3, figs. 1-4; pi. 4, figs. 1-4, 1873; Revision de la flore heersienne de 

Gelinden, p. 50, pl. 7, figs. 4, 5; pl. 8, figs. 1-7, 1878. . 

oo Saporta, G. de, and Marion, A. F., Essai sur l'etat de Ia vegetation a 

J'epoque des marnes heersiennes de Geli~?den, p. 42, pl. 1, fig. 5, 1873; Re-

_vision de Ia flore heersienne de Gelinden, p. 53, pl. 7, figs. 6-8. 

Genus PLANERA J. F. Gmelin .. 

Plan era hickmanensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate L, Figures 4, 5. 

Planem gmelini Lesquereux (not Michaux), Am. Jour. 

Sci., 2d ser.; Vol. 27, p. 365, 1859. 

Planera aquatica Berry (not Gmelin), U.S. Nat. Mus. 

Proc., vol. 48, p. 300, 1915. 

Betula nigra Berry (not Linne), idem, p. 298. 

9! Marty, 'Pierre, Etudes sur les vegetaux fosstles du Trieu de Leva! 

(Haiqaut): Mus. roy. hist. nat. Belgique Mem., vol. 5, pp. 15--30, 1907. 

Laurent, Louis, and Marty, Pierre, Note sur le Castanea arvernensis Sap. 

de Menat: Assoc. franQ. avanc. sci:Compt. rend. Congres ·de Lille, pp~-

607-{)15, figs. 1:-3, 1909. Laurent, Louis, Flore fossile des schistes de 

Menat (Puy-de-Dome): Mus. hist. nat. Marseille Annales, vol. 14, pp. 

93-100, text figs. 47-50, 1912. 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON ·FLORA. 159 

Leaves differing in size and outline because of 

difrerences :in the relative length and width of 

the lnmi.na, :in general brondly or more narrowly 

ovate .• Tip acute, in some specimm1s produced 

into :more oi· less of an acumen and in others 

short. Base broadly rounded to cordate, in 

some speci1nens markedly inequi.Lateral and in 

others not p'erceptibly so. Texture subcoriaceous. Length ·from 2 to 5 centimeters. 

Maxi:mun1 width fron1 l to 4 · centimeters. 

Avernge proportions nre shown in the specimen 

:figured. Pe~iole short. Midrib stout, prominent on the under side of the leaf. Secondaries slender but prominent, diverging at angles 

of m.ore · thnn 45 °, regularly ·spaced, rather 

strn.ight in their courses, subparallel, s~ven ol' 

eight subopposite to n.lternn,te pn.irs, craspedodrom.e. One or .Inore pron1inent branches diverge from the outside of each ·secondary about 

two-thirds of the distance above their bases, 

n.nd these run to the points of the intermediate 

1narginn.l teeth. Veinlets thin, subpercurrent. 

Mn.rgins with closely spaced rather pr01ninent 

teeth thn.t rn,nge fron1 serrn.te to clentnte in 

forn1. 

' This species, which has heretofore been confused with the single existing species of Plane·ra 

n.nd which it closely resembles in some specimens, is, on the .whole, reln.tively shorter and 

wider, with shorter petioles, regularly spaced 

second.n.ries, regularly curved margins and .more 

uniformly sized teeth, which do not show the 

tendency for some of the teeth to be enlarged 

and crenate in :fonn, such as is common in the 

· 1nod.ern species. The reln.tively short and 

broad len.ves of Planera hiclcmanensis, such as· 

the one figured, are ren.dily separated from the 

existing species n.nd suggest comparisons with 

the genus Betula, but this type appears to be 

connected by a gradating series of forms, which 

at its other end is distinguishable 'vith extreme 

difficulty, if at all, from Planera aquatica, with 

which they were formerly confused. 

The genus Planera, with its single existing 

. species, is now confined to the southeastern 

United States, where it is not common, except 

1n the vicinity of the coast n.nd in river swn1nps 

or bottoms subject to annual inundation. ·The 

genus is n.n old. one, with four Upper Cretn.ceous 

species tb.n.t rn.nge ft·onl western Greenl.and to 

North Carolina. 'l'here are three or four 

Eocene species confined to North America and 

Arctic localities. It is represented in the Miocene of both Europe and North America and 

in the Pliocene of Europe and Asia. The 

existing species is not uncommon in the Pleistocene of the southeas~ern United States, where 

its range was greater than· it is at the present 

time. · 

There is a single rare species in the upper 

Wilcox Grenada, forn1ation in :Mississippi, but· 

the genus is otherwise unknown in the Eocene 

of the embayment region. Although a-warm 

temperate type, .I am inclined to regard it as of 

more northern origin. The present fossil 

species is rather common in the ·country 

bordering the Mississippi in southwestern · 

Kentucky. 

Occurrence: Lagrange forn1ation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( n age, I-Iickn1an, Fulton 

County, ICy. · (both upper and lower parts of 

bluff); half a 1nile north of Hickman, 7 5 feet · 

above river; Dickerson farm on Fish Gap road, 

5 miles south of I-Iicln~n.n; E. I-I. Russell place, 

8 1niles west of Union City, on Cane Creek, 

Obion County, Tenn. (collected by Bruce 

Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National l\iuseun1. 

Family MORACEAE. 

Genus FICUS Linne. 

Ficus claibornensis Berry. 

Plate XXXII, Figure 1. 

Ficus claibornensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof.· 

Paper 84, p. 140, pl. 24, fig. 6; pl. 27, figs. 3, 

4, 1914. 

Leaves oblong-lanceolate in outline, about 

12 centimeters·in length by 3.5 centimeters in 

greatest width, which is about halfway between 

the apex and the base. Apex acute. Base 

equally acute and somewhat decurrent on the 

extremely stout petiole, which is about 3 

centimeters in length and fully 3 millimeters 

in diameter and in one specimen quite curved . 

Midrib apparently equally stout below, 

becomi1i.g thinner above, not well seen, as all 

the collected :material shows only the upper 

surf ace of the leaves; and n.s the texture was 

evidently corin,ceous, n1uch like thn.t in the 

len.ves of the c01rnnonly cultivated rubber 

plant, the v:enation is mn.de out with difficulty. 
• 

160 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCE~E FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN ~ORTH AMERICA. 

The secondaries are numerous, thin, and 

parallel, of the character typical in lanceolate 

fig leaves of the Ficus elastica type. The 

younger leaves are much less elongated, being 

ovate-lanceolate in outline, 8 centimeters in 

length by 3 centimeters in greatest width. 

This fig is the commonest fossil at the locality 

10 miles south of Macon, Ga. The species is 

not uncommon, .·and some of the leaves are 

relatively elongated; many of the others are 

infes~ed with a species of Sphaerites. 

Among the 600 or more described living 

species of Ficus, which :r:ange over the warmer 

regions of the whole world, and among the 

rnore than 300 known fossil species, ranging 

from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene, it 

would be possible to mention many· whose 

foliage greatly resembles the present species, 

b~t this is hardly worth while, except to 

point out that there are a number of modern 

tropical American species whose foliage. is 

very close to this Eocene form. v 

There are over a dozen species of Ficus in 

the Wilcox, four in the Claiborne, ~nd six in the 

Jackson. The genus is also present in considerable variety in the Eocene floras of the 

western United States and in those of Europe, 

being especially abundant in the upper Eocene 

flora of Messel, in Hesse. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay 

member), on Fiske property, Grovetown, Ga., 

one-fourth of a mile southwest of Forrest Station, Columbia County; Macon-Marion road, 

10 miles south of l\1acon, Twiggs County, Ga. 

(collected by E. W. Berry). ' 

· Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Ficus unionensis 'Berry. 

Plate XXXII, Figure 5. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 57), in which it is 

sparingly represented. 

Occurrence: Lower part of J a_ckson formation; Mcl\1urr'ains Crossing, 3.3 miles north of 

El Dorado, Union County, Ark. (collected by 

E. ·w. Berry); 2 miles south of New Edinburgh, 

Cleveland County, Ark. (collected by G. D. 

Harris). Forest Hill sanci, 11 miles north of 

Jackson, Miss. (collected by C. W. ·cooke). 

Qollectio:n: u. S. N &tion.a,l Museum. 

Ficus newtonensis Berry. 

This species is. described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 58). ·It is sparingly 

represented in the beds of lower J ack~on age 

in Georgia. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay 

member), one;fourth of a mile. southwest of 

Forrest Station, Columbia County, Ga. (collected by C. W. Cooke and H. K .. Shearer). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Ficus rnississippiensis (Lesquereux) Berry. 

This common species of the Wilcox and of 

the lower Eocene of the Rocky Mount~in region 

is represented by a single but very characteristic · 

specimen in the kaolinite lens in the Fayette 

sandstone of Brazos County, Tex.· The species 

with its varieties was fully ·discussed in my 

paper on additions to the Wilcox flora, and the 

description need not be repeated here. 92 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 1! to 3 miles 

east of Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. (collected 

by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Ficus brazosensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LX, Figure 2. 

Leaves of medium size, ovate in. general 

outline, widest at or below the middle, tapering 

upward to the extended acuminate tip. Base 

broadly and shallowly cordate. Length about 

9 centimeters. Maximum width about 4.5 

.centimeters. Petiole missing .. Margins entire, 

somewhat irregularly rounded. Texture thin 

but firm. Midrib stout, prominent. ·Secondaries stout, five alternate pairs, becoming 

progressively more widely spaced distad; their 

angles of divergence from the midrib decreases 

upward, the basal pair being at right angles 

and short, the apical pair being· at angles of 

about 25 ° a·nd sweeping upward in long curves 

subparallel with the n1idrib. The tertiaries are 

percurrent, and the areolation is typical of this 

genus. 

This species, obviously new, adds a distinct 

type of tllis genus to its representation during 

upper Eocene time. It is much like the 

European Ficus tiliaejolia (Alexander Braun) 

Heer, but more elongated. , Heer's species has 

9ll Berry, E. W., Additions to the flora of the Wilcox group: u. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 131, p. 9, 1922. 

, 
UPPl~R EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 161 

been recorded fron1 both the Eocene and the 

:Miocene of the western United States, but the 

specific identity between the Europen,n and 

American forms is very doubtful. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about 3 Illiles northeast of Mi1lican; 

Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. :M. Ball). 

Collection: U.S. National Musetnn. 

Ficus sp. 

Plate LX, Figure 6. 

This large 1eaf is . ovate, acuininate, and 

cordate, with n, stout petiole and midrib and 

entire n1argins. The single specimen figured 

of it leaf, about 15 centime.tm~s in length .and 

8.5 eenti1neters in n1aximum width, is the only 

one collected, and for this reason I have not 

named it or attempted a detailed description. 

It 1nay represent a large variant of the associated Fic1.ts brazosensis Berry, but this can be 

determined only fro·m additional collections. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

Le11gue, about 3 1niles northeast of Millican; 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Musetun. 

Order PROTEALES. 

Family PROTEACEAE. 

Genus BANKSIA Linne (son). 

Banksia jacksonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXII, Figures 2-4. 

Leaves linear-lanceolate and generally falcate 

in outline, gradually narrowed and about 

eq tmlly acmninate at the apex and base, although the base may be somewhat less produced in the larger leaves. Margins entire for 

fl. short distance at the bas~, above which they 

h1tve at regular. intervals small aquiline or 

sAlient serrate teeth. Leaf substance thin 

but somewhat coriaceous. Estimated length 

ranges fron1 8 to 11 centimeters and averages 

about 9 centimeters.' Maxin1un1 width, at or 

below the 1niddle, ranges from 1.6 to 1.3 centi:-

meters and averages about 0.8 centimeter. 

A petiole is ttbsent in nll the 1naterial, and I 

tml inclined to think that the leaves were 

sessile. Midrib .rather stout, generally curved, 

prominent on the lower surface of the leaf. 

Secondaries thin, nearly obsolete by immersion 

in the subs:tance of the leaf. Numerous subparallel pairs diverge from'··the midrib at wide 

angles at regular intervals; those in the basal 

part of the leaf are· somewhat rnore ascending 

and camptodrome, and those in the serrated 

portion of the leaf are relatively straight :in 

their ·course and craspedodrome, corresponding in position with the marginal teeth and 

ending in them. Tertiary system fine, forming a clo.se-meshed polygonal ai'eolation characteristic of the fossil leaves of this genus. 

This species is clearly distinct fi·o~ previoqsly 

described forms. It conforms in all particulars 

to the type of leaf usually referred to this 

genus, to which three well-marked lower Eocene species of the :Mississippi embayment area 

were referred. It is the most abundant fossil 

at the locality north of Jackson, more than 

a score of specimens having been collected, 

but these are all unfortunately incomplete. 

rhe two forms that are :fignred show the 

known limits of size. 

The genus Banksia, which is confined to the 

Australian region in the existing flora, has a 

recorded geologic range that extends back as 

far. as the Upper Cretaceous and a geographic 

range that extends· to North America and 

Europe. Although the identifications of some 

of these fossil forms are questionable, a great 

Inany records of this and other genera of Proteaceae from the North Temperate Zone are 

satisfactory, and there can be little doubt 

regarding the former cosmopolitan character 

of this type of plants. ~, 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( ~) age, 75 feet above the river, 

half a mile above Hickman, Fulton County, 

Ky.; E. H. Russell place, 8 miles west of Union 

City, on Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn. 

(collected by Bruce Wade). Forest I-Iill sand, 

11 miles north of Jackson, Miss. (col.lected by 

C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U·. S. National Museum. 

Order POLYGONALES. 

Family POLYGONACEAE. 

Genus COCCOLOBIS P. Browne. 

Coccolobis claibornensis Berry? 

This specief? is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 59). It is represented in 

the Jackson of Arkansas and in ·deposits of 

this age in southwestern Texas by scanty and 

not certainly determined material. 

Occurrence: Jackson formatiori, McMurrains 

Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Dorado, Un.ion 
16 2 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS· OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north of Miraflores, 

Webb County, Tex. (collected by G. C. Matson). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Coccolobis columbianus Berry? 

This species is described under the Claiborne 

flora (p. 60). 

The genus Pisonia, which has about 40 existing species, mostly tropical and American, is 

sparingly represented by small. coastal trees 

from the Upper Cretaceous onward.· There are 

three well-marked species in the Wilcox group, 

one of which; Pisonia chlorophylloides Berry, is 

not unlike the present. species. The genus is 

al~o represented by a small-leafed form in the 

upper Claiborne, so that its history in the Atlantic Coastal Plain extends from the Upper 

. Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, 3' miles northeast of Millican,· Brazos 

County, Tex .. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Order CHENOPODIALES. 

Family NYCTAGINACEAE. 

Genus PISONIA Plumier. 

··Cretaceous (Black Creek formation) through 

the entire Eocene .(Wilcox, Claiborne, and 

Jackson). 

Pisonia jacksonian a Berry •. n. sp. 

Plate XXXII, Figures 6, 7; Plate XLIX, Figure 3. 

Leaves of small to 1necliun1 size, somewhat 

variable in general outline, ranging fro~ broadly lanceolate and slightly falcate to almost orbicular, all of them, however, longer than broad 

and preserving the pointed apex and base. 

The two extremes of variation .are well sh,own 

in the ·specimens figured. Apex and base · 

equally but shortly pointed in the narrower 

leaves; the base somewhat less narrowed than 

the apex in the wider leaves. The length 

ranges from 2.5 to 6 centimeters. The maximum width, midway between the apex and the 

. base, ranges from 0.9 centimeter to 4.25 centi-

'meters. . Margins strictly entire, full and rather 

evenly rounded, the conspicuously undulatory 

appearance in the larger specimen figured being 

due to the curvatureof the specimen away from 

t;h.e direction of the camera. Texture very 

· coria9·eous, the leaf substance being rep.r:esented 

by a thick sheet of lignite. The epidermal cells 

·Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson( 1) age, Slip in Hill, near Corona, 

Tipton County, Tenn.; E .. H. Russell place, 8 

mile::; west of Union City, Obion County, Tenn. 

(coll~cted by Bruce Wade) .. Jackson· fornlation, White Bluff, Jefferson County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). Forest Hill sand, 11 

miles north of Jackson, Miss .. ·(collected by 

C. W. Cooke). 

·Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Pisonia claiborniana Berry. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the. Claiborne group (p. 61). It is not abundant in either. the Claiborne or the Jackson. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Phinizy Gully, Columbia County; 

Macon-Marion road, 10 miles south of Macon, 

Bibb County, Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Pisonia balli Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLII, Figure 4. 

are .small and thick walled, but microscopic Leaves obovate in general outline, widest in 

preparations fail to show any details of struc~ the middle, with a broadly rounded tip and 

ture. Petiole short and stout. Midrib stout narrowed slightly . decurrent base. Margins 

and prominent, generally somewhat curved. entire. Texture coriaceous. Length about ~ 

Secondaries as well as the tertiaries obsolete by centimeters. Maximum width about 1.5 centiimmer8ion in the· thick substance of. the leaf. meters. Petiole short and stout, scarcely 

· A few thin ascending secondaries are seen. developed, about 2 millimeters in length. 

· The present species is very characteristic and Midrib stout and wide to the extreme. tip, 

entirely distinct from previously described prominent on the lower surface of the leaf .. 

forms. It is surprisingly like the leaves of Secondaries very thfu and immersed in the 

the existing Pisonia aculeata Linne. It is also leaf substance, as.cending, camptodrome. 

very close to some· of the European Tertiary Named for the collector, Prof. 0. M. Ball, of 

· specimens that have been referred to Pisonia College Statio:q., Tex. . 

eocenica Ettingshausen, although it is not so This· species may simply represent large 

.. silllilar to the type material of that species, leaves of . the Claiborne and l()wer Jackson 

.which: qa.me from the s.annoisian of the Tyrol. I species Pisonia cJaiborniana - Berry. . It IS 
UPPER EOI'.ENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 163 

si1nilar to that species but is aqout twice as much less prominent than the corresponding 

large, with less ascending secondaries.· It is markings of the cultivated nut:meg, due in a 

entirely different from· the third Jackson measure to the fact that the fossils are all casts 

species, Pisonia jaclcsoniana Berry, with which in a somewhat porous sandston,e. Similar 

it is associated. It is identical with some of artificial casts of the strongly ma,rked cultithe variable leaves of Pisonia eocenica Ettings- vated nuts can scarcely be distinguished froin 

hausen,.oa a common· European species. It t4e fossil casts. The nuts, of which several 

is much smaller thu.n the Alum Bluff Pisonia have been found, are about 3 centimeters in 

apalachicolensis Berry 04 and is similar to but length by 1.7_ centimeters in maximuJ;U diaentirely distinct from the three species of meter, which is midway between the apex and 

fisonia that ~lave been described from the the base. 

W.ilcox. 011 

It is very s.in1ilar to a number of existing 

species o:f Pisonia, as, :for exa1nple, Pisonia 

oval'ifol'ia De Cn.ndolle, Pismvia, zo,nyifolia Sargent, which ranges northwn,rd ns far as the 

li'Joridn, K.eys, n.nd the Centrnl An1erican 

P'1:son/ia nuu;ranthocwrpa Donn ell Smith. 

Occurrence: Fn.yette Sttndstone, Alum Creek, 

s. vV. Robertson Len.gue, n,bou t 3 Iniles east of 

Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. ·(collected by 

0. M. Ball). 

Collection: p. S. N ationn.l Museuni, 

Order RANALES. 

Family MYRISTICACEAE. 

Genus MYRISTICA. 

Myristica catahoulensis Berry. 

Pln,te XXXII, l!.,igures 8-13. 

Myristica cataho1~lensis Berry, Am. Jour. Sci., 4th 

ser., vol. 42, p. 241,_figs. 1-6, 1916. 

Pericarp broadly ovate, slightly longer than 

wide, approximately circular in cross section, 

thick, two-Yt~lved, about 5 centimeters in 

length and 3. 7 5 cimti1neters in dianli:~ter, inclosing a single large seed. The aril either 

decayed before fossilization or became separated from the seed and was not preserved in 

the sn,me deposit, and the perisperm is. likewise 

m1ssmg. The. seed is large, ciTcular in cross 

section, evenl){ rounclec;l proximad, and shows 

a distinct hilum. It is_ slightly narrowed 

imd bluntly pointed distad. The surface is 

orna1nented by nu1nerous irregular longitudinal 

corrugations, 1narking the ruminating endosperm. These markings n.re in faint relief and 

oa l~ttingshauscn, C. von, Die 'l'crti1i.rflorn von Haering in Tirol, 

p. 43, pl. 11, figs. 1-22, 1853. 

Di }31)rry, E. W., 'l'hc physical conditions and age indicated by tho 

!lorn of the Alum Bluff formation: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 98 

p. 49, pl. 10, fig. 1, 1917. 

Dl Berry, E. W., Tho lower Eocene flora of southeastern North America: 

U. S. Gcol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pp. 213-214, pl. 37, fig. 1; pl. 38, figs. 

5-7; pl. 42, fig. 1, 1916. . 

The species is based on the single valve· of 

the peri carp. and on t.he. remains of several 

nuts, only one of which is perfect. The nuts 

were app-arently relatively n.bundant, but as 

they were discovere(! only in the weathered 

sandstone there are few that ttre reas.ona bly 

cmnplete, although several show parts of the . 

sides or ends, son1e_ of then1 half con1plete. 

All the plant remains at this locality are in 

the form of casts, and the nuts must have been 

buried by wind.,blown sand, for they lie in the 

sand at all angles. The eolian chara_cter of the 

sandstone at this outcrop is of the greatest importance in explaining the absence of both aril 

and perisperm ·and is therefore deserving of 

cqmment. The evidence for this conclusion is 

derived frmn several sources. Many of the leaf 

specimens are _curled and not flat, as they would 

al~ost invaria.bly be if laid. down in water. 

These and other a~sociated nuts (Nyssa texana) 

are jumbled in a confused mass at all angles. 

Violent currents could form such a jumble, but 

the nuts would not be heavy enough to be deposited under such conditions; instead they 

would ~e carried away by water action strong 

enough to stand them on end, nor would waterlogging in more quiet waters explain their 

varying positions. Associated with the nutmegs are much more· numerous large-ribbed 

nuts of Nyssa · texana. These nuts lie at all 

angles in the sandstone but occur elsewhere in 

.clays, wliere they invariably lie on their sides. 

The conclusions of Goldman, based on a petrographic study of the matrix, including the 

proportion of different sizes of grains present, 

their rounding, the ratio of feldspar to quartz, 

the degree of weathering, absence of clay, proportion of heavy minerals, and other features, 

point to. strong eolian action in a hot arid 

climate. · 

The nuts are fully matured and evidently 

were shed ·naturally and· at no grea~ dis~ance 
164 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OJ!' SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

from the sand flats where they subsequent~y I fossil. is much like the. conunercial nutmeg in 

became entombed. The sediments do not, ac- size and characters, it is also similar to existing 

cording to Goldman, show characters of dune American species, of which there are about 

sands, and I infer that the winds which rounded twenty-five. These species are m~inly South 

·and sorted the sand grains were not constant American, but the sections or genera Virola 

enough in direction to form dunes of any size. Aublet and Oompsoneura De Candolle both are 

Under such conditions of· blowing about, t~e represented also in Central America. The 

arils would soon be lost, but the perisperm fossil nuts are reinarkably like those of Myriscould_ not be. so readily dissipated, although tica ( Oompsoneura) costaricensis Warburg, but 

I know of. no other method to account for its the pericarp is much larger and ·more massive. 

absence. As less than a dozen nuts are known, Beyond the fact that they are tropical, I . 

and as much of the sand from near-by outcrops know little regarding th~ habitat of the· recent 

appears to have been blown into pools of stand- speci.es. Many are certainly insular and coastal 

ing water, where the accompanying leaves were forms, their range in the Pacific extending eastfossilized in a normal flat condition, the small ward to the Fiji, Tonga, and Sa1noan islar;tds, 

percer.ttage of nutmegs preserved in the wind- the Fiji Islands having four or five. species. 

blown sands may thus be exceptional, and there Sch:Unper records four species in his Indois a possibility that large numbers were fossil- Malayan strand flora. Myristica subcordata 

ized in a normal way, .with the perisperm Blume of New Guinea and ]1. littoralis Miquel 

intact. · of Java· are both members of the Barringtonia 

That the fossils are unmistakably those of a or beach jungle association. Both Gaudichaud 

species of Myristica, I think no botanist will and Guppy record unopened fruits of ]1yristica 

dispute. No leaves that I can identify as in the Pacific sea drift, although their floating 

those of Myristica have yet been deter- powers are not great and they are normally 

mined, but the leaf material is scanty, and I dispersed by fruit pigeons, according to ·Mosehave not enough recent material .of this genus ley, Hemsley, and Guppy. 

for intelligent comparison of the foliar organs. Referring to the foliage it may be noted that, 

The recent species of this family, which num- contrary to the opinion of Hooker and Thornber about 90 forms, are variously treated. De son, De Candolle found that the flowers and 

Candolle 96 referred them all to the single genus fruits were much alike throughout the family 

'Myristica, which he segregated illto 13 sections, and that the leaves furnish the most useful 

and this is the method followed by Prantl. 97 characters for differeBtiation, especially in 

Other authors raise a number of these sections their venation, and this opinion was also shared 

to generic rank-quite rightly so, it seems to by Miquel. It would seem that the lack of 

me. I have, however, preferred to refer the comparative material has hitherto. preventedfossil to Myristica, as comparative recent rna- the recognition of fossil foliage of Myristica.· 

terial for closer discrimination is lacking. The Certainly no definite evidence of extinct species 

nutmeg of co:rnrnerce belongs to the section has heretofore been published, although the 

Eumyristica, which has about 15 existing spe- distribution of· the existing species in tropical 

cies of tlie Asiatic Tropics. It is a small tree, Asia, Africa, and America is convincing enough 

endemic in the Moluccas, and has long been evidence that the group had an extensive ·even 

under cultivation, as is indicated both by the if unknown Tertiary history~ The only prenumerous varieties extant and by the historical viously known fossil records are based on a very 

records, for Europe has been receiving nutmegs few and indifferently characterized leaf imfrom this region beginning with the trade pressions from the Miocene of Labuan (Borneo), 

through the Arabs in the sixth century. It described by Geyler 98 as Myristicophyll.um 

has been introduced into other East Indian majus and M. minus, and by equally unconislands, as well as in Bourbon, Mauritius, and vincing leaf fragments described by EngelMadagascar and in tropical America, usually hardt as Myristica fossil is, 99 which come from 

with indifferent success. Alth_ ough. the Texas 98 Geyler, H. T., Ueber fossile Pflanzen von Labuan: Vega~Expedi:- tionens, Vetenskapliga J akttagelser, Band 4, p. 498, pl. 33, figs. 3-6, 1887. 

96 De Candolle, A., Note sur la famille des Myristicacees: Annales sci· 99 Engelhardt, Hermann, Ueber Tertiarpflanzen von Chile: Senckennat. (Botanique), 3d ser., vol. 4, pp. 2Q-31, 1855. berg. naturf. Gesell. Abh., Band 16, Heft 4, p. 663, pl. 5, fig. 9; pl. 7, 

97 Engler, A., and Prantl, K., Die natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Teil fig. 1, 1891; Ueber neue Tertiiirpflanzen Siid Ameri.kas: Idem, Band 19, 

3, Abt. 2, 1891. p. 13, pl. 1; fig. 21, 1895. 
UPPJ!:H EOCENE OR J'ACKSON l!'LORA. 165 

heds in· J~cundor ttnd Chile considered to be of 

Miocene ttge. 

Occu~Tence: Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

regarded as Catahoula by me, but older and 

of Jackson age), in a cut on the International 

& Great Northern Hailway at spur to Government Lock, in southern Trinity County, Tex. 

(collected by A. C. Trowbridge). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family ANONACEAE. 

Genus ANONA Linne. 

Anona texana Berry. 

Plate XXXIII, Figure 7. 

Anona texana Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

98, p. 2:19, pl. 60, fig. 9,1917. 

Leu.ves htrge, broadly ovate in outline, with 

a pointed apex u.nd a rounded base. Length 

about 15 or 16 centin1eters. ~1aximum width 

about 5.25 centimeters, in the lower half of the 

leaf. Frmn the region of maximun1 width the 

leaf narrows upwa1~d, but the. tip is not produced. ~1m·gins entire but slightly undulate. 

Texture p1:esumably coriaceous, but as these 

leaves are preserved as impresions i1,1 sandstone 

this is not certain. Petiole short and -stout. 

Midrib stout·, prominent on the lower surface 

of the leaf. Secondaries of considerable size 

but relatively thin, eight to ten pairs, irregularly spaced and usually remote; they diverge 

from the n1idrib at varying angles, which range 

fron1 60° to 70°, are either regularly curved or 

relatively straight and are camptodrome in the 

Inarginal region. A few transversely percurrent tertiaries are visible, but most of the 

tertiary venation is obsolete. · 

This is a well-marl\ed species of Anona, 

so:mewhat resen1bling but entirely distinct from 

the Anona leaves so con1mon toward the close 

of the n1iddle Wilcox. It is also very similar 

to several existing species in this genus. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, three-fourths 

of a mile above the junction of Caney and White 

Rock creeks, Trinity County, Tex. (collected by 

C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. ~· National Musemn. 

Family MENISPERMACEAE. 

Genus MENISPERMITES Lesqliereux (in broad sense). 

. Menispermites caroli1,1aformis Berry,_ n. sp. 

Plate L, Figures 10, 11; Plate LI, Figure 1. 

M enispermnm canadense Knowlton (not Linne), in 

Glenn, L. C., U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply 

Paper 164, p. 38, 1906. 

Cebatha carolina Berry. (not Britton), U. S. Nat. Mus. 

Proc., vol. 48, p. 300, 1915. 

Leaves .of variable size, cordate in outline, 

the tip bluntly pointed, the base broad, more 

or less deeply embayed. Margins entire, somewhat irregular. Leaf substance of considerable 

consistency but scarcely meriting the term 

coriaceous. Length in the collected 1naterial 

ranges fron1 3.5 to 7 centimeters. ~iaxin1um 

width, ·which is below the 1niddle, from 3.25 

to 6.5 centimeters. Petiole stout, its length 

unknown, preserved for about a centimeter in 

one specimen; other specimens suggest that 

the leaves normally abscised at the distal end 

of the petiole. Pri1naries stout,· five to seven 

in number, diverging at acute angles from the 

extren1e base of the leaf. The midrib an.d the 

two n1ain lateral primaries are the stoutest and· 

longest. All are generally camptodrome, but 

the leaves have a tendency· to become somewhat irregularly sublobate, as shown in the 

smallest and largest specimens figured, and 

any one of the primaries may then change from 

camptodrome to craspedodrome. Secondaries 

thin, camptodrome. Tertiaries thin but well 

marked, inosculating in the n1iddle regions. 

Areolation of very fine, mostly quadrangular 

meshes. · 

This species is similar to the existing Cebatha 

carolina (Linne) Britton, with which it was 

f'onnerly confused. Cebatha carolina is a slender vine of stream banks and woodland borders, 

ranging frtnn Virginia to Illinois and K~ansas 

and southward to Florida and Texas... As 

generic identifications of fossil leaves of this 

family are beset with difficulties, it seems best 

to transfer the present fossil species to the 

forn1 genus Menispermites, proposed by Lesquereux for fossil leaves belonging to this 

fmnily. 
166 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Menispermites contains numerous fossil spe-: 

cies, especially in rocks of Upper Cretaceous 

age, at which time it is known from both 

Europe and America, as well as the Arctic. 

There are two species in the Wilcox of the 

embayment region,. but none have heretofore 

been known from later horizons in this region. 

The. 'family Menispermaceae has about 60 

genera and 350 existing species 'in the warmer 

parts of all the continents, and that it is an old 

one is indicated, aside from the known fossil 

record, by its present distribution, no subfamily being confined to a single continental 

region. . 

. Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( ?) age, Columbus, I-Iickma.n 

County, Ky., and Hickman, Fulton County, 

Ky. (collected by L. C. Glenn, E. W. Berry, 

and Bruce Wad e). 

Collection: U. S. N a tiona! Museum. 

Order PAPAVERALES. 

Family CAPPARIDACEAE? 

Genus CAPPARIDOCARPUS Berry, n. gen. 

The generic term Capparidocarptts · is proposed for fruits of uncertain bota.nic affinity 

which are thought to belong to the family 

Capparidaceae. 

Capparidocarpus sphericus Berry, n. sp. 

ordinarii y. preserved in a partly li thified argillaceous sand, in which the whole fruit seems 

to have been replaced· b:y colloidal clay that 

was rendered permanent by more or "less infiltration of ferruginous. solutions; rarely they 

.are partly lignitic. In no specin;wns are the 

details of. structure preserved. In external 

appearance they might be taken for ferruginous concr~tions, but they are unquestionably 

definitely organized fruits, whiQh can be broken 

open, disclosing . the supposed placental :rn:ass 

full of seeds. These seeds, which are somewhat harder than the rest of the interior,· caii 

be readily separated out. :Many specimens 

have been collected. They are uniform in 

size, 1vithin the narrow limits indicated, and 

the coptainecl seeds ttre simila.rly uni:fonn in 

size and slutpe. . · 

These curious fruits, ·which are abundant, 

have been compared with a number of existing 

genera without conclusive results. They are 

not related to the Cucurbitaceae 1 Menispermaceae, or Passifloriteeae, nor are they comparable with such fruits n.s those of the genus 

Clusia of the· Guttiferae. As regards form . 

they might be compared with small fruits of 

Crescentia (Bignoniaceae), but the seeds are 

c1uite cli:ffe'ren t. The seeds tLlone ftre not unlike those figured fr01n the Aquitaniai1 stnge 

of· Germany and refe1~red by Heer to the Old 

World genus· Garden~a {Rubiaceae). · The form 

Pl~te LV, Figures 4-9. is also like that of some of the existing species 

Spherical fruits, rather large.; whether an of BTugma~sia or the tree daturas, belonging 

indehiscent capsule, a berry-like fruit with a to the fam1ly Solanaceae, as are the s~eds, but 

more or less lignified. outer coat, or a gourd- .. these forms usually have thin capsules, and the 

Like fruit it is impossible to determine. In}orm ':ails ~f the fossil are relatively extraordinathey are a slightly prolate spheroid, slightly nly thick. There are a number of genera of 

flatter at the distal than at the proximal end; this largely American family, the Solanaceae, 

ranging from 2.75 to 4 centimeters in diameter. whose fruits are organized like that of the 

Equatorial section circular. The wall is thick, fossil, as for example those of the tropical 

from 4 to 8 millimeters in thickness. The in- American genus Cyphomandra. 

terior is filled with wh~t is probably best inter- Among previously described fossil fruits the 

preted as placental tissue, and in this are only one that shows close similarities is one 

embedded, somewhat irregularly, the numerous d~scribed by Muller many years ago from the 

small seeds. These seeds are pointed at both auriferous Tertiary drifts of New South Wales 

ends,, falcate fusiform in· shape, somewhat as Plesiocapparis leptocelyphu.s 1 and considered 

variable as. a result of mutual compression; to represent son1e merriber of the Capparithe hilum appears to have been at one end, daceae. This .same author described two other 

but of this I am not absolutely certain. They species of probably similar age· b':lt not cerare about 7 to 8 millimeters in length and tainly congeneric, and more recenqy Johnston 

about 2 to 3 millimeters in .diameter. 

These fruits are 'not uncommon in the upper 1 Muller, F. von, Descriptive note on the Tertiary flora of New south 

Wales: New South Wales Dept. Mines Ann. Rept. for 1878,appendix D, 

part of the section at Hickman. · They are p.In, pl. 4, fig. 5, 1879. 
UPPER EOCENE OR J" ACKSON FLORA. 167 

has described 2 a fourth frmn beds of ·similar 

11ge in Tas1nania. The last thi·ee descriptions I 

have· not seen. . 

Obviously the A1nerican for1n does iwt represent the sa1ne genus as these Australian 

fossils, if indeed the' Australian fossils represent 

a single genus, which is doubtful. Their 

rern.oteness geographically and their ·great 

di:frerence in geologic age militatb against such 

a conclusion. These fossil forms are · mentioned .in this connection, as they seem to 

corroborat~ the supposed family reference of 

these curious fruits. Plesiocapparis leptocely7.Jh1.t,s, although it has ~i similar morphology, is 

smnller and has a very much thinner test. 

The seeds, however, o.re much like those of the 

Tennessee fossil. 

I feel justified in referring these fossils to the 

family Capparidaceae and to the tribe Capparideae, although this reference is made 

tentatively. AIJ,1ong the fe\V fruits of this tribe 

that I have seen the genus Morisonia, witll 

four or five arborescent species· in the Antilles· 

itnd tropical South AmeriGa, is 1nost like the 

fossil. Until nuwh n1ore carpologic material 

is available for con1parison the exact botanic 

position of this interesting fossil must remain 

uncertain. Its peculiar character and the 

well-1narked seeds will undoubtedly enable 

some future student to correct the mistake 

if their botanic affinity has been misunderstood. 

No fossils exactly like the1n have ever been 

described, so far as I can discover. · 

· Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds 

of upper J a.ckson ( ~) age, Ilickman, Fulton 

County, Ky., in upper part of the section 

(qolle~ted by Bruce Wade). 

Collection: U. S; National Museum. 

Order ROSALES. 

Family MIMOSACEAE. 

Genus INGA Willdenow. 

Inga jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. 

' 

Plate XLII, Figures 5, 6. 

Leaflets varitLble in size, petiolulate, Inarkedly ineq·uilateral and falcate-lanceolate in 

out'line, w~dest n1edianly and tapering ~pward to the narrowly extended,. ult~.~ately 

2 Johnston, H.. M., Notes on the discovery of a new fossil fruit from the 

deop-lond tin drifts at Derby, 'l'asmania: H.oy. Soc. Tasmania Papers 

and Proc. 1918, pp. 9-10, 1919. 

bluntly. pointed tip. Base markedly inequilateral, the· inner (upper) half of the lamina 

narro~ving gradually' proxin1ad and decurring 

on the petiolule about 5 millilneters above .the 

point where the margin of the outer (lower) 

half of the lamina diverges from the petiole. 

The outer (lower) m.argin is more rounded 

than the inner and continues full until it 

rounds 1narkedly inward to ]ol.n the petiole. 

In the smaller leaflet figured the outer lamina 

.is already 3 1nilli1neters wide at the point 

where the inner lamina has entirely disappeared. 

The 1nargins are entire and in places faintly 

·undulate. The texture is subcoriaceous. The 

length ranges fron1 7 to 12 centin1eters. Maxin1um width.ranges from 1.1 to 2.7 centin1eters. 

:Most of the material is near the maximurn 

di1nensions just given. The petialule is stout 

and expanded at the base; it is absent in most 

of the material but is 8 millimeters long in 

the s1nall specimen figured. Midrib stout,· 

curved, i>romi.nent on the lower surface of the 

lord. Secondaries thin, can1ptodrome, diverging from the 1nidrib at wide angles. Tertiaries 

obsolete. 

'.fhis species is an exceedingly well-marked 

fonn, which is present in considerable abundance in the Texas region·. It is larger and 

1narkedly distinct frmn the only known Clai-· 

borne species, lnga arkansensis Berry, which 

comes ·from the Y egua formation of eastern 

Texas and Arkansas. There are four species 

of Inga in the Wilcox, and one· of these, lnga 

laurinafolia Berr:y} presents n1any points of 

si1niln.rity to the present species. The general 

form is the same, but Inga laurinafolia is less · 

elongate. Both are extremely. like the existing lnga laurina Willdenow, of the Antillean 

and Central American Tropics. 

Occurrence:· Fayette sandstone on Alum . ' Creek, S. W. Robertson League, about 3 miles 

east of Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball); Miraflores, Webb County, 

Tex. (collected by A. C. Trowbridge). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Genus MIMOSITES Bowerbank. 

Mimosites spatulatus Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIII, Figure 1. 

.. Leaflets small and sessile, nearly equilateral, 

with a broadly rounded apex and a narrowed 

8 Berry·, E. W ., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 224, pl. 48, fig. 8, 1916. 
168 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

but eventually bluntly pointed base. Length 

about 1.8 centimeters. Maximum width, which 

is at or above the middle, '5 millimeters. Margins entire. Texture thinner than in assoc.iated 

species of Mimosites. Midrib relatively slender. 

Secondaries thin but distinct, seven or eight 

subparallel pairs, branchi;ng from the· midrib 

at angles of about 45° and curving upward,· 

eventually cainp.todrome. 

The present species, although clearly congeneric, is perfectly distinct from the numerous 

Wilcox species of Mimosites. It is unfortunately based on very incomplete Inaterial from 

the very sandy clays of southern Arkansas, 

the most complete specimen collected being 

the one figured. It is shorter and wider with 

a more prominent venation than Mimosites 

georgianus, which is so common in the Georgia 

Claiborne. 

Occurrence: J'ackson fonnation, McMurrains 

Crossing, 3.3 n1iles north of El Dorado, Union 

County, Ai·k. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Mimosites mississippiensis Berry, n. sp. · 

Plate XXXIII, Figures 2-5. 

Leaflets of small size, oblong-obovate in out"" 

line, with a broadly rounded nearly equilateral 

apex and . a pointed markedly inequilateral 

base. Margins entire. Length about 1. 7 centimeters. Maximum width, in the middle part 

of the leaflet, about 4 1nillnneters. Petiolule 

short and broad, about 1 millimeter in length. 

Midrib straight and fnirly stout, flush with the 

upper surface and. prominent on the under 

surface of the leaflets. Secondaries not dif:-

ferentinted, forming n part of the areolation, 

which is nearly immersed in the leaf substance 

nnd consists of numerous subparallel laterals 

diverging from the midrib at wide angles of 

about 60°, forking and anastomosing in a 

dictyodrome manner. 

This species resembles a number of previously 

described A1nerican species of Mimosites, as well 

as several existing American tropical species of 

Mimosaceae. Among the lower Eocene species 

it is 1nost slinilar to Mimosites inaequilateralis 

Berry/ of the Wilcox group. It is alE?o 1nuch 

like the upper . Eocene species Mimosites 

4 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North :America: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 226, pl. 45, fig. 12, 1916. 

georgianus Berry. 5 It differs from· both of 

these species in the character of its venation 

and from Mimosites georgianus in its short 

petiolule,. markedly inequilateral base, and 

uniformly rounded apex. 

This species and the . associated species of 

Mimosites represent forms usually identified 

as species of Acacia, as, for example, in the 

paleobotanic work of Heer, Ettingshausen, and 

other eminent students, which may be properly 

referable to Acacia or Mimosa or to other 

genera of the Mimosaceae. In other· words, 

. they represent forms which are referable to 

this family with great certainty but whose 

exact generic alinement · is more or less uncertain. 

Both Acacia and Mimosa are very large 

genera in the existing flora, the for1ner having 

1nore than 400 and the latt'er more than 300 

species. Acacia is largely African and Australian but is present through Oceanica, So~th 

and Central An1erica, and the West Indies. 

~-M~imosa, on the other hand, is n1ostly confin.ed 

to tropical and subtropical A1nerica, with but 

a few species in Asia, Africa, and Australia. 

As the Tertiary flora of southeastern North 

America is made up to so large an extent of 

ancient types still chiefly American it would 

s~em that ~Mimosites as used in the present 

connection indicates a n1ore probable affinity 

with Mimosa than with ..¢l.cacia. 

.Occurrence: Forest Hill sand, 11 n1iles north 

of Jacks'on, see. 16, T. 7 N., R 1 E., flinds 

County, Miss~ (collected by C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U. S. N ationn,l Museum. 

Mimosites georgianus Berry. 

. This species is described unde.r the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 62). 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 3 miles 

southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball). Barnwell formation 

(Twiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully and 

Grovetown, Columbia County, Ga.; MaconMarion road, 10 miles south of ¥aeon, Bibb 

County, Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry); 2 

miles east of Gibson,. Glascock County, Ga. 

(collected by C. W. Cooke and H. K~ Shearer). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

"Berry, E. W., The Upper Cretaceous imd Eocene floras of ~outb 

Carolina and Georgia: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 84, p. 142, pl. 27, 

figs. 5-9, 1914. · 
UPPl~R EOCENE OR JACKSON l!..,LORA. 169 

Family CAESALPINIACEAE. 

Genus CASSIA Linne. 

Cassia jacksonian a Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIII, Figure 6. 

]D.longated, slender, flat pods, 1nore than 2.5 

centi.rnetei's in length and about 6 millimeters 

in width, with s01newhat irregular, straight 

sides and rounded ends, several seeded, with 

pronounced tranS\'erse vei.ns between the seeds. 

Texture subcoriaceous. 

'"!''his species is unfortunately represented by 

fihe s.ingle specimen .figured, which is referred 

to Cass?:a, with considerable hesitation, for it 

ln.cks real differential specific characters. As 

it is, however, a well recognizable elmnent in 

this m.ost intet·esting and too little known 

flora of the upper :E~ocene, it deserves a nan1e 

a.nd a pltwe .in any discussion of that flora. 

Occurl'ence: J'ackson fonnation, McMurrains 

Crossing, 3~3 Jniles north of El Dorado, UJliojl 

County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museu.rn. 

Cassin georgiana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIII, Figure 8. 

Leaflets ovate in outline, broadest below the 

.rniddle, with obtusely rounded inequilateral 

tip and soJnewhat inequilateral base. Le!1gth 

about 4 centimeters. Maximun1 width about 

1.8 centimeters. Petiolule short and stout, 

about 2 1n.ill iJneters in length.. Midrib broad 

but not prominent. Secondaries apparently 

not different from the thin tertiary areoln,tion. 

Th.is is a rn,ther poorly preserved and ill 

defined fonn, n.pparently related to Cassia 

and not especially close to any of the nUJnerous 

Wilcox species of that genus. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay Jne.rnber), 2 Jniles east of Gibson, Glas~ 

cock County, Ga .. (collected by C. W. Cooke 

n.nd lL IC Shearer). . 

Collection:- U. S. N ntional Musmun. 

Cassia obionana Berry, n. sp. . 

Plate LI, Figure 2. 

Leaoflets relatively small, htnceolate in outline, widest in the middle and tapering equally 

distad and proxitnad to the obtusely pointe~ 

u.pex and cuneate bas~. Slightly falcate and 

inequilateral, the lamina on one side of the Inidrib being n.bout 1 millin1eter wider than that o~ 

the other side. Texture coriaceous. Margins. 

entire, evenly cu~·ved. Length about 4.5 c~n- . 

ti1neters .. Maximum width about 1.6 centiIneters. Petiolule n1issing. Midrib rather 

stout, curved. Secondaries largely immersed, 

particularly in their upper courses; numerous, 

subparallel, equally spaced; they diverge from 

the tnidrib at angles of about 55°, are rather 

straight,· and are can1ptodrmne close to the 

margins. Tertiaries obsolete. 

This species is represented by scanty material. It is well marked, however, and is 

clearly a leguminous leaflet, although its reference to Cassia is not conclusive. It represents a 

type of leaflet which is very abundant in the 

Eocene of southeastern North America and of 

which there are several well-defined forms in 

the Wilcox flora that I have referred to Cassia. 

The present fossil is very similar to Cassia 

fayettensis Berry,6 of the 1niddle and upper 

Wilcox, and if the leaves can be ·considered 

evidence of filiation I would say that this later 

form was descended frmn that Wilcox species. 

It differs from the Wilcox fonn iri its less 

rounded outline, more cuneate base, and more 

nun1erous secondaries. 

Cassia is so extensive a genus, both in 

fossil·and existing floras, that comparisons with 

other species in. either are generally without 

significance. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( ~) age, on the E. H. Russell 

place,' 8 n1iles west of Union ·City, on· Cane 

Creek, Obion County, Tenn .. (collected by 

Bruce Wad e). . 

Collection: U. S. National :Museum. 

Genus BAUHINIA Linne. 

Bauhinia wadii Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LI, Figure 3. 

Leaves bifoliate. Leaflets inequilateral, falcate-ovate, widest above the middle, with a 

rather broadly. rounded tip and a gradually 

narrowed acute sessile base. Margins entire, 

full and evenly rounded on the outside, rounded 

above and slightly excavated proximad on the 

inside. Texture coriaceous. · Length abou·t 

5.75 centimeters. Maximum width 1.5 centimeters. Veins thin but very prominent on the 

8 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North America: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prot. Paper 91, p. 232, pl. 49, figs. 5-8, 1916. 

~ 

' 
1.70 MIDDLE AND UPPER. EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

lower surface of the leaflet. Severai primaries,· About 40 per cent :of the existing species are 

of which the innermost is the stoutest, diverge American, ranging from. the West Indies and 

from the base of the leaflet at very acute angles. Mexico to southern Brazil. 

and pursue a subpara1lel upward. course, _fork.., The geologic history of the genus is remarkaing at intervals and connec.ted by cross ':'ein- ble. It is probably represented in the Cenolets to form narrow elongate meshes, ultimate manian of Bohemia 9 but is otherwise unknown 

loops camptodrome. in Europe before the Tertiary. .It is doubtThis striking new species is unfortunateiy fully recorded by Kryshtofovich10 from the Upper 

represented by a single leaflet .. Its specific Cretaceous of Russian Sakhalin but is otherwise 

·eh.arac.ters are particularly well marked, but its unknown in Asiatic 9-eposits earlier than the 

generic ·characters are not so clear, although late Tertiary. The most complete and conlimited in my opinion to either Cassia or Bau- elusive Upper Cretaceous occurrences are those 

hinia ot the famiiy Caesalpiniaceae. There is a of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. · The olde~t of 

certain resemblance to . the leaflets of son1e . these are in the middle part of the Raritan 

existing species of Acacia, and Callianil?Yt of the formation, where t\vo large specie:; are- reprefanlily Mimosaceae. No fossil species are simi- sented/1 and New Jersey constitutes. the known 

l~r except Bauhinia 1Jotosiana Berry, 7 from the northern limit of the Cretaceous range of the. 

Pliocene of Bolivia. Among the great many genus. One of the New Jersey forms ranges 

existing and fossil species of Cassia, the only southward to Alabama, and there is a :fine 

bifoliate fossil species ·that I recall is Cassia sm.all-leafed species in the Magothy formation 

cultrifoliaformis Berry,8 likewise from the Plio: of Maryland that also ranges southward to 

cene of Bolivia. The existing Cassias generally. AlabamaP A fine l.arge butterfly-Ilke species 

hay-e·pin~ate leaves of several pairs of leaflets, is abundant in the basal beds of the Eutaw 

the most striking exception being Cassia cul- formation in Alabama/3. and a fifth species is 

trifolia Humboldt, Bonj:>land, i,tnd Kunth, of the found in the Ripley formation in Alaban1a and 

Orinoco basin. This form is much like . the Tennessee. 14 No . species have heretofore been 

present fossil species but is som.ewhat smaller, known from the Tertiary of North America ex-

.with the base 'on the outer side more or less cept a somewhat doubtful form which is de-

. auriculate, with the primaries all of the same scribed by Cockerell 16 from the Miocene lake 

size; and with their hranches giving the vena- basin at Florissant, Colo. . 

tion a ·flabellate appearance. In the present Aside from the· possible Cen·omanian occurfossil species the innermost primary is stouter renee already mentioned, four species, based 

than the other's and appears to me to represent upon both leaves and pods, ·have been described 

the branch· of the· midrib~ which constitutes from the Miocene of the southern and southso well-marked a feature in the majority of eastern parts of Europe. A species is known 

Bauhinia leaves in which the two halves are not from the Pliocene of Bolivia and another from 

completely separate. The venation is there- the late Tertiary of Indo-China. 

fore considered to be more. typical of Bauhinia, Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

to which I have referred it, naming it after upper Jackson 0) age, Hickman, lower part of 

the. collector Bruce Wade. bluff, Fulton County, Ky. (collected by Bruce 

There are more than 200 existing species wad e). · 

referred to Bauhinia.. These are trees or high Collection: u .. s. N atio.nal Museuin. 

climbing shrubs, and they are practically confined to the Tropics of both hemispheres, although a few range into the warmer parts of 

the Temperate Zone, as, f<;>r example, Bauhinia 

lunaroides Gray, which reaches Texas from the 

Mexican region. The existing forms are massed 

in the southeastern Asiatic region and in South 

America, although Africa has numerous species. 

7 Berry, E. W., Fossil plant·s from Bolivia and their bearing upon the 

age.of uplift of the eastern Andes: U. s: Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 54, p. 144, 

pl. 17, figs. 1, 2, 1917. 

s Idem, p. 139, pl. 16, fig. 9., 

9 Velenovsky, Josef, Die Flora dcrbohmischcn Kreideformation, pt. 4, 

p. 12, pl. 6, fig. 4, 1R85. 

1o Kryshtofovich, A., On the Cretaceous flora of Russian Sakhalin: 

Tokyo Imp. Univ·. Coli. Sci. Jour., vol. 40, art. 8, p. 53, fig. 10, 1918. 

11 Newberry, J. S., Flora of the Amboy clays: U.S. Geol. Survey Mon. 

26; p; 91, pl. 20, fig. 1; pl. 43, figs. 1-4; pl. 44, figs. 1-3, 1896. 

12 Berry, E. W., A new Cretaceous Bauhi'IJ,ia,· Torreya, vol. 8, p: 218, 

1908. 

1a Berry, E. W., A new Cretaceous Baul!inia from Alabama: Am. Jour. 

Sci., 4th ser., vol. 29, p. 256, fig: 1, 1910. · 

H Berry, E. W., Contributions to the Mesozoic flora of the Atlantic 

Coastal Plain, XI, Tennessee: Torrey Bot. Club Bull., voi. 43, p. 294, 

pl. 16, fig. 1, 1916. 

~Cockerell, T. D. A.,· Two new fossil'plants from Florissant, Colo.: 

Torreya, vol. 9, p. 184, 1909. 

• 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 171 

Family P APILION ACEAE. 

Genus PAPILIONITES Berry, n. gen. 

. Pnpilionites erythrinaformis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIII, Figure 9. 

Leaflets of n1edimn size, ovate in general 

outline, petiolulate, bluntly pointed at the 

apex, and with a broad base that is straight 

on one side and widely rounded on the other 

(inequilateral). Ma1·gins entire. Texture subeorilweou~. Length about 6.5 centimeters. 

Maxi.nuun width, at or slightly below the 

1n:iddle of the lea-flet, about 2.8 centuneters. 

Petiolulo sh.ort and stout, not thickened, about 

2 Jnillimoters in length. Midrib stout and 

rather pro:rninen t, bocOJning thin distad. SecOJ1darios well Jnn.rkod, about si.-x opposite to 

subopposito pairs; they diverge fr01n tho 

1nidrib n.t angles of about 60° and are regularly 

curved, subparallel, and camptodrome. Tertiat·ies thin, both percurrent and intersocondarial, forn1ing open, isodiametric 1noshes. 

Areolation obsolete. The basal secondary on 

the straight side of the lamina is straight and 

parallel with the lower n1argin and is also more 

ascending than its regularly curved fellow on· 

the opposite side. 

This species is unfortunately based · upon 

scanty 1naterial. It see1ns in1possib~e to decide 

to wl1ich genus of the Papilionaceae it should 

be referred, and I have therefore proposed the 

fonn genus Papilionites for its reception. The 

existing genus to which I was n1ost inclined to 

refer it is Erythrina. Linne, a genus of about 

thirty species of trifoliate shrubs and trees 

found in all tropical couhtries. AJnong the 

few }\)lown fossil species of this genus, ETyth'rina unge'ri, des9ribed by Ettingshausen 16 

fr01n Sagor, in Carniola·, is n1uch like the present 

species, 11s is also Dalbergia hecastophyllina, 

deser.ibed by Saporta 17 from: the upper Oligocone of southen.stern France. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstoi1e, Mossy 

Creek, 3 n1iles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M .. Ball); 4 miles 

north of Mira'flores, Webb County, Tex. (collected by G. C. Matson). Lagrange formation 

in beds of upper J'ackson ( ~) age, Hickman, 

Fulton County, Ky. (collected by Bruce· Wade). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

10 l~ttingshnusen, C. von, Die fossilo :F1orn von Sngor in Krain, 'l'heil :.!, 

p. 46, pl. 19, figs. 2-5, 1877. 

n Snporta, G. de, Etudes sur Ia v6g6tation du sud-est de Ia :Frnnce 

A l'opoquo tertinlro, vol. 2, p. 367, pl. 13, fig. 10, 1866. 

68844-24-12 

Genus SOPHORA Linne. 

Sophora claiborniana Berry . 

Plate XXXIV, Figures 1-3. 

This species is described under the flora 

of the Claiborne group (p. 64). It is represented in the Jackson by considerable 1naterial. 

Occurrence: Barnw~ll forn1ation (Twiggs 

clay n1ember), Phinizy Gully, Colu1nbia County, Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry); 2 miles 

east of Gibson, Glascock Co.unty, Ga. (collected by C. W. Cooke and H. K. Shearer). 

Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north of Miraflores, 

W.ebb County, Tex. (collected by G. C. Matson). 

Collection: U. S. N ational·Musemn. 

Sophora wilcoxiana Berry. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 65). It is sparingly 

and somewhat doubtfully represented in the 

Jackson. 

Occu.rrence: Barnwell forination (Twiggs 

clay member), 2 1niles east of Gibson, (j-lascock 

County, Ga. (collected by C. W. Cooke and H. 

K. Shearer). · · 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Subfamily n·ALBERGIEAE. 

Genus LONCHOCARPUS Kunth. 18 

Lonchocarpus anceps Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LI, Figures 4-7. 

Pods conspicuously stipitate, compressed, 

elliptical in outline, with n, broadly rounded 

to slightly retuse apex, indehiscent, p~·onlinently Inargined all around., coriaceous in texture, faintly reticulate veined, with three or 

four seeds, which are ellipticai in outline and 

lenticular in form, their greatest length less 

than one-half the diameter of the pod. Pods 

l'ange in length from 4 to 6 centimeters. Maximunl width 1.75 to. 3 centi1neters. 

Those pods· are exceedingly common in u. 

lignified condition in the carbonaceous clays. 

Their botanic affinity is not absolutely settled, 

but their features are so like those of Loncl~ocarpus that I feel justified in refening then1 to 

that genus, which has very shnilar indehiscent 

stipitate and fe,v-seeded pods. The only other 

possibility is to consider the1i1 i·eln.tecl to 

Gleditsia, which has indehiscent pods, and in 

1s :For a recent discussion or this genns see Pittier, Henry, 'l'he middle 

American species ·or Lonchocarpus: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herbarium, voL 

20, pt. 2, 1917. 
172 MIDDLE AND UPPER.· EOCENE· FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

' the. modern species G. aquatica these ·are 

reduced in size and have but one or two seeds. 

The distribution of Gleditsici would lead to _the 

expectation of finding it in the embayment 

Tertiary, but. ·the modern ··species are more 

distinctly temperate types than should occur 

in this fossil assemblage, and their pods are less 

ligneous than the fossil form. 

Lonchocarpus is a Inainly· tropical genus in 

th.e existing flora, largely American; . having 

two score . spec,ies in Mexico ·and , Central 

America ·and 1nany n1orc in tropical South 

America. It is found also in trop~cal and 

southern Africa, one species being common to 

America and West Africa. It also has a fmv 

·representatives in Madagascar and Australia. 

Many of the North Arnerican species have a 

very narrow ru.nge ii1 the seri1iarid parts of 

Centrnl An1erica, n.ncl I would be inclined to 

regard· them .as.recent derivatives of an ancestral ru.in-forest stock, which have evohred as 

specializations to a more arid habitat. 

The fossil record of Loncliocarpus is exceedingly 1neager .. LeiJ,:flets~ so identified, ·are 

known fron1 the Mio.cene ·of Ecuador and the 

Pliocene of Bolivia. By far the Ino.st interesting fossil remains are the nu1nerous pods 

found in the Cohansey sand of southern New 

Jersey and described by Hollick tn as Lonclwcarpus novae-caesareae. This horizon has never 

been precisely determined but is late Tertiary 

and either upper Miocene or. Pliocene, and the 

occurrence of this genus so far from any other 

occurrences and associated with a few exotic 

nnd numerous cnde1nic types is unique. 

The present species fro;m Tennessee shows 

very considerable similarities to several exist-

. ing species of Lonchoca,rp?.ts of tropical America 

and to the poas of the Central American species 

formerly referred to Den·is. 

Occ:urrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson 0) age, on the E. H. Russell 

place, 8 miles west ·of Union City, on Cane 

Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; cove just north 

of city water tower, in upper part of bluff at 

Hickman, Fulton County, Ky. (collected by 

Bruce Wad e). 

. Collecti.on: U.s.· National Museum. 

1w Hollick,. Arthur, New species of leguminous· pods from the Yellow 

gravel at Bridgeton, N.J.: 'l'orrey Bot. Club Bull., voL23, p. 4Y, pl. 25\J 

figs. 6-8, 1896. · · 

Family HAMAMELIDACEAE. 

Genus LIQUIDAMBAR Linne;.· 

Liquidambar incerta Berry, it: sp.' "' 

Plate LI; Figures 8, 9. 

. Fruits preserved as ferruginous inud casts of 

the capsular cavities, with the beaks in most 

specimens entirely worn away. They range 

·in size fron1 1.75 to 2.5 centimeters and are 

indistinguishable fron1 similar remains described . from several geologic horizons. No 

traces. of leaves of this genus are associated 

with .the fruits, but this lack is readily .understood when it is considered that the leaves rot 

readily in water and are less. successfully transported by water than those of any otherspecies 

of tree that I have observed in the· rivers of 

southeastern North America. 

Indistinguishable fruits from the European 

Miocene are r-eferred to Liquidambar europaeum 

'Alexapder Braun, and similar fruits from the· 

European Pliocene have been referred to the 

existing Liquidambar · styracijlua Linne.. Simi-· 

·lar fruits fron1 the Miocene of Bridge .. Creek,· 

Oreg., were referred to Li'quidambar euro-· 

paeum by N ewberry.Z0 :Most' of the present· 

fossils are somewhat smaller thari those of· the 

existing American species, but some· are as 

)arge, and it should be remmnbered that the 

fossils represent casts of the· aggregation of' 

capsular. cavities with the beaks eroded away, 

;thus reducing the diameter when compared 

with o~r familiar gmn bulls by between one-

'third and one-fourth. 

The genus has a Inost 'interesting geologic 

history, which has· been discussed by rrie 21 

and also by Laurent. 22 Fruits similar to those· 

in the Jackson occur in the :Miocene of southei·n Mexico. 

The existing species nun1ber four and are 

botanically very similar although geographi~ 

cally remote, being. segregated in the southeastern United .States (1 species), in the 

~oun.tains of Central America as near sea level 

ias soo· meters (1 species)' in ·southeastern . 

!Asia (1 species), and in Asia Minor (1 species). · 

~ 2o Newberry, J. S., 'l'he later extinct floras of North America: U. S .. 

'aeol. Survey Mon. as, p. 100, pl. 47, fig. a, 1898. 

' 21 Berry, E. W., 'l'he geologicalliistqry of the sweet gum. and witch 

hazel: Plant World, vol. 22, pp. 345-352, 1919. · 

! 22 Laurent, Louis, Les Liquidambars: Mus. hist. nat. Marseille 

Annales, vol. 17, pp. 9-27, 1919. 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON· FLORA. 173 

Such a n1odern distribution indicates an 

extended geologic history, and in conformity 

w.ith this we find n,t least a score of· species 

1\anging throughout the Tertiary and covering 

the whole Northern I-Imnisphere. 

Occurrence: Lagrange for1nation, in beds of 

upper Jtickson 0) age, Hiclnnan, upper part 

of bluff, half a mile north of Hickman, Fulton 

County, Ky.; on theE. H. Russell place, 81niles 

west of Union C1ty, on Cane Creek, Obion 

County, Tenn. (collected by Bruce Wad e). · 

Collection: U. S. ij" ational :Museum. 

Order GERANIALES. 

Family RUTAC~AE. 

Genus FAGARA Linne. 

Fagara. catahoulensis orbiculata Berry. 

Fagara cataho1tlensis orbiculata Berry, U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 240, pl. 59, figs. 1-3, 1917. 

'l'his species I have described as follows: 

LenJlets glandular punctate, of medium size for this 

genus, orbicular or elliptical in general outline, equally 

rounded at the apex and base.. Length from 2.5 to 4 

centimeters; maximum width, midway between the 

ttpex and the ·base, from 1.8 to 3:3 centimeters. Margins entire. Texture coriaceous. Petiolule short, stout, 

grooved, curved, about 3 millmeters in length. Midrib 

stout, curved, oi· flexuous, prominent on the lower surface 

of the leaflet. Secondaries stou.t, prominent on the lower 

surface of the leaflet, fom· or five subopposite to alternate 

pairs, diverging from the midrib at angles ranging from 

65° in the lower part of the orbicular leatlets to 35°. in the 

upper pttrt of some of the orbicular leaflets and in the 

ellipticttllettf"lets; all mimptodrome, usually at.a considerable distance from the margin. Tertiaries thin but well 

marked, es})ecially on the lower surface of the leaflets, 

forming open irregular n1eshes that are well shown in 

the small elliptical leaflet figurod. Areolation of thin 

but distinct veinlets forming minute quadrangular or 

polygonal meshes. 

This for!n shows considerable variation and 

was based on well-preserved material fron1 the 

Catahoula sandstone of the Chalk I-Iills in central Lo~isiana. The remains found in the basal 

beds that have been assigned to this sandstone 

in Polk County, 'l'ex:, which I consider of Jackson age, are scanty. 

Occurrence: Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

regarded as Catahoula sandstone by me, but as 

o( Jackson age), Stryker, P9lk County, Tex. 

(collected. by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

· Fa gar a catahoulensis elongata Berry. 

Fagara catahoulensis elongata Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Paper 98, p. 241, pl. 59, figs. 11-15, 1917. 

This species I have described as follows: 

Leaflets glandular punctate, averaging of rather 

small si.ze, narrowly ovate and inequilateral in general. 

outline, nearly equally pointed at the apex and base, 

the apex sometimes slightly more pointed than the 

base. Length from 1.6 to 4.25 centimeters, averaging 

about 2.75 centimeters. · Maximum width, midway 

between the apex and the base, from 1 to 2 centimeters, averaging about 1.4 centimeters. Margins 

entire, slightly revolute. Texture cori~ceous. Petiolule stout, grooved, curved, enlarged proximad, 3 to 4 

millimeters in length. Midrib stciut, usually curved, 

prominent on the lower surface of the leaflet. Secondaries stout, six 01; seven subopposite to· alternate 

pairs, diverging from the midrib at angles of about 40°, 

subparallel, camptodrome in the marginal region. 

Tertiaries immersed in ·the leaf substance. · 

This form is 1nore abundant than the varie:.. · 

ties orbiculata and corictcea but is not so abundant as Fagara catahoulen.sis major. It resem-

~les s~:nne of the forms ·of orbic'l.data, as well as 

some of the variants of major·, but differs from 

both of these in its proportions. It was -descriqecl from the-·ca.tahoula sandstone of Chalk 

Hills, in central ~ouisiana, in beds of Vicksburg 

age, where it is well preserved and abundant. 

It is sparingly represented in Polk ·County, 

Tex., in beds which have been referred to the 

base of the Catahoula sandstone but which I 

regard as older than the Catahoula and of late 

Jackson age. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson 0) age, half a mile north of 

Hickn1an and 5 miles south of 1-Iicktnan, Fulton 

County, Ky.; Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn. 

(collected by Bruce Wade). Catahoula ( ~) 

sandstone, Stryker, Polk. County, Tex. (collect-. 

eel by C. L. Baker). 

Collections: U. S. National Museum, New 

York Botanical Garden. 

Fagara catahoulensis major Berry. 

Plate LI, Figures 11, 12. 

Pagara catahoulensis major Berry, U. S. GeoJ.: Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 241, pl. 59, figs. 4-7, 1917 .. 

This species I have described as follows from 

speci1nens in the Catahoula sandstone of 

Louisiana, of Vicks burg age: 

Leaflets glandular punctate, averaging of relatively 

large size, ovate-lanceolate and slightly inequilateral 

in outline, with an acutely ·pointed apex and a rounded 
17 4 MIUDLE AND UPPER E.OCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AME}UCA. 

or broadly pointed base. Length from 2.2 to 4.5 centimeters, averaging about 3.5 centimeters; 1naximum 

width, at or slightly below the middle, from 1.5 to 2.75 

centimeters, averaging about 2.5 cet~timeters. Margins entire. Texttlre coriaceous. Petiolule stout, 

grooved, about 4.5 millimeters in length; in some 

specimens showing evidence of narrow, straight lateral 

wings. Midrib stout, prominent on the lower surface of 

the leaflet. Secondaries stout and prominent, about 

six pairs, subopposite below and usually alternate 

above; they diverge from the midrib at angles of about 

45°, although there is considerable variation in this 

feature; they are for the most part regularly curved 

upward and subparallel and are camptodrome in the 

marginal region. Tertiaries mostly immersed in the 

leaf substance; a few percurrent ones visible. 

A single specimen is co'ntai~ed in the collections fr01n the kaolinite lens in the Fayette 

sandstone. It is characteristic of F_agara and 

like the present variety, except for its larger 

. size, being 5.5 centimeters in length by 3.5 centimeters in maximum· width. The base is 

sljghtly more acute, thus approaching the 

variety elongata. Evidently Fagara catahoulensis was exceedingly variable, and I prefer 

not to further multiply its described.vru·ieties. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone~···neru~ Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. 

Ball). Lagrange formation, in beds of upper 

Jackson 0) age, in upper part of bluff in cove 

just north of city water tower at fiickman, 

Fulton County, Ky. (collected by Bruce 

Wade); a doubtfully. determined specimen from 

Piedmont, Grimes County, Tex. (collected by 

0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U.S. National :Museum. 

Fa gar a s.atahoulensis · coriacea Berry. 

Plate LI, li"igure 10. 

Fagara catahoulensis coriacea Berry, U. S. GeoL Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 241, pl. 59, figs. 8-10, 1917. 

This species I have described as follows from 

specunens in the Catahoula sandstone of 

Louisiana, of Vicks bui·g age : 

Leaflets glandular punctate, of small size, ovatelanceolate and slightly inequilateral in general outline, 

with a bluntly pointed apex and a broadly rounded 

base.· Length from 1.75 to 2.75 centimeters, averaging 

about 2 centimeters; maximum width, below the middle 

of the leaflet, from 1.2 tci 2 centimeters, averaging about 

1.4 centimeters. Margins entire, slightly revolute in 

some specimens. Texture coriaceous.- Petiolule very 

stout, grooved, curved, 3.5 millimeters- in length. 

Midrib ·stout and curved; prominent on the lower 

surface of the leaflet. Secondaries stout and prominent, four Of five lllOStly stibopposite pairs; they diverge 

from the midrib at somewhat irregular intervals at 

angles ranging from 35° to 60° and pursue a straight 

course halfway to the margins, where they curve 

upwardi camptodrome in the marginal 'region. Tertiaries immersed in· the leaf substance. 

This well-marked form is less abundant in the col~ 

lections than ~longata or major but more abundant than 

orbiwlata. It is much like majorin general outline but 

i.s broader nearer the base, has fewer secondaries, and 

averages much smaller in size. · 

OccUJTence: Lagrange fonnation, in beds of· 

·upper Jackson ( ~) age, at Hickman, in upper 

part of bluff; half a mile north of Hickman, 7 5 

feet above river, Fulton County, Ky. (collected 

by Brl_lce Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum; 

Family MELIACEAE. 

Genus CEDRELA Linne. 

Cedrela jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. "' 

Plate XXXIV, Figures 4, 5; Plate XLIV, Figures 1-5. 

Leaflets of medium ot small size, na~rowly 

ovate-lanceolate and somewhat falcate in general outline, widest toward the base and tapering upward to the extended acuminate tip .. 

Base cuneate, inequilateral. Length about 

8.5' centimeters. Maximum width about 1.9 

centimeters. Margirr entire. Texture coriaceous. Petiolule wanting _or not ·preserved. 

Midrib stout, prominent, and somewhat flexuous. Secondaries and tertiaries obsolete by 

immersion in the thick substance of the leat 

This form is a type ·of fossil leaf that is 

ordinarily referred to the genus Sapind1.1,s, 

and it shows considerable resemblance to some 

of the Wilcox species with small leaflets which 

have been referred to that genus. After. having handled a large amount of both living and 

fossil material I am more inclined to refer the 

present form to the genus Oedrela, a genus 

which is abundantly represented in the Wilcox flora. The present species, however, i~ 

entirely distinct from any previously described 

form and seems to have been cop1mon along. 

the Jackson coast, for· it appears to be very 

abundant in. the sandy clays at White Bluff. 

The specimens are,- however, in general fragmentary and poorly preserved arid are therefore not identified with certainty. It is also 

·present in the Catahoula sandstone of eastern 

Texas and western Louisiana. _ 

It occurs in the Yegua formation of Brazos 

County, Tex.,. where it is abundant and variable in size, many of the leaflets being much 
UPP:t~R EOGENE OR JACKSON ]fLORA. 175 

snutller than those preserved in beds at higher 

horizons. 

Occurrence: ,Jackson for1nation, White Bluff, 

J'efl'erson County, Ark. (collected by E. W. 

Berry). Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north of 

:Horn beck, Sabine Parish, La. (collected by 

Alexander Deussen and G. C. Matson). Catahoula ( n sandstone, in a cut on the Interna.tional & Gre'at Northern Railway, Trinity 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Lagl'ange :fonnation, in beds of upper J~ckson 0) age, on the E. lL :Russell· place,. 

8 1niles west of Union City, on Cnne 

Creek, Obion County, Tenn. (collected by 

Bruce Wnde). · Fn,yette sandstone, Banent 

Le.n,gue, about. :3 miles northeast of M:illican; 

:Mill Creek, :3 ·miles southeast o:f M:illican; and 

M:ossy Creek, :3 1niles southwest of Wellborn, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Family MALPIGHIACEAE. 

Genus BANISTERIA Linne. 

Bnnisteria texnnn Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIV, Figure 6. 

·The genus BanisteTia contains about eighty 

existing species, · exclusively American and 

massed in tropic~l South America. 

Occurrence: Ca,tahoula ( n sandstone (not 

regarded as Catahoula sandstone by nu~, but 

older and of Jackson age), Stryker, Polk 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Bak01:). 

Collection: U. S. National :Museun1 .. 

F~mily BURSERACEAE. 

Genus BURSERITES Berry, n. gen. 

This rutme is proposed for a form genus to 

include the fo.ssil r01nains refer.able to the family Burseraceae but of undeterminable generic 

relationship. 

Burserites fayeitensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLI, Figures 7, s·. 

Leaflets of medium size, petiolulate, ovate in 

general outline, equilateral, with a gradually 

narrowed, s01newhat extended acuminate tip 

and a broadly rounded base that is inclined 

to be slightly cordate. Margins entire, full 

enough to appear fiexuotis or repand. Texture 

subcoriaceous. Length fron1 5.5 to 7 centiLen,,.,es relatiYely srnall, oblong-oYate in gen-: n1eters. :Maxirnun1 width, at or slightly below 

oral outline, with· a short rounded base and a the middle of the lea:flets, from 2.25 to 3 centigradually narrowed abruptly acuminate tip.· meters. Petiolule short, relat~vely very stout, 

Length about 9 centirneters. Maxin1un1 width, about 4 or 5 rnillimeters in length. Midrib 

belo"' the :middle, about 3.5 centin1eters. :Mar- thin but prorninent. Secondaries numerous, 

gins entire, full, and rounded. Texture cori- thin, somewhat unevenly spaced,· subparallel; 

aceous. Petiole ·not preser\.,ed. Midrib nar-, seven· or eight subopp·osite to alternate pairs 

row, pr01ninent on the lower surface of the leaf. diverge from the midrib at wide angles, ra:ngSecondaries thin; about ten alternate pairs ing from about 45° in the upper part of the 

diverge fron1 the rnidrib at angles of about 65° leafiets to about 70° in the lower part; ultito 75°, .curving slightly and camptodrome. rnately caruptodr01ne. Tertiaries obsolete. 

Tertin,ries ·obsolete. · This species n1ay be cornpared with several 

This species is represented by very scanty existing species of the genus Bursera Jacquin, a 

rnaterial. fiowever, it is clearly con1parable genus that has about two score species confined 

with the leaves of the existing species in this to the Americn,n Tropics, ranging frorn Mexico 

genus, tts, for exarnple, BanisteTia aTgenten through the 'iV QSt Indies to northern South 

Sprengel, of tropical South 1\rnerica (Brazil). An1erica. 'l'he second genus with which the 

Among fossil species it shows a generic likeness fossil 1nay be properly c01npared is Protium, 

to the species of Banisteria found in the Wilcox, which has about :fifty existing species, fourof which four have been described, three based fifths of thern confined to tropical America and 

on leaves and one on characteristic fruits. the balance scattered in India, Java, MadagasAmong previously described fossil fonns. it is car, and :Mauritius. Burserites jayettensis is· 

smaller but otherwise very close to BanisteTia particularly close to PTotium heptaphyllum 

vasseu1·i, described by. Laurent 23 fron1 the (Aublet) March, a tree that ranges fr01n Vene-

'I'ongrian of southern France. zuela and Guiana to Paraguay .. Burserites jay-

. · ettensis probably represents the genus Protium sa Laurout, Louis, Flore dos calcaires de Celas, p. 124, pl.13, figs. 3, 4, 1 b 1

· . f B ' 

tsoo ut as severa spemes o · ursera have such 
17 6 .MIDDLE AND UP .PER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

similar foliage it seems best to refer. the fossil to· Petiolule stout, curved, ranging from 1 to 3 

the family and to establish for 1t the noncom- ·millimeters in length. Midrib stout but not 

1nital form genus Burserites. prominent, generally curved. Secondaries 

The family Burseraceae, except for a recently rather stout but not prominent, numerous and 

described Pliocene species from Bolivia,24 has. subparallel; they diverge from the midrib at· 

not been recorded in the f~ssil state, although angles of 50° to 60°, abruptly ascending 

the existing distribution of. such genera as about two-thirds of their way out, and each 

Protium and Pachylobus is a clear indication enters a marginal tooth. Tertiaries fine, obsoof .a considerable geologic history. Fruits lete in the Claiborne material, numerous and 

·described from the Wilcox group as Carpolithus percurrimt in the Green River material from 

pilocarpoides were compared with and possibly Wyoming. 

indicate a species of Protium in the lower This well-marked species· was described by 

Eocene of the United States. The family con- Lesquereux from the Green ·R:iver shales of 

tains ··ten oriental genera, four occidental Wyoming and was referred to the genus 

genera, and two that a:re common to the two Myrica. Features which distinguish it from. 

' hemispheres. or the 300 existing species 210 the members of that genus and ally it with 

·are oriental and largely confined to Asia and Oupanites are the compound nature of the 

Africa. leaves, which is indieated in the type material, 

Occurrence: Fayette sandst<;>ne, 4 miles the markedly inequilateral form,· a:nd the charnorth of Hornbeck, Sabine ·Parish, La. (col- acter of the venation. . 

lected by Alexander Deussen and G. C. Mat- The genus Oupanites was proposed by 

son). Catahoula( ?) sandstone, Hermons Creek, Schimper from its resemblance to the existing 

250 yards above the Rive;rside-Smither:;. farm genus Ou.pania Linne, and to ·it have been 

road in northern Walker County; and Missouri, referred about a dozen large-leafed species, 

Kansas & · Texas Railway at Stryker, :Polk based on both foliage and characteristic fruits, 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). La- chiefly from the European Tertiary. Two 

grange formation, in be<;ls of upper Jackson (?). well-marked species have been described from 

age, h~f a mile above Hickman, 75 feet above the Wilcox group in the Mississippi embayriver, Fulton County, Ky. '(collected by Bruce ment area, 25 and the genus was apparently very 

Wade). · com:monin theYpresianofsouthernEngland,no 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. less than six species of leaves and eight species 

Order. SAPINDALES. 

Family SAPINDACEAE. 

Genus CUPANITES Schimper. 

Cupanites nigricans (Lesquereux) Berry. 

. Plate XXXIV, Figure 7. 

Myrica nigric'ans Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. 

Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1871, Suppl., p. 6, 

1872; The Tertiary flora, p. 132, pl. 17, figs. 

9-12, 1878. 

Leaflets small, borne irregtilarly on a stout · 

rachis, ovate-lanceolate in general outline, with 

a broad, markedly inequilateral base and a· 

gradually narrowed, pointed tip. Margins 

en.tire for a short distance proximad, medianly 

. with conspicuous evenly spaced dentate teeth. 

Leaf substance thin. Length from 4.5 to 7.5 

centimeters. Maximum width,. slightly below 

the middle, from 1.1 to. 1.8 . centimeters. 

24 Berry, E. W. 1 J<>nns Hopkiii~ Unjv, 8t'!ldie1? in Geolo~y1 No. 4, p. 

. F71 t922, · 

of. fruits having . been recorded · by Ett;4:tgshausen from the'se beds. The existing genus 

Oupania contains more than thirty species of 

the Tropics and subtropics of Ameri~a. It is 

common in the West Indies but is no longer 

represented on the Florida mainland. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Macon-Marion road, 10 miles 

s.outh of Macon, Bibb County, Ga .. (collected 

by C. W. Cooke and H, K. Shearer). · 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Genus DODONAEA Linne. 

Dodonaea viscosoides Berry. 

Plate XXXIV, Figures 11-13; Plate XLII, Figure 1. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group_ (p. 70). It is exceedingly 

common in the Jackson. 

25 Berry, E. W., The lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 269, pl .. .' 64, figs. 8, 9; 

pl. 65, figs.l-4, 1916. · 
. UPPBR BOCENE. OR: ,JACKSON l!"'LOR.A. .177 

Occurrence: :Fayette sttndstone, 3 1niles 

southwest of. vVellborn, Brazos County, Tex . 

. (coHectied by 0. M. Ball). Barnwell formation 

(Twiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Fiske 

property at Grovetown, Ga.; one-fourth of a 

mile southwest of Forrest Station, Columbia 

County, Ga.; Macon-Marion road, 10 .1niles 

.south of Macon, Bibb County, Ga. (collected 

· by]~. W. Berry). J·ackson fonnation, McMur-

. rains Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Dorado, 

Union Cot,nty, Ark. (collected· by E. W. 

Berry). 

C~llection: U. S. National Mu~eum. 

Genus SAPINDUS Linne. 

This species, obviously new, is na1ned for 

the collector. It is sparingly represented in 

the kaolinite beds and shows resemblances to 

several exotic species of Rhus and to several 

tropical species of the family Anacardiaceae, 

An1ong these it is extremely close to and, I 

believe, stands in an ancestral relationship to 

the genus Anacarclium, which has eight to ten 

·existing species that are confined to the American Tropics . 

The. genus AnaixLrdites is a convenient form 

·genus for n1embers of this family. whose true 

generic identity is not conclusively dmnonstrable. · It :is conspicuously ·represented in the 

Oligocene of Mediterl'anean)~urope, and to it 

Sapindus dentoni I~esquereux. I have referred seven species frori1 the Wilcox. 

This species is described under the flora of None of the latter, which probably represent 

the Claiborne group (p. 73). Characteristic nl.ore than one botanic genus, are close to the 

remains are sparingly rep~·esented in the· present Jackson species. 

·Jackson of southwestei'n Texas. Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles League, about 3 miles northeast of Millican, 

·north of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. Brazos County, Tex.; Piedmont, Grimes 

(collected by G. C. Matson). County, Tex: (collected by 0. M. Ball}. 

Collection: U. S. N ational1\iuseun1. Collection: lJ. S. National Museum. 

Sapindus georgian us· Berry. 

Plate XX:XIV, Figures 8-9. 

This species is described 'under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 71). 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay 1nember), Phinizy Gully, Columbia 

County, Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Family ANACARDIACEAE. 

Genus AN ACARDITES Sa porta. 

Anacardites balli Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXII, Figure 7. 

]~eaves fairly large but ·snlaller thari those of 

the most closely related existing fonn, sonlewhat inequilaterally obovate, widest above 

the middle, with a hl'oadly rounded apex and 

a cuneate, slightly decurrent base. Margins 

entire, s01newhat unsymmetrical. Texture 

coriaceous. . Apparently sessile. Length 

about 6.5 centimete·rs. Maximum width about 

4:. centin1eters. Midrib stout, pron1inent, ap-: 

proxhnately straight, conspicuously thinning 

distad. Secon<faries about five irregularly 

spaced and developed pairs, camptodrome close 

to 'the rnargins. 'fertiaries immersed in the 

leaf substance, obsolete in the material examined .. 

Order RHAMNALES. 

Family RHAMNACEAE. 

Genus P ALIURUS Jussieu. 

Paliurus catahoulensis Berry~ 

Plate LIV, Figures 8, 9. 

Pali1trus catahoulensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 98, p. 242, pl. 60, figs. 1-4, 1917. 

.This species I have described as.follows from 

specimens in the Catahoula sandstone of 

Louisiana, of Vicksburg age: 

Leaves of small size, ova,te to oblong-lanceolate iil 

general outline, with a narrowed and acutely or bluntly 

pointed tip and a broadly rounded, somewhat inequilateral base. Length from 2.5 to 5 centimeters,· 

averaging about 3 centimeters; maximum width, in 

the lower half of the leaf, from 7 millimeters to 2 centimeters. Margins entire: Leaf substance thin but 

apparently of considerable consistency. Petiole short, 

stout, and curved, about 2 millimeters in length. 

Midrib slender, somewhat flexuous. Lateral . primaries thin, one on each side, diverging from the top of 

the petiole and forming an angle of 35° with the midrib 

curving upward parallel with the lateral leaf margin 

Mid becoming parallel with the midrib, extending above 

the middle of the leaf, terminating by joining a secondury. Secondaries thin, three or four subopposite· to 

ulternate pairs in the upper half of the leaf, diverging 

from the midrib at angles of about 50°, curved regu• 

larly upward, camptodrome in the marginal region. 
178 MIDDLE AND UPPER' EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

Tertiaries forming open camptodrome arches from the 

uutside of the lateral primaries in the marginal region; 

internally · they are thin, numerous, transverse in 

direction, nearly straight or inosculating. 

'fhis well-marked species has smaller leaves than the 

majority of described fossil species, but it .may be 

matched by several existing forms in this and the 

allied genus Zizyphus. 

In. the existing flora Paliunts is represented by two 

::;pecies, one confined to China and Japan and the 

other extending westward into southern Europe. 

About 30 fossil species based on both leaves and the 

characteristic fruits are known, some of which extend 

back in ti.rf!.e to the 1niddle Cretaceous. Zizyphus, 

which in the absence of fruiting specimens is not distinguishable with certainty from Paliurus, has· about 

forty existing species confined largely to the ·IndoMalayan Tropics, only a single species occurring in the 

American Tropics. It has numerous fossil species. 

Both genera are well represented in the Eocene floras 

of the Mississippi embayment. 

At the type locality in Louisiana flexuous 

thorny steins were tentatively. referred to the 

same species as the leaves. In western Kentucky both leaves tt,nd similar thorny stems are 

a::;sociated, which tends to confirm their relationship. In western Tennessee a great many 

thorns have been found without any clue to 

their relationship. Two of these, representing 

the extremes· of variation, are figured, and 

these a~e tentatively referred to this species. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson 0) age, on the old Dickerson 

farm, 5 miles south of Hickman, on Fish Gap 

road, and 4 miles north of State line, Fulton 

County, Ky.; on the E. H. Russell place, 8 miles 

west of· Union City, on Cane Creek, Obion 

County, Tenn. (collected by Bruce Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. · 

Genus RHAMNITES Forbes. 

Rhamnites krugiodendroides Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LII, Figure · 2. 

Xolisma ligustrina Berry (not Britton), U.S. Nat. Mus. 

Proc., vol. 48, p. 301, pl. 12, fig. 1, 1915. 

Additional material and more careful comparison with the leaves of the existing Xolisma 

ligustrina (Linne) Britton have demonstrated 

that these fossils are not congeneric with 

X olisma, the most obvious difference being in 

the character of the se_condary venation. 

After an extended ·comparison with recent 

forms they app.ear to approach most closely 

the leaves of the genus Krugiodendron, 

especially the larger leaves of the single existing species that ir. referred to that genus. 

I hesitate to refer them to f{rugiodendron in 

the absence of more conclusive evidence and 

have therefore referred them to the form 

genus Rhamnites, emphasizing their resemblance to the genus Krugiodendron in the 

specific name krrugiodendroides. Their description follows: 

L~aves small, ovate in general outline, 

widest near .the middle and ·about equally 

pointed at the apex and base. Margins entire. 

Texture coriaceous. . Petiole sho:r:t and stout. 

Midrib stout. Secondaries thin, somewhat 

irregularly spaced, and here and there one 

will be branched; they diverge from the 

midrib at angles of about 55°, curve upward, 

and are camptodrome. Length from 4.25 to 

5.5 ceQtimeters. Maximum width from 2.2·5 

to 3 centimeters. 

Krugiodendron in the existing flora· is a 

mono.typic genus of · the Rhamnaceae, its 

single species being a coastal shrub or small 

tree of. the Antilles and Bahamas, which 

reaches its northern limit of distribution on 

the Florida Keys. This fossil species, which 

is compared with it, is sparsely represented in 

the ·collections and appears to be unlike any 

previously . described Tertiary forms from 

southeastern North America. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper· Jackson Cn age, at Hickman, Fulton 

County, in both lower and upper parts of the 

section (collected by E. W. Berry and Bruce 

Wade). Fayette sandstone, on Mqssy Creek, 

3 miles southwest .of Wellborn, Brazos County, 

Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus CEANOTHUS Linne. 

Ceanothus jacksonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LX, Figures 3, 4. 

Leaves ovate, widest below the middle, 

tapering upward to a more or less extended 

acuminate tip. Base broadly rounded. Length 

7 to 9 centiineters. Maximum width 3 to 4 

centimeters. 'Margins have close-set conspicuous crenate teeth. Texture thin but 

firm. Petiole stout, not preserved for any 

great length. Midrib stout and prominent. 

Lateral primaries thin, one on either side of 

the midrib, diverging at the top of the petiole 

and forming angles of ahout 35° to 40° with 

the midrib; they curve upward and form. a 
UPPER EOCENE OR .JACKSON FLORA. 179 

camptodrmne connection with a branch from 

the lowest secondary about halfway between 

the apex and the base of the leaf. There are 

n.bou t :four pairs of secondaries from the 

midrib, from. which they diverge at angles of 

n.bouti 45°, curving upward, and with camptodrmne endings. About four camptodro:rrte· 

secnndn.r.ies diverge from the outside of the 

lateral primaries, and a fifth basal one, somewhat longer tb.a.n the others, diverges on the 

outside :fron1 the top of the petiole, parall~ling 

the basal leaf · n1argins, and camptodrome to 

the lowest outside secondary from the lateral 

primaries. The tertiaries are thin but well 

1narked, percurrent internally, fornling arches 

along the n1arg.ins, and sending well-marked 

curved branches to the marginal te~th. 

This is a we1l-1narked type, new to the Eocene 

of the Con.sttil Plain. ·All its characters are 

those of the Rha:mnn.ceae, and it shows points 

o:f resmnblance to the genera Zizyphus, Gouiana, 

and Ool'l.tbrina,-the last a modern American 

type and the others found in all Tropics. 

The :fossil, however, is distinctly referable t'o 

the gentis. Oeanoth'U,s, n. genus that has about 

two score existing A1nerican species. Among 

these the J'ackson species :is very similar to 

Oectnotll/ll,S az'l.f,reus Desfontaines, a Mexican. 

form. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about 3 miles. northeast of Millican, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus EUONYMUS Linne. 

l~uonymus santotomasensis Berry. 

Plate LXII, Figures 2-5. 

Tllis species is described under the Claiborne 

:flora and was based upon scanty material from 

Webb County, '"!''ex. A collecti·on from the 

kaolinite depositd of Brazos County, Tex., 

1·ecently made by 0. :M. Ball, contains 32 speci-

:meos o:f this species, the mn,jority excellently 

preserved. These speci1nens show that these 

leaves had long, stout petioles and that they 

varied in form from the long ovate-lanceolate 

extrmne, such as was shown by . the older 

n1n,terial, to broadly ovate-acuminate leaves 

that can not be distinguished with certainty 

fro:m the Wilcox Euonymus splendens Berry. 

Every gradation fron1 cuneate to rounded bases, 

from narrow to broad outlines, and from slight 

to markedly ascending secondaries is represented. 

All these forms probably represent a single 

botanic species, and if so the range would 

extend from about middle Wilcox time through 

the Jackson, which is considerably greater 

than ·the majority of the Eocene forms of this 

general region. · 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about 3 miles northeast of Millican, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. · 

. Order MALVALES. 

Family _TILIACEAE. 

Genus GREWIOPSIS Saporta. 

Grewiopsis wadii Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LII, Figure 1. 

This species is based upon rather abundant 

material (9 specimens), which is, however, all 

rather fragmentary. It indicates a leaf which 

when mature was n,hout 8 centimeters ip 

length by about the same· in rnaxirrium width, 

distinctly trilobate in aspect, although there 

are no pronounced sinuses between· the lobes 

terminated by the lateral primaries and the 

lobe terminated by the midrib. Texture subcoriaceous. Margin has shallow, broad dentate 

teeth, each with a craspedodrome vein. Venation stout and prominent on the under side· of 

the leaf. · Primaries three, subbasal. The lat~ 

eral ·primaries give o-ff s_everal secondaries on 

the outside and at least one about halfway 

above the base on the inside. The· t'ertiaries are 

prominent and prevailingly percurrent. The 

young leaves are elliptical or cordate in outline, relatively more elongate, ·and ·with smaller . 

or obsolete teeth. 

This species is dosely related to Gre1.viopsis 

claiborniana, Betry, a Claiborne form, and un-· 

doubtedlyshould be regarded as a descendant 

of ·that form. It differs from the Claiborne 

species in outline, having a more extended tip, 

whioh gives it a rhombic instead of an orbicular 

outline, and in its less ascending laterai primaries, more prominent secondaries, and wider 

dentate teeth. 

No specimen is con1plete enough to form the 

basis for a photographic illustration, and I 

therefore give a restoration, the drawing for 

• 
0 

180 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE J<'LORAS O:F SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERJ.CA. 

whicp. is based on a number of fragments, which 

give a much better idea of the general character 

of this distinctive leaf. 

Its reference to Gre?JJiopsis is somewhat un-

. pertain, but whatever its botanic relationship 

it is the same as that of the Claiborne form, 

which is referred to Grewiopsis claiborniana. 

It is in my opinion certainly not related ·to the 

genera Platanus or Liq_uidambar. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson 0) age,· half a mile north of 

Hickman; Hickman, upper pa,rt of bluff, Fult.on County, Ky. (collected by Bruce Wade). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus TILIA Linne. 

Tilia jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. 

. Plate LXIII, Figure 5; Plate LXIV, Figure 5. 

Leaves of medium to large size, cordate in 

general outline, with an· acute to acuminate 

tip and a wide cordate base. Margins have 

small serrate teeth, which are larger at the. 

termini of the principal veins and smaller in 

the intervening areas. Length 9 ·to 13 centimeters. Maximum width, below the middle, 

9 to 12 centimeters. Petiole long and stout, 

whole length not seen. Midrib stout and 

prominent; there diverge from its base at wide 

angles pseudolateral primaries. The balance 

·of the secondaries, comprising seven or eight 

pairs, which are subopposite below and in 

··some specimens alternate in the upper part of 

. the leaf, are more closely spaced and subparallel; 

they diverge from the ·midrib at angles of 45.0 

or more, curve regularly, and are craspedodrome. 

The basal laterals give off on the outside eight 

laterals, which curve to the marginal teeth, 

· and the lower pnes of these laterals give off 

two or three curved subordinate laterals. 

Most of the secondaries gi~e off one or two 

laterals on the outside toward the margins. 

The tertiaries are well marked and curved 

. percurrent. The aerolation can not be made 

out. . 

This is a· characteristic new species of Tilia, 

almost ident.ical with the existing basswood, 

Tilia americana- Linn~, from which· it differs· 

merely in the character of the marginal ,teeth. 

It is not especially close to any previously 

described member of the genus and· is the first 

representative of Tilia to be discovered in the 

Coastal Plain Tertiary. ·· 

. Its largest specimens · are as large as T. 

speciosissima Knowlt.on,Z6 of the Rt}ton formation of Colorado, but "it has more numerous and 

consequently more closely spaced secondaries 

and more pointed teeth . 

The family is essentially tropical, with some 

400 existing species in about 35 genera, massed 

· around the Indian Ocean and . in northern 

South Am,erica. Tilia, however, is essentially 

temperate and is found throughout the North 

Te:rp.perate Zone, except in western North 

America and central.Asia. There are about a 

score of existing species divided almost equally 

between North America and Europe and Asia. 

About 30 fossil species are known, ranging in 

age frmn the early Eocene to the present. 

Occurrence:· Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, 

3 1niles s·outhwest of Wellborn, Brazos County,· 

Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

. Collection: U. S. National .Museu1n. 

Family BOMBACEAE. 

Genus . BOMBA CITES Berry. 

Bombacites jacksonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXIV, Figure 14; Plate ·xxxv, Figures 1, 5. 

. Leaflets broadly lanc.eolate in general outline, about equally pointed at both the apex 

apd . base. Margins entire, evenly rounded. 

Texture subcoriaceous. Length from 8 to 11 

centimeters. :Maximum width, about .midway 

between the apex and the base, from 3 to 4.25 

centimeters. Petiolule · very broad, about 1 

centimeter in length. Midrib $lightly curved, 

broad but not prominent. Secondaries numerous, regularly spaced, subparallel, opposite 

to alternate; they diverge from the midrip 

at angles of 55° to 70'\ 'pursue a rather straight 

course for t~o-thirds of .their length, anq then 

cm•ve rapidly upward to form camptodrome 

arches. Tertiaries immersed but visible on 

the lower. surface of the l~aflets, forming 

rather open, isodiametr.ic, ·mostly pentagonal 

meshes. 

This· entire-:margined species closely resembles a variety of living and fossil forms .that are 

referred to the genus Bombax. ..t:\..mong the 

living forn1s that are. similar enough to be 

worth 1nentioning ·are Bombax macrocarpa 

(Schlechtendal) Schumann, of Central America, 

2a Knowlton, F. H., Geology and paleontology of the Raton :Mesa and 

other regions in Colorado and New Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 101, p. 336, pl.67, 1918. 
UPPER EOCENE OR .T AUKSO~ J!'LORA . 181 

. Bombax e'rinnthos Schott, of Brazil, and especially two undetermined species of Bombax 

:figured by Ettingshausen, one from Guatemala 27 and another from ·Mexico 28 which l.s 

practically identical with the fossil form. 

The previously described fossil forms that are 

similar include Bombax oblong~foli'um Ettiilgs-. 

hansen, 20 which comes from the Aquitanian of 

Bohe'lnia.. ·. 

The genus Bombax con1prises about fifty 

existing species of mostly large trees, nearly 

nll of which are confined to tropical America, 

there being but one in Africa, six in Asia, and 

one :in northern Australia, a distribution clearly 

indicative of an extended geologic history. 

The fmnily Bmnbaceae, which has 20 genera 

n.nd n.bout 120 existing species, is confined to 

tb.e equatol'ittl regions, chiefly .in America. 

'.L'he fossil fo:nns, which nun1ber nlOre thnn 

twenty, nre referred to Bombnx, Bqmbacites, or 

Bombaciphyllv,m. The oldest of these forms, 

one thnt is supposed to be of Upper Cretaceous 

n.ge, hns been described by V elenovsky from 

the :Perucer bods (CenOinanian) of Bohe1nia. 

There are three species .in the Ypresian of 

southo1·n ]~ngland n.nd two well-Innrked species 

in the Wilcox group of the Mississippi Cinbayment. There nro two additional Eocene forn1s, 

of eastern Australia. There are :five Oligocene 

species, recorded fnun France, Saxony, Bohe~ 

:mia, and Carniola. The genus is represented 

in the en.rly Oligocene of southeastern France 

(Sa11noisian), not only by folinge but by beautifully preserved flowers. Miocene species have 

been recorded from Bohemia, Croatia, Chile, and 

Styria. 

Occurrence: Jnckson fo1·mation, .Paul Taylor place, 1 t 1niles northeast of Somerville, 

Burleson County, Tex. (collected by Alexander 

Deussen). Fayette sandstone, 4 ·miles north 

of :M:iraflores, Webb County, Tex. (collected by 

G. C. M:atson); .l.i 1niles northeast of Christie, 

Ln. (collected by Alexander Deussen fmd G. C. 

Mo.tson). 

Collection: U. S. N ationnl Museun1. 

~n~ttlngshnuseu, C. von, Ub(lr die Nervat:ion der Bombaceen, p. 5, 

pl. 2, fig. 3, lSiiS. 

2s Idem, pl. 6, Jig. 4. · 

ill Ettlngshauscn, C. von, Die fossile Flora des TerUii.r-Beckens von 

13lllu, ~L'oll a, p. 121 pl. 42, fig~. 8, 9, 1869. 

Family STERCULIACEAE. 

Genus DOMBEYO~YLON Schenk. 

Dombeyoxylon Jacks~mensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plates XXXVI, XXXVII. 

Transverse section.~No growth .rings are 

observable. Although the woqd is somewhat 

decayed ancl crushed the elements show no 

definite r~dial variations in size. The vessels 

are single and round or· oval or are arranged 

in radial pairs or triplets. Here and there 

a radial row comprises five or six vessels and 

a few groups coi1sist of a single large and a 

number of small vessels, as in the drawings 

shown on Plate XXXVI. Maximum size of 

lun1en (~bserved., 36 Inilli1neters; ,average diaineter 0.1.8 ·to 0.22 n1illin1eter. Vessel walls 

thick, abo\tt 0.01786 millimeter. Hays thin 

and :f-lexuous, ·about 0.22 millimeter apart. 

Xylem parenchyma .Plentiful, .somewhat variable in size, about 0.0268 millimeter :in d.inmeter. Prosenchyma smaller, 0.015 · to 0.02 

millimeter in d.inmeter, with slightly thickened 

walls. · 

.R_ndial sect1:on.-llays o':f variable height, 

generally frmn ten to :fifteen cells high, containing reln.tively small . n.mounts of gum, 

sparingly connected. by longitudin.al- stringers·. 

Marginal cells lnrger than central cells, scarcely 

if at all radially elongated, approaching a 

sqt~are outline and. about 0.02 millimeter high. 

Central cells less high, con1monly about 0.01 

millimeter, generally much elongated. radially, 

0.06 to 0.12 millimeter long, end walls mostly 

rectangular, no pores visible. Parenchyma is 

seen to be much septate and provided with 

bordered pits. Prosenchyma fails to show any 

pitting or septation; :f-ibers with pointed ends. 

Tangential se~tion.-Hays are seen to be 

nuinerous. and irregularly fusiform in shape, 

~ot <?VeT 3 cells wide; ray cells 0.01 to 0.02 

millime.ter in diameter. Vessels with numerous 

small oval pits with transversely slit pores. 

This speci~s is ve;ry close to Dombeyoxylon · 

affine, des.cribed by Felix 30 from the Tertiary of 

Abyssinia. It shows the same septation of 

so Felix, .Johannes, Untersttchuugen ilber fossile Holzer: Deutsche 

geol. Gesell. Zeitschr., Band 39, p. fi20, pl. 25, figs. 2,. 3, 5, 1887. 
182 MIDDLE AND UPPER J<jOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

the parenchyma, and this · tissue and the prosenchyma have the same relative sizes, the 

prosenchyma has the same pointed ends, and 

the rays ha~e the same large squf;tre marginal 

cells and here and there longitudinal stringers. 

Only one other species of Dombeyoxylon has 

been previously described, and it comes from 

the lower. Oligocene of Egypt and was named 

Dombeyoxylon aegypticum by Schenk.31 

The knowledge of the secondary wood of the 

existing species of Sterculiaceae will have to 

be much extended before the generic affinities 

of the petrified woods. of this family can be 

intelligently discussed. 

The genus Dombeyoxylon was named from 

its obvious resemblance. to·· the wood of the 

existing genus Dombeya Cavanilles, which 

includes about forty shrubs and trees of Africa 

· and Madagascar. The extinct genus Dombeyopsis Unger,- although badly in need of 

revision, includes som~ forms undoubtedly 

ancestral to Dombeya, a.nd was not uncommon 

in Europe during the Tertiary. As regards the 

several species from the Denver formation of 

Colorado, which Lesquereux referred to this 

genus, much doubt respecting the correctness 

of the identification may be justly entertained. 

Only ·two forms of Sterculiaceae based on 

foliage are known from the deposits of Jackson 

age, but the family is abundantly represented. 

· in the closely allied flora ·of the underlying 

Claiborne group and in the flora of the Wilcox 

group. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 3 miles 

north of Hornbeck, Sabine Parish, La. (collected· .by Alexander Deussen and G. C. 

Matson). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Gerius STERCULIA Linne. 

Sterculia cf. S. labruscoides Berry. 

A 1nedium-sized Sterculia leaf, too fragInentary for proper identification or description, is present in considerable numbers in the 

more argillaceous layers· that are packed with 

leaves at the Stryker outcrop. It shows the 

following characters: Leaf trilobate with 

conical ·acuminate lobes. Sinuses narrow, 

~xtending about halfway to the base. ~ength 

at Schenk, August, in Zittel, K. A., Bei1:racge zur Geologie und Palaeontologie der Libyschen Wtiste: Palaeontographica, Band 30, teil 2, 

Abt. 1, p. 13, 1883. 

about 8 centimeters. Maximmn width aboqt 

6 centimeters. Primaries. three; diverging at 

angles of about 30°, thin but prom~nent on the 

lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries thin 

but prominent, numerous, subparallel, and 

camptodrome. 

This species appears to be closely related to 

if not identical with Sterculia labntscoides 

Berry, of the Lisbon for1nation of the eastern 

Gulf area and the Yegua formation of the 

western Gulf area. It is very much like the 

existing Sterculia diversifolia Don and also like 

the wide-ranging Sterculia labrusca Unger, of. 

the European Tertiary; it belongs · to the 

section Lobatae, the second. of the three sections into which the genus Stercnlia is segregated and the one especially prominent· in the 

existing flora of the American Tropics atid 

Inost abundant in American fossil floras :frorn 

the Upper .Cretaceous on\va~·cl. 

Occurrence: Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

regarded by n1e as the Catahoula sandstone, 

but older and of Jackson age), Stryker, Polk 

County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Genus BUETTNERIA Linne. 

Buettneria jacksonian a Berry, n. sp. 

Plates LVI, LVII; Plate LVIII, Figure 1. 

Leaves large and somewhat· variable in appearance, ellip~ical in general outline, widest 

in the median part, and in some specimens 

equally and broadly rounded at the apex and 

base. Some specimens somewhat narrowed 

distad and cordate proximad. The tip ma)7 

be broadly rounded or apiculate, the latter condition being especially noticeable in the smaller 

and narrower leaves. The base may be ultimately· truncated or rounded but is generally 

more or less broadly and shallowly cordate, 

the proximal margins in many specimens being 

slightly decurrent on the base of the lateral 

primaries, just before these jo!n the petiole. 

The margins are entire, full, and rounded, 

rather evenly so. The leaf material is distinctly thin but of considerable consistency. 

Length from 8.25 to 18 centin1eters. Maxin1un1 width from 7 to 15 centin1eters. Asingle 

small leaf of this species measures 6.5 centimeters in length by·5 centimeters in maximum 
JJPPER EOCENE OR. JACKSON. FLORA. 183 

width. Petiole sh01't and stout, about 15 milli-

:meters :in length i;1 the larger leaves; it is fully 

pL'eserved. .in tlwee specin1ens. Midrib approxinuttely straight,. :fairly stout, but relatively slender for such la.rge lefi.ves, prominent 

on the under side' of the lefi.f. Lateral primaries 

one on either side of the n1idrib, from which 

they diYerge at angles of 45° .or oYer, at .the 

top · of the petiole; they are generally less 

stout thn.n the :midrib n.nd relatiYely equally 

slender; t;hey cul've upwn.L'd n.ncl ultin1ately join 

n. :lateral brn.nch frmn the lowest secondary, 

this union taking place halfway from the base 

to the apex or as n1uch u.s two-thirds of the dis~ 

tn.nce to the tip. 'J.'.his fen.ture difrers frmn 

len.f to 1en:f n.nd results in considerable diHerence · :in n.ppen.t't1nce. When the prin1aries 

ascend long distances there .is a. considerable 

interval between the1n n.nd the lowermost secondaries frmn the n1idrib. W~1en the prinlar.ies do not preserve their identity for so· 

great a dis~n.nce, there is 1nuch less of an intervnJ, n.nd thGt'e itre four or five pairs of regularly 

spitcecl secondm·ies fro1n the midrib, from the 

lowest of. which the prhnaries differ mei·ely 

.in having outside lateral ca1nptodrome 

branches. The secondaries n.re thin, either 

subordinfi.te or pr01ninent, regularly spn.ced, 

rfi.ther stl'aight or evenly ct1rved, and camp-' 

toch·otne. · There are five or six, generally 

regularly curved cmnptodrmne secondaries. 

frOin the outside of the lateral pr.ima1:ies. The 

tertim:ies are thin but well marked, in general 

rather straight, son1e of them percuri.'ent but 

1nore conunonly n.nastOinosing, and generally 

rttther openly spaced. Percurrent and anastolnosing ne:rvilles result in an open, almost iso- · 

d imnet:r.ic, and preyailingly quadrangularappearing n1esh, although it is really polygonal. 

The ul ti1nate :ra1nifications of the Yeins appear 

to end ft·eely within the areolae. 

This stl'iking species is entir~ly unlike previously described fossil :fonns ·:familiar to Inc, 

the only n.pproach to similarity, and that a 

t·en1ote one, being between the. n1ore ovate 

forms of the present species ·and the ln.rger 

leaves of Jfe·nispennites 'Wilcoxe·nsis Berry,32 

of the vV:ilcox. :However, the two are obviously 

not related. OectO'p'ict · he.eri, described by 

Ettingshausen fron1 the European Miocene, is 

also son~ewhat si1nilar in appearance but like.: 

wise obviously unrelated. 

The present type of leaf is co1nn1only referred to the genus Ficus, although it Inust be 

confessed that the ultin1ate venation is not 

typical of that genus, the Inost similar recent 

species known to me being Ficus leucostica, 

which is not triveined. The venation of the 

fossil appe111.'S to me to be that of the fa1nily 

Sterculiaceae, and in that fa1nily the genus 

that is n1ost like the fossil is BuettneTia. 

This genus comprises about 50 existing species, 

n1ostly confined to the wanner parts of the 

Western I-Imnisphere, although there ·are a :few 

in the Old World Tropics. In .A.1nericn the 

genus rn.nges from the Antilles southward to 

Argentinn and consists, for the most part, of 

clin1bing herbs and shrubs, although there are 

a few arborescent species. 

The fossil record of the genus is very imperfectly known. There is an unquestionable 

·species in the Miocene. of Costa Rica and · 

Col01nbia, .a very doubtfully determined forn1 

in the Miocene of Florissant, Colo., and a third 

in the Mio.cene of Europe. Other fossil representatives of this genus have very probably 

been collected but have remained unrecognized, 

the tendency of workers to consult pictures 

of fossils rather than the leaves of existing 

species resulting in the perpetuation of most 

original errors of identification. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about 3 111iles northenst of Millican, 

and Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex.· (collected by 0. M. 

Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order PARIETA'LES. 

Family TERNSTROEMIACEAE. 

Genus TERNSTROEMITES Berry. 

Ternstroernites variabilis Berr.y, n. sp. 

Plate LII, Figures 4-6. 

Leaves of variable size, lanceolate to ovate in · 

outline, widest at or below the 1niddle, the 

s1naller leaves about equally. pointed at both 

e11ds, the larger mo1~e slender and produced 

distad. Tip 111ore or less produced into a.' 

slender, bluntly pointed acumen. Base· nar- a~ Ucrry, ]~. W., 'l'ho lower Eocene Horns of ~outhcastern North 1 b d'l · Amorlcn: u.s· Oeol. Sur.voy Prof. Paper 111, p. 21s, pL.ns; pl. 116, figs.· row Y or l'Oa Y cuneate. Margins with re-

.2, 3, lllHl. · mote teeth, variously emphasized ·in different 
·" 

184 MIDDLE AND UPPER .EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

le·aves but never pr.Oininent·. ~rhe teeth are E.tt' mgs h ausen, n· Ie r· ossile F lora des TertHi.r-Beck- · 

uniformly spaced and not close set: the lower ens von Bilin, pt. 2, p. 11, pl. 34, figs. 11 15 

1

. b 1m . 1868. . ' ' 

un a ost straight and three or four times 

the length o.f- the more curved upper limb; they Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, 

b 

p. 727-, pl. 94, fig. 6, 1899. . 

may· e typ1eally crenate, as in the upper half 

of the larger leaf figured, and frOin this develop- Leaves usually relatively large, elliptical and 

ment they vary until they are merely crenate commonly slightly inequila.teral in O'eneral outundulations ;of a sort difficult to describe but lin~,_ w~th a narrowed base and ac;n1inate tip. 

· perfectly distinctive and characteristic of a Pr:unanes- three, stout, suprabasilar. Secondconsiderable nu1nber of species of different aaes aries close, subparallel, transverse between the 

which have been referred to this genus. · T:x- primaries, camptodron1e in upper part of leaf 

ture coriaceous. Petiole short, stout, and and from the outside of the lateral primaries . 

. curved. Midrib stout; not prominent. Sec- · This species was described b.,y Heer from. the 

ondaries relatively thin, nun:ierous, subparallel, Aquitanian of Switzerland, and it has been 

ca-1nptodrome. Tertiaries obsolete. recorded from this sa-me horizon in B~hemia, This species belongs to a readily recognizable Germany, and France, as well as fron1 earlier. 

type of leaf that is abundantly represented in and later horizons .. The question of the reinsoutheastern North America from the Upper tion of these forms to those referred to Cinna-

?reta~eous through the older Tertiary and that momum buchii· Heer 33 is one that demands 

Is beheved to represent the synthetic ancestors restudy. I am inclined to think that the two 

of the modern genera of the Ternstroemiaceae species represent the same tree; certainly if two 

The-particular lanceolate type, like that of th~ species are represented each should he c-arespecies here des·cribed, is. present in the Upp~r fully_ redefined and its synonymy revised.· 

Cretaceous Ripley formation of the eastern Knowlton 34 has recorded C. spectabile Heer 

Gulf ·region· and !n the Wilcox Claiborne and· from beds of Fort.Union age in the YellowstoneJackson deposits of the Eocene' epo·ch. ' Par~, althoug~ the materia~ is not altogethm; 

The present species is common but fraa- typical. Hollick 35 re~orded C. buchii Heer. 

mentary and not especially well preserved. · b from the :Wilcox o~ Lo.uisi~na, and I have a~-

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of ceJ?ted this determinatiOn In my paper on the 

uppep Jackson 0) age, on the E. H. Russell Wilcox flora largely with a wish to avoid unplace,· 8 miles west of Union City, on Cane Creek, warranted changes. and influenced by a feeling 

Obion County, Tenn. (collected by Bruce Wade). that th~ two species we~e hardly dis~inct, ~1-

Collection: U. S. National Museum. thou~h If I had-been makmg the original identiTernstroemites claibor~~itsis Berry? 

This species . is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 78). It is represented 

i11 the Jackson of southwestern Texas by scanty 

and not certainly determined .material. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles 

·no~th of Mir~flores, Webb ·coup.ty, T~x. (collected by G. C.- Matson). . . 

Collection: U.S. Natio~al Museum. 

Or.der THYMELEALES. 

Family LA URACEAE. 

Genus CINNAMQMUM Blume. 

Cinnamomum spectabile Heer. 

Cinnamomum spectabile Heer, Flora tertiaria Helvetiae 

vol. 2, p. 91,-pl. 96, figs. 1-8, 1856. ' 

Saporta, Etudes sur la· vegetation du sud-est de la 

. France a l'epoque tertiaire, vol. 2, p.: 279, l866;. 

vol. 3, pp. 84~ 178, pl. 5, fig. 8; pL 6, figs. 1, 2, 

1867. 

ficatiOn I would hn.ve referred the material to 

~· spe~tabile Heer, which is represented by a 

smgle mcomplete specimen in the small collection from a locality near New Edinburgh. 

qccurrence:· Jackson formation, 2 miles south 

of New_ Edinburgh, Cleveland County, Ark. · 

(collected by G .. D. Harris). · 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Cinnamomum angus tum Be~ry. 

Plate XXXV, Figures 3, 4. 

This species is described under the· flora ·of the 

Claiborne group· (p. 78).. lt is but sparingly 

represented at all horizons. 

_sa Heer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Helvetiae vol. 2 p. 90 pl. ·95 figs 1-8 1856. . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' 

81 Knowlton, F. H., Fossil flora of the Yellowstone National Park·· 

U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 727, 1899. · · · 

. M Hollick, Arthtir, in Harris, G. D., and Veatch, A. C.; A preliminary 

report on the geology of Louisiana, p. 283, pl. 43, fig. 1, Louisiana Geol. · 

Survey, 1900. · 
· UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 185 

Occurrence: Barnwell fol':mn.tion (Twiggs 

clu.y nteinber), Phinizy Gully, Columbia County, 

Gn .. (collected by ]D. '\V. Berry). 

C9Uection: U.S. National Museum. 

Cinnnmomum sp. 

A single specin1en, incmnplete distad, indicates a lu.neeo.late l,eaf about 9 centimeters long 

an.d 3 ecntimoters .in· mn.xinnnn ·width, n.etnninnte nt both ends, with n prmninent stout Inidr.ib and supmbas.ilnr, rn.ther short primaries. 

It is of the type usually referred to Oinnamom/u:m. and rese:mbles several previously descr.ihed species, muong then1 Oin,namomu,m 

a:Ut>ne ]~esquereux, :w espec.iJtlly the Midway ( ~) 

nnd \Vilcox Jor.ms referred to that species, but 

it is, howevel', more el!)ngated. It is also like 

so.me of the :fonns referred to (}i:n:tur,mom'l.un 

sezwnnen.se \Vntelet a7 .. und to. Oin·namom'l.tm 

bencl'iTei K.nowlton.as . 

Specific deter.minntion of fossil forms of Oin-

'IWmo·tn·u,m .is well nigh i1~1possible because of the 

poly.morphisn1 o:f the lenves, and .the present 

forn1 .is there:fore not certainly determinable. 

It. suggests to rne several existing species of 

OamJJhm·omoea. 

The inco1npleteness of the material precludes discussing :it at the length that I should 

:like to do. 1-Iowever, I may definitely advance 

the hypothesis that the ancestral forms referred to Oinnamom'l.tm-those of the Cretaeeous and early Tertiary--:-are definitely related 

to the existing generu. Oa.mphoromoect and 

Goeppm·tid, of the South American :florn,.. It is 

qu.itc true thn.t .modern systematists 'do not 

recognize n.ny such · relationships, but the 

Lauraceae offer exceptional difficulties to 

generic segregation, and the last word on this 

subject re1nains to be written .. Certainly the 

latest n1onogrnphs of the fan1ily appear to be 

far more unst.ttisfactory than son1e of the earli~r 

£ttternpts, and the usual practice of regarding 

the Lauraceae as n. member ot the order 

H,u.lutles seen1s to 1ne to be equally unnatural. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, nen.r Miraflares, Webb County, Tex. (collected by A. C. 

Trowbridge). 

Co11ection: U. S. National Museum. 

86 :Losqucroux, :Leo., 'l'ho 'l'or'tiary flora, p. 219, pl. 37, figs.' 1-li, 7, 1878. 

87 Watolot, A., Description des plantcs fossilos du bassin de Par;is, p. 

175, pl. 50, flg. 2, 1800. Saporta, 0. de, and :Marion, A. 1"., Revision de Ia 

lloro hoorslouuo do Oollndou, p. 00, pl. 9, flgs. 2-0, 1878. 

sa Knowlton,· F: H., l~ossll flora of the John Day Basin, Oreg.: U. S. 

Gool. Survey Bull. 204, p. 59, pl. 10, fig. 4, 1902. · · 

Genus MESPILODAPHNE Nees. 

Mespilodaphne caudata Berry? 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 81). Its occ~rence 

in the Jackson is based upon rather· scanty and 

not altogether satisfactory material. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

lower Jackson ( ~) age, Randolph Bluff, Tipton 

County, Tenn. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

· Collection: ·u. S. N ationa.l Museun1 .. 

Mespilodaphne caudata n,.ajor Berry, n. var. 

PI11te XLII, Figu~e 2. 

. This forn1 is possibly only a variant of the 

Claibm;ne species Mesp·ilodctphne caudata Berry, 

which hns been tentatively identified from 

rather poorly preserved n1aterial of· lower 

Jackson 0) n.ge, in the Lagrange formation at 

.Randolph Bluff, Tenn., and may represent 

this variety. 

It is larger and somewhat 1nore linear than 

]fespilodaphne caudctta but· otherwis~ similar 

and has the same extended .. acuminate tip. 

Length, ll·centimeters. Maximum width 1.3 . . ' 

cen tilneters. · 

Oc.currence: Fayette sandstone, Alun1 Creek~ 

S .. W. Robertson League, about 3 miles east of 

Well born, Brazos County, Tex. ( coliected by 

0. M. Ball). . 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Mespilodaphne texan a Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXVIII, Figure 1. 

Leaves small, broadly lanceolnte in general 

outline, with an acute apex and a rather more 

narrowed acuminate base. Length from 6 to 

7.5 centimeters. Maximum width, at or. 

slightly above the middle, 1.75 to 2.75 centimeters. Margins entire but somewhat undu- · 

late ·in all the specimens collected. Texture 

coriaceous. Petiole not preserved. Midrib 

thin but prominent.· Secondaries thin; six or 

seven alternate· pairs divei·ge from the midrib 

at. angles of about 45°, ascending with slight 

·but .even curves to the marginal region, where 

they are camptodrome. Tertiary venation not 

preserved. 

This species, which appears to be different 

fro'm previ.ously described forms, is comparable 

with the leaves of the existing species of Mespilodap~ne. It is· represented by a small· 
. 186 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN· NORTH AMERICA. 

amount of. not especially well preserved mate- I apex and base. It is ~uite possi?le th~t the 

rial and is not notably close to thp, numerous I two are variants of a s~ngle botanic speCle.s of 

Wilcox species of this genus. Jackson time, but until the co?necting hn~s 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north are discovered I prefer to consider then1 disof Miraflores, Webb County, T_ex. (collected tinct, although closely related. 

byG.C.Matson); BarreraLeague, about3in~les Occurrence: Fay.ette sandstone, . ~a~Tern, 

northeast of Millican, and Mossy Creek, 3 miles League, about 3 miles northeast of Millican, 

southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County, Tex. Brazos County, Tex. (c~llected by 0. M. Ball)· 

(colle~ted by 0. M. Ball). Jackson formation, Collection: U.S. Natwnal Museum. 

White Bluff, Jefferson County, Ark. (collected Mespilodaphne columbiana Berry. 

by E. W. Berry).· Lagrange formation (in 1'his species is described under· the flora o~ 

b~ds of lower Jackson ( ~) age),· Randolph the Claiborne group (p. 81), in which it is rather 

Bluff, Tipton County, Tenn. (collected by E. wide ranging but not individually abundant. 

W. Berry); in beds of upper Jackson ( ~) age, I tis sparingly represented in the lower Jacksol?-. 

. Slip in I·lill, near Corona, Tipton County, Occurrence: Jackson formation, 2 miles 

Tenn. (collected by Bruce Wade)· Catahoula south of New Edinburgh, Cleveland County, 

0) sandstone (notregai·ded by1ne asCatahoula Ark. (collected by G. D .. Harris) .. 

sandstone but older and of Jackson age), in cut Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

on the International & Great Northern Railway in Trinity County, Tex. (collected by C. L: Genus OREODAPHNE N ees. 

Baker) . 

. Collection; U. S. N at{onal Museum. 

Oreodaphne · brazosensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LX, Figure 1. 

Mespilodaphne jacksonensis Berry, n. sp .. Relatively small, linear-lanceolate leaves, 

with a decurrent base and acumi~ate tip, 

Plate LX, Figure 5. generally somewhat falcate in outline; with 

. Leaves ovate, widest in the middle, with entire somewhat undulating margins and 

full, .entire margins, narrowing equally toward coriac~ous · texture. Length about 7 centithe abruptly acuminate tip, and with· abruptly meters. Maximum width,. below the middle 

decurrent base. Texture coriaceous. Length of the leaf,. about 12 1,11i1limeters. Petiole 

. f~om 6.5 to 11.5 centimeters. Maximum width stout more or less extended. Midrib stout, 

from 3.4 to 4.4 centimeters. Petiole short and ¢urv~d, channeled on the upper and prominent 

very stout. Midrib stout, prominent. Sec- on the lower surface of the leaf. Lateral 

ondaries thin, prominent, six or seven camp- primaries, one on either side, diverging from 

todrome pairs. The areolation,. difficult to the top of the petiole, pursuing a c.ourse parallel 

adequately describe, is almost. e~actly rep_re- with and close to the lateral margins, becoming 

sented in the leav~s of the existing Mesp~lo- ~ost before reaching the middle of the leaf. 

daphne glauca. 39 

. Upper half of .the leaf has four or five pairs of 

· The genus has four Wilcox species, of which bamptodtome secondaries. Areolation obsoMespilodaphne coushatta Berry 40 is very close lete on the upper surface of the leaf, which is 

to the present form and pos$ibly stands in ~n: ~11 that. is shown in the present mn,terial: 

ancestral relationship· to· it. The chief differ- ~ell marked on the lower surface, as is indience is .the greatly reduced length of the petiole ~ated by small areas of abrasion, forming· a 

in the later form. very close and typically lauraceous mesh. 

Of the other known Claiborne and Jackson This species is very similar to and is probably 

species. of Mespilodaphne the only .one at all. descended from Oreodaphne pseudoguianensis 

Close to ·the present species is Mespilod~phn:e. Berry,41 of the Wilcox: It is also· close to 

. te.xana Berry, which .comes from practically several existing forms of the American Tropics. 

the same horizon in the area. fart~er to the Only sparingly represented in the present col-· 

southwest. The present speC1!3S differs from lections. · 

Mespilodaph'ne texana in its relatively shorter Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

.aild wider form and more abruptly acuminate League, about 3 miles northeast of Millicfl,n, 

89 Figured in.U. s. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, pl. so, fig. 5. Brazo~ County, Tex·. (collected by 0 .. M. Ball). ~o Berry, E. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 307, pl. 80, fig. 6; 

pl. . 87, .. . 3 fig. I 1 916 • 41 Berry, E. W;, op. cit., p. 305, P. I. 81, figs. a; 4. 
Genu.s NECTANDRA Roland. 

Nectandra nntillanafolia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XXXVIII, Figure 3; Plate XLII, Figure 3; Plate 

LII, Figure 7; Plate LUI, Figures 1, 2; Plate LXV, 

l!"'igure ·5. 

Leaves large but variable, broadly lanceolate 

in general outline, with an equally pointed 

apex and base, or the tip slightly extended· and 

the base decurrent. Length from 15 to 30 

centimeters. Maxin1u1n width, at or slightly 

below the 1niddle, from 4 to 6 centimeters. 

Margins entire but slightly undulate. Petiole 

stout and curved, tu1nid proximad, relatively 

short. Midrib n1ore or less curved, thin but 

pron1:inent, on' the lower surface of the leaf. 

Secondaries thin but prominent, remote, somewhat irregularly spaced, camptodrome, one or 

1nore of the lower pairs in some specimens 

st1~aighter, more asc~nding, and longer than 

the others. Tertiaries fine, mostly percurrent, 

ln.rgely obsolete. Texture coriaceous. 

The present species shows a g'rea t deal of 

variation in size and consequently in proportions, some of the leaves being long and narrow 

and others much wider. In some specinlens 

the apex is produced into a narrow acumen and 

in others it is relatively short pointed. The 

base varies also, but less so than the tip, and is 

. usually narrow. The accompanying pictures 

partly illustrate these features. Nectandra 

antillanafolia has not yet been discovered outside of the Texas area, but it is exceedingly 

co1nn1on there and ~ay represent an invasion 

from Central America that had ren,ched only 

as far as Texas by Jackson time. 

It shows considerable resemblance to Nectandra glenni Berry, described Jrom beds of 

middle Wilcox age in the Lagrange formation of 

Tepnessee, where it was apparently not abundant. Nectandra glenni was con1pared more 

especially with the leaves of the existing Nectandra patens Grisebach and Nectandra krugii 

Mez, of the West Indies. The Texas material 

may represent merely a variant of the Wilcox 

species, but this question can not be decided 

without more abundant material from both 

areas. In general ·the southwestern forn1 is 

relatively broader and has a shorter, thinner 

petiole, a n1ore acuminate base, which appears 

to lack the inframarginal veins, thinner· and 

less ascending secondaries, and n1ore obscure 

tertiaries (possibly owing to the manner of preservation). The midrib is thinner and does not 

68844-24-13 

is7 

show longitudinal striations, and the secondaries are not decurrent proximad. 

The present species also resembles the Wilcox 

form Nectandra lancijolia (Lesquereu..x) Berry, 

and like that. species it is very close to the existing Nectandra antillana Meissner, ·a common 

form of woods and river banks throughout the 

Greater and Lesser Antilles. Attention should 

also be called to the very great resemblance 

between the leaves of the present fossil species 

and those of the existing Guatteria dolichopoda 

Donnell Smith, belonging to a varied and 

exclusively American genus of. the family 

Anonaceae. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north 

of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. (collected by 

G. C. Matson). Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

regarded by me as the Catahoula sandstone 

but as older and of Jackson age)' in a cut on 

the International & Great Northern Railway in 

Trinity County, Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker); 

1 t to 3 miles east of Well born and Mossy Creek, 

3 miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos County, 

Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball) . 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

N ectandra arkansana Berry. 

Plate XXXVIII, Figtue 2 . 

This species is described under the flora of the 

Claiborne group (p. 82). 

· Occurrence: Jackson formation, McMurrains 

Crossing, 3.3 miles north of El Dorado, Union 

County, Ark. (collected by E. W.'Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Nectandra gosportensis var. jacksonensis Berry, n. var. 

Plate XXXV, Figure 2. 

Leaves lanceolate in outline, with full, even, 

entire n1argins, somewhat elongated distad. 

Length about 13 centin1eters. · Maximum 

width, · strictly below the middle, about 

2.6 centin1eters. Texture coriaceous. Petiole 

m1ssmg. Midrib stout and pron1inent. Secondaries, 9 or 10 pairs, diverging frOdll the 

midrib at angles of about 50°, regularly curved, 

camptodrome. 

This species appears to be a variety of the 

common Claiborne species Nectandra gosportensis Berry, which occurs in the Lisbon, Gosport, and Y egua forD;lations and is found 

throughout the embayment region in the middle. 

Eocene. The Jackson form is considerably 
i88 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOdENli1 FLORAS OF SOUTHEAs.TEltN NORTH AM;ERiCA. 

larger, with somewhat straighter, more ex:-

tended lateral margins distad. The general 

form is much the same, as are the texture and 

venatioD;. The secondaries are slightly more 

prominent. . 

Nectandra is common throughout the Eocene 

of southe·astern North America, · and very 

similar forms _are still found in the American 

Tropics. 

Occurrence: . Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

regarded by me as the Catahoula sandstone 

·but as older and of Jackson age),in a cut on the 

International & (}reat Northern Railway in 

southern Trinity County, Tex. (collected by 

C. L. Baker). 

Colle_ction: U. S. National Museum. 

Genus MALAPOENN A Adanson. 

Malapoenna sp. 

Malapoenna sp. Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

84, p. 144, pl. 27, fig. 10, 1914. 

A single poorly preserv~d lauraceous fruit, 

was obtained from beds of lower Jackson age in 

Georgia. It is too poor for adequate descrip:-

tion and is referred with hesitation to the genus 

Malapoenna. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member); 10 miles south of Macon, 

Twiggs County, Ga. (collected by E. W.- Berry). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

_Genus LAURINOXYLON Felix .. 

· Laurinoxylon 'branneri Knowlton. 

This species is described under the flora of· 

the Claiborne group (p. 84). It has been 

··t doubtfully recorded from the Wilcox and is 

present in the Claiborne as well as in the lower 

Jaekson. These occurrences probably represent distinct species, not distinguishable by the 

characters of the poor·ly preserved secondary 

wood. 

Occurrence: Jackson _fo'rmation, on Big and 

Little Crow creeks, in sec~ 36, T. 5 N., R. 3 E., 

St. Francis County, Ar1'. (collected by R. E. 

Call). · 

Collection:. U.S. National Museum. 

· Laurinoxylon ?, sp. Knowlton. 

said to be distinct from Lduri"noxylon ·branneri ~ 

and L. lesquere'Ltxiana Knowlton. The ·horizon 

1s unknown and is either the top of the Y egua 

or the base of th~ Jackson. 

Occurrence: Jackson· ( ~) formation, base. of 

Red Bluff, right bank of Arkansas River, Jefferson County, Ark. (collected by R. E. Call). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

Lauraceous fruit. 

Plate LII, Figure 3. 

A small lauraceous fruit similar -to that of 

Sassafras,· Oinnamomum, and other genera of 

the Lauraceae is contained in the collection 

from Cane Creek. The peduncle is stout, 

apout 1 centimeter in length, expanding distad 

into a cup-shaped receptacle 6 millimeters in 

diameter, which incloses a spherical fruit about· 

5 millimeters in diameter. 

The genus to which it belongs can not be determined, and there are no lauraceous leaves 

present in the same outcrop, although the genus 

Mespilodaphne occurs at this horizon at the 

outcrop in Tipton County, Tenn. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson ( ~) age, on the E. H. Russell 

place, 8 miles west of Union City on Cane 

Creek, Obion County, .Tenn. (collected by 

Bruce Wad e). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Order MYRTALES .. 

Family RHIZOPHORACEAE. 

Genus RmZOPHORA Linne. 

Rhizophora eocen~ca Berry. 

Rhizophora eocenica ·Berry, U. S~ Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 84, p. 144, '.Pl. 29, figs. 1, 2, 1914: 

Leaves small (presumal;>ly young) and medium in size, elliptical in outline, rounded or 

obtusely pointed at the apex, a few somewhat 

emarginate ·in smaller-sized variants from the 

normal form. The base slightly narrowed and 

broadly cuneate. Margins entire. Length 

about 7 to- 8 centimeters; grea~est width about 

3.3 centimeters. Texture coriaceous, especially in the leaf shown in Figure 1 of the work 

cited, in _which the margins were apparently 

somewhat revolute. Midrib and petiole extremely stout. Secondary venation immersed 

an,d not seen. Laurinoxylon f Knowlton, Arkansas Geol. Survey 

Ann. Rept. for 1889, vol. 2, p. 259, 1891·. · Leaves of this species are not common, 

This species is based op .silicified material doubtless because of the small size of tbe colin a . very poor state of preservation but is lections, which are ·far from r~pres~ntative. 
fl'.b.e species is, however, of peculiar interest, 

for it sheds :much light on the environment of 

a part at least of the J'ackson flota. Because 

of this fact, great care has been taken to compare the present fossils with the le~ves of all 

living or extinct fo~·ms that n1ight be expected 

to occur at this horizon. 1'he species shows 

so many points of contact with the modern 

forms of Rhizophora, especially with · Rhizophora mangle Linne, of the American Tropics, 

· that its reference to this genus seems clearly 

warranted. With the exception ·of a single 

species of Rhizophora, described by Massalongo 42 :frmn the late Tertiary <¥es.sinian) of 

the east coast of Italy, and a form referred to 

this genus fro:m Austria by Ettingshausen 43 

(Ligurian-Aquitanian), it is the only known 

fossil representative of this widespread m~dern 

genus. Ettingshausen compared his form with 

· the existing, Rhizophora parvifolia Roxburg, of 

the :East Indies, but in regard to this identification Schenk. 44 expressed doubt, calling attention to its similarity. to members of the Myrtaceae and Leguminosae: Possibly, however, 

leaves belonging to this genus n1ay not have 

been recognized when collected. For example, 

the leaves from tP.e '' Eolignitic'' that Lesquereux ~ identi£.ed . with Quercus chlorophylla 

Unger are almost certainly .not that species 

and are very similar to leaves of Rhizophora. 

There are at least three existing species of 

Rhizophor~. Rhizophora ma~gle Linne, of the 

An1erican 'l'ropics, is found as far north as 

Mosqtrito Inlet and Cedar Key in peninsular 

Florida and in the· Mississippi Delta. It. extends fro1n the Mexican coast for some distance along the coast of Texas. It occurs 

throughout t.he Bahamas n.n.d West lndieti and 

very gen~rally · throughout Central America 

and northern South America. In comparatively recent tin1es it has extended its range 

northward through the Bahamas to Bermuda. 

On· the west eoast ·it is found northward to 

Lower California and southward to the Galapn.gos Islands. Rhizophora macronala Lamarck ranges frmn southern Japan to northern Australia and westward to east Africa, 

42 Mnssl\longo, Abrnmo, Studii sulll\ f1om fossilc e geologia stratigraphica 

dol Scnignllicso, p. •107, 185!1. . 

48 :t~ttingshl\nson, C. von, Die tcrtiii.re Flora von Haering in Tirol, 

p. S:l, !il. :l7, flgs. 28, 2H, 1853. 

41 Schenk, August;, in Zittel, K. A., Handbuch cler Palaooutologic, 

Abt. 2, p. 0.32, 1800. . 

IG Lcsquorcux, Leo, On species or fossil plants from tho 'l'crtiary or 

the Stnto of Mississippi: Am. Philos. Soc. ~l'rans., vol. 1:~, p. 41C., pl. 17, 

llgs. 5-7, LS69. . 

1.89 

and Rhizophora conjugata Linne is confined to 

t.ropical Asia. Doubtless n1odern systematists. 

will differentiate additional specific forms·, but 

the rather uniform habitats of these plants lead 

to the inference . that such (lifferentiation will 

be based on minor characters. The mangrove 

plants possess the singular ability to flourish in 

sea w·ater, and their manner of life and develop-· 

ment. has become well adapted·, both structurally and physiologically, to their mode of 

existence, so that they have become widely dis- . 

sen1inated and individually abundant. In fact, 

they are the most remarkably specialized plants 

for this habitat known-a specialization that 

was in a measure reached in the Eocene. They 

are very notable as makers of land, as has been 

so often .described, and they a.re especially well 

developed on low shores around the heads ·of 

tropical or subtropical bays and estuaries. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Phiriizy Gully, near Grovetown, Ga.; one-fourth of a nlile southwest of 

Forrest Station, Ga.; from a well 13! miles 

west of Sandersville, Washington County, Ga.; 

(collected by S. W. McCallie); 10 miles south 

of Macon, .Twiggs Cou·nty, Ga. (collected by 

E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family COMBRETACEAE. 

Genus TERMINALIA Linne .. 

Terminalia phaeocarpoides Berry. 

Plate XXXVIII, Figure 4; Pl~te XXXIX, Figure 1; 

Plate XLVI 

Terminalia phaeocarpoides Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 84, P: 146, pl. 29, fig. 3, 1914. 

Leaves of medium and large size, broadly 

obovate in general outline, with a rounded or 

pointed apex and a cuneate base. Margins 

entire. Length about 15 or 16 centimeter!?, 

and greatest width, which is above the middle, about 7 or 8 centimeters. Midrib stout. 

Secondaries about 8 pairs, subopposite ·or al-. 

ternate, branching from the midrib at angles 

of about· 50° and curving upward,. approximately parallel, camptodrome. Tertiary venation· not seen. As the remains of this species 

are merely impressions, the texture can not. 

be de.termined; from their size it would seem 

that they were at least subcoriaceous. 

In a more northern flora this species would 

doubtless be compared with a Magnolia, and 

possi~ly some of our fossil species of Magnolia 
190 MtbD:i:.J<::. AND UPPER EOCJ!iNE :E'LORAS OF SOU.THEASTERN NORTH AMERICA~ 

may be properly compared with Terminalia; 

. otherwise the abundance of forms of Terminalia in the European Tertiary, where they 

furnish both leaves and characteristic fruits, 

and their absence from America is difficult to 

. understand. 

This species is very similar to the modern 

widespread Terminalia catappa Linne ·if the 

apical portion, which is unfortunately missing, 

is broad and rounded~ and very similar to the 

modern Terminalia phaeocarpa Eichler, of 

northern South America, if the apex is pointed. 

The modern species of Terminalia are all 

t.ropical and number . more than a hundred 

forms, distributed in different regions· in the 

following proportions, according to Engler 

and Prantl: America 24, Asia 27, Madagascar 

16, Mrica 17, Australia 19. One indigenous 

species reaches the United States, Terminalia 

buceras, which is often referred to the allied 

genus Bncida. It: is common along the shores 

of the Caribbean Sea, extending northward 

through the West Indies to Elliotts Key, Fla., 

and growing generally on coral soiL 

About a dozen fossil species are described 

from Europe, the oldest, which is not positively identified, coming from the Upper Cretaceous of Bohemia. One species is described 

from the upper Eocene or lower Oligocene of 

Aix (Provence, France), and the rest range in 

age from the Oligocene to the Pliocene and 

. are represented by both leaves and fruit. 

. They are especially common along the extended 

late Tertiary seacoast of south-central Europe, 

. the Messinian showing four species, the Sarmatian three, al).d the As.tian two. The Euro-

. pean fossil form nearest to the form here described, though its resemblance is· not especially close,. is Terminalia radobojensis Ung~r, 

which has a recorded range from the Tongrian 

to the Astian. I have recently. discovered 

abundant remains of the Combretaceae, consisting of leaves, flowers, and fruits, in the 

Wilcox flora. These forms include at least 

two species of Terminalia. 

Term~nalia catappa is one of the prominent 

elements in the oriental littoral forest or beach 

jungle of the Tropics (Barringtonia formation 

of ·Schimper), its buoyant fruits having enabled it to become widespread within its limits 

of range through the agency of ocean currents. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Fiske property, Grovetown, 

Columbia County, Ga. (collected by S. W. 

McCallie). Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north 

of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. (collected by 

G. C. Matson); 1t miles northeast of Christie, 

La. (collected by Alexander · Deussen and 

G. C. Matson); .Alum Creek, S. W; Robertson 

League, 3 miles east of Well born, BrazoR 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. 

Genus CONOCARPUS Linne. 

Conocarpus eocenicus Berry7 · 

Plate XXXV, Figure 5; Plate XXXIX, Figure 2. 

This species is described under the flora of 

the Claiborne group (p. 86). It is abundantly 

represented in beds of Jackson age in Georgia 

and by not certainly identified material from 

the Jackson of southwestern Texas. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member), Phinizy Gully, Fiske property~ 

Grovetown, Ga.; one-fourth of a mile southwest of Forrest Station, Colun1bia County, Ga.; 

M_acon-Marion road, 10 miles south of Macon, 

Bibb County, Ga. Fayette sandstone, li 

miles northeast· of ··Christie, La. (collected by 

Alexander Deussen and G. C. Matson) ; 4 miles 

north of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. (c'ollected by G. C. Matson) . 

Collection: U.S. National Museum . 

. Genus COMBRETUM Linne • 

Combretum petraflumense Berl;"y. 

·Plate LVIII, Figures Z.:.4; Plate LIX, Figures 1~5. 

This speci~s is de~cribed under the Claiborne 

flora (p. 85). · It is very common in that part 

of the Y egua formation which I regard as· 9f 

Jackson age. · It is generally rare in the Fayette 

sandstone but is exceedingly abundant in beds 

of that age in Brazos County, Tex. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, lens of kaolinite lt to 3 miles east of Wellborn; Barrera 

League, about 3. miles northeast of Milli~an; on 

Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest of Well born, 

Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 
UPPJJ}R BOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 191 

Family MYRTACEAE. 

Genus MYRCIA De Ca.ndolle. 

Myrcin cntnhoulensis Berry? 

. M?J'rc·in G(ttahO'ltlens·is Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Pn.per 98, p. 242, pl. 60, figs. 5, 6, 1917. 

'.l.'his species I have described as follows: 

Leaves of snmll si~e, linear~ln.nceolate and oftei1 somewhat falcate in ,general ot1tline, with a gradually nar-

. I'Oweclttnd acuminate apex and n similarli pointed base. 

Length from 4.5 to 7 centimeters. Maximum width 

in the middle part of the leaf, 5 millimeters to 1.1 centi~ meters. Margins entire. Texture coriaceous. Petiole missing. Midrib stout, somewhat prominent on the 

lower surface of the leaf. Secondaries thin, immersed 

in the substance of the leaf and only seen with difficulty, their tips joined by 'an aerodrome marginal vein 

on· each side close to the margin, n.nd like the secondaries 

nen.rly obsolete by immersion in the leaf substance. 

This species was represented by several fragmentary specin1ens in the Chalk.liills collection 

:from the Catahoula sandstone, two of which 

showing the extren1es of size, were :figured. Th~ genus is one de:fiuitely recognized for the first 

time in the flora of the vVilcox group, but probably represented in Upper Cretaceous floras by 

some of the fornts referred to the genus E~ucaly1Jtu,s. I have since definitely refened some of 

these to the genus Myrcict. It is an abundant 

element in the Wilcox flora, where it has four 

described species, among which Myrcia bentone·nsis Berry, a form found along the shores of the 

Mississippi embaYJ.nentfro1ncentralArkansas to 

li01·thern Mississippi, is most like the present 

:;pecies. It is, howev-er, invarin.bly la.rger and 

usually rnuc.h .la.rger a.nd is m.ore obtusely 

pointed. It nJso occurs 1n the Claiborne 

Eocene. 

The genus Myrcia is one of the principal existing American genera of the :Myrtaceae, with more 

than four hundred tropical species, rnassed in 

northern South A1ner.ica but: extending southward to Uruguay and Chile and northward 

through the West Indies. The present fossil 

form :may b~ c01npared with a number of still 

existing. American species, and evidently the 

genus was present in the flora of tropical and 

subtropical America fron1 the dawn of the 

:Eocene down to the present, invariably extending its range northward over southeastern 

North America whenever the climatic conditions were favorable,· 

The Jackson remains are fragmentary and are 

provisionally identified. Relatively wider 

leaves of this type from Brazos County, Tex., 

are also provisionally referred to this species. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, three-fourths 

?f a mile above the junction of Can~y and White 

Rock creeks, Trinity County, Tex. (collected· 

by C. L. Baker); Barrera League, about 3 miles 

northeast of Millican, Brazos County, Tex. 

(collected by 0. M. Ball) . 

Collection: U. S. National Musemn. . 

Myrcia ambiguaformis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXIII, Figure 2. 

Leaves small; ovate in general outline, widest at or below the middle, with a broadly 

cuneate or somewhat rounded base :and a 

shortly acuminate falcate tip. Margins entire .. 

Texture coriaceous. Length about 4.5 centimeters. Maximum width about 2 centimeters. Petiole ·short and stout, only 1 to 2 

millimeters in length. Midrib stout, curved, 

and prominent on the under side of the le~f. 

Secondaries thin, largely immersed, about 3 

millimeters apart, diverging from the midrib 

at wide angles, straight and parallel, their 

tips co~nected by aerodrome n1arginal veins 

some distance from the margins below but' 

approaching them distad. Areolation obsolete. . 

Thi~ spec~es is much like Myrcia puryearensis 

Berry/6 of the Wilcox, in general form but 

has a shorter petiole, about half as many 

secondaries, n.nd the margina.l veins farther 

withit~ the margins: It suggests the existing 

Myrc~a splendens De Candolle and Myrcia 

ambigua De Candolle, the specific name proposed being derived from its resemblance to 

the latter species. It. is very ,similar to some 

of the leaves from ·the late Eocene of Hesse 

that Engelhar:lt 46a identifies as Cassia lignitum 

Unger. · · · 

Occurrence: ·Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). . 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

l 6 Berry, E. \V., 'rhe lower Eocene floras ofsouthea.~tern North America: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 3Hi, pl. 91, figs. 1, 2, 191G. 

tGu Engelhardt, Hermann, Die alttertiii.re Flora von Messel bei Darmstadt: Hess. goo!. Landesanst .. zu Da,rm,sta.dt Abh., Band 7, Heft 4, p. 117. 

figs. 8,, 9,, 1922., ' · · · · · • 
192 lVUDDLI~ AND UPPEH EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMEitlU1\· 

Myrcia bentonensis Berry? 

Q·uen::u .. ~ nitracta Lesqtiereux, Am. Philos. Soc. Trans., 

vol. 13, p. 416 (part); pl. 16, fig. 4 (not fig. 

5), 1869 .. 

Knowlton, in Harris, Arkansas Geol. Survey Ann. 

Order UMBELLALES. 

Family ARALIACEAE. 

Genus OREOPAN AX Decaisne and Planchon. 

Oreopanax mississip.piensis Berry. 

Rept. for 1892, vol. 2, p. 56, 1894, 1 fl f 

P f Thi·s spe.ci.es I·s desCI'l.bed. under' t 1e ·1.ora o: . Myrcia bentonensis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey ro . 

Paper 91. p. 317, pl. 90, figs. 7-9, 1916. the Claiborne group (p. ·ss). · Occurrence: Forest I-Iill sand, 11 1nil~s Leaves linear-lanceoiate in outline, with a M ( 11 d b c w· · north of Jackson, iss. co ecte y . . bluntly pointed or rounded apex and a nar- Cooke). 

rowly pointed base. Length from 7 to 12 . Collection: u. S. N ational11useuin. 

centimeters. Maximum width, in the middle 

part of the leaf, ·from 0. 7 to 1.5 centimeters. · Margins entire. Texture coriaceous. 

Petiole short or wanting. Midrib stout. SecFamily CORNACEAE. 

Genus NYSSA Linne. 

ondaries thin, numerous, regularly spaced at Nyssa texana Berry. 

in.tervals of about 1.5 Inillim.eters, diverging Plate x:xxrx, Figure 3. 

from the midrib at angles . of 60° to 70°' This species, which is also abundant in the 

straight in their course, their tips joined by a· Yegua ·formation of the Claiborne group in 

tbl.n aerodrome vein close to. and parallel with Texas is described under the Claiborne flora 

the_n~arg~. . ·. . (p~ ss). ' 

This species was based first on ~ srngle It is equally common in the Catahoula 

specimen collected many- years ago at Benton,· sandstone of Texas but has thus ·far been 

A:rk., ·by. R. E. Call for the Arkansas. Geo- · found oniy in the form of casts i~ the ·windlogical Survey. It was subsequently discov- blown sands of this fonnation. . . 

ered at several localities along the eastern· Occurrence: Catahoula ( ~) sandstone (not 

shore of the Mississippi embayment in ~is'sis- regarded by Ine as the Catahoula sandstone, 

sippi and Tennessee and survives the Wilcox, but as older and of Jackson age), in a cut on 

being doubtfully present in the lower Jackson the International & Great Northern Railway 

of Cleveland County, Ark. The lower Jackso_n where a spur to the Government lock leaves 

form may represent the Mount Selman Myrc~a the n1ain line, in Trinity County, Tex. (collected 

trowbridgi' Berry. It suggests various fossil by c. L. Baker). 

forms referred to the genera Eucalyptus, Collection: U. S. National :Museum. 

Nerium, Ficus, and Apocynophyllum but ap- · 

pears to be most like the genus M.?Jrcia, which Nyssa jacksoniana Berry, n. sp .. 

has so many existing species in the American Plate LXV, Fi_gure 7. 

Tropics. It may be compared with several of S1nall, rather flat stones, subelliptical Jn 

these existing species of Myrcia. Among fossil outli.ne, widest ·.in the n1edian region,· r~undecl 

forms it is similar to Nerium parisiense Sa- proximad, wi.th a small chalazal scar, bluntly. 

porta, 47 froni the middle Eocene (~utetian) of pointed distad, with about 10 rounded and 

the Paris Basin. It is also much like the not ir;t.variably continuo11:s ribs on each face, 

]fyrcia from the Green River formation which separated by sharp sulcae. The outer flesh, 

Newberry '

18 identified as . .Salix angusta and which was. apparently thin, is represented by 

which may be a descendant .of this southern a coaly incrustation on parts of smne of the 

Eocene form. speci1nens. Length about 8 to 9 milliineters. 

Occurrence: Lower part of Jackson fonna- Width 4 to 4.5 milli1neters. 

tion, 2 miles south of New Edinburgh, Cleve- This species, which is tiny as compaied 

btnd County, Ark. (collected by G. D. I-Iarris). with Nyssa texctna Berry, of the Claiborne and 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. Jackson, and which is also Inuch ·nwre co.m:-

pressed, is son1ewhat suggestive of the smaller- <7 Sa porta, G. de, Le monde des plantcs avant !'apparition de l'homrne f . d · · t' · \ · N b t 1 p. 227, fig. ·4u, 1879. . · . ruite exis mg 11..mencan yssas u ess <8 NewbeiTy, .1. S., 'l'he later extinct tloras or'North America: U. s., robust. The:r·e are two species of Nyssa, 

Geol. Survey /l'[on. 35, p . .5t, pl. U5, fig. 2, 1898. Hollick in a footnote . · l W·'l , h 11 f on p. 55 calls atteiltion to tnc .Eucalypt1ts-like ,ieni_ltion of this form. based OD stones lD. t lC 1 COX1 t e Slllft er 0. 
UPPER EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 193 

which, Nyssa wilcoxia,na Berry,49 is about 

twice tho size of the present species and 

ltntcl1 .more inflated. 

:Mn.ily species of Nyssa, stones hav-e also 

been described :fron1 the :Eocene lignite of 

Brn.ndon, Vt., sot:ne of which, in the absence of 

otlter character~, are with di:fiiculty distingnil:!llcd :front Nyssa, jcwksoniwna. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek, 3 miles southwest of Well born, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. N atioQ.al Muse1.un. 

Superorder GAMOPETALAE. 

Order PRIMULALES. 

Family MYRSIN ACEAE. 

Genus A:RDISIA Swartz. 

Calocarpum viridiforme Berry. n. sp. 

Plate XL, Figure 4. 

·Leaves large, from 16 to 30 centimeters in 

length and from 6 to 8 centimeters in maximum width, the larger leaves being relatively 

much narrower than the smaller loaves, the 

maximum width of most of the material being 

very close to 7 centimeters, wher~as the length 

differs within · the limits indicated. . As a 

result there is considerable variation in the 

form of these 'leaves. The shorter leaves are 

decidedly obovate in general outline, the maximum width being considerably above the 

. middle. From this point the fully tounded 

lateral margins curve gradually inward proximad to the extended decurrent or, more properly, narrowly cuneate base; distad they curve 

Ardisia sp. inward in a somewhat shorter distance to the 

Plate LXII, li'igure 6. obtusely pointed apex. The larger leaves are 

. . . more nearly oblong-lanceolate in outiine, for 

Only a smgle Imperfect speCimen represents lth h th · f · 'dth · t'll . . . . . a oug . e regwn o maximum w1 1s s .1 

th1s apparently new species of Ard~s~a, and· b th 'dell 't ·· d' · d ·b th . . a ove e m1 e, 1 1s 1sgu1se y . e because of th1s unfortunate lack of more 1 t' 1 f f th 1 f d th 

complete 1naterial I an1 no't able to discuss it re a IV~ Y nt alrr~wer 1

· orm 0 . e efa than e. . . approx1ma e y · equa naiTOWing o. e apex ft~~Y· b1t

1 

repre1· sent~drd~nl ov~te-lance~late le~f, and the base, the latter still somewhat more 

w1uest e .. ow t 1e :m1 e, w1t 1 t1CUIDlnate tip, t d d tl th f M · t' . . · . · ·L h b · b · 3 ex en e 1an e ormer. arg1ns en 1re . .LO to .L2 centnneters m .ongt. y a out .5 T · t . 1 t' 1 th' ·f h 1 1 . . . . . i .h . h . . ex ·ure re a 1ve y . 1n or sue. arge eaves, centnneterR ·m 1naxnnum. w1c t , w1t nTegu- tl t'ff b t t t' th t · . . . . apparen y s 1 . u no warran ·1ng e erm 

ln,rly spn.ced, arched, camptodr?me secondanes, coriaceous. Petiole short and stout. Midrib 

a.nd prominently crenate margins. stout, prominent on the lower surface of the 

It belongs to a genus that has numerous leaf, somewhat curved. Secondaries relaoxisting spec:ies in nll tropical lands, first tively, not actually. thin, prominent, distant,. 

r(w.orded geo.logicn.lly in the Oligocene of. 12 to 15 pn.irs, varying from subopposite to .I~tJt:OI)_ c, to which. nJI of the known Tertiary f h alternate in a single leaf, diverging rom t e 

species ttre.cpn:fined with the exception of one midrib at angles ~f more than 45o, averaging from Borneo and a lower Miocene form from about 55 °. The spacing of the secondaries is 

South America. uniform, and they . curve regularly in ~ subOccurrence: Fayette sandstone, Barrera parallel manner and are camptodrome in the Leitgue, about 3 n1iles northeast of Millican; h 1 1 

m. arginal regions. Tertiaries t in, arge y on Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn, B ll) percurren t. 

Brn.zos County, Tex. (collected by 0 · M. a · These handsome leaves, although they sugColleetion: U. S. National Museu1n. h fTl • z · Or t · d gest t e gen~ra .1. erm~na ~a, _ escen ~a, an 

Order EBENALES. 

Family SAPOTACEAE. 

Genus CALOCARPUM Pierre. 

'.l.'he existi~1g species of this genus have been 

referred by different authors to AchTas, Sapota, 

Sicleroxylon, L'l.tcuma, Achradelphia, and other 

Magnolia, seem clearly related to the. leaves 

of the existing species of Oalocarpum, the · 

sapote of the American Tropics. This determination of their relationship is considerably 

influenced by the occurrence of characteristic 

$eeds of this or an ancestral genus in the upper 

Claiborne of Mis.sissippi. The two existing 

species, both of which have very similar large 

- -~-- --- ·---- ------ leaves, are natives of C.entral America and 1u :Berry, R w., 'l'he lower Eoceuo floras of southeastern North Amer- h xr I d' d h h 

lea: u.s. Geol. Survey Pror. Paper 91, p. 331, pl. 99, fig. 5-7, 1916. possibly t e VY est n .leS an t e nort COttst .. 

genel'lt. 
194 MIDDLE AND UPPER l)}OCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

of South America. Oalocarpum mammpsum 

(Linne) Pierre, the more widespread of the two, 

has been carried about by the natives and has 

been under semicultivation for so long a time 

that its natural limits are difficult to determine .. 

. The genus has been discussed recently by 

Pittier.50 The fossil form is named from its 

resemblance to the existing Oalocarpum viride 

Pittier. In this connection the account of 

Eoachras eoce'nica Berry in the flora of the 

Claiborne group (p. 90) should be consulted. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, Hamilton 

Le.ague, Fayette County, Tex.· (collected by 

Alexander Deussen) ; 4 miles northwest of 

Hornbeck, Sabine Parish, La. (collected by 

Alexander Deussen and G. C. Matson); Piedmont, Grimes County, Tex. (collected by 0. 

M. Ball). 

Collection: U.S. National Museum. , .. 

Genus SAPOTACITES Ettingshausen. 

Sapotacites. miraflorianus Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XL, Figure 1. 

. Leaves small and very coriaceous in texture, 

broadly and inequilaterally ovate in outline, 

with an obtuse tip and a broadly cuneate 

base. Margins entire, full and somewhat 

uneven, suggesting that they may have been 

slightly revolute. Length about 2.75 centimeters. Maximum width, at or slightly' above 

the :middle, about 1.8 centimeters. Petiole 

short and very stout, about 2.5 millin1eters 

. long. 1'Iidrib stout, curved, pron1inent below 

but. becoming more or less obsolete distad. 

Secondu.ries thin, camptodron1e, 1nostly obsolete by nn1nersion in the thick leaf substance. 

This SI!lall for!ll suggests a number of existing genera of. the Leguminos·ae, Rutaceae, 

Myrtaceae, and other families but appears to 

represent a species of Sapotaceae, perhaps of 

the genus Bumelia. In the absence of more 

complete material it is referred to the form 

genus Sapotacites . . 

Occ.urrence: Fayette sandstone, ·· 4 miles 

north of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. (collected by G. C. Matson). 

Collection: U. S. National Museun1. 

6o Pitticr, Henry, New or noteworthy plants from Colombia and CentrN A~er~c~; Contr: 1!· 8: Nat1 ~erba,r~um~ vo~. 18~ pt. 2~ PP: 76-86~ 19~4. 

Sapotacites millicanensis B~rry, n. sp. 

Plate LXI, Figure 4. 

Leaves obovate in outline, with a rounded 

apex and cuneate base, widest above the Iniddle; 1nargins en.tire; texture coriaceous. Length 

about 5 centimeters. Maximum width about 

3 cen.timeters. Petiole short ·and stout, about 

6 miliilneters in length. Midrib stout, prominent. Secondaries five subopposite pairs; they 

diverge frcnn the midrib at. angles of about 45 °, 

pursue rather straight courses, and are abruptly 

cam ptodrome close to the margins. Tertiaries thin, inosculating, fonning an open mesh. 

This species is not abundant in the kaolin-. 

ite beds of the· Fayette sandstone. It presents certain obvious characters of the fa1nily 

Sapotaceae but can not be referred with certainty to any of the existing genera, and I have 

accordingly referred it to the genus Sapotacites, 

a form genus established for leaves of this 

family which show inconclusive generic characteristics. The fossil suggests the genus Mimusops. A second species of Sapotacites, not 

at all like this one, is known fro1n. deposits of 

Jackson age l.n southwestern Texas.. There are 

species of Mimusops and Eoachras in· the Clai-· 

borne, and finely characterized species of Sideroxylon, Ohrysophyllum, Bumelia,, and Mimusops 

in the Wilcox of this general region. 

Occurrence : Fayette sandstone, Barrera 

League, about 3 1niles northeast· o:f Millican; 

Mossy Creek, 3 miles southwest o:f Well born, 

Brazos County, 'l"ex;. (collected by 0. :M. Ball) . 

Genus CHRYSOPHYLLUM Linne. 

Chrysophyllum preoliviforme Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXIII, Figures 3, ·4. 

Leaves small, ovate or broadly lanceoln.te 

in outline, widest at or below the 1i1iddle, with 

acute tip and cuneate or acute base. Margins 

entire. Texture coriaceous., Length fr01n .4.5 

to 5 centimeters. Maxilnun1 width fron1 1.6 

to 1.8 millilneters. Petiole stout, curved, 4 

millilneters long. Midrib stout, pr01ninent 

on the under side o:f the leaf. Secondaries 

thin, prominent, about six pairs, diverging 

from the "1nidrib at angles slightly rnore than 

45°, curving regularly upward and campt<:>-

4rome: 'fertia:f~el? ~h~n, :percu:r:re:p.~ 1 • 
UPPBH. EOCENE OR JACKSON F;LORA. 195 

A well-mA.rkecl species, named fron1 its resent blance to the existing Ghrysophyll'l.t,?n olivifm·me LflJllfl.l'Ck, f.l, sma.ll tree of southern peninsllln.r Florida, the Ba.hamas, and many of the 

Antilles. 

The present fossil species is much like leaves 

:f:ron1 the late l~ocene of :Hesse that Engelhu,rdt son identifies as Palaeolobi'ttm haerinqian'l.tm Unger and Sophora e'lt.ropaea Unger, a~d 

it is not without interest in this connection 

liltnt the formet· of these species is, ·in my 

opinion, identicnl with wha.t Engelhardt 50b 

identifies a.s Pisonia, eocenica Ettingsbausen. 

· The ge,lus :is tropical in existing floras and 

has about three score species} which are 

tnostly American but are sparingly represented on all the continents except Europe." 

Only· a few fossil species are known. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn: Brazos 

County} Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National :Museum. 

Genus BUMELIA Swartz. 

Bumeliu balli Berry, n. sp. 

Pln.te :LXV, Figures 1-4. 

Leayes relatively Slnall, unsylnlnetrically 

oboYate or subspatulate in general outline, 

widest below the n1iddle, Jnm:e or less narrowed 

upward to the broadly or narrowly rounded tip 

and ;more 11bruptly narrowed downward to the 

lln.l·.t·owly cuneate or acute sessile base. Ma.rgins 

on tire. Texture coriaceous, ·suggestive of a 

tom. en turn in 1 i:fe. :Length frOJn 2.25 to 4 centi-

.moters. :Ma..""Xinnun width fron1 0.7 to 1.5 centi-

.meters. M·idrib Yery stout, a.ln1ost obsolete on 

the upper surface of the leaf but prominent on 

the lower surface. Secondaries thin, im.n1ersed 

in the leaf substance, diverging from the midrib 

at acute· 11ngles} ascending; crunptodrome.· 

A:reolation obsolete. 

T'h.ese cha.racteristic leaYes, which are nruned 

in honor of the collector, are Jnuch like those 

of several existing species of Bumelia, and they 

arc a.lso very sixnilar to the WilCox Eocene 

species BumelicL 7.Jseudotenax Berry, 51 differing 

rnost conspicuously in their departure from the 

strictly obova.te fonn. 

C.OI\ l~ngellmrc.lt., !JCI'Illllllll, Die ulttcrtiiirc mora VOII :Mosso! bci Darmstadt: !Joss. gool. Landcsanst. zu Darmstadt ~bh;1 Bl\pd 7, Heft 4, p.114, 

pl. as, figs. :.l, 9, 11, 1922. · · 

~ut. Id.om, p, 51, pl. 12, flg, 2, 

Oc{{urrence: Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek, 3 miles southwest of Wellborn, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

Family EBEN ACEAE. 

Genus DIOSPYROS Linne. 

Diospyros mirafloriana Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XL, Figure 5; Plate XLIII, Figure 5. 

Calyx relatively large, quinquelobate; the 

lobes deeply cleft, elongate-elliptical in outline, 

about 12.5 millimeters in length by 9.5 millimeters in maximum. width, separated by narrow 

acute sinuses. Disk circular, elevated, with a 

coriaceous collar; about 1.25 centimeter_s in 

diameter. , Diameter of the calyx, 3.5 to 4 

centimeters. 

This calyx indicates a very large-fruited 

species of Diospyros, as it is comparable in 

size with the calices of the existing largefruited cultivated species. It is five-parted, 

whereas in the Jnajority of species of Diospyros 

the calyx is four-parted with correspondingly 

wider lobes. No leaves of Diospyros have been 

found with the fossil calyx, which may indicate 

that the dried calyx was floated into the area 

of sedimentation froni some locality n1ore or 

less removed fron1 the coast, although several 

e~isting species} such as D. maritima. Linne 

and D. teysmanni Miquel, are strand types. 

Associated leaves, formerly referred to D. 

bTachysepala AI. Brn.un, are now considered 

to repn)sent the same. species as the calyx 

described above. 

Occurrence: Fn.yette sn.nd.stone, 4: Jn.iJe:-; 

north of Miraflores, Webb County) Tex. (collected by G. C. Matson). 

Collection: U.S. National Museuln. 

Order GENTIAN ALES. 

Family APOCYNACEAE. 

Genus APOCYNOPHYL_LUM Unger. 

Apocynophyllum texensis Berry. 

Plate XL, Figure 4; Plate XLI, Figures 1, 2; Plate LV, 

· Figures 2, 3. 

. · This species is described under the flora of the 

Claiborne group (p. 91). It is the comn10nest 

form at the ~1iraflores locality, but most of the ----·---·-- - 61 Berry, E. W., 'rhe ·lower Eocene floras of southeastern North 

America: u.S, Gaol, SQrvoy :fro!. Paper 91, p. 337, pl. 100, fig. 2, 1916, 
19 6 }VIJDDLE AND UPPlm EOCENE FLORAS OF SOU'l'REAS'l'Ell.N NORTH AMERICA. 

Dla terial is fragmentary and comprises the 

basal ha1ves of leaves, the most complete specimen being the one figured. This leaf has the 

lower· lateral margins much fuller than .they 

·are in most of the specimens that are of the 

extended and gradually narrowed type. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north 

of ·Miraflores, Webb County, Tex. (collected 

by G. C. Matson); Hamilton League, Fayette 

· County, Tex. (collected by.Alexander Deussen); 

three-fourths of a mile above the junction of 

Caney and White Rock creeks, Trinity County, 

Tex. (collected by C. L. Baker). Forest Hill 

·sand, 11 miles no~th of Jackson, Miss. (collected 

by C. W. Cooke). 

Collection: U. S. National Museu1n. 

about equally pointed.. Margins entire · for 

about one-third of the distance upward; above 

this they are beset with somewhat irregular,. 

prominent, upwardly serra.te teeth. Midribs 

relatively stout. . Secondaries stout, numerous; about nine opposite to alternate pairs 

diverge from the midrib at angles that average 

about 45°, curving slightly upward, almost regularly spaced, . subparallel and mostly craspedodrome, although they are camptodrome 

in the entire basal part of the leaflet, and 

higher up in some· specimens the secondary will 

pursue a carriptodrome course and send a ' 

short tertiary branch to the marginal tooth . 

. Tertiaries mostly obsolete .because of the 

coarseness of the matrix. 

The present species is si1nilar to the existing 

Tecoma ·radicans in general appear~nce, and 

Plate XXIII, Figure 6; Plate XXXIV, Figure 10; specimens collected by Glenn at I-Iickman 

Plate LV, Figure 1. · were identified by Knowlton 52 as this species 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium Berry. 

This ·species is described under the Claiborne or son1ething near it. It differs. fr01n the 

flora (p. 92). · existing species in the fewer leaflets, the exist-· 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north- ing species having generally 9 to 13, and 

west of Hornbeck, Sabine Parish, La. (collected: extended search has not brought to light leaves· 

by Alexander Deussen and G. C. Matson); 4 · with fewer than 7 leaflets. Other differences 

miles north of Miraflores, Webb County, Tex .. shown by the fossil are its s1naller and n1ore 

(collected by G. C. Matson); Alum Creek, .S. W. close-set Inarginal teeth, the tendency of the 

.Robertson League, about .3 miles east of Well- leaflets to assume an obovate outline, and the 

born, Brazos County, Tex. (collected by 0. absence of the produced acmnen that characM. Ball). terizes the leaflets of the trmnpet creeper. 

Collection.: U. S. National Museum. The secondaries are ·also In ore uniforn1ly cras-

. Order PERSON ALES. 

pedoclrOine in the fossil fonn . 

· Family BIGNONIACEAE. 

Genus TECOMA Jussieu. 

Tecoma preradicans. Berry. 

Plate LIV, Figures 1-7. 

The genus Tecoma consists of about eighty 

existing species of the tropical and warmer· 

te.rnperate regions of both hemispheres. They 

are 1nassecl in the northern South Ainerican 

region. Two species reach the United Statesthe tropical American Tecoma · stans reaches 

Florida, and the familiar Tecoma radicans · Tecorn,a p.Teradicans Berry; U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. reaches northw:ard as far as southern New 

48, p. 302, pl.13, figs. 1-5, 1915. J th Atl t' t d f 

Leaves odd-pinna.te, not tendril-bearing, of 

five or more sessile leaflets. · No complete 

leaves have beeri found, but from the sma.ll 

size of the basal pair of leaflets in specimens 

showing five lea.flets it seems safe to assume that 

the normal number was from five to seven. 

Lea.flets la~ceolate to ovate. or obovate in outline, ranging from 2 to 7 centimeters ·in length 

and· from 1 to 4.5 centimeters in ma.ximu¥1 

width. Terminal leaflet equilateral, the base· 

decurring to a pseuclopetiolule .. · Lateral leaflets slightly inequilateral. Bases ·and tips 

· erse y on e an IC · co as an as· ar as 

southern Illinois in the Mississippi Valley and 

is often hardy in cultivation still farther north. 

When in .South America I was in1p1;essed with 

the mlich greater resmnblance of this fossil 

fonn to species observed in the Peruvian valleys 

than to our co~mon trmi1pet cr~eper. Unfortunatel.Y I 1nacle no collections, but I have 

no doubt t4at Teco.ma preradicans ·could be 

very closely 1natched by recent 1naterial front 

tropical A1nerica. -~----~~----- - 52 Knowlton, .F. H., in·Glenu, L. C., Underground waters of Tennessee 

and Kentucky west of Tennessee River and of all adjacent area ill 

Illinois: U .. S. Gcol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 1641 p, 381 JOOG, 
Ul'P:IDH. EOCENE OR JACKSON FLORA. 197' 

I find four other fossil species referred to the 

genus Tecoma. These are T. basellii Engelhru·dt,S3 :fr01n the Chattian of BoheJnia., a very 

doubtful identification; T. serrata Engelhru·dt, 54 

fro.m the lower :Miocene of Chile, which is based 

upon very poor material but is probably correctly identi'f:ied;· T. austrinca, Ettingshausen, 55 

fro.rn the Burdigalian of Boheinia, which is 

wholly untrustworthy; and T. grnndidentata 

:!Dnge.lhaJ·dt, 56 from the :Miocene of Colombia, 

which is clearly a Tecoma. It is evident that 

1nuch remains to be learned regllJ'ding the 

,geologic history of this interesting genus. 

At a locality. 5 1niles ·south of Hickman, although no leaves of this species haYe been disco,7'ered, there are winged seeds of son1e 

bignonaceous fruit that inay represent this 

species. '.I.'he seed is seJnicircular' in ·form, 

about 4 :rniHirne'ters in length, with oval wings 

about 4 :millin1eters wide and preserved on 

only one side of the nucellus in the two specirnens found. 

Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of 

upper Jackson 0) age, IIickman.~ Fulton 

County, Ky., and Columbus, Ilic.kman QOlmty, 

K.y. (collected by L. C. Glenn, E. W. Berry,. and 

Bruce Wade). 

Collection: U.S. National Museun1. 

Family VERBEN ACEAE. 

Genus CITHAREXYLON Linne. 

Citharcxylon brnzosense Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXIV, Figure 1. 

r ... cn.ves broa.dly lanceolate in outline, widest 

in the 1nedian region, with an acute or slightly 

acu:minate tip and a. slightly decurre~1t 

bnsc. Margins entii·e. Texture subcoriac·~ous. 

Length about 6.5 centimeters. Maximum 

width about 3.25 centi1neters. Petiole short and 

stout, about 4 1nilliineters in length. Midrib 

stout, pr01ninent on the under side of the leaf. 

Sccondn.ries fairly stout, n.bout seven pairs, 

uneq un1ly sprteed; they diverge f'rom the midrib 

n.t angles of about 45°, curve upward, and are --- ·• . ------------ ~n l~n~:dhurrlt., B.crumnn, Die 'l'crtiii.rflorf\ des Jest:tit.grnhmts bei Kundml;it.?, in Nordhohmon: K. Lcop.-C'iuol. Deutsch. Akad.' Naturf. Nova 

Aet,n, :B1t11d •tX, p. :l:.lli, pl. H\1 fi~. l:.l, 1885. 

"' l•:n~ellmrdt, 1-l:crmann, Ueber 'fcrtiitrpflanzen von Chile: Senckenber~. Nnturr. Gcsrll. Abh., 13un<IHi, p. G!iO, pl. 3, fig. fi, 1891. 

~G ]~tt;in~shnusrn, C., Die fos10ilc :Flam des 'l'ertiiir-Beekens von Bilin: 

K. Akad. Wiss. Wil'n, .ll·fnt.h.-nnt. Kl., .Dt•nksPhr., vol. 28, p. 22'2, pl. 37, 

fl~. lti, l.'iliX. 

GG EngPlhunlt., Ht•rnmllll, Ueber Jtcue '.l'crtiitrpflanzcn Siid-Amerikas: 

f't\IH:lwnbt•rg, Nat.urf. G!\Sc.ll, 1\ bh., l3ttnd 19, p, :Jl 1 pl. 41 figs. 9, 10, 1895. 

camptodrome in the marginal region. 'I'ertiaries comprising pseudosecondaries subp8J'allel 

with ·and between some of the secondaries and 

nunierous thin transYerse nervilles, which fork 

and anastomose midway between the· larger 

VelnS. 

This species, which is rare, resembles Oithnrexylon villosum Jacquin, a small tree of the 

Florida l{eys, Bahamas, and Antilles, differing 

merely in the more numerous, straighter, and 

less ascending secondaries of the fossil form. 

It is also something like Oitharexylon eoligniti- · 

cum Berry,57. of the Wilcox, but is relatively 

shorter a~d wide1~. The genus Oitharexylon 

includes more than a score of species which are 

confined to tropical America, where they are 

distributed through tlie West Indies to southern Mexico, Lower California, Bolivia, and 

Brazil. One or two species have been doubtfully recorded from the European Miocene. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek 3 miles southwest of Well born, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0, M. Ball). 

Collection: U .. S. National Museum. 

FORMS OF UNCERTAIN POSITION. 

Carpolithus callitriform~s Berry, n. sp~ 

Plate XL, Figure 3. 

Fruit or c6ne. of s1nall size, 4-va.lved, about 

8 1nillimeters in length and 10 or 11 milliineters 

in climneter. Valves full ovate, pointed distad 

and rounded prox~rnad. Base<;! upon a single 

speci1nen preserved in u. C<?a.rse friable sandstone of appru·ently wind-blown origin n.nd 

uot well enough preserved for definite identification or description. . It is 'cle~ly :vegetable 

in origin and. bears a striking resemblance to 

the fossils described as cones of Oallitris, but 

as no traces of this genus have ever been described fron1 North America I hesitate to draw 

the conch1sion that it was present in the upper 

:Eocene fro1n such i1nperfect Jnaterial, although 

the presence of the allied genera Frenelopsis 

_and ·widdrirrigtonites in both the Lower and 

Upper Cretaceous of. southeastern North Anlerica has been established with certainty. 58 In 

one of the latest discussions of the Cupressineae, by Eichler, 59 four perfectly distinct; 

57 Berry, E. W., The lower l~ocene floras of southeastern North America: u. S. GeoJ. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 346, pl. 106, fig. 10, 1916. 

58 Berry, E. W., Maryland Geol. Survey, Lower Cretaceous, pp. 

419, 4ao·, '1911: Notes on the geuus Widdrinotonites: 'l'orrey Bot. Club 

Bull., YOI .. 39, pp. :341, 347, pis. 24, 2~, 1912. 

~~Engler, A., and Pmntl, K., Die natiirlichcu l'flanzcnfamilieu, 

'rail 2, Abt. 1, p. 92, 1889. 
'198 MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE FLORAS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 

genera are united to form the genus Oallitris 

Ventenat, which is divided into four subgenera, mnbracing Octoclinis F. v: :.Muller 

(Frenela Bentha1n), with eight scales to the 

. ·cone and a single species of Australia; Hexaclinis (Frenela Mirbel), with six unequal scales 

to the cone and nine or ten species of Australia 

and New Caledonia; Pachylepis Brongnia.rt 

( TViddringtonia Endlicher)·, with thick woody 

cones .. of four subequal scales and with thTee 

or fo:ur species of South Africa and Madagascar; and E'l.tcallitris Brongniart ( Tetraclinis), 

with four subequal cone scales _and a single 

species of Africa north of the Sahara. 

Oallitris in the restricted sense has been 

recognized at a large nrnnber of localities and 

horizons in Europe, ral'lging in age from the . 

Ypresian through the Oligocene and' Miocene 

' into the Pliocene. Several species have been 

recognized, of which by far the co1nn1oriest is 

Oallitris brongniarti Encllicher, with the cones 

of· which the Jackson re1nains compare very 

well. 

Occurrence: Catahoula (~)sandstone (notre-. 

garded by me as the Catahoula sandstone 

but as older and of Jackson age), in a cut on 

the International & Great Northern Hailway in 

southern T~inity County, Tex. (collected hy 

C. L. Baker). . 

. Collection: U. S. National ~Iusernn. 

Carpolithus najasoides Berry, n. sp. 

Plate XLI, Figure 4. 

Carpolithus ba11i Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXIV, Figure 3. 

A s1nall ovate seed or fruit, broadly rounded 

proximad and pointed distad, somewhat COinpressed, especially near the 1nargins, about 

6 millimeters long and 3 millimeters in lnaximunl width. Surface faintiy longitudinally 

ridged. . 

This species, which is based on the single 

. specin1en figured and which is named fron1 the 

locality, 1night represent a number of fan1ilies, 

so that a discussion. of its probable relationsbips is futile. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, at Piedmont, Grimes County, Tex. (collect'ed by 0. M. 

Ball). 

Col1ection: U.S. National Museum. 

Carpolithus bumeliaformis Berry. 

Carpolithus bumeliafonnis Berry, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 98, p. 243, pl. 60, fig. 8, 1917. 

Tills. species I have described as follows frou1 

specimens in the Catahoula sandstone of 

Louisiana, of Vicksburg age: 

Fruit oblate-spheroidal, nearly globose, about 7.5 

millimeters in maximum diameter (length) and 5. 7 5 

millimeters in minimum diameter. Seed large, nearly 

globose, erustaceous; flesh thin and dry. 

The present specie~ is based on only a few specimens, 

which agree remarkably well with the fallen fruits of 

thos·e· of our· American species of B·nmelia that have 

dry instead of fleshy fruits. 

The genus Bumelia is a prominent element in the 

earlier Tertiary floras of southeastern North America, 

the leaves of one species being associated with the 

present fruits. As the nature of the remains precludes 

A 'tiny oblong-elliptical, sornewhat flattened certainty of identification I have referred these Jruiii~ i;(, 

seed with a Jninutely reticulated surface .. the convenient form genus CaTpulithw:> and h~vc e.rnLength about 4 millimeters. Maximurn width phasized their supposeci botanic affinity in iihe specific name. about 0.9 millimeter. Ends equally rounded Occurrence: Lagrange formation, in beds of and scarcely, if at all, narrowed; the· proximal uppe:r; Jackson ( ?) age, at Hick1nan, in upper ·end has a slight central umbo. 

part of bluff in ·cove just north of city wateiThis species is based on the single· specimen · tower, FUlton County, Ky.; . in the E. Fl. 

figured, which appears to be referable to the Russell place, 8 miles west of· Union City, on N aj adaceae with considerable certainty and Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.·' (collected 1nay be closely matched by the fruits of some by Bruce Wad e). · 

of the existing species of Najas as well as by Collection: U. S. N ntional .Museuin. 

some of the fossil fruits referred to that genus 

from the later Tertiary of Europe. 

Occurrence: Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

clay member)'· Macon-Marion road, 10 miles 

south of Macon, Bibb Cpunty, Ga. (collef:ted 

by C. W. Cooke and H. K. Shearer). 

Collection: U. s. N~tional Museum.· 

Genus· CYPSELITES Heer. 

CypseHtes jacksonensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate :XL, Figure 2. 

A turbinate akene, poi.nted proxirnnd; with 

a truncate or slightly ro.unded distal 1nargm 

s-urro1,1:pded by ·~ <;or<;>n~ of ~ho:rt spines. 
UPPER BOCEN:E OR .JACKSON FLORA.. 199 

Surface longitudinally striated. Length 1.3 

centin1eters. Maxi1num diameter 6 millimeters. 

Based on the single specimen figured, which 

is referred with some hesitation to the genus 

Oypselites, established by Heer for Tertia.ry 

fruits of Cmnpositae of somewhat uncertain 

generic relationship and common in the European Miocene. 

Occurrence: Jackson formation, McMurrains 

Crossing, 3.3 1niles north of El Dorado, Union 

County, Ark. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Co.llection: U. S. N atioq.al Museum. 

Leguminosites sp. 

Plate XLI, Figure 3. 

A sn:udl ovate few-seeded pod with a roughened surface. About 1.6 centime.ters in length 

fl,ncl. 8. :rnilli:meters in :maximu~ width. Referred doubtfully to Leguminosites. 

Occurrence: · Barnwell formation (Twiggs 

e.lay :member), Phinizy Gully, Columbia County, 

Ga. (collected by E. W. Berry). 

Collection: U. S. Nt'ttional Museum. 

Genus ANTHOLITHES Brongniart. 

. Antholithes balli Berry, n. sp. 

Plate LXV, Figure 6. 

A flower about 11 millimeters in dian1eter 

with five sepals or petals of elliptical form and 

apparently a central disk about 4 millimeters 

in diameter. No trace of stamens or pistils. 

The single specimen has the appearance of a 

·rosaceous flower, but i~ is singular, if the. form. 

bel.ongs to this family, that no traces of the 

stamens are preserved. The central part 

might represent a gamopetalous receptacle 

instead of a disk and could be as definitely considered as bel~nging to the families Zygophyllaceae, Sterculiaceae, Ternstroemiaceae, or 

Celastraceae. In the ab!?ence of 1nore definite 

data it is referred to the form genus Antholithes and named in honor of the collector. 

Occurrence: Fayette sandstone, on Mossy 

Creek 3 miles southwest of Well born, Brazos 

County, Tex. (collected by 0. M. Ball). 

Collection: U. S. National Museum. 

----·· ·----- -----------

·· :p]~.A.~rES XXVIII-LXV. 

·-·-- -- -----· __ -__ ---·=.:~-=-- - - - ---- -- - --- -=========================== 

201 
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXVIII 

~·~~ 

' ' ' I 

' 

', 

1 

5 

6 

A . 

2 

~· ·,\ 

8 

\ 9 

\ 

10 

7 

L'OSSIL PLA TS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

1. Acrostichum georgianum Berry, Barnwell fom1ation (Twiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Ga.; p. 143. 

2. Potamogeton sp., Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), 10 miles south of Macon, Ga.; p. 145. 

3. Potamogeton megaphyllus Berry, Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Ga.; p. 145. 

4. Piatia claibornenais Berry, Barnwell formation (1'wiggs clay member), Grovetown, Ga.; p. 146. 

5. Engelhardtiajacksonensis Berry, n. sp ., Jackson formation, McMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 153. 

6, 7. Myrica zacharienais Lesquercu..x, Jackson formation, McMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 156. 

4 

11 

8-10. Phoenlcites occidentalis Berry, Catahoula (?) sandstone, along International & Great Northern Railway in Trinity County, 

Tex.; p. 148. 

11. Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Caney and White Rock creeks, 1'rinity County, Tex.; p.157. 
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXIX 

FOSSIL PLANT FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Sabalites vicksburgensis Berry, FayeLte sandsLone, Hamilton League, 'l'ex.; p. 151. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAl" SUHVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXX 

FOSSIL PLANT FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Tl.rinax coccnica Berry, Barnwell formation C£wiggs clay Inernber), GroYeiown, Ga.; p. 151. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXI 

FOSSIL PLANT FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Caney and White Rock creeks, 'l'rinity County, Tex.; p. 157. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXII 

2 

3 

1 

6 7 13 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

1. Ficus claibornensis Berry, Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), near Grovetown, Ga.; p. 159. 

8 

\ 

' 

l2 

2-4. Banksiajacksonensis Ben;y, n. sp., Forest Hill sand, 11 miles north of Jackson, M.iss., in beds regarded by me as of Jackson age; p . 161. 

5 . Ficus unionensis Berry, n. ~p., Jackson formation, McMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 160. 

6, 7. Pisoniajacksoniona Berry, n. sp., Jackson formation, White Bluff, Ark.; p. 162. 

8-13. Myristica catahoulensis Berry, Catahoula (?) sandstone, along International & Great Northern Railway in Trinity County, 

Tex.; p. 163. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 I, A'l'l~ XXXIII 

2 3 4 

1 

6 

5 

8 

7 9 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACK ON AGE. 

1. JJi imosites spatulatus Berry, n. sp., Jackson formation, ~l cMu rrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 167. 

2-5. Jlfimosites mississippicnsis Berry, n. sp., Forest Hill sand, ll miles north of Jackson, Miss., in beds rega rd ed by me as of Jack· 

sou age; p. 168. 5, Specimen X 4. 

6. Cassiajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Jackson fonnation, McMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 169. 

7. Anona texana Berry, Fayette sa ndstone, Caocy and White Rock creeks, Trinity County, 'l'ex.; p. 165. 

8. Cassia georgiana Berry, n. sp., Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), 2 miles east of Gibson, Ga.; p. 169. 

9 . Papilionites erythrinaformis Berry, n . sp ., Fayette sandstone ,Miraflorcs, Webb County ,Tex .; p.171. 
U. S. G"OLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL l'Al'ER 92 PLATE XXXIV 

/1 

,' I 

' I 

. 

I 

1 \ 

2 3 I 

11\ 

(' 

\ 

i 

I 

\ \ 

) \ 

5 

4 

7 

6 

8 

12 

11 13 14 10 

FOSS IL PLANTS l<'HOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1- 3 . Sophora cl?.iborniana Berry, n. sp .; p. 171. :1 , Barnwell fonnation ('l'wiggs clay1ncmbcr), Phinizy Gully, Colwnbia County, Ga.; 

2, 3, Barnwell formation ('1

1 wiggs clay JncJnbcr), Gibson, Ga. 

4, 5 . Cedrela jacksoniana Berry, n. sp. ; p. 174. 4, Jackson formation, White BlurT, Jcfierson County, Ark.: 5, Catahoula (?)sandstone, Stryker, Polk County, '['ex:. 

G. Banisteria tcxana Berry, n. sp., Catahoula (?)sa ndstone, Stryker, Polk County, •rex.; p. 175 . 

7. Cupanites nigricans (Lcsquereux) Berry, Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), 10 miles south ofMaeon, Ga.: p. 176. 

8, 9. Sapindus georgianus Berry, Barnwell formation ('J'wiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Columbia County, Ga.; p. 177. 

10. Apocynophyllum grwillcafolinm Berry, n. sp., l>ayette sandstone, Miraflores, Webb County, Tex.; p. 196. 

11-13. Dodonaea viscosoidrs Berry; p. 176. 11, Mel\lurrains Crossing, Ark. (Jackson formation); 12, 13, Phinizy Gully, Ga. 

(Barnwell formation ). 

14. Bombacitesjacksoncnsis Berry, n. sp., Jackson]formation , Paul 'l'aylor place, Burleson County, 'l'ex.; p. 180. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXV 

3 

1 

FOSSI L PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Bombacitesjacksoncnsis Berry, n. sp ., Fayette sandstone, 4 miles north of MiraOores, Tex.; p. 180. 

2. Nectandra gosportensis var.jacksonensis Berry, n. var., Catahoula (?)sandstone, cut on International & Great Northern Railway in 

.... 'l'rinity County, Tex.; p. 187. 

3, 4. Cinnamomum angustum Berry, n . sp., Barnwell formation (Twiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Ga.; p.184. 4, Specimen X 2. 

5. Conocarpus eocenicus Berry (p. 190) and Bombacites jacksoncnsis Berry, n. sp . !p. 180), Fayette sandstone, lt miles northeast of 

Christie, L&. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXVI 

6 

FOSSIL PLA TS FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Dombeyoxylon jacksoncnsis Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Ilornbeek, La.; p. 181. 1, Transverse view (No. 272), X 100; 2, tangen tia 

view showing rays, pitting or vessels, and xylem parenchyma, X about 150; 3, character or ends and pitting or vessels, X about 

150; 4, radial view showing rays and prosenchyma, X about 150; 5, transverse view showing character or vessels, X about 50; 

6, transverse view showing group or vessels, xylem parenchyma, and prosenchyma, X about 150. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXVII 

FOSS IL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Dombcyoxylonjacksoncnsis Berry, u. sp ., Fayette sandstone, Hornbeck, La.; p.l81. 1, Radial view (No. 272), X 100; 2, tangeutia 

view (No. 272), X 100. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXVIII 

1 2 

3 

4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. fllespilodaphne tcxana Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Miraflores, Tex.: p. 1F5. 

2 . Nectandra arkansana Berry, n. sp ., Jackson formation, Mci\lurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 187. 

3. Nectandra antillana[olia Berry, n. sp ., Fayette sandstone, Miraflores, 1'ex.; p. 1 7. 

4 . Tcrminalia phacocarpoides Berry, Fayette sandstone, Christie, La., X 1.2; p. 189. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XXXIX 

1 2 

3 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Tcrminalia phaeocarpoides Berry, Fayette sandstone, Miraflorcs, 'l'ex.; p. 189. 

2. Conocarpus eocenicus Berry, Barnwell formation (1'wiggs clay member), GroYetown, Ga.; p. 190. 

3. Nyssa texana Berry, n. sp., C'atahoula (?)sandstone, cut on International & Great Xorthern Railway in Trinity County, Tex.; p. 192. 
U. S. GEOLOGI CAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XL 

2 

3 

1 5 

4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Sapotacites mirajlorianus Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Miraflores, 'l'ex.; p .194. 

2. Cypselites jacksonensis Berry, n. sp., Jackson formation, McMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 198. 

3. Carpolithus callitriformis Berry, n. sp., Catahoula (?)sandstone, cut on International & Great Northern Railway in Trinity County, 

Tex.; p. 197. 

4 . Calocarpum viridiforme Berry, n. sp. (p. 193), and Apocynophyllum texensis Berry, n. sp . (p. 195), Fayette sandstone, Hamilton 

League, Tex. 

5 . Diospyros mirajloriana Berry, o. sp., Fayette sandstone, Miraflores, Tex.; p. 195. 
U. S. GI"OLOGICAT, SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLI 

3 

4 

5 

2 

1 

7 

6 

8 

l'OSS lL PLANTS FHOM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

1, 2. A pocynophyllum tcxcn sis Berry, n. sp.; p. 125. l, Fayette sandstone, M iraflorcs, 'J'ex. ; 2, Fayette sandstone, Caney and White 

Rock creeks, '_l'cx. 

3. Leguminosites sp., Barnwell forn1ation ('l'wiggs clay member), Phinizy Gully, Ga.; p. 199. 

4. Carpolithus najasoides ilerry, n. sp., Barnwell formation ('l'wiggs clay member), 10 miles south of 1.1acon, Ga.; p. 198. 

5. Equisctum sp., Jackson formation, MeMurrains Crossing, Ark.; p. 142. 

6. Arundo pscudogoepperti Berry, Jackson formation, McMurrains Crossin g, Ark.; p. H . 

7, 8. Burseritesfayctt.cnsis Berry, n. sp., Calahoula (?)sandstone, Stryker, 'l'ex.; p. 175. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONATJ PAPER 92 PTJATE XLII 

4 

1 

I 

-~ I 

\ 

2 3 

FOSSfL PLA TS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE 

1. Dodonaea viscosoides Berry; p. 176. 

2. Jofespilodaphne ca"dala major Berry, n. var.; p. 185. 

3 . Neclandraanlillanafolia Berry, n. sp.; p.187. 

4 . Pisonia balli Berry, n. sp.; p. 162 . 

.5, fl. lngajacksoniana Berry, n. sp.; p. 167. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Alum Creek, 3 miles east of Wellborn, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLIII 

.t. 

3 

4 

5 6 7 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAIBORNE AND JACKSON AGE. 

1, 2. Sapindus yeguanus Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 73. 

3. Fagara pctrafiumensis Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 66. 

4. Sophora balli Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 65. 

5. Diospyros mirajloriana Berry, n. sp., Jackson formation, Mlraflores, Tex.; p. 195. 

6, 7. Hicoriajack soniana Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; pp. 55,155. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLIV 

1 

4 

\ 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAIBORNE AGE. 

1-5. Cedrelajacksoniana Berry, n. sp.; p. 174. 

6. Oreodaphne inequilateralis Berry, n. sp.; p. 80. 

All from Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLV 

3 4 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAIBORNE AGE. 

Combretum petraflummse Berry, n. sp., Yegua formation, Rock Cr~ek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 85. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

/ 

/ 

; -, I 

I V 

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I 

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PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLVI 

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II I 

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FOSSIL PLANT FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAIBORNE AGE. 

1'erminalia phaeocarpoides Berry, Yegua formation, Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 189. 
U. S . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLVII 

1 

2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAIBORNE AGE. 

Patmorylon lacunosum (Unger) Felix, upper rart of Tallahatta formation or lower part of Lisbon formation, White Bluff, Clarke County, 

Ala.; p. 50. l, Specimen, natural size, showing roots being given off; 2, drawing showing three fibrovascular bundles, lacunose 

groundmass, and se1•eral bundles of sclerench yma, X 25. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

3 

PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLVIII 

1 

2 

4 

FOSSIL PLA TS FROM DEPOSITS OF CLAlBORNE AGE. 

1, 2. Geonomites claiborncnsis Berry, n. sp. ; p. 53. 

3- 5 . Myrcia trowbridgi Berry, n. sp.; p. 87. 

All from Mount Selman formation, Palafox, Webb Cou!lty, Tex. 

5 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE XLIX 

1 

6 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1, 2 . Glyptostrobus europaeus (Brongniart) Heer (?),Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age, Cane Creek, Obion County, 

Tenn.; p. 144. Shows two types of shoots, x 3. 

3. Pisoniajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; p. 162. 

4-6 . Gannajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, Tex.; p. 147. 5 , Specimen showing details of venation, X 2. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE L 

3 

2 

1 

8 

7 

6 

9 10 

FOSSIL PLANTS l<'ROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1-3. Hicoria jacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Hickman, Ky.; p. 1.15. 3, Specimen 

showing marginal teeth and venation, enlarged. 

4, 5. Planera hickmancnsis Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, 5 miles south of Hickman, Ky.; p.l58. 

5, Specimen X 2t to show details of venation. 

6-9. Hicoria rostrata[ormis Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?) age, upper bluff, Hiclnnan, Ky.: p. 155. 

6, Indehiscent rostrate husk; 7, two partial kernels; 8, a less rostrate husk than that shown in Figure 6; 9, nut inside partly 

removed husk. 

10, 11. Menispermites carolinajormis Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper J~cl<son (?)age, Hickman, Ky.: p.l65. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LI 

2 

6 

4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

}' 

I 

3 

7 

1. Menispermites carolinaformis Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Hickman, Ky. : p. 165. 

2 . Cassia obionana Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; p. 169. 

3. Bauhinia wadii B JI'Q' , n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age, Hiclnnan, Ky.; p . 169. 

4-7. Lonchocarpus anceps Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age, Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; p.l71. 

8, 9 . Liguidambar inccrta Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age; p. 172. 8, Upper bluff, Hickman, Ky.; 

9 , half a mile north of Hic.kman, Ky. 

10. Fagara catahoulensis coriacea Berry, Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, north of Hickman, Ky.; p. 174. 

11, 12. Fagaracatahoulcnsis major Berry; p. 173. 11, Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age, upper bluff. Hickman, Ky.; 

1 2, Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, Tex. 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LII 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Grewiopsis wadii Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of up{:er Jackson (?)age, north of Hickman, Ky.: p. 179. 

2. Rhamnites krugioden droides Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson(?) age, Hickman, Ky.; p. 178. 

3. Lauraceous fruit, Lagran ge formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; p. 188. 

4-6. Ternstroemites variabilis Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, Cane Creek, Obion County, Tenn.; 

p. 183. 

7. Nectandra antillana{olia Berry, n. sp .. Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, Tex.; p. 187. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL ISURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LIII 

I 

1 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Ncctandra antillana[olia Berry, n. sp. (two large leaves), Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, Tex.; p. 187 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LIV 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

1-7. Tecoma preradicans Berry, Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?) age, Hickman, Ky.; p. 196. 6, Restoration; 

7, enlarged detail of margin and marginal Yenation. 

8, 9. Thorns, probably of Paliurus catahoulensis Berry, Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?)age, 5 miles south of Hick· 

man, Ky.; p. 177. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LV 

4 

6 

7 8 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Apocynophyllum greuilleajolium Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, 'J'ex.; p. 19G. 

2, 3. Apocynophyllum texensis Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, east of Wellborn, Tex.: p . 195. 

3 

0 

4-9. Capparidocarpus sphericus Berry, n. sp., Lagrange formation, in beds of upper Jackson (?) age, upper bluff, Hickman, Ky.; 

p. ·166. 4, 9, Capsules partly filled with seed-bearing tissue: 5, interior of empty capsule; 6, seeds worked out from interior mass; 

7, 8, placental mass partly exposing seeds. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSTOc-IAL PAPER 92 PLATE LVI 

FOSSIL PLA T FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Buettneriajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Millican, 'rex.; p. 182. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LVII 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Buettneriajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Millican, Tex.; p.l82. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER=-92 PLATE LVIII 

3 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Buettneriajacksoniana Berry, n. sp.; p. 182. 

2-4. Combretum petraflumense Berry, n. sp.; pp. 85,190. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Millican, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LIX 

1 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

Combretum petrajlumense Berry,_ n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Millican, Tex.; pp. 85, 190. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LX 

2 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSO AGE. 

J. Oreodaphne brazosensis Berry, n. sp.; p. 186. 

2. Ficus brazosensis Berry, n. sp .; p. HiO. 

3, 4. Ceanothusjacksonensis Berry, n sp.; p. 178. 

5. 1lfespilodaphne jacksonensis Berry, n. sp.; p. 18o. 

6. Ficus sp.; p. 161. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Millican, Tex. 

3 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LXI 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1-3 . Smilaxfayetten:;is Berry, n. sp.; p. 147. 

4. Sapotacites millicanensis Berry, n. sp.; p. 194. 

5. Palmocarpon sessile Berry, n . sp.; p. 152. 

All !rom Fayette sandstone, Millican, 'l'ex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LXll 

2 

4 

6 

7 5 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Phoenicitest sp.; p. 150. 

2-5. Euonymus santotomasensis Berry, n . s p.; p. 179. 

6. Ardisia sp.; p. 193. 

7. Anacardites balli Berry, n. sp.; p.177. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Millican , Tex. 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LXIII 

1 

2 

3 

4 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Eodichroma mirifica Cockerell; a dragon-fl y wing, X 4. 

2. jfyrcia ambigua[ormis Berry, n. sp.; p . 191. 

3, 4. Chrysophyllum preolivi[orme Berry, n. sp.; p. 194. 

5. Tiliajacksoniana Berry, n. sp.; p. 180. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, Tex. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE J.X:IV 

1 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1. Citharcxylon brazosense Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 197. 

'2 . Marchantites stephensoni Berry, Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, 1'ex.; p . 141. 

3 . Carpolithus balli Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Piedmont, Tex.; p.l98. 

4. Formica eoptera Cockerell, Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; an ani wing, X 4. 

5. Tiliajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, Tex.; p. 180. 

6. Nipadites burtini umbonatus Bowerbank, Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, '!'ex.; p. 150. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 92 PLATE LXV 

4 

J 

2 6 

----

3 8 

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM DEPOSITS OF JACKSON AGE. 

1-4. Bumelia balli Berry, n. sp., showing the variations in form and size; p. 195. 

5. Ncctandra antilllLnafolia Berry, n. sp.; p. lSi. 

6. Antholithes balli Berry, n. sp., a Jackson flower; p. 199. 

7. Nyssajacksoniana Berry, n. sp., fruits of a Jackson gum; p.l92. 

s. Caenomyces jacksonensis Berry, n. sp., a leaf-spot fungus on leaves of Combretum petrajlumense Berry, n. sp.; p.l41. 

All from Fayette sandstone, Mossy Creek, Brazos County, 'l'ex. 
INDEX. 

A. Page. Achras ______________ • ____________________________________________ 90, 91 

Acknowlodgmonts for aid·------·-------------------------------- 2 

Acrostlchum aureum, plato showing _______________________ Pl. XXVII 

goorgianum Berry------- 10, 15, 31, 37, 42-43,.97, 135, 143, Pl. XXVIII 

hesporium NewberrY-·------------- 12, 15, 31, 32, 34, 37, 42, 43, Pl. HI 

Alabama, Claiborne group in·------------------------------------ G-7 

restoration of tho Jackson coast of, plate showirig ________ Pl. XXVI 

Aluska, charaetoristlc species or. ___ -------------------------- ____ 35-36 

Anacarditos ball! Berry, n. SP------------------------ W5, 177, Pl. LXII 

A ndromedt\ dubia Losqueroux •• __ ---·---------------------- ____ __ 91 

Anehnia eoconica Berry-------·------- _____ ----- 13, 15, 27, 31, 33, 37, 41-42. 

kaulfussi Ori6. ----------------------------- ----~----- ____ ____ 40 

subcrotacea (Saporta) Gardner and E ttingshausen. ___ ------- 41 

Anona toxana BerrY-------.---------------- 95,120,135,165, Pl. XXXIII 

Antholithos balli Berry, n. SP------------------------ 105,199, Pl. LXV 

Apocynophyllum grevilleafolium Berry, n. sp ________ _._ 13, 14, 17, 31, 32, 

39, 92,104,105,106,135,196, Pis. XXIII, XXXIV, LV 

texeusis Berry, n. SP--------------- 10, 13, 14, 17, 31, 32, 39,91-92, 98, 

104,105,106,135,195, Pis. XXII, XL, XLI, XLV 

Amlla corrugata Sa porta •••• ---- ___ .------.---------.____________ 67 

"At·ctic 1\:Uoceno," comparison of flora of, with the Jackson flora. 137 

Ardisia SP------------------------------------------- 105,193, Pl. LXII 

Area considered ••••• _~--.-~- _______ ---- _________________ ---______ 2-3 

Arlstolochla clalbornlana Berry, n. sp •• 12, 15, 21, 31, 32, 34, 38, 59, Pl. IX 

cordlfolla Newberry--••• ______ ---____________________________ 59 

wllcoxiana Berry __ • _________ .________________________________ 59 

Aru11do goeppertl Lesquereux (not MUnster)_____________________ 49 

pseudogoepperti Berry __________________ 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,18-19,31, 

32, 34, 38, 49-50,97, 103, 135, 137, H8, Pl.XLI 

Asplonltos allosuroldes Unger ___ ----·----------------------------- 40 

prao-allosuroidos Gardner and Ettingsbausen________________ 40 

A throtaxls SP-------------- -------------------- 11, IIi, 31, 32, 38, 46, Pl. II 

B. 

Bactrltos Berry, n. gen ••••• ______________________________________ 51-52 

pa11danifoliolus .Derry, n. sp _______ 10, 15, 31, 32, 34, 38, 52-53, Pl. VII 

Bt\11lsteria toxnna Berry, 11. sp ____________ 122,132, 136,175, Pl. XXXIV 

lla11ksh\]acksonensls Berry, 11. sp ______ 98,102,119,135,161, Pl. XXXII 

Hauhi11ia wndil Berry, n. sp. ·---------- 101,102,120. 135,169-170, Pl. LI 

Berchemin multlncrvis Hem· __ : ________________________________ ·__ 66 

Betula nigm Berry (not Liune):__________________________________ 158 

Big11oniaceous fntit. ••• ----------------------------------- _____ 101, 102 

IJombacitcs jnckso11cnsis Berry,· n·. SP---------------------------- 104, 

105, IOfi, 136, 18Q-181, Pis. XXXIV,XXXV 

Buettnerin jncksoninna Berry, i1. SP------------------------------ 105, 

182-183, Pis. LVI, LVII, LVlU 

llumelit\ bnlli Berry, n. SP------------------------~-- 105,195, Pl. J.~XV 

pseudotonnx Berry------------------ ___ ---------------------- 195 Bmseritcs Berry, n. gen .• ________________________________________ 175 

fayottousis .Berry, u. sp ___ 101,102,104,105,132,136,175-176, Pl. XLI 

0. 

Oaonornyccs jncksoncnsis Berry, 11. SP------------ 105,106,141, Pl. LXV 

Unosalpiuitos pii1SOI1Cnsis .BerTy------------------------ __________ 64-65 

Callitris bro11g11iartl l~ndlicltcr· ___ -------- _____ · _______ -------- __ __ 198 

Ct\IOCt\rpum ••• -----------------------------------------------.90, 91, 193 vlrldo Pltticr ____________________________________________ Pl. XXII 

virldiformc Berry, u. SP------------------- 104,105, 136,193, Pl. XL 

Ct\UUI\ coccnica Berry------------------------------------------- 50 

llaccidl\folit\ Berry, n. SP------------ 12, 15, 31, 32, 34; 38, 50,147, Pl. 11 

Jncksoninnn Berry, n. SP------------- 50,104,116,135,147, Pl. XLIX 

.magnifolin Knowlton ___________________________ -------_______ 147 

Uappnridocarpus }3crry, n. gcn___________________________________ 166 

sphericus Berry, n. SP---------------------- 101,136,166-167, Pl. LV 

01\rlll>l\ xylocnrpoldcs Derry_---------------- 12, 16, 34, 38,67-68, Pl. XII 

Carpolithus balli Berry, n. sp."·------------------------ 198, Pl. LXIV 

bumeliaformls BerTY----------------------------------- 102,136,198 

cnllltrlformls Berry, n. SP------------------ 131,136, 197-198, Pl. XL 

najasoidcs Berry, n. SP------------------------- 97, 135, 198, Pl. XLI 

picdmontc11sis ••• _ -----. ----------------------------·- 105 

68844-24--14 

Page. 

Carrizo sandstone, nature and stratigraphic place of._____________ 8-9 

Oarya olivaeformis NuttalL ..• -------___________________________ 155 

Cassia cultrifolia Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kuntb______________ 170 

fayettensis Berry _______ ------ ___ • _____ • __ --- ________________ • 169 

cockfleldensis Berry, n. sp. __ ----------- 12, 16, 31; 33, 34, 38, 63, Pl. X 

georgiana Berry, n. SP------------~----------- 135,169, Pl.·XXXIII 

jacksoniana Berry, n. SP------------------ 103,135,169, Pl. XXXIII 

lignitum Unger ____ ------------------------------------------ . 191 

obionana Berry, n. SP----------------------- 101, 102, 135, 169, Pl. Ll 

Castanea claibornensis BerrY.----------------------- 97,135,156-157,158 

Oataboula sandstone, relation or fiora of, to the Jackson fiora ••• 136-137 

Oeanotbusjacksonensis Berry, n. SP---------------- 105,178-179, Pl. LX 

Oebatha carolina Berry (not Britton>---------------------------- 161i 

Oedrela jacksonlana Berry, n. sp. __________ 13, 16, 31, 38, 67, 101, 102, 103, 

104, 105, 131, 132, 136, 174-175, Pis. XXXIV, XLIV 

Oelastrophyllum columbianum ~erry, n. SP---------------------- 12, 

. 16, 31, 33, 34, 38, 69, Pl. XII 

gyrnindoides Berry, n. SP------------------------------------ 10, 

12, 16, 32, 34, 38, 68-69, Pl. XII 

Obnracter of the Claiborne fiora .••••••• -------------------------- 18-25 

of the Jackson fiora •••• _ ---------------------- _ ----. ___ • ---- 111-129 of the Jackson formation _____________________________________ 95-96 

Obenopodiales in the Jackson fiora. ------------------------ 119,162-163 

Oberry Valley, Ark., plants from •.••• ---------------------------- 11 

Obondrophyllum nordenskiOldi Heer. ·-------------------------- 146 

Ohoripetalae, in tho:~ Claiborne fiora-.----------------------- 20-24, M-89 

in the Jackson llora. __ ----------------------------- 117-127, 153-193 

Obrysopbyllum preoliviforme Berry, n. sp ______ 105,194-195, Pl. LXIII 

Oinnamomum, geologic history of. ••• ---------------------------- 124 

angustum Berry; n. SP---------------------------------'------ 10, 

16, 31, 32, 38,78-79,97, 135, 184-185, Pis. XIV, XXXV 

bucbii H cer. ____ ------ ________________ • ______________________ . 184 

oblougatnrn Berry _______ ------------~-- __ ·_------- _____ ------ 78-79 

·spcctabilc .Eleor·-------·------------------------------ 103,104,135, 184 

SP---------------------------- _ ----------------------------- 106, 185 

Oitlmrexylon bmzosense Berry, u. sp ________________ 105,197, Pl. LXIV 

eoligniticum Berry ____ ._. ________ -~-_________________________ 197 

villosum ·Jacqu.n •• ____________________ ~ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ ___ 197 

Oitrophyllum aligerum (Lesquereux) Berry _________________ 67, Pl. XI 

eocenicum Ber~y, n. sp.10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 31, 32, 34, 38,66-67, Pl. XI: 

Citrus limonum Risso._ -----------------------------------------Pl. XI 

Oladosporites fasciculatus Berry_._-----. 15, 31, 37, 39, 112, 134, 141, Pl. IL 

Oh\iborne deposits, character, succession, and dis;ribution oL.... 6-9 

preceding studies of. _________________ ----: ____ ~ __________ --- __ 

sections oL" __________________________________ ---- ____________ I 0-14 

Claiborne fiora, list oL.------------------------------------------ :l7-3\J 

Claiborne Landing, Ala., plants from____________________________ 10 

Clarno, upper and lower, species from____________________________ 35 

Coastal Plain, geologic history oL-------------------------------

Ooccolobis claibornensis Berry, n: sp .. ,------------------------- 10, 

13, 14, 15, 31, 33, 38, 59-60, 103, 106, 119, 135, 161-162, Pl. IX 

columbianus Berry, n. sp ______ 12, 15, 31, 32, 38, 60,105,119,162, Pl. X 

uvifemfolia Berry __________ ----- ______ .______________________ 60 

Columbia, La., plants from·--------------------------~---------- 12 

Oombretum petraflumense Berry, n. SP-------------------------- 13, 

17, 31, 39,85-86,104, 105, 136, 141, 190 Pis. XLV, LVIII, LIX 

C)mposition of the Claiborne fiora _______________________________ 18-25 

.or the Jackson fiora ________________ --------------------- ____ lll-12H 

Conifers in the Jackson fiora _______________________________ 114, i43-144 

Conocarpus eocenicus Berry_ ------------------------------------ · 10, 

17, 31, 39,86-87,97, 104, 106, 135, 190, Pis. XXXV, XXXIX 

Cook Mountain formation, nature and thickness oL_____________ 8, H 

Oopaifera armissanensis Saporta·--------------------------------- Pl. X 

kymeana Unger·----------------·---------------------------- Pl. X 

langsdorfii Desfontaines.---------------------------------- 63, Pl. X 

mdobojana Unger _____________________________ : ______________ Pl. X 

yeguana Berry __________________________ 16, 31, 33, 34, 38,63-64, Pl. X 

Correlation of the Claiborne flora with those of other areas _______ 34-3G 

of tho Jackson fiora with those of other areas. ___ ------------- 13(i 

within the ClaiboqJ.c group ______ : ___________________________ 31-34 

within the Jackson formation------~----------------------- 134-136 

203 
'\ 

204 INDEX. 

Page. 

Cupanites nigricans (Lesquereux) Berry" __ 97, 135, 137, 176, Pl. XXXIV 

parvulis Berry, n. SP-------~---------- 12, 16, 31, 33, 34, 38, 70, Pl.·XII 

Cupressinoxylon arkansanum Knowlton ________________ 15, 31, 32, 38,49 

dawsoni Penhallow ____ • _____ . _ ....• _.. 15, 18, 31, 32, 38, 48-49, Pl. VI 

.Cupressites racemosus Goeppert_. ____ ------ ______ ------------ ___ 47 

sudworthL .... ----------------------------- 99,135,136,137,143-144 

Cypselites jacksonensis Berry, n.: SP------------ 103,135,198-199, Pl. XL 

. . D. 

Date palms, llabitats oL .. ·--------------------------------- 133, 149-150' 

phite showing ____ . ____ . ________________ • _______ .-- _______ Pl. XXIII 

·Dicotyledons in the Claiborne flora ________________________ 2Q-25, 54-92 

in the Jackson flora·-----~------------------------'-- 117-129,153-199 

Diospyros brachysepaJa Alexander Braun ... 10, 13,·17, 27, 31, 33, 35, 39,91 

·m.iraflorian~ Berry, n. sp _________ _._104, 106, 135, 195, Pis. XL, XLIII 

_·Distribution of the Claiborne flora.~----~-"----~-------~--------- 14-17 

the Jackson flora ____________ -------------------------.----- 106-110 

the Jackson formation ________ . ______________________ ---------- 95-96 

·. DodonaiJa. viscosoides Berry _____________ ·--------~---------- 10, 16, 31, 38, 

7Q-71, 97, 103, 104, 105, 135, 176-177, Pis. XII, XXXIV, XLII 

· Dombeyoxylon affine Felix ______ _. _______ ~--------------~------- 181-182 

jacksonensis Berry, n. sp ______ 136,181-182, Pis. XXXVI, XXXVII. 

Dryophyllum brevipetiolatum Berry, ri."sp _____________ 15,31,38,56-57, 

104, 105, 131, 134, 157-158, Pis. XXIII, XXVIII, XXXI 

curticellense Saporta and Marion _______ _-______________________ 158 

dewalquei Sapor~a and Marion .. -----------------------.------ 158 

E. 

Eastel'n Gulf region, conditions in, during Jackson time _____ " __ 129-130 

Ebenales in the Claiborne flora .•••. ~----------------------- 24-25,89-91 

in the Jackson flora .•. --~------~------c-- ----------·---- 128, 193-195 

.Elkhart, 'rex., plants from.~-------------------··-----------~----- 12-13 

. Engelhardtia abscondita Saporta.:.----------"------------------- . 154 

jacksonensis Berry, n. SP-----------~-- 103,135,153-155, Pl. XXVIII 

mississippiensis Berry .• :----.•. -.... --.---._.-~---~-~.--.-.-. 154 

puryearensis Berry __ ---.-----------•. -.---... -----~----.----- 154 

· Eoachras eocenica ---·----------- 10, 17, 31, 32, 34, 39, 9Q-91, 194, Pl. XXII 

Eodichroma·miriflca· CockerelL----------------------------- Pl. LXIII 

. Equisetum SP----------------------------·---·c 103, 113·, 135,142, Pl. XLI 

Euonymus ·flexifolius Lesqtiereux ..• ----------------------------- 69 

santotomasensis Berry, n. sp_.________________________________ 16, 

' . 31, 33, 38,69-70, 105, 179, Pis. XXIII, LXII. 

splendens Berry-----•• -------·-------•• ---.--------------·---- 69 

xantholithensis Ward. c ----------------~- -------------------- 69 

·Europe, comparison of flo~as of, with the Claiborne flora _________ 36-37 

comparison of floras of, ·with the Jackson flora.---------~--- 137-139 

Eu'ropeaii stages, ~orrelation of nomenclature with.---------·----- 30 

. Fagal~s i~- ~h~ cfai~or~e flora.----~·--------~----------------- 21,56-57 

in the Jackson flora .. ·------------------------------ 117-118,156-158 

Fagara catahoul.~nsis coriaceaBerry _____________ 102,136,137,174, Pl. LI 

. catahoulensis elongata Berry---------------- 95, 102,132, 136, 137, 173 

maj~r Be~rY--~-------------~-----102, 104,136,137, 173-174~ Pl. LI 

orbiculata BerrY. __ "·----------------------- 95, 132, 136, 137, 173 

var •• ------------------------------------------------------ 105 

claibornensi~ Berry, n. ·sP-~---------· 10, 13, 16, 31, 32, 34, 38, 66, Pl. XI 

· . petraflumensis Berry, n. SP----------~---- 13, 16, 31, 38, 66, Pl. XLIII 

Fasciculites lacunosus. Unger ...... ~.---------- .• -------•• -------- 152 

Faunas of the Claiborne group __ ----------------------.~--------- 9,12 

Faunas of the Jackson beds .. ------------------------------------ 111 

Fayette sandstone, scope and nature of. ________________ ·_"________ 96 

Ferns in the Ciaiborne flora .. ~-------------------------------- 19,39-46 

. in the Jackson flora._. _________ _. ___ ---------------- 112-113, 142-143 

•. ·,Ficus brazosensis Berry, D.. sp. -------------------- 105, 16Q-161, Pl. LX · . claibornensis Berry _________________ 97,104,135,.159-160, Pl. XXXII 

Ieucostica ... ___ ........•.. --.... ---------.-.. -~- ------------- 183 . mississlpi:iiimsis (Lesquereux) Berry ____________________ 104,135,160 

ncwtoncnsis Berry, n. SP--------------------------------------- 10, 

13, 14, 15, 31, 32, 34, 38, 58, 82, 135, 160, Pl. IX· 

oblanceolata Lesqueicux .. __ .•.•. --•....••.. ----.-----.-----. 62 

puryearensis _ ...... _ ... _ ~ __ ... _ .... ---------.. ·. --------------- 57 · tiliaefolia (Alexander Braun) Heer ___________ " _____________ 16Q-161 

ungeri Lesquereux .. __ ------------------------ 10, 15, 31, 34, 35, 38, 58 

unioncnsis Berry, n. sp ___ .... ___ . ~ ------- ----------~---------- 12, 

14, 15, 31, 38, 57, 98, 103, 135, 160, Pl. XXXII 

. :~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~-- ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~-- ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~ ~ -~~~-~~-~~~-~~· ~~5~~~~~·~\~~ .. Figs in the Claiborne flora ... ------------.-------------------- 21,5 7-59 

in the Jackson flora .• ·-------------.-------------------- 118,159-161 

Page. 

Floras, European, comparison or, with the Claiborne flora ........ 33-3~ 

European, comparison of, with the Jackson flora ...••.•.... 137-139 

later, relation of the Jackson flora to ________________________ 136-137 

other Eocene; comparison of Claiborne flora with _____________ 34-36 

comparison of Jackson flora with·-------------~---------- 137 

Formica eoptera, plate showing _____________________________ Pl. LXIV 

Fort Gaines, Ga., plants from ...•..... ~---------------~--~=-=-"-~· 12 

Fungi in the Claiborne flora __ ·--------------"--------------------- 19,_39 

in the Jackson flora .... ______ ------- _______ .: .. -------- 112,14Q-14I 

G. 

Gamopetalae in the Claiborne flora .... -~------------------ 24-2S, 81l, 92 

in the Jackson flora._ .. ________________ _. ___ ---------------. 193-197\ 

Geologic history of Claiborne time _________________________ . ______ 2.'i-2fi 

of Jackson time· ..• __ ... -~---- .. --------~--- ___ ----------_._· 133-134 

of the area.----------~----------- __ ·_------------------------- 3-4 

Geonomites claibornensis Berry, n. SP-----------------------------'" 14, 

. 15, 31, 32, 34, 38, 53-54, Pl. XL)'III 

Georgia, Claiborne group iJJ._____________________________________ 7 

Geraniales in the Claiborne flora ..... ~-----------~------------ 22,66-68 

in the Jackson flora·------------------------------- 121-122,173-176 

Gleditsia ..••. __ ~-. _. ~- ... _ •. ____ • _____ • _ ~ .•..•• _. _____ ..... _ ..• 171-172 

Gleditsiophyllum eocenicum Berry .••• -------- 13, 15,.27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 63 

Glyptostrobus bilinicus Ettingshaui;en~_:________________________ 47 

europaeus (Brongniart) Heer. .•...•.• ~------------. c ----------- 10, 

. 15, 27, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38, 101, 102, 134, 144, Pl. XLIX 

ungeri Beer .... ___ ..• __ .... __ .. _. __ .••..•.•••••.... ~-.... 47 

oeningensis Alexander Braun ____ ..• : ....•. ~~ ..... ~ .. --~ •.... __ 47 

ungeri Heer ... ______ .... ___ .•. __ . _ •. _. ~ .... __ .• :··-•• .• .. . . . . 47 

Goldman, M. I., petrographic study of Catahoula sandstone by_·_ 130, 132 

Goniopteris claiborniana Berry _____ 10, 12, 15, 31, 34, 37,44-46, Pis. IV, V 

Gosport sand,- nature and stratigraphic place of. __________________ 6-7 

species known in· _________ ------------ ___ .. ------------------- 31,32 

Grasses in the Claiborne flora ........ --------------"---------- 20,49-50 

in the Jackson flora. __ ------v--------~---------·------ ____ 115, 148 

Green River flora, comparison of, with the Jackson flora......... 137 

Green River formation, correlation with·--------------~---------- -34-35 

Greenland, genera represented in ..... ---------------------------- 36 

Grewiopsis claiborniana Berry, n. sp ---------------·---------------- 11, 

12, 16, 31, 33, 34, 38, 7fr.-76, 179, Pl. XIII 

·wadii Berry, n. SP--------------------- 101,102,136,179-180, Pl. LII 

_Grovetown, Ga., climate and coailtal conditions near ......... :. 129-130 

collection from .• __ . _____ ..•. __ -----.. _.~-- ... -----~- ..• _..... 97 

Gymnogramme gardneri Lesquereux _____________________________ · 43 

Gymnosperms in the Claiborne flora _______________________ 19-20,46-49 

in the Jackson flora ... ---------------------------.. 113-114, f43-144 

H, 

Hickman, Ky., age of outcrops near. ..•. ~----------------------- 99-101 

' plants from localities near------------------------------------ 101 

Hicoriajacksoniana Berry, n. SP--------------------------~------- 13, 

15, 31, 38, 55-56, 101, 102, 135, 155, Pis. X fJIU, J, 

pecan (Marshall) Britton ........ ---------------------------- 155 

rostrata Ludwig _______________ .----------------... --------- 151>--IM 

rostrataformis Berry, n. sp. --------------- 101,102,135, 155-1S6, Pl. J, 

I. 

Inga arkanscnsis Berry, u. sp .. _ .... ·. U, 14, 15, 31, 33, 34, 38, 62, 167, Pl. X 

laurinafolia Berry---------------------------... -------------. 167 

jacksoniana Berry, n. sp _______________ 13,104, 106, 135,_167, PJ."XLU 

mississippiensis Berry _____ .•. ----------------------------.--.. 62 

puryearensis Berry ___ ... _._ ... ___ .•. __ ..• ___ ... -------.:..... li2 

Iron carbonate nodules, plant-bearing, plate showing _________ c·-- Pl. I 

J. 

Jackson deposits, Claiborne species in·------------------------.--- 18--JIJ 

·Jackson flora, list of. ______ . _____________________________________ 139-140 

Juglandales in the Claiborne flora .....•.....•.....• ~---------- 20,54-56 

in the Jackson flora. __ --------------------------------- 117, 153-15(1 

Juglans rugosa Lesquereux .... __ . __ . __ ••.. --•.....•.....•... --... 54 

schimperi Lesquerenx.~----------------- 14, 15, 27, 31, 33, 34, 38,54-55 

L. 

Lagrange, 'l'cx., plants from locality near _________________________ . 13 

Laguncularia claiborniana Berry, n. sp _____ 10, 17, 31, 34, 39;87, Pl. XXII 

preracemosa Berry-"·---------------------------------------- 87 
'INDE·X. 205 

Page. 

Lastrca flscheri Hecr -----------•.•.••••..•..•.. ------------------ 45 

in termed Ia Lesquereux .•......••.••.•..... _.... .• . • .. .. . . .. 45 

knlghtlana....... •• • • . • . • . • . • .• •• • . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • •• .• • . • . • 45 

polypod lodes ••.•••••..•.•.•.•••.•.•.•.......•............•. _·_ 45 

.TAmraceae, relationship of........................................ 185 

:J~aurnceous fruit ... ----------------------·----.. 101, 102, 136, 188, Pl. LII 

Lnurlnoxylon Felix .... ------------------------------------------- 83 

bnkerl Berry, n. sp ............ 17,31,33,34,38,83-84, Pis. XVII-XX 

brannerl Knowlton ...•••.....•.••. 17,31,38,84-85,135,188, Pl. XXI 

lesquereuxiana Knowlton ... ------,---------.•.••. 17, 31, 33, 34, 38,85 

sp. Knowlton .•••....••••.•••.•.•.•..•......•...•.••••.••.• 135,188 

Legumlnosltes SP---------------------------------- 97,135,199, Pl. XLI 

Lexington, Miss., plants from·------------------------------------ 9-10 

l,,iquldambar incort.a Berry, n. SP----------------------- 172-17a, Pl. LI 

sp ••• _ ------------------------ ••• -------- •• _____ • ______ 101, 102, 135 

IJi~hon formation, rmttn·o and stratigraphic place of.._____________ 6, 7 

species known in .•••••••.................. : ....•. ------ ___ 31, 32,33 

l~onchocnrpus anceps Berry, n. sp ........•.. 101,102,135,171-172, Pl. LI 

l~tHmlities, plants collected from each ..•.•.•.•••.•.......... 9-17,96-110 

l.,uuisiurm, Claiborne group in .....•.••.•.•..•.•.•........•..•.... · 7, 8 

plant localities in •.• ------------------------------------~----- 103 

Lygodlum bincrvatum (Lcsquereux) Berry---------------------- 40 

don toni Lesqucreux .... ----------- ----------~·----- ...•.•. ·. .. 143 

Lucuma salicifolla Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth .......• Pl. XXII 

J.Jygotlli.tm- kaulfussl Hcer •. -------------------------------------- 10, 

14, 15, 18, 31, 32, 35, 37, 39-41, 98, 134, 142, 143, Pl. III 

misslsslpplensis BerrY----~----------·------------ 40,135,136,142-143 

ncmopteroldes Lesquereux ••.•. ----.-------------... --------.. 39 

M. 

McMurmins Crossing, Ark., plants from .• ---------------------~- 103 

JHacon, Oa., localit;y 10 miles south of, plants from section at..... 98 

JV[nlapoenna SP---------------------------------------------- 97, 135,188 

f~Jalvalcs In tho Claiborne flor-a ...•...•.....•.................. 23,75-77 

In tho Jnckson flora .•. ------ ____ --------------......... 123, 179-183. 

Mangroves, habits oL.------------------------------------------- 12!i in Bermuda, plate showing ___________________________ Pl. XXVII 

'iVt:nrchontia pcolci Knowlton..................................... 142 

scztlnncnsis Brongniart •...•.. -------------------------------- 142 

1\-t:nrchnntitcs stophonsoni Berry .•.• ------------ 105,141-142, Pl. LXIV 

1\olonispormitcs oar·oliuaformis Bcrry,n. sp __________________ _._____ 101, 

102, ,13q, 165-166, Pls. L, LI 

Monlspormum canadcnso Knowlton (not Linn~>----------------- 165 

Mospilodaphnc caudata Berry, n. sp ..• · .•.....• ---- -------------- 12, 

13, 14, 16, 31, 32, 38,81-82, 135, 185, Pl. XV 

cmrdat.a major Berry, 11. var .o ••••••••••••••• 104, 136, 185, Pl. XLII 

columbiana Berry, n. SP----~-------------------------------- 10, 

11; 12, 13, 14, 16,19,31,32, 38, 81, 99, 135, 186, Pl. XV 

couslmUa Berry.............................................. 186 

oollgnltlca (Hollick) BerrY----------------------------------- 81 

jncksouonsls Horr·y, n sp •••••••••• ---------------- 105,186, Pl. LX 

tcxana Berry, n. SP------------------------------------------- 99, 

101 1 162, 103, 104, 105, 106, 131, 136, 185-186, Pl. XXXVIII 

1\-lillicmn, Tex., plarits from locality ncar __ .---------------------- 105 

M irnositos georgian us Berry •..•...•.•••.•••••.•••. ----........... 10, 

13,.14, 15, 19, 31, 32, 38, 62-63,97, 105, 135, 168 

irmoquilatomlis Berry .. , •.•..••.•••.•...•.•... _· __ ...•••••.... 168 

rnisslssipplonsis Berry, n. sp. __ ------------ 98,135,168, Pl. XXXIII· 

SJmtulatus Berry, n. sp ......••••••••• 103, 135,167-168, Pl. XXXIII 

!l·limusops claibornonsis Berry, n. sp •• 11, 17, 31, 33,34,39,89-90, Pl. XXII 

eollgnltlca Berry •.•••••••••••••••••••••.....••• :............. 90 

Mlmflorcs ranch, 'l'ex., plants from locality near................. 106 

Mississippi, Claiborne group in ....• -----------------------·-----

Momisla americana Berry ....•..••••••••• 14, 15,31,38, 57, 97, 118,135,158 

Monocotyledons In tho Claiborne flora .•• ·--"----------------- 20,49-54 

in tho Jackson flom·------------------------------- 114-117,145-153 

Moss·li1 tho Jackson flora·--------------------------------- 112,141-142 

:Mount Solman formtltion, nature and thickness of.______________ 8,9 

species known ln ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••..••••••••••••••• 31-32 

M:yrcla ambiguaformls Berry, n. SP----------------- 105,191, Pl. LXIII 

bcutononsis DerrY------~--------------------~---------- 135,191,192 

catahoulonsls Berry-------------------------------- 105, 136, 137, 191. 

puryearonsls Berry ..••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.•• ------... 191 

trowbrldglllorr·y, n. sp. __ 14, 17, 31, 32, 34, 38, 87-88, 192, Pl. XL VIII 

vera Derry •• -. ••.•••••••••. _ _._ .•. -.-•.•••.•.•.•. ~--............ 88 

sp ••..••••••.•.•.••••..•••...•.••......... ----.. .•. • .. •.. . .• • • 103 

Myrica claiborniana Berry, n. SP------------------ 10, 15, 2i, 31,34;38,56 

nigrlcans Lesquoreux ••.•..•.•••. :.. .•• •• • ••• •. •• • ••. .• . .• •• . • 176 

zacharlcnsis Lesquereux .•••.•••••• 103, 117, 135,137, 156, Pl. XXVIII 

Page. 

Myristica catahoulcnsis Berry-~-- •••• 106,131,135,163-165, Pl. XXXII 

Myrtalcs in the Claiborne flora .... __ --------~------------- 23-24, 85-8l:! 

in the Jackson flora·-------------·------------------ 125-126,188-192 

N . 

Nectandra antillanafolia Berry, n. sp_____________ 13, 17, 31, 38, 83,103, 

104,105,106,135,187, Pis. XXXVIII,XLII,LII, LIII, LXV 

arkansaria Berry, n. sp. 10, 17, 31, 38,82-83, 103, 135, 187, Pl. XXXVIII 

gosportensis Berry, n . .sp. 10, 11,"14, 16, 19, 31,32, 34,38, 82,131, Pl. XVI 

var. jacksoncnsis Berry, n.'var _____ ...• 136, 187-188, Pl. XXXV 

lowii Berry ________ .. ---------------------------------------- R2 

Nerium parisiense Saporta .. ------------------------------------- 102 

Nevils Prairie region, 'l'ox., plants from ....• ------------"·------- l:l-14 

New Edinburgh, Ark., plant;s from locality ncar................. IO:l 

Newton, Miss., plants from ___ ·---------------------------------- 10 

Nipaditcs burtini umbonatus Howorbank ....... 105, 108,J50, Pl. LXLV 

Nyssa colignitica Berry._-----·---------------------~------------- 88 jacksoniana Berry, n. sp _______ _. _____________ : 10-\192-193, Pl. LXV 

lcscur'ii (Hitchcock} _____ --------------..•.. -------- _______ ... 88 

toxana Berry, n.sp. 17, 31, 39,88-89, 131,135,192, Pis. XXH, XXXIX 

wilcoxiana Berry ••. ___ · _____ -------- __ .. · ...... 17, 27, 31, 33, ~9, 8!J, 193 

0. 

Orcodaphno brazosensis Berry, n·. SP------------------- .105,186, Pl. LX 

incquilateralis Berry, n. SP----------------------------------- 10, 

11,12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 31, 32, 38, 8Q-81, Pis. XVI, XLIV 

.obtusifolia Berry-------- ___ ... -------... ----'-- 13, 16, 27, 31, 33, 38,80 

Orcomunnca ... _ ......................• _____ . _................... 154 

Oreopanax mississippiensis Berry, n. SP-------------------------- 10, 

17, 31, 32, 39, 88, 98, 135, 192, Pl. XXII 

Osmunda ligniturn Stur .... ____ ----------.. ------...••.... ------- 45-46 

Ostrca sellaeformis .•.•. ~----·------------------------------------ 6, 7,10 

Outcrops bearing Claiborne plants, location and yield of......... 9-14 

Outcrops bearing Jackson plants, location and yield of. .......... 96-106 

Oyster beds, successive positions ·of, plate showing .. ________ ·Pl. XXIV 

p 

Palaeolobium haeringianurn Unger_______________________________ 195 

Palafox, 'l'ex., plants from.·-------------------------------------- 14 

Palestine, 'l'ex., plants from ...................•. ·----------------- 12-13 

Paliurus catahoulensis Berry __ --------------- 102, 136, 177-178, Pl. LIV 

Palmocarpon sessile Berry, n. sp .•.•.•...•.... 105, 150, 152-153, Pl. LXI 

BP---------------------------- 13, 15, 31,32,38, 54, 101, 102, 134, 136, 152 

Palmoxylon lacunosum (Unger) Felix............................ 15, 

38, 5Q-51, 95, 135, 136, 152, Pl. XL VII 

Palms in the Claiborne flora .. --------;------------------------ 20,50-54 

in tho Jackson flora ...........•..••.•••.•.•....•••....• 115-116,153 

rays from._ •.••...•.. _ ..•. __ •.•.....•.•.•••.•.• _____ ......• 102, 15a 

Pandanus intermedius .. __ ....... _ •.......... -------...••.•••.. c. 5:3 

lutctianus .•••..••.. ----.....•.• -------..•.•... ~- •.•...•... __ . 53 

Papilionites erythrinaformis Berry, n. sp ________________ ---------- 101, 

102,105,106,135,171, Pl. XXXIII 

Parietales in the Jackson flora_ ..•.•.•.•. ···"· .....••....•••. ___ 123-124 

Pecten deshayesii.... .•. . . • ... . . . . . . • •••••• .• .•. .•• .••• ••. . . . . • •• 6 

Persea gratissimifolia Berry, n. SP~------ 10, 11, 16,31, 34,38, 79, Pl. XIV 

lexingtonensis Berry, n. sp ••• · ••... 10, 14, 16, 31,34, 38,79-80, Pl. XV 

wilcoxiana Berry __ ...•..••....•••••.•....••.....•.... ___ .•••• 79-80 

Persomlles in tho Jackson Hom ..•.........•.•.•.....•.. 128-129,196-197 . 

Pestalozzites minor BerrY--------------------------- 97,112,134,136, 141 

Phoenicitcs occidentalis Berry ____________ 131,135,148-150, Pl. XXVIU 

SP------------------------------------------------ 105, 150, Pl. LXU 

Phoenix dactylifcra fossilts Drude................................ 149 

Physical conditions during Claiborne time •.•..••••••••.•••..•••• 25-26 

during Jackson time ..•.•.•......• .: •••..•••••..••••.•..••.. 129-134 

Piedmont, Tex., 'plants from .. ___ -------------------------------- 105 

Pisonia in the Claiborne flora __ ---------------------------------- 21,61 

in the Jackson flora __ c __________ ·----------------------- 119,162-163 

balli Berry, n. SP------------------------- 104,135,162-163, Pl. XLII 

claiborniana Berry.J •••••.•..••.•.• 12, 15, 31, 38, 61,97, 135, 162, Pl. X 

eocenica Ettingshausen .••...•.•.••••• -------------. ••••.• •••• 195 

jacksoniana Berry, n. SP-------------~----------------------- 98, 

101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 135, 162, Pis. XXXII, XLIX 

'Pistia claiboruensis Berry ____________ : ________ 97,135,146, Pl. XXVIII 

corrugata Lesquereux __ . ---------------------~---------------- 146 

mazelii __ .......•.•••.. ----------.•••.. ----------------...... 146 

Planera aquatica Berry (not Gmelin)............................ 158 

gmelini Lesquereux (not Michaux)___________________________ 158 

hickmanensis Berry, n.' SP---------~-- 101, 102, 118, 135, 158-159, Pl.L 

Plesiocapparis' leptocelyphus Muller._------------------------- 166-167 
206 INDEX. 

Page. 

Plum, Tex., section near ______________ ·--------------------------- 104 

Polygonales in the Claiborne flora _____________________________ 21, 5g:.._60 

in the Jackson flora. _____ --- _____ --~--- ________________ 119, 161-162 

Potamogeton megaphyllus Berry ______________ 97,135,145, Pl. XXVIII 

nordenskii:ildi Heer _____ ---- _ __ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ 145 

SP----------~--·---------------------------- 97, 135, 145, PI. xx;viii 

Pteris inquirenda Berry, n. sp_ 10, 15, 31, 32, 37, 46, 97, 105, 135! 143, Pl. III 

Q. 

Quercus retracta Lesquereux. __ · ___ ~ ____ •• _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ __ _ _ _ 192 

R. 

J:taleigh, Tenn., section near ______________________________________ 98-99 

Ranales in the Jackson flora--------------------~~---------- 120,163-166 

Randolph Landing, Tenn., sections near _______________________ c _ 99 

Remains, plant, influences opposed to preservation oL____________ 18 · 

Heynosia texana Penhallow -------------------------- 16, 31, 33, 34, 38,75 

Hhamnacinium texanum Penhallow ___ -------------- 16, 31, 33, 38, 74-75 

Rhamnales in the Claiborne flora ___ -----~-------~-~---------- 23,74-75 

in the Jackson flora ___ --------------------------------- 123, 177-179 

Rhamnites krugiodendroides Berry, n. sp ___ 101, 102, 105, 136, 178, Pl. LII 

Rhamnus SP------~-----------.. -----~-------- '16, 31, 33, 38, 75, Pl. XXIII 

Rhizophora eocenica BerrY------------------------------ 97,135,188-189 

Rhizophoraceae, habitat of.______________________________________ 125 

Rock Creek, Brazos County, Tex., plants from____________________ 13 

Rosales in the Claiborne flora_--------- ----------c------------ 22, 62-65 

in the Jackson flora ___ ----------------------------- 120-:121, 167-173 

s. 

Sabalites apalachicolensis Berry __ ------------------------________ 151 grayanus Lesquereux _________ ~- _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 151 

vicksburgensis Berry ___ 104, 106, 132, 135, 136, 137, 141, 151, Pl. XXIX sp _________ --- __________ - ____________________________ 15, 31, 32, 38, 54 

St. Maurice formation, nature and thickness oL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ 8 

"St. Stephens limestone," name abandoned______________________ 95 

Salix augusta _______________________________ -----_________________ 192 · 

Sapindales in the Claiborne flora .. -----------------~---------- 23,68-74 

in the Jackson flora. __ ------------------------------------- 122-123 

Sapindus affinis Newberry--------- 10, 16, 31, 32, 34, 35,·38, 72, 73, Pl. XII 

angustifolius Hollick (not Lesquereux)_______________________ '72 

denton! Lesquereux _____ - ______ ---- __ -------- _ -- ____ -- ______ 10, 16; 

31, 32, 34, 38, 73-74, 106, 135, 137, 177, Pl. XII 

eoligniticus Berry____________________________________________ 73 

georgian us Berry ________ -- _________ ._---- ____________________ 10, 13, 

14, 16, 31, 32, 38,71-72,92,97, 135, 177, Pl. XXXIV 

linearifolius Berry ______ --- ___ ------------- ___ ---_--_--_______ 92 

mississippiensis Berry ___ --------------- 10, 16, 19, 27, 31, 33, 38,72-73 

yeguanus Berry, n. sp _____ 10, 13, 14, 16, 19, 31, 38, 73, Pis. XII, XLIII 

Sapotacitesmillicanensis Berry, n. SP------------------ 105,194, Pl. LXI 

miraijorianus Berry, n. SP---------------------- 100,135,194, Pl. XL. Scitaminales in the Claiborne flora _______________________________ 20,50 

in the Jackson flora ___ ------------------------~----------____ 116 

Scope of report_ ______________________ --------------------------__ 1-2 

Sequoialangsdorfii (Brongniart) Hcer _________________ 15, 31, 32, 35, 38,48 

nordenskii:ildi Lesquereux (not Heer)_________________________ 47 

Smilax fayettensls Berry, n. sp ____ ------------ 105, 117, 147-148, Pl. LXI reticulata Heer __________________ -- ____ --- ___ ~ --- _ ---- _ _ __ _ _ __ 148 

Solanocarpus sphericus_ ----- _ ----- _____ ------ ___ -------- _ -- ___ _ _ _ 102 

Somerville, '.rex., section near _______ ---_--------_---.--_--________ 104 

Sophora balli Berry,.n. sp _________________ 13, 16, 31, 33, 38, 65, Pl. XLIII 

claiborniana Berry, n. SP------------------------------------ 10, 16, 

31, 32, 38,64-65,97, 104, 106, 135, 171, Pis. X, XXXIV 

europaea ·unger ______ ----- _____ ---- ___ --- ____ --------- __ --- _ _ 195 

wilcoxiana Berry_______________ 14, 16, 27, 31, 33, 38, 65, 135, 171, Pl. X South Carolina, Claiborne group in ______________ c________________ 7 

Sphaerites claibornensis Berry-------.---------------- 97, 112,'135, 14Q-141 

\ myricae (Lesquereux) Meschinelli____________________________ 141 

nervisequus FriteL .• _______ _. ________ ---. ___ --- __ ------ __ _ _ __ 141 

0 

Page. 

Stephens, Ark., plants from______________________________________ 11 

Sterculia labrtiscoides Berry, n. SP------------------------------- 10,12, 

14, 16, 19, 31, 34, 38,76-77, Pl. XIV minima Berry_____ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ ___ _ ____ _ _ _ _ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ ___ ___ 77 

puryearensis Berry___________________________________________ 77 

cf. s: labruscoides BerrY---------------------.----------- 132, 136, 182 Strand line, oscillations oL _____________________________________ 133-134 

Stryker, Tex., conditions near, in Jackson time __________________ 13Q-134 

Studies, previous, on Jackson plants._--------------------·-----__ 95 

I T. 

Tallahatta formation, nature and stratigraphic place oL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6, 7 

plate showing _______ ---------------------------------------- Pl. I Taxites langsdorfii Brongniart____________________________________ 48 

Taxodites europaeus ___ --.--- ______ ---------~---- ____ --------- ___ 47 

Taxodium distichum miocenum Heer __________ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 144 

dubium (Sternberg) Heer? ----------------- 101,103,106,134,137,144 europaeum Brongniart_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ 46 

Tecoma preradicans Berry ________________ 101,102,136,196-197, Pl. LIV 

Terminalia claibornensis Berry n. sp ______ 10, 17, 31, 34, 39,86, Pl. XXII 

phaeocarpoides Berry ____ ----------------------------________ 13, 

97,106,135,189-190, Pis. XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLVI 

Ternstroemites claibornensis Berry, n. sp________________________ 11, 

. 16, 31, 33, 38, 78, 184, Pl. XIV 

crowleyensis Berry, n. SP------------------ ------------------ 11, 

12, 16, 31, 33, 34, 38, 77-78, 106, 135, Pl. XIV 

preclaibornensis Berry __ -.------------------------------------ 78 

variabilis Berry, n. SP------------------ 101,102,136,183-184, Pl. LII 

Texas, Claiborne group in________________________________________ 8-9 

Thrinax eocenica Berry __ -------C-------------------------------- 10, 

12, 13, 15, 19, 31, 32, 38, 51, 97, 103, 135, 141, 151, Pl. VIII 

Tilia jacksoniana Berry, n. sp ______________ 105,180, Pis. LXIII, LXIV 

speciosissima Knowlton______________________________________ 180 

Time interval between the Claiborne and Jackson epochs, evidence of. _____________________________________________ 28-30 

between the Wilcox and Claiborne epochs, evidence of _______ 27-28 

Tropics, habitats of plants in_____________________________________ 1 

u. 

Umbellales in the Claiborne flora ___ -------------------------- 24,88-89 

in the Jackson flora ______ -------------------------- 126-127, 192-193 

Urticales in the Claiborne flora.---------~--------------------- 21,57-59 

in the Jackson flora------------------------------------ 118,158-161 

v. 

Vicksburg group, relation of flora of, to the Jackson flora------- 136-137 

w. 

Wellborn, plants from localities near--------------------------- 104,10.5 

West Point, Tex., section near--------------·--------------------- 104 

Western Gulf region, conditions in, during Jackson time. __ ------ 129 

White-Bluff, Ark., section at·------------------------------------ 103 · Wilcox deposits, Claiborne species in __________________ · ___________ 18-19 

genera of, not found in the Claiborne_________________________ 33 

"\Volf River, Tenn., strata of lower Jackson age ~n, plate sllowing __ 

Pl. XXV X. 

Xolismaligustrina Berry (not Britton)___________________________ 178 

Xylocarpus obovatus-------------------------------------- 68, Pl. XII 

Y. 

Yegua formation, distr.ibution oL -------------------------------- 7, 8 

species known in __________________________________________ 31; 32-33 

z. 

Zeuglodon, skull of, plate showing_------------------------- Pl. XXVI 

Zizyphus claibornensis Berry, n. ·sp ______ 10, 12,16, 31,34, 38, 74, Pl. XU 

falcatus Berry--------------------------------------------____ 74 

longifolia ~ewberry _ ----~-------- _______ -------- __________ --.- 74