A REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 


By EDWARD WILBER BERRY 

INTRODUCTION 

A prelinrinary account of the flora of the Latah 

fornlation by F. H. Knowlton was published in January, 1926, in connection with an account of the geology 

by J. T. Pardee and Kirk Bryan. l The materials 

were largely contributed by local students. During 

the summer of 1926 Knowlton visited the area and 

made large additional collections, which had not been 

unpacked at the tinle of his death. It is much to be 

regretted that he did not live to work up this collection, 

for it contained many novelties, and its excellent 

preservation was a eonstant source of pleasure to him. 

It became my duty to identify this material in order to 

prepare a collection of duplicates for the Spokane 

l\1useunl, and in this t.ask I encountered so much that 

was new and important that it has seemed desirable 

to prepare the present report. During the course 

of the work I have received valuable additional material fronl Prof. T. A. Bonser and Messrs E. E. Alexander and O. O. Fernquist, of Spokane. 

The region fronl which the Latah flora was collected 

has a presp.nt altitude in the neighborhood of 2,000 

feet. The Spokane Weather Bureau station shows an 

average annual precipitation (for a 24-year period) 

of 18.23 inches. This drops to less than 10 inches a 

short distance to the southwest, but rises to around 75 

inches on the Pacific-facing slopes of the mountains 

west of the Spokane area and t.o 90 inches on the Pacific 

coast. The Latah area is characterized by summer 

droughts. The normal annual mean temp~rature is 

45.9° F., which is not low relatively, but the climate is 

marked by extremes of temperature, both in winter and 

summer. Oonsequently the nights are cool, and both 

late and early frosts result in a relatively short growing 

season. 

It is beyond the scope of the present paper to discuss 

these climatic factors in their bearing on the existing 

flora of the region, and this has already been done in a 

general way by more competent botanists. My purpose 

is merely to hint at the present conditions as a background for discussing the conditions in Miocene time. 

Floristically the Spokane region is in the transition 

zone between the .northern extension of the Great 

Basin arid region (Sonoran) and the (in general) 

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Proc. Paper 140, pp. 1-81, 1926. 

evergreen mesophytic forests of the Oolumbian region 

to the west and the Rocky Mountain ranges to the 

north and east-what is usually termed the Oanadian 

zone. These forests consist largely of needle-leaved 

conifers, and the assemblage becomes more hygrophilous on the Pacific slopes of the mOlmtains west of 

Spokane and on the corresponding slopes of the mountains of Montana and Idaho. There is a considerable 

admixture of broad-leaved deciduous trees, especially 

along streams. In the heavier stands of evergreens 

there is a relative scarcity of undershrubs and herbaceous species. 

This transition zone is both forested and treeless in 

the inlmediate vicinity of Spokane. The somewhat 

less arid forested portion includes such arborescent 

and shrubby genera as Abies, Acer, Pinus, Populus, 

Pseudotsuga, Rhamnus, Salix, Taxus, Thuya, Tsuga, 

Alnus, Amelanchier, Oeanothus, Ohimaphila, Linnaea, 

Lonicera, Menziesia, Opulaster, Pachystima, Ribes, 

Rosa, Rubus, Salix, and Vaccinium. Of these the 

g~nera Acer, Pinus, Populus, Salix, Alnus, Amelanchier, Oeanothus, Menziesia, and Vaccinium were 

present in the region in upper or middle Miocene 

(Latah) time. 

The present account of the Latah flora contains 

152 species, as against 95 in Knowlton's preliminary 

account. Of this number 6 are referred to Phyllites, 

6 to Oarpites, and 1 to Oarpolithus, all but the Oarpolithus under names proposed in Knowlton's paper. 

I have not named a considerable number of new forms 

represented by poor material in the present collection. 

The notable additions to the flora comprise a characteristic new fern of the genus Asplenium; a large 

and diversified representation of seeds and leaves of 

Pinus; two species of sweet fern, Oomptonia; the 

leaves of several hardwoods hitherto unknown in the 

Latah flora, such as the hickory (Hicoria) , beech 

(Fagopsis) , sycamore (Platanus), horse chestnut 

. (Aesculus), and linden (Tilia); or tree genera hitherto 

unknown in the western Miocene, such as the tulip 

tree (Liriodendron) and sassafras (Sassafras). 

There is of. course some duplication involved in 

?,iving separate names to leaves and fruits, especially 

In the genera Pinus, Alnus, Acer, mmus, Liquidambar, 

and Quercus. There are also undoubtedly too many 

species recogni7.ed among the poplars, birches, and 

225 
226 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS 

oaks. These have been retained for the most part, 

out of respect for Knowlton's opinion ·and partly 

because of the impossibility of drawing satisfactory 

specific lines among the leaves of these trees, although 

I have indicated my opinions on these points in the 

systematic discussion. 

The Latah flora now contains 75 genera in 51 fanlilies and 29 orders. The largest order is the Fagales, 

with 2.5 nominal species; next come the Sapindales, 

with 14; the Pinales Hnd Salicales, with 13 each; the 

Ericales, with 8; and the Laurales, with 7. 

. Similarly the largest family is the Fagaceae, with 

16 nominal species; next in specific representation is 

the family Salicaceae, with 13; followed by the Betulaceae, with 9; the Lauraceae, with 7; the Pinaceae, 

Oupressinaceae, and Papilionaceae, with 6 each; and 

the Aceraceae, with 5. The largest genus is Quercus, 

with 13 nominal species; next come Phyllites and 

Oarpites, with 6 each; and Pinus, Salix, Acer, and Vaccinium, with 5 each. Most numerous individually 

are the leaves of the oaks, poplars, Sequoia, and bald 

cypress. 

As probably the largest and best-preserved western 

Miocene flora except that from Florissant, 0010., the 

Latah flora is of especial interest. In addition to the 

plants the scales, rays, and vertebrae of a small 

cyprinoid fish are not uncommon in these deposits. 

These remains are not sufficiently conlplete for precise 

identification, but they probably represent the genus 

Leuciscus and may be identical with Leuciscu8 turneri 

Lucas, of the Esmeralda formation of western Nevada. 

I have illustrated two of the characteristic scales in 

the present paper. (See pI. 49, figs. 1,2.) 

In Knowlton's account of the Latah flora he renlarks 

on the rarity of insect remains, an anonlalous feature 

because of the fine-grained texture and lacustrine 

character of the sediments. Only one species, a 

carabid beetle, Oalosoma fernquisti Oockerell, was 

recorded. The more recent collections bid fair to 

remedy this situation, containing several other beetles, 

flies, dragon flies, etc. These will be described in a 

separate contribution. 

Flora of the Latah formation 

Bryophyta: 

MusciMniaceaeArchaeomnium patens E. G. Britton. 

PolytrichaceaePolytrichites spokanensis E. G. Britton. 

Moss, unnamed. 

Lepidophyta: 

LycopodialesLycopodiaceaeLycopodium hesperium Knowlton (fertile spike). 

Arthrophyta: 

EquisetalesEquisetaceaeEquisetum, rhizome with tubers. 

TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Pteridophyta: 

PolypodialesPolypodiaceae-


Asplenium occidentale Berry. 


Woodwardia praeradicans Berry. 


W oodsia bonseri Berry. 


Pteris sp. Berry. 


Coniferophyta: 

GinkgoalesGinkgoaceaeGi~kgo adiantoides (Unger) Reer. 

PinalesTaxaceaeTumion bonseri Knowlton. 

Cupressinaceae-


Sequoia langsdorfii (Brongniart) Reer. 


Sequoia sp. Knowlton, wood. 


Taxodium dubium (Sternberg) Reer. 


Taxodium, staminate ament. 


Libocedrus praedecurrens Knowlton. 


Glyptostrobus?, staminate aments. 


Pinaceae-


Pinus latahensis Berry. 


Pinus macrophylla Berry. 


Pinus monticolensis Berry. 


Pinus tetrafolia Berry 


Pinus sp. Kno\vlton. 


Tsuga latahensis Berry. 


Spermatophyta: 

AngiospermaeMonocotyledonaePandanalesTyphaceaeTypha? sp. Knowlton. 

NaiadalesNaiadaceaePotamogeton heterophylloides Berry. 

Palaeopotamogeton fiorissanti Knowlton. 

AralesAraceaeArisaema hesperia Knowlton. 

GraminalesPoaceaeGrass, unnamed. 

LilialesSmilaceae-. 

Smilax lamarensis Knowlton. 

Juncaceae?-

Juncus? crassulus Cockerell. 

DicotyledonaeChoripetalaeJ uglandalesJ uglandaceaeHicoria juglandiformis (Sternberg) Knowlton. 

MyricalesMyricaceaeComptonia hesperia Berry. 

Comptonia insignis (Lesquereux) Cockerell. 

SalicalesSalicaceaeSalix fiorissanti Knowlton and Cockerell. 

Salix inquirenda Knowlton. 

Salix perplexa Knowlton. 

Salix remotidens Knowlton. 

Salix? sp. Knowlton. 

Salix, pistillate fiower. 

Salix, stipule. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 227 

Spermatophyta-Continued. 

Angiospermae-Continued. 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

'3alicales-Continued. 

Salicaceae-Continued. 

Populus heteromorpha Knowlton. 

Populus lindgreni Knowlton. 

Populus washingtonensis Knowlton. 

Populus, amentiferous bract. 

Populus, bud scales. 

Popul us, pistillate ame!lt. 

FagalesBetulaceaeBetula fairii Knowlton. 

Betula heteromorpha Knowlton. 

Betula largei Knowlton. 

Betula, winged fruit. 

Alnus elliptica Berry. 

Alnus prerhombifolia Berry. 

Alnus sp. Knowlton, cones. 

Alnus or Betula, staminate catkin. 

Carpinus sp. Knowlton. 

F'agaceaeCastanea castaneaefolia (Unger) Knowlton. 

Castanea orientalis Chaney. 

Fagopsis longifolia (Lesquereux) Hollick. 

Quercus bonseri Knowlton. 

Quercus cognatus Knowlton. 

Quercus merriami Knowlton. 

Quercus obtusa Knowlton. 

Quercus payettensis Knowlton. 

Quercus rustii Knowlton. 

Quercus simulata Knowlton. 

Quercus spokanensis Knowlton. 

Quercus treleasii Berry. 

Quercus ursina Knowlton? 

Quercus cf. Q. pseudolyrata Lesquereux. 

Quercus, acorn. 

Quercus, cupule. 

UrticalesUlmaceaeUlmus fernquisti Knowlton. 

Ulmus speciosa Newberry. 

Ulmus, fruit. 

MoraceaeFicus? washingtonensis Knowlton. 

PlatanalesPlatanaceaePlatanus aspera Newberry. 

Platanus dissecta Lesquereux. 

Platanus appendiculata Lesquereux? 

RanalesMenispermaceaeMenispermites latahensis Berry. 

MagnoliaceaeLiriodendron hesperia Berry. 

Magnolia californica Lesquereux. 

Magnolia dayana Cockerell. 

Magnolia sp. Knowlton. 

Rosales­


Grossulariaceac-


Ribes fernquisti Berry. 


HamamelidaceaeLiquidambar californicum Lesquereux. 

Liquidambar, fruit. 

SaxifragaceaeHydrangea bendirei (Ward) Knowlton. 

Spermatophyta-Continued. 

Angiospermae-Coritinued. 

Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

Rosales-Continued. 

DrupaceaePrunus rustii Knowlton. 

RosaceaeAmelanchier scudded Cockerell. 

Cercocarpus praeledifolius Berry. 

CaesalpiniaceaeCassia idahoensis Knowlton 

Cassia spokanensis Berry. 

Cassia sophoroides (Knowlton) Berry. 

Cercis? spokanensis Knowlton. 

PapilionaceaeSophora alexanderi Knowlton. 

Sophora spokanensis Knowlton. 

Meibomites knowltoni Berry. 

Meibomites lucens Knowlton. 

Leguminosites bonseri Berry. 

Leguminosites alexanderi Berry. 

SapindalesSapindaceaeSapindus spokanensis Berry. 

Sapindus armstrongi Berry. 

CelastraceaeCelastrus lacoei Lesquereux. 

Celastrus fernquisti Knowlton. 

Celastrus spokanensis Berry. 

Euonymus knowltoni Berry. 

AnacardiaceaeRhus typhinoides Lesquereux. 

Rhus merrilli Chaney. 

Hi	ppocastanaceaeAesculus hesperia Berry. 

AceraceaeAceI' bendirei Lesquereux. 

Acer chaneyi Knowlton. 

Acer merriami Knowlton. 

AceI' minor Knowlton. 

AceI' oregonianum Knowlton. 

RhamnalesRhamnaceaeRhamnus spokanensis Berry. 

Paliurus hesperi us Berry. 

Malvales­


Tiliaceae-


Tilia hesperia Berry. 


Malvaceae?­

Malva? hesperia Knowlton. 

Hibiscus? occidentalis Berry 

ParietalesTernstroemiaceaeTernstroemites idahoensis (Knowlton) Berry. 

LauralesLauraceaeLaurus californica Lesquereux. 

Laurus grandis Lesquereux. 

Laurus princ,eps Heer. 

Laurus similis Knowlton. 

Sassafr:as hesperia Berry. 

Umbellularia dayana (Knowlton) Berry. 

Umbellularia lanceolata Berry. 

UmbellalesAraliaceaeAralia whitneyi Lesquereux. 
228 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Spermatophyta-Continued. 

Angiospermae-Continued. 

. Dicotyledonae-Continued. 

Choripetalae-Continued. 

Umbellales-Continued. 

CornaceaeCornus acuminata Berry. 

Nyssa knowltoni Berry. 

Nyssa magnifica (Knowlton) Berry. 

UmbelliferaeUmbelliferospermum latahense Berry. 

GamopetalaeEricalesEricaceaeMenziesia knowltoni Berry. 

Arctostaphylos spatulata Berry. 

Arctostaphylos knowltoni Berry. 

VacciniaceaeVaccinium americanum (Lesquereux) Berry. 

Vaccinium bonseri Berry. 

Vaccinium bonseri serrulatum Berry. 

Vaccinium salicoides Knowlton. 

Vaccinium spokanense Berry. 

EbenalesEbenaceaeDiospyros princetoniana Cockerell. 

Diospyros andersonae Knowlton. 

GentianalesApocynaceaeApocynophyllum latahense Berry. 

PolemonialesConvolvulaceaePorana microcalyx. (Knowlton) Berry. 

RubialesCaprifoliaceaeViburnum lantanafolium Berry. 

Viburnum fernquisti Berry. 

Position uncertain-


Phyllites amplexicaulis Knowlton. 


Phyllites crustacea Knowlton. 


Phyllites pardeei Knowlton. 


Phyllites peculiaris Knowlton. 


Phyllites relatus Knowlton. 


Phyllites sp. Knowlton. 


Carpolithus pteraformis Berry. 


Carpites boraginoides Knowlton. 


Carpites ginkgoides Knowlton. 


Carpites menthoides Knowlton. 


Carpites paulownia Knowlton. 


Carpites polygonoides Knowlton. 


Carpites spokanensis Knowlton. 


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION 

Anyone taking the trouble to tabulate the local 

occurrences of the members of the Latah flora will 

find the same facies and much the same species at 

each fossiliferous outcrop. The species recorded from 

only a single 10c ali ty are usually represented by a 

single or but a few specimens. 

All but one of the plant localities are within a few 

miles of one another in the vicinity of Spokane; the 

only remote locality is that at Stanley Hill, 2 miles 

northeast of' Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and this is only 

25 mHes distant. 

Such contrasts between localities as appeared in 

the collections studied by Knowlton have tended to 

disappear when the later collections were studied. 

Twenty-two species were named from the Coeur 

d'Alene district by Knowlton, and but six of these 

were common to'the Spokane area. The subsequent 

collections show quite as many oaks, poplars, and 

sequoias around Spokane as at Coeur d'Alene. The 

following 16 species, representing over 72 per cent of 

the identified species .from Coeur d'Alene, are now 

represented in the collections from Spokane, so the 

plants from the two areas can not be said to differ 

appreciably, either botanically or in the indicated environmental condi tions : 

Sequoia langsdorfii. 

Taxodium dubium. 

PopulUS lindgreni. 

Alnus, pistillate cones. 

Quercus cognatus. 

Quercus merriami. 

Quercus payettensis. 

Quercus rustii. 

Quercus simulata. 


Betula fairii. 


Betula heteromorpha. 


Ficus washingtonensis. 


Prunus rustii. 


Sophora alexanderi. 


Cassia sophoroides. 


Umbellularia oayana. 


RELATIONSHIPS 

The following' 39 genera out of a total of 75 in the 

Latah flora are not represented in the existing flora 

of the State of Washington as described by Piper:2 

Archaeomnium. 


Polytrichites. 


Ginkgo. 


Tumion. 


Sequoia. 


Taxodium. 


Libocedrus. 


Arisaema. 


Hicoria. 


Comptonia. 


Castanea. 


Fagopsis (Fagus). 


Ulmus. 


Carpinus. Sapindus. 


Ficus Celastrus. 


Platanus. Aesculus. 


.	Menispermites. Paliurus. 

Liriodendron. THia. 

Magnolia. Ternstroemites. 

Liquidambar. Laurus. 

Hydrangea. Sassafras. 

Cassia. Umbellularia. 

Cercis. Nyssa. 

Sophora. Diospyros. 

Meibomites. Apocynophyllum. 

Leguminosites. Porana. 

Disregarding the form genera Archaeomnium, Poly .. 

trichites, Meibomites, Leguminosites, Laurus, and Apocynophyllum, we may note that of the 39 genera found 

in the Latah flora which are not present in the existing 

flora of the State of Washington the following 26 are 

no longer represented in the existing flora of western 

America: 

Ginkgo. Ficus. Celastrus. 

Taxodium. Menispermites. Aesculus. 

Arisaema. Liriodendron. THia. 

Hicoria. Magnolia. Ternstroemites. 

Comptonia. Liquidambar. Sassafras. 

Castanea. Hydrangea. Nyssa. 

Fagus (Fagopsis). Sophora. Diospyros. 

Ulmus. Sapindus. Porana. 

Carpinus. Paliurus. 

2 Piper, C. V., Flora of the State of Washington: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herbarium, 

vol. 11, 1906. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 229 

The majority of these are well-known arborescent 

genera of the Jnixed hardwood forests of the mesophytic region of southeastern North America, although 

nlany are not confined to that region. 

The following genera of the Latah flora are still 

represented' in western North Aillerica: Tumion, 

Libacedrus, Platanus, and Cercis in California; Sequoia 

and UmbeZZuZaria in Oregon and California. These all 

represent genera of once general distribution in western 

North Anlerica, which because of changing climatic 

conditions, chief of which was the progressive increase 

in aridity due to the geologically recent elevation of the 

Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, became extinct in 

the region east of the lllountains and now survive 

only in favored situations west of them. 

The following genera of the Latah flora no longer 

represented in western North America occur in the 

existing fiorn, of eastern Asia: 

Ginkgo. Carpinus. Aesculus. 

Glyptostrobus. Menispermites. Pali~lrus. 

Arisaema. Liriodendron. Tilia. 

Hicoda. Magnolia. Ternstroemites. 

Castanea. Liquidambar. Sassafras. 

Fagus (Fagopsis). Hydrangea. Nyssa. 

Ulmus. Celastrus. Porana. 

Several of these, such as Liriodendron, Hicoria, and 

So,ssojras, fl,re relatively recent discoveries in the flora 

of China, whose presence in that region is not generally 

known. All the genera in the foregoing list of Asiatic 

occurrences except Ginkgo, PaZiurus, and Porana are 

conunon to the Inesophytic region of southeastern 

North America. 

It is of great interest to COlnlnent in somewhat more 

detail on the features above set forth. 

The genus Ginkgo, whose single e}..'isting species was 

8,ptly ternled a living fossil by Darwin and which 

survived to lnodern tilnes only in eastern Asia and 

is now a prized ornalnental tree in all teInperate countries, has an ancestral history that goes back to remote 

geologic tinle. It was present over practically all of 

North America, as well as on all the other continents 

except Africa and South America, during the Mesozoic era. The Tertiary found it still present in the 

floras of Europe, Asia, the Arctic region, and western 

North AJuerica. To-day, through the care of mantmnple gardeners in eastern Asia and arboriculturists 

elsewhere-this lmique tree has been preserved fronl 

total extinction, greatly to our enjoynlent and profit. 

The genus Taxodium, the bald cypress of the southeastern United States, has an ancestral history quite 

as romantic though shorter than that of the maidenhair tree (Ginkgo). It grew on all three of the continen ts of the Northern Henusphere, commencing with 

the Eocene, and maintained its holarctic distribution 

well into Miocene tinle, contributing to the brownconI deposits of both Anlerica and Europe. Its restriction of range began in the late Tertiary, and its 

existing species are three-two slightly differentiated 

forms in the southeastern United States and the third 

or Mexican cypress, separated fron1 the other two by 

the arid country of our Southwestern States and northern Mexico, furnishing some of the historic trees associated ,vjth Cortez's conquest of Mexico, and as old a~ 

the big trees of California, if not older. 

The genus Sequoia, represented by the familiar redwood and the still more restricted big trees of California, has been the subject of so nluch comnlent that 

the theme is well-nigh threadbare. Its ancestry goes 

back to the Mesozoic, and it was present throughout 

the whole Northern Hemisphere well into Tertiary 

time. Large standing silicified trunks may be seen in 

the upper Miocene deposits at Florissant, Colo., and 

in the celebrated fossil forests of Yellowstone Park, 

and its wood is found with the foliage in the Latah 

formation, in which its twigs are so abundant. The 

main facts of its history have long been well known, 

but it has not been realized how recently was the great 

elevation of the mountains, which was the main 

factor in the ecologic rearrangeInent and extinctions 

among the Miocene forests of our Pacific States. 

The genus Tumion (or T01'reya, as it is more generally called) is another example of an old line of trees, 

practically cosmopolitan in Cretaceous time, which has 

single existing survivors in such geographically remote 

regions as Florida, California, and eastern Asia, standing, as it were, on the brink of extinction. 

The so-called incense cedar, Libocedrus, represents 

another Latah type, quite as rare as Tumion, although 

its history is not so completely known, which was 

evidently widely distributed in former times, as it 

survives in such remote regions as California, eastern. 

Asia, Chile, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. 

Arisaema, a herbaceous genus with an unknown 

history, survives in the mesophytic regions of eastern 

Asia and southeastern North America. 

The hickories, long supposed to have survived only 

in southeastern North America, have recently been 

discovered in that great natural floral preserve of 

central China. Their range was holarctic during the 

early Tertiary, and they survived until late Tertiary 

time in both the western United States and Europe. 

The sweet fern (Comptonia) has a single modern 

species in southeastern North America. There were 

numerous fossil species on all the northern continents, 

and some survived until the late Tertiary in Eurasia 

and' western America. Comptonia was especially 

abundant around the Miocene Lake Florissant in 

Colorado, and one of the Florissant species occurs in 

the Latah flora. Late Eocene species are found northward through the present Rocky Mountain region to 

Alaska. 

The chestnut (Castanea), no longer found in western 

North America, has three existing species in southeastern North America, a Mediterranean species 
230 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS 

ranging from Spain eastward to southwestern Asia, 

and a fifth species in China and Japan. Its geologic 

history goes back to the Eocene, and it was not uneommon in the West and in Alaska during most of the 

Tertiary. 

As I have pointed out in the systematic descriptions, 

the genus Fagopsis is believed to be referable to Fagus, 

which comprises the beeches found to-day in Europe, 

eastern Asia, and southeastern North America. Their 

cousins, the evergreen beeches of Chile, Australia, 

and New Zealand, are now segregated in the separate 

genus Nothojagus. The oldest known fossil beeches 

are found in the Upper Cretaceous of Europe and 

North America. 'They were certainly holarctic in 

their range during the Tertiary period, about 30 

species from the Miocene having been described, as 

compared with but 4 in existing floras. 

The elm is widely distributed over the North Temperate Zone' except in western North America. Although 

there are six species of elms in our present forests, 

none occur west of the Rocky Mountains, where they 

were so abundant before the rising Sierra Nevada and 

Coast Ranges interrupted the moisture-laden winds 

from the Pacific. The elms, like the beeches, probably 

reached the maximum of variety and distribution 

during the Miocene epoch. 

The hornbeam (Carpinus), doubtfully represented in 

the Latah flora, occurs to-day, like so many other of 

the Latah hardwoods, in Europe, southeastern Asia, 

and southeastern North America. Its ancestors are 

not certainly known at horizons earlier than the" Paleocene," but there are more fossil than recent species, 

especially in the later Tertiary. 

What appears to be an undoubted fig leaf is rather 

common in the Latah formation. The genus Ficus is 

an exceedingly large one, with hundreds of living and 

fossil species of a great variety of habitats, though 

confined in the existing flora to warm temperate and 

tropical regions. Its ancestry goes back to the Cretaceous, and it was particularly abundantinwestern North 

America during Upper Cretaceous and Eocene tillle. 

It was not out of place in the strictly temperate humid 

environment that prevailed in Washington in Latah 

time, because many mode~n species live under comparable climatic conditions, the cultivated fig normally 

ripening its fruit in Maryland and at altitudes of 

8,000 feet in Bolivia. 

The genus Platanus" which has three nominal species 

in the Latah flora contains the existing sycamore, 

buttonball, or plane tree, with six or seven species of 

southwestern Asia, southeastern and western North 

America, Mexico, and Central America. With its 

numerous fossil species and several extinct genera it 

constitutes a separate order of flowering plants related 

to the order Urticales, which includes the elm' and fig 

families: Platanus was exceedingly abundant in the 

Upper Cretaceous and Eocene in western North AmerTO GENERAL, GEOLOGY, ] 928 

ica, as well as throughout Eurasia, became more restricted but was still abundant during the Miocene, 

and survived in that region in a single speciesPlatanus racemosa Nuttall-which finally has becOlne 

restricted to stream valleys in California as the climate 

of the region became drier. 

Although the genus Menispermites is a form genus 

of the family Menispermaceae, as I have explained 'in 

the systematic descriptions, the Latah species probably represents the genus Oebatha or Menispermumthe latter with but two existing species of climbers, one 

in eastern Asia and the other in eastern North America. 

Menispermites is common in the Upper Cretaceous of 

the West, and a species of Oebatha is present in the 

latest Tertiary of British Columbia. 

The genus Liriodendron, the familiar tulip tree of 

southeastern North America, has one of the most interesting geologic histories of all our forest trees. 

Exceedingly varied and wide ranging during the Upper 

Cretaceous, its ancestors have been found in the Arctic, 

in eastern and western North America, and in Europe. 

The Eocene records include British Columbia, Greenland, Iceland, and Europe. Well-marked forms grew 

in Europe through the Miocene and late Pliocene, but 

no certainly identified Miocene form has been found 

in western North America prior to the discovery of 

characteristic fruits in the Latah formation. The 

existing species are but two in number-the common 

southeastern American Liriodendron tulipijera and an 

almost identical form in China, separated by half the 

circumference of the globe--the sole survivors of this 

ancient and once holarctic line. 

The magnolias to-day have about a score of species, 

one-third of which occur ill southeastern North America and the rest in the region frolll the Hihlalayas 

eastward to southeastern Asia. Their ancestral line 

goes back to the Upper Cretaceous, and they once had 

a continuous range over the lands of the Northern 

Hemisphere. They were abundant along the west 

coast as late as Miocene time and continued to flourish 

in Europe until the advent of the Pleistocene glaciation. 

Another tree, common in western North America as 

late as the Miocene, is the Liquidambar, now represented in southeastern North America by the familiar 

red OF sweet gum, also present in eastern Asia, Asia 

Minor, and Central America. It is not certainly 

known in deposits earlier than the Eocene, -but during 

that epoch it grew in Greenland, Alaska, 'and Oregon; 

and it survived in Europe as late as the Pliocene. 

Hydrangea, more familiar as a cultivated shrub 

than as a wild plant, is a genus with about 35 existing species of shrubs or small'trees found in southeastern North America, South America, and eastern Asia. 

One of its peculiarities is the tendency for sonle of the 

small flowers of the flower cluster (corymb) to beconle 

sterile and consist lllerely of three, four, or five 

enlarged and showy sepals. The selection of this 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 231 

feature by gnrdeners has resulted in the completely 

sterile large single or double clusters of the favorite 

cultivated fonns. The geologic history of Hydrangea 

is unknown, but its discovery in this internlediate 

geographic ]tosition in the Miocene is interesting, 

as is nlso its representation in the Lntah formation 

by large sterile flowers with four or five calyx lobes.' 

The genus Oercis, the redbud or Judas tree, contains five or six existing species. One of these is 

found in southeastern North America, a second in 

Texas, a third in the hUlnid part of the Pacific coast 

region, and the others in Mediterranean Europe and' 

southwestern, central, and eastern Asia. Its geologic history is imperfectly lmown, but characteristic 

forms have been discovered in the Eocene of North 

Anlerica and Europe and are rather common in the 

Miocene of Holarctica. 

The genus Sapindus, including the so~pberry, is 

no longer found in western America, although it was 

practically cosnlopolitan in the Upper Cretaceous 

nnd throughout much of the Tertiary. It belongs to 

a large and nlostly tropical falnily and in the existing 

flora is not found nearer Washington than southern 

Arizona. It is especially comnlon in southeastern 

Asia. 

Oelastrus, whose sole living North American representative is the shrubby or clinIbing bittersweet of 

the eastern part of the continent, belongs to a genus 

with an extended geologic history, during which it 

attained a cosmopolitan range. There are about 

30 other existing species in eastern Asia, Australia, 

and l\1adagascar. It was COlnmon in western North 

AIuerica in the late Cretaceous and Eocene, and 

three species are represented in the Latah flora, 

one of which is also found at Florissant, Colo. 

The genus Paliuru8 of Jussieu contains two or three 

existing species of shrubs or snlall trees with cordate 

or ovate, palmately three-veined, and usually small 

leaves with stipular thorns. The fruits are coriaceous, peltate, and umbonate, with a horizontal marginal, 

radiately veined wing. In existing floras they are 

restricted to dry-soil habitats from Spain on the west 

to Japan on the east. Paliurus aculeatus Lamarck 

extends from Spaip. through southern Europe, Asia 

Minor, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Persia to China 

(Szechwan). Paliurus ramosissimus Poiret extends 

from about 27° north latitude in Kiangsi to Japan, 

Hnd Paliurus orientalis Franchet, sometimes united 

with the preceding, reaches the stature of a thin tree 

sometinles 50 feet tall in eastern Szechwan and Shensi, 

ChinH. 

)i\7hatever the taxonomic distinction of the three, 

their ranges overlap, and the geologic record is sufficiently complete to show that their present range 

is a restricted one and that they represent relict 

species. 

Turning now to the geologic record we nlay note 

that a considerable number of fossil species have been 

described, based for t.he most part on leaves and 

therefore subject to the uncertainties attending the 

identification of this class of remains. 

The oldest records embrace about a dozen species, 

'so called, of leaves, fronl the Upper Cretaceous. 

These 'include four from the Dakota sandstone of 

Kansas, one from the Patoot beds of Greenland, two 

from the Mill Creek beds of western Canada, one 

from Vancouver Island, one from the Eutaw formation of Georgia, three from the Magothy formation 

of New Jersey, Staten Island, and Long Island, and 

one from the so-called Laranlie of Yellowstone Park, 

which is of Montana age. Many of these are very 

similar to the leaves of the existing species but lack 

the corroborntion of associated fruits or structural 

remams. 

The Eocene has furnished at least 10 nominal 

species,. including occurrences in western Greenland, 

Spitsbergen, Siberia, and Alaska on the north, and in 

British Columbia, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming 

in the western part of North America. I h,~ye 

describe<i three species fronl the V\Tilcox group (lower 

Eocene) of the Mississippi embayment, and one of 

these is represented by characteristic fruits. Seward 

has described a large fruit from the supposed Eocene 

of southeastern Nigeria which has the appearance of a 

Paliurus but is not certainly so assigned. 

The Oligocene contains at least three species-one 

from Louisiana 'represented by very characteristic 

leaves and thorny stems, and two from southeastern 

France represented by both leaves and fruit. . 

There are at least 13 nominal species recorded from 

the Miocene. These include identifications based 

upon leaves in Alsace, Switzerland, Bohemia, Italy, 

France, Silesia, and two fronl Florissant, Colo., 

the last not conclusive in themselves but highly 

probable in view of the occurrence of typical fruits 

at the same Miocene horizon in the State Qf Washington. Miocene species based upon fruits include 

occurrences in Bohemia, St.yria, Switzerland, and 

southern Russia. The last, which comes from the 

Sarmatian stage, is scarcely if at all distinguished 

from the existing Paliurus aculeatus. The Pliocene 

record consists of a typical fruit from central France 

(Cantal), which is also indistinguishable from the 

existing Paliurus aculeatus. 

In view of what we know of the plant history of 

the Tertiary it is surely of interest that the Miocene 

species from Washington should be most similar to 

the restricted species of south-central China (P. 

orientalis) , as are also the leaves associated with the 

fruit, and that there should be earlier (late Eocene) 

species in the intervening region In Alasl{R and 

Siberia. 
·232 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

The horse-chestnuts or buckeyes, highly ornamental 

small trees or shrubs, constitute the genus Aesculus, 

with about a dozen existing species in Europe, Asia, 

and N6rth America. FOUl' of these are found in 

North America, all eastern except Aesculus calijornica 

Nuttall, a small tree surviving along stream borders 

in California. It is not without significance that 

the handsome Latah species is more like the existing 

widely cultivated Aesculus hippocastanum Linne than 

it is like any of the surviving American species. The 

geologic history of the genus is very imperfectly 

known. 

The genus Tilia, comprising the lindens, basswood, 

and linles, is the north temperate representative of 

a prevailingly tropical family of trees, and its score 

of existing species' range over the north temperate 

zone except western North AInerica and Central 

Asia. A considerable number of fossil species are 

known, extendi:O.g back to Eocene time, when it 

grew in western America, Alaska, and eastern Asia. 

It is exceedingly common in the Miocene of Europe 

but in western American is known from only Washington, Colorado, and Yellowstone Park. 

Ternstroemites is a form genus for members of 

the tea family (Ternstroenliaceae or Theaceae) of 

the warlner parts of America and southern and eastern 

Asia. The geologic history goes back to the Upper 

Cretaoeous, when Ternstroemites was represented on 

all the northern continents. The characteristic 

Latah species, the only known Miocene form in western North Anlerica, is probably closely related to 

the genus Gordonia, which has two species of showyflowered shrubs or trees in our South Atlantic States 

and eight or nine species in southeastern Asia and 

the Malay Archipelago. 

The genus Sassafras, whose single existing specie$ 

was until recently the unique possession of southeastern North America, as almost the sole temperate 

representative of the large and chiefly tropical family 

Lauraceae, has two additional spe'cies in central China, 

thus paralleling the distribution of the tulip tree and 

hickory. No ancestral tree history is more interesting. 

It occurred in both eastern North America and western 

Europe toward the end of the Lower' Cretaceous and 

became varied and wide ranging during the Upper 

Cretaceous. The Eocene American records are confined to Greenland and British Columbia. It continued to be abundant in Europe as late as the Pliocene, 

but uhtil the discovery of characteristic leaves in the 

Latah deposits its occurrence in North America during 

the long interval represented by the Oligocene, :rvJ;iocene, Pliocene,and Pleistocene epochs had been 

entirely unknown: 

The genus Umbellularia, with a single existing 

species-the Qalifornia laurel or spice tree, UmbelluZaria calijornica Nuttall of low, moist valleys in Oregon 

and northern California west of the Sierra N evadaevidently had a wider and more varied existence in 

the Miocene and is not uncommon in the Latah flora. 

The sour, cotton, or tupelo gums of the genus Nyssa 

were given the Latin name of a water JiYlnph because 

of their nlarked preference for a palustrille or at least 

wet environment. There are six or seven existing 

species, all confined to southeastern North America 

except a single species of southeastern Asia. There 

are numerous fossil species, many of theln based upon 

the characteristic stones of their drupaceous fruits. 

They occur in Europe, Asia, North America, and the 

Arctic in either, the Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary 

deposits, and the existing forms ale evidently relics 

of a once holarctic distribution. They disappear fronl 

the European record at the end of the Miocene, and 

the Latah species, comprising both leaves and stones, 

represents their latest known appearance in western 

North America. 

The genus Diospyros represents the mostly tropical 

family Ebenaceae and includes very nlany species, both 

fossil and recent-the former going back to the Upper 

Cretaceous. In the modern flora of North America it 

is represented by the well-known persimmon of the 

southeastern United States and a smaller species in 

the Texas region'. Other related species occur in 

eastern Asia, and these furnish the large edible socalled Japanese persimmons, now well known to consumers. Diospyros was common in western North 

America from the Upper Cretaceous to the Miocene, 

and the Latah species or closely related forms occur at 

Florissant, Colo., in Yellowstone Park, in western 

Oklahoma, in the John Day Basin of Oregon, in 

California, and in the Ellensburg formation of 

Washington. 

The genus Porana, represented by capsular fruits of 

which the persistent calyx lobes constitute a parachute, is no longer present in North America and 

apparently was never common on this continent'. 

Although its geologic history is imperfectly known, 

its absence in North America except in the middle or 

upper Miocene of eastern Washington and the Florissant lake beds of Colorado suggests a late Tertiary 

introduction into North America from Asia by way of 

the Bering land bridge. It also occurs in the European 

Tertiary but in the modern flora is restricted to southeastern Asia and Australia. 

It has seemed important to give in some detail the 

geologic history and existing distribution of the genera 

of the Latah formation which no longer occur in the 

State of Washington. The remaining genera, which 

are still present in the State, may be passed over as 

of less interest. It would seem that the conclusions 

to be legitimately drawn from this survey are obvious, 

and I will therefore not dwell upon them at any length. 

There are in this Latah flora many elements representing what may, to speak broadly, be called the 

holarctic Miocene flora, although I do not mean to 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 233 

imply that thIs was at all uniform over all the northern. 

continents. It did, however, contain numerous similar 

.generic types. After the clill1atic changes due mainly 

to the uplift of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade and 

Coast Ranges the distribution of these generic types 

was altered. ~ome survived in locally favorable situations on the western nlolmtain slopes, along streams, 

or in the hunlid western part of the State or the adjacent 

region to the south. Others disappeared entirely from 

western North America, and, as we have seen, their 

nearest relatives have a renlarkably consistent distribution. Some few still sll'vive in Europe, but the 

.great majority are now extinct on that continent. A 

·considerable number survive in either eastern Asia 

or southeastern North Anlerica, but the majority are 

represented in both of these mesophytic Tertiary 

floral preserves. The renlarkable pairing of eastern 

Anlerica and eastern Asia, first emphasized by Asa 

Gray in 1872, thus becomes understandable, and we 

have in the Latah and sill1ilar western floras the record 

of a tinie before the changes due chiefly to extinction 

of species or restriction of their ranges brought about 

the contrasts between the existing floras of Europe, 

Asia, and eastern and. western North America and the 

correlative resmnblance between the floras of eastern 

Asia and eastern North America. 

The cause is not far to seek and has been frequently 

.emphasized: The continent of Europe, lying as a whole 

poleward as compared with America or Asia, was 

·extensively glaciated during Pleistocene time, not only 

by the continental ice sheet from the Scandinavian 

·center but by mountain glaciers in the Pyrenees, Alps, 

Oarpathians, Urals, and Caucasus. Its Tertiary flora, 

with lnagnolias, gums, walnuts, hickories, sassafras, 

tulip trees, etc., during the climatic stress of glacial 

tilne had its southward retreat cut off by a continuous 

barrier of high nlOuntains or open seas from the Bay 

·of Biscay eastward to the expanded Caspian Sea. 

·Consequently many plant species became extinct, 

and the lnodern flora of Europe has an impoverished 

aspect when compared either with the Miocene flora 

·of Europe or with the Recent flora of eastern Asia or 

eastern North Alnerica. 

In western Alnerica the history is somewhat different 

but with a silnilar ending. The gradual elevation of 

the 1110llltain systenls and the changes in geo­

.graphic pattern governing wind circulation resulted in 

developing rain shadows or inappropriately seasoned 

rains over areas of great extent, producing prairies 

like the great belt of country bordering the Rocky 

Mountains on the east, the grass lands of southeastern 

Washington, the senliarid to desert region east of the 

Sierra Nevada and west of the Rockies in the present 

Great Basin, or the arid to desert country of southern 

California, Arizona, and New Mexico. With these 

progressive changes, accompanied by regional uplift, 

the nlesophytic plants-and the Miocene flora of 

Holarctica, as a whole, was a mesophytic one-were 

obliged to retire to the humid region around Puget 

Sound, to the westward-faCing wetter slopes of the 

mountains, or to stream borders and canyon bottoms. 

This restriction of suitable areas and the vicissitudes 

of topographic and resulting clinlatic change resulted 

in the extinction of many forms and their replacement 

by high mountain species from the north and xerophytic 

species from the south. . 

In southeastern North America and southeastern 

Asia, in 111arked contrast to western North Anlerica 

and Europe, the relation of land and sea assured abundant precipitation, there was plenty of country unglaciated, and, in particular, the orientation of the moderately elevated lnountains afforded every variety of 

tenlperate habitat over wide areas. Plants could 

readily find their accustomed environmental require111ents either laterally or vertically. Consequently there 

were no extensive extinctions, most of the more widely 

ranging ~1iocene genera survived, and new local 

species were evolved. In the main these factors are 

adequate to account for the observed facts. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 

The general history of the Latah region has been 

given in considerable detail by Pardee and Bryan in 

the paper already cited. In Knowlton's account of 

the flora several paragraphs are devoted to the probable 

ecologic conditions. Chaney in his account of the 

clinlatic relations of the Mascall flora 3 considers it to 

represent an assemblage like that of the oak-madrono 

forest of the present in California, 4 with an indicated 

annual rainfall of 30 inches. It seems to me that it is 

highly haza.rdous to exclude from consideration, as 

Chaney does, those species which are no longer represented in Pacific floras, for their absence in the recent 

flora is the most conclusive evidence that the Miocene 

physical conditions differed from those of the present 

in that region. Otherwise there is no reason to account for their lack of survival. 

I would also dispute the assertion of a progressive 

trend toward aridity throughout the Tertiary. There 

is certainly no indication of such a trend as late as the 

middle or upper Miocene Latah epoch. Possibly there 

was such a trend during the Pliocene. 

The Latah flora is overwhelmingly mesophytic in 

its facies. I can not name a single genus of the 75 

enumerated that can be unquestionably considered to 

have been xerophytic, although it is quite possible 

that some of the pines and oaks were. Omitting such 

obviously water-side plants as Alnus, Typha, and 

Salix, we have the bald cypress, chestnut, beech, 

hornbeam, fig, sycamore, Menispermites, tulip tree, 

8 Chaney, R. W., The Mascall flora-its distribution and climatic relation: 

Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. 349, 1925. 

• See Cooper, W. S., The broad-sc1eropbyll vegetation of California: Carnegill 

Inst. Washington Pub. 319, 1922. 
234 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS 

magnolia, sassafras, sweet gum, horse-chestnut, linden:, 

Ternstroemites, persimmon, Asplenium, Arisaema, hickory, poplar, birch, elm, hydrangea, nlaple, exceedingly 

large-leaved Lauracere, and Nyssa, which are all 

forms of deep, fertile, well-watered soils, humid atmospheric conditions, and equable summer temperatures. I would hesitate to give a quantitative estimate 

of either the rainfall or the temperature, as in our 

eastern hardwood forests or those of Asia, where the 

modern representatives of these Latah genera still 

exist, they occupy situations of considerable diversity 

as to altitude and latitude and consequently as to 

climate. Furthermore, so much depends upon the 

availability of soil water, the distrihution of precipitation throughout the year, the evaporating power of 

the air, and the influence of water vapor in preventing 

extremes of temperature, and still other factors that 

dogmatism is to be deprecated. 

The Latah flora is an overwhelmingly tenlperate 

flora entirely appropriate to the latitude where it is 

found and indicative of an ample, well-distributed rainfall of possibly between 30 and 40 inches annually. It 

is rather closely paralleled among existing floras by 

those of such a Middle Atlantic State as Maryland. 

AGE 

In the present contribution 152 species are recorded 

from the Latah formation. This by no means exhausts 

. the flora, for the local students are constantly collecting 

new forms, and I have not attempted to determine a 

considerable number of forms that are obviously new 

but are represented so far by inadequate material. 

Of the 152 species 105 are not yet known from other 

regions and are therefore peculiar to the Latah flora 

and lack precise correlation value, except as this is 

indicated by their general facies and degree of relationship to known forms from other localities. 

Our knowledge of the Tertiary floras of the Pacific 

border is still in the formative stage, and there exists 

considerable unc~rtajnty regarding the exact age of 

a number of these floras. The present study throws 

considerable light on some of these. 

On the 42 species found in the Latah that occur in 

other formations, all except the widely ranging and 

probably botanically composite Ginkgo adiantoides, 

Sequoia langsdorjii, and Taxodium dubium have a 

rather short chronologie range. The Ginkgo occurs in 

the Eagle Creek and Mascall formations, the Sequoia 

in the upper part of the Clarno, in the Mascall, and 

at Florissant, Colo., Blue Mountain, Oreg., and Pit 

River, Calif., and the Taxodium in the Mascall. Of 

the remaining and more significant species 4 occur in 

the upper part of the Clarno of the John Day Basin in 

Oregon, 21 in the Mascall formation of the same region, 

9 in the Eagle Creek formation of the Columbia gorge, 

on both sides of the river, 4 at Ellensburg, Wash., 7 in 

TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

the Payette formation of Idaho, 4 in the Miocene of 

Yellowstone National Park, 13 at Florissant, Colo., 

1i in the so-called auriferous gravel of California, 2 in 

the Puente formation of California, 3 at Blue ~10untain, Oreg., 2 at Trout Creek, Oreg., and 2 at Fortynine Camp, Nev.5 

The predominance of Mascall, Florissant, and California species in the Latah flora, despite the uncertainty regarding the age of some of the California 

forms, and the ascertained relationships of the Mascall 

and Florissant floras as a whole are conclusive evidence, 

in my opinion, that the Latah flora is not older than 

middle Miocene. Whether it may be younger depends 

partly on the age of other western plant beds about 

which no general agreement has yet been reached. In 

Knowlton's preliminary paper the Latah flora was 

stated to be "not younger than middle Miocene and 

not older than lower Miocene." In the same paper 

it was stated that the Payette and Eagle Creek floras 

and probably the flora of Bridge Creek, in the John 

Day Basin, were Miocene, and that the flora from 

Ellensburg, Wash., and the Mascall formation of the 

John Day Basin was very definitely middle Miocene. 

The resemblance between the Latah flora and that 

found at Florissant, Colo., was not recognized by 

Knowlton, as it was not especially pronounced in the 

material which he studied. The subsequent collections from the Latah emphasize this resemblance, and 

the preliminary accounts of studies made by Chaney 

show the presence of certain characteristic species such 

as Populus lindgreni, Fagopsis longifolia, and Platanus dissecta at numerous localities in the West and 

tend to give them an especial stratigraphic value. 

The Florissant flora was considered for a number of 

years, after Cockerell's work to be middle Miocene. 

Knowlton's latest expressed opinion (not published) 

was that the Florissant flora was of upper Miocene 

age. In this opinion I concur most heartily. If the 

Florissant flora is upper Miocene, the Mascall, Payette, 

and Ellensburg floras are probably upper instead of 

middle Miocene. The Latah flora, as Knowlton 

recognized in his preliminary account of it, has a 

very modern facies, and it seems to me that the lateness of mountain uplift in the Pacific region, which 

presumably was the major factor in bringing about 

the changes of distribution and the extinction of 

species in the Tertiary floras of western North America, 

strongly favors an upper Miocene rather than a mlddle 

Miocene age. 

This probability of the Latah flora being upper 

rather than middle Miocene and the tendency among 

students of west-coast geology to consider the formations involved younger than they were formerly 

thought to be has considerable bearing on the age of 

other Tertiary plant beds in the West. Thus the 

5 These localities are taken from incomplete lists published by Chaney in 1925. 
--------- - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - - - _____ _ - - - ---

--------

FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 235 

upper part of the Clarno formation of Oregon seems to 

nle to be clearly younger than Eocene and may well 

be as young as Miocene; the Eagle Creek formation, 

which Chaney considers Oligocene, I would consider 

Miocene; the Payette formation of Idaho is clearly 

Miocene, as Chaney has already announced,6 is certainly not older than middle Miocene, and is probably 

upper Miocene. If the Payette flora is upper Miocene 

then the plant-bearing part of the Esmeralda formation 

of western Nevada, a collection from which I have 

studied recently and found to be very similar to the 

Payette flora, is also upp~r Miocene. These concluC Chanoy, R. W., Notes on the flora of the Payette formation [Idaho and Oregon): 

Am. Jour. SeL, 5th ser., vol. 4, pp. 214-222, 1922. 

sions bring the Payette and Esmeralda formations 

more nearly in accord with the age determinations 

of the vertebrate paleontologists. I hesitate to be 

dogmatic about the age of the Mascall flora, because I 

have never worked it over systematically, but I do 

believe it to be somewhat younger than middle Miocene. There is much in common between the Latah 

and Mascall floras, and. if the Latah flora is upper 

Miocene it furnishes additional evidence tending to 

prove that the Mascall flora is younger than middle 

Miocene and also has a significant bearing on the age 

of the Columbia River lava flows, because the only 

decisive means of dating these flows is that of the fossil 

plants contained in the associated sedimentary beds. 

Outside distrib~ttion of the Latah flora 

Eagle I

Upper Creek Ellens­ Mio- Floris- AuriC- Puente part of lVIaseall forma- t burg Payette Blue eene, sant lake era us form a­ Moun- Trout 49 Clarno forma- tion, I forma- forma- Yellow· beds, gravel, tion, Creek, Camp, forma- tion, Oregon tion, tion, tains, stone Colo· Cali· Cali· Oregon Oregon Nevada tion, Oregon and Wash· Idaho Park rado Cornia fornia Oregon Wash· ington ington 

------------------1--------------------------­ Ginkgo adiantoides Q __________________ - __ - - - - X X - - - _ - - - - - - - - ___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ­ - - ___ _ Seq uoia langsclorfii Q X -

X - _- - - - ____ - _ - - - - - - ____ - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - X 

Taxodium dubiUln Q __________________ - - - _ - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ­ Pahteopotamogeton fiol'issantL _________________ - _____ - ___________ -_____ ______ X ------ ------ -----­ ----.-­ -- ___ _ 

Smilax lamarensis ____________________________ ------ ------ ------ ------ X ------ ------ ------ -----­

~1:~fo~\~I~~1l~~~~~:::::::::::::::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: g :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: 

Salix perplexa ______________________________ - - X __ - - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ X ___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ­ - - - - __ Salix florissantL __________________ - _ - - - - - _ - - - - X - __ - - - ______ - __ - - - ____ - - X --- - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - __ Populus lindgrenL______________________ ______ X X X ______ ------ ______ ------ X ------ ---- __ Betula heteromorpha_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X ____ - - - - - - - - ___ - - - - - - - - - _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - __ Castanea castaneaefolia _____________ - _ - - __ - _ - - X - _ - - - - __ - _ - - - - - - - - ___ - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___ _ 

~~~~~gt~~S~~~~}~~~~.:is~~=================== ====== __ __ ====== ====== --X-- ====== __ __________ __ ====== ====== ====== Quercus merrll1ffiL______________________ ______ X X ______________________________ ------ ---- __ ------ _____ _ Quercus ursinl1 ___________________ - _ - _ - - ____ - - X __ - - - ___________ - _____ - _____ - - ___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - __ - - - - - - __ Quercus simulata ________________._____ - _____ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X X __________ - - _____ - - - - - _ - _ - _ - __ - - - - - - _____ _ Ulmus speciosa_________________________ X X ______________________________ -- __________ ---- _______ _ 

Platanus aspera ____________ - _ - ___ - - - - - - X X 

Platanus dissecta_______________________ ______ X ------ --X-- --X-- ====== ===.=== --X-- ------ --X-- --X-- --X-­

Plu,tallus appendiculata ____________________________ ~ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X ____________ ---- _______ _ Mn,gnolia californica____________________ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X X -- __________ ---- _______ _ Magnolia dayana_ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X - _ - - - - - - - - - - X ____ - ___________ - _ X ____________ - - - - _______ _ Liquidambar californicum_______________ ______ X X ______ ______ ______ X X ---- ________ ---- _______ _ 

~i~~r~~~~fe~:~~~~!;i === = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = === = = = __ __ == = = = === = == = === = = = = = = = = = - -X-- === = = = == = = = === = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Cassia idahoensis _________________ - _________ - _________ - _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X ________________________________ - - _______ _ Sapindus spokanensis___________________ ______ X ______ ______ ______ ______ X X ---- ________ ---- _______ _ Celastrus lacoei ____________ - _ - - __ - - - - - - __ - _ - - __ - _ - ___ - - - ___________ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X _____________________________ _ Rhus typhinoides_______________________ ______ ______ X ______ ______ ______ ______ X _______________________ _ AceI' oregonianuffi______________________ ______ X ------ ______ - ___________ -_____ ______ ______ ______ X X 

AceI' lnerrialni _______________ - _____ - _-'- ____. - _ X ___________________________________________________________ _ AceI' bendirei__________________________ ______ X ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ X _______________________ _ 

t:~~~~i~~~I~~~~~= Umbelllllaria dayana_. = = = = = = = = = = ______ = = = = - _ - = 

___ = = = -= -= - -

= = 

-= = - __ = -

= = = _ -= - = =~ X = = = = =_________________ ~ == = = = = = ~ ~ ~~. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = == = = = . _____ . ______________ . __ . _______________ _ 

Amli!1 ~vhitneyL. - - _ - _ ­ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ? - - - - - ­ - - -. - ­ - - - - - . X . V~ccllmun al!lerlCan~lln----------------- -----­ X -----­ X -----. ______ DlOspyros prmcetol1lana _____________________ ­ _________ - - - ____________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ X

X 

X X ________ ­ - _______ _ _____________________________ _ _____________________________ _ 

41 species _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --5--21--9-'--4---'-7- \ --4--13--11---2---3---2----2

Q Hccordcd from many other localities and horizons. 

100874°-20--16 
236 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTIONS 

Phylum BRYOPHYTA 

Class MUSCI 

Family POLYTRICHACEAE 

Genus POLYTRICHITES E. G. Britton 

Polytrichites spokanensis E. G. Britton 

Polytrichites spokanensis E. G. Britton in Knowlton, U. S. 

GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 24, pI. 8, figs. 3, 4, 1926. 

This charac teris tic species is represented in the 

present collection by good material from a new loeality. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek, northwest of Spokane; 

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.4, 

Spokane, Wash. 

Phylum PTERIDOPHYTA 

Order POLYPODIALES 

Family POLYPODIACEAE 

Genus ASPLENIUM Linne 

Asplenium occidentale Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 49, Figures 3, 4 

Habit' of frond unknown, as only the detached pinnules are preserved. Pinnules lanceolate,' slightly 

falcate, tapering from point near the base to the acute 

tip. Base abruptly contracted and obliquely trunc.ated, fuller on one side (apparently the proximal) 

than on the other. Margin with regular closely spaced 

teeth ranging fronl crenate to serrate and slightly 

more prominent and acute in the tip. Midvein fairly 

stout and prominent. Lateral veins well marked, 

diverging from the midvein at angles of 45° or more, 

the basal pair several times dichotomous; above the 

basal pair there are several pairs of twice dichotomous 

laterals, above which this type alternates with a lateral, the proximal fork of which is simple and the distal fork is once dichotomous. Higher up the veins 

are once dichotomous, and the distal four or five pairs 

are simple. Length about 6.25 centimeters. Maximum width about 1.2 centimeters. One specimen 

from Vera shows the somewhat poorly preserved parts 

of five pinnules and a stout winged rachis. 

Occurrence : Vera, Wash.; Spokane, Portland & 

Seattle Railway cut No.1 and brickyard at Spokane, 

Wash. 

Genus WOODWARDIA J. E. Smith 

Woodwardia praeradicans Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figures 22, 23 

Although the specilnens thus far collected From the 

Latah formation are fragments of sterile pinnae, the 

venation leaves no doubt that they represent the genus 

Woodwardia. 

The pinnae are long and lanceolate, suboppositely to 

alternately cut by narrow ultimately rounded 

sinuses two-thirds inward toward the rachis, 

forming relatively short, pronouncedly falcate segments, whose margins are minutely serrulate. The 

venation shows a row of long, narrow areoles on 

each side and parallel to the midvein of the pinna and 

similar areoles on each side of the mid vein of the segments', outside' of these there is a row of shorter, 

oblique, nearly isodiametric areoles, and outside of 

these a series of veinlets running to the marginal teeth. 

The veins except the lnidveins are thin. The texture 

is distinctly subcoriaceous. 

The only other Miocene species of Woodwardia 

known to me is Woodwardia florissanti Cockerell,1 

both figure and description of which are so vague 

that it is unrecognizable. The Latah form may represent the same species, but as the Florissant form is 

said to be entire-margined, shows no venation, and 

has the segments (the so-called long linear pinnae of 

Cockerell) longer and straighter than in the Latah 

form, and also long stipitate, I believe the two are 

distinct. 

The present species is remarkably like the living 

Woodwardia radicans, our most magnificent species, 

which occurs in shaded environments along streams 

in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges from California 

to Mexico and Guatemala. The same or a related 

species occurs throughout the Mediterranean region 

of the Old World and in South America and Australia. 

The genus contains about SLX existing species, of which 

three are North American. Seven well-characterized 

fossil species have been reported from North America, 

including two frOln the late Upper Cretaceous, three 

from the early Eocene, one from Florissant, and one 

from the supposed Pliocene of Oregon. 

The Latah species differs from all of these, being 

perhaps most similar to the last, Woodwardia columbiana Knowlton.s The genus is represented in the 

present flora of Washington by Woodwardia spinulosa 

Martens and Galeotti, a quite different species of the 

hUluid transition zone. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus WOODSIA B. Brown 

Woodsia bonseri Berry, n. sp. 

Plat,e 64, Figures 20, 21 

Frond small, pinnate. Pinnules thin, small, ovate, 

incised marginally in the lower two-thirds by narrow 

pointed sinuses to fonn two or three ligulate lobes. 

The upper entire part is slightly crenulate. The apex 

is roundly pointed. The base is broad and almost 

7 Cockerell, T. D. A., The fossil fiora of Florissant, Colo.: Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

Bull., vol. 24, p. 77, pI. 6, fig. 2, 1908. 

8 Knowlton, F. H., Two new fossil chain ferns (Woodwardia) from Oregon and 

Wyoming: Smithsonian Misc. ColI., vol. 52, p. 491, pI. 63, figs. 1, 2, 1910. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 237 

truncate and appears to have been sessile. The midvein is flexuous and not stronger than the laterals except 

at its extrem.e base. There are five or six pairs of thin 

altern8,ting laterals, the lower ones once forked and 

extending into the marginal lobes, the upper ones 

sinlple. 

The material is sterile but has all the vegetative 

features of lVoodsia and does not reselnble any other 

tmnperate North Anlerican genus, so that the identification is conclusive. lVoodsia is a snlall genus of about 

15 existing species of tmnperate and cold temperate 

regions. Seven of these are found in the United States 

and Canada. The genus has not been found fossil 

in North Anlerica heretofore. 

The present species is silnilar to all the North Anlerican forms and is especially like Woodsia alpina (Bolton) S. F. Gray, a species of lnoist rocky environlnents, 

ranging froln Labrador and Maine to Alaska and 

southw8,rd to or slightly south of the Canadian border. 

W. alpina does not, so far as I know, occur in Washington, where the genus is represented by Woodsia scopuZina Eaton and llToodsia oregana Eaton, of the transition 

zone. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus PTERIS Linne 

Pteris sp. 

Fern, fragment, Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 24, pI. 9, fig. 10, 1926. 

This very incomplete fragment figured by ICnowlton 

has not been recognized in subsequent collections. It 

undoubtedly represents a part of a Pteris pinnule and 

is closely related to the existing widespread Pteris 

aquiltina Linne. 

Occurrence: Cut No.2 on Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.'s line, Spokane, Wash. 

Phylum CONIFEROPHYTA 

Order PINALES 

Family TAXACEAE 

Genus TUMION Raftnesque 

Tumion bonseri Knowlton 

T1.tmion bonseri Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 25, pI. 10, fig. 3, 1926. 

A single specinlen in the recent collections from 

Republic is rather 1110re conlplete than Knowlton's 

type from Spokane. 

Occurrence: Spokane and Republic, vVash. 

Family CUPRESSIN ACEAE 

Genus SEQUOIA Endlicher 

Sequoia iangsdorfii (Brongniart) Heer 

Seq'l.toia lanysdorfii (Brongniart) Heer. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 26, pI. 9, figs. 3-6. 1926. 

The occurrence of this species in the Latah formation 

has been fully described and illustrated by Knowlton 

in the paper cited. It is a conunon fornI, s01newhat 

variable, and liable to be confused with the associated 

Taxodium dubium. Knowlton referred all the rnaterial 

from the immediate vicinity of Spokane to Taxodium 

dubium, but in the later collections which I have 

studied a considerable proportion of the specimens 

appear to me to represent the present species. This 

species has recently been recorded by Chaney fr0111 

the Blue Mountains, Oregon, and Pit River, California. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Deep Creek northwest of Spokane, Wash.; cut 1 nlile 

west of Shelley Lake, about 10 miles east of Spokane, 

Wash.; well at Mica, Wash.; Vera, Wash.; Chicago, 

11ilwaukee & St. Paul Railway cut, Deep Creek 

Canyon, Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut, 

and brickyard at Spokane, 'Vash. 

Genus TAX ODIUM L. C. Richard 

Taxodium dubium (Sternberg) Heer 

Taxodium d'l.tbium (Sternberg) Heel'. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 27. pI. 9, figs. 2, 7-9; pI. 10, 

fig. 2, 1926. 

Taxodium nevadensis Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 

Terr. Ann. Rept., 1873, p. 272, 1874. 

Mason, Carnegie lnst. Washington Pub. 346, p. 154, pI. 5, 

figs. 2, 5, 6, 1927. 

The occurrence of this species in the Latah formation 

has been fully described and illustrated by Knowlton 

in the paper cited. The species is abundant in the 

recent collections and shows considerable variation in 

size. It is readily confused with the associated 

Sequoia Zangsdorjii unless the material is excellently 

preserved. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Deep Creek northwest of Spokane, vVash.; cut 1 lnile 

west of Shelley Lake, 10 miles east of Spokane, Wash.; 

Vera, vVash.; Republic, Wash.; cut along Spokane, 

Portland &Seattle Railway; and brickyard at Spokane, 

vVash. 

Taxodium, staminate ament 

Plate 63, Figure 2 

I{nowlton 9 described and figured the staminate 

flowers of Taxodium fronl the Latah formation at 

Deep Creek, but his specimen is not nearly so typical 

as the one here figured from the later collections. 

This agrees exactly with the aments of the eArJ.sting 

species, and there cap. not be the slightest doubt regarding the relationship of the fossil. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash., collected 

by E. E. Alexander. 

Genus LIBOCEDRUS Endlicher 

Libocedrus praedecurrens Knowlton 

Liboced1'us praedoc'l.trrens Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 140, p. 28, pI. 8, fig. 8, 1926. 

Fragmentary specinlens of this species are represented at several localities in the present collections. 

9 Knowlton, F. H., Flora of the Latah formation of Spokane, Wash., aud Coeur 

d'Alene, Idaho: U. S. Oeo1. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 28, pI. 10, fig. 4, 1926. 
238 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

The type and only spe~imen previously known came 

fronl the'Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut at 

Spokane. It is of interest to note that a specifically 

unnamed Libocedrus is recorded by Chaney from the 

Mascall and Payette formations and from. Trout 

Creek, Oregon. 

Occurrence: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway cut No.2, brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & 

Seattle Railway cut No.1, Spokane, Wash. 

Family PINACEAE 

Genus PINUS Linne 

Pinus macrophylla Berry, n. sp.Oa 

Plate 49, Figure 9 

This species is based upon the single specimen figured 

showing elongated slender leaves quite unlike the 

associated forms or any previously described. 

Leaves in threes, with long persistent leaf sheaths. 

Slender, about 1 millimeter or slightly over in diameter, and with a minimum length of 21 centimeters; 

the tips are all broken away, so that their maximum 

length remains unknown. 

This interesting form may be compared with several 

existing pines of the Pacific slope, such as the western 

yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson), the Jeffrey 

pine (Pinus jeifreyi Vasey), the Digger pine (Pinus 

sabiniana Douglas), and the Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana Parry). In the character of the sheath and the 

slenderness of the leaves the fossil approaches most 

closely P. ponderosa, which, however, has 2-faced' 

leaves. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. 

Pinus latahensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 49, Figure 7 

Leaves in fives, 2-faced, pointed, about 9 centimeters long and 1 millimeter broad. Sheath clearly 

deciduous; hence it belongs to the so-called white 

or hard pines. 

These leaves in arrangement and size are very close 

to those of the existing western white pine (Pinus 

monticola Douglas) and sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana 

Douglas) and are most' similar to those of the sugar 

pine. However, as the associated seeds are unlike those 

of the sugar pine and are, on the other hand, almost 

identical with the seeds of the western white pine, it 

is possible that the leaves and seeds, described separately, represent a single botanic species that may 

have been the Miocene ancestor of Pinus monticola. 

P. monticola has a wide range and is adapted to a' 

variety of soils. It is found west of the Continental 

Divide in the mountains fronl northern Montana and 

southern British Columbia to Washington, Oregon, 

Va In a publication that appeared after the present paper was written Mason has 

made an interesting contribution to our knowledge of the fossil conifers of western 

America (Mason, H. L., Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. 346, pp. 139-158, 1927). 

It is impossible to discuss Mason's conclusions here. , 

and California. At the north it is nlOst common and 

largest in nloist valleys, and in northern Idaho it 

reaches its greatest development on gentle north 

slopes and flats. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. 

Pinus monticolensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 49, Figures 5, 8 

In the collections from the Latah formation studied 

by Knowlton Pinus was represented by a single folia,r 

specilnen. The untrustworthy character of negative 

evidence is illustrated by the abundance of this genus 

in the later collections, where the pines are represented 

by four different kinds of leaves and by equally characteristic seeds. 

The present species, which undoubtedly represents 

one or the other of the species based upon leaves, is 

represented by four specimens. These vary considerably in size and outline, but the alternative to 

regarding them as ~elonging to a single species is to 

, consider them to represent four distinct species, which 

is not worthy of consideration. They agree in the form 

of the seed but differ in the size and shape of the wing. 

They may be described as follows: 

Whole fruit of medium size, ranging in length from 

17 to 26 millimeters and in maxilnum width froln 4 to 

9 Inillimeters. The inner margin is nearly straight, 

with the seed at the base. The seed is about twice as 

long as it is wide and but nlOderately elevated. The 

tip of the wing may be almost evenly rounded, as in 

the narrower specimen figured, or it may be subtruncate, as in the wider specilnen figured. The outer 

wing Inargin may be but slightly rounded and subparallel with the inner margin, or it may flare at the 

top and narrow downward, in all specimens fonning an 

outer margin nearly or quite to the base of the seed. 

These seeds are very close to those of the existing 

western white or silver pine, Pinus monticola Douglas, 

whose distribution has been discussed under Pinus 

.latahensis. They are also cOluparable to the seeds of 

Pinus ponderosa Lawson, the widespread western 

yellow pine, which is of some interest because the 

Latah collections contain a long-leafed pine that might 

represent a shuilar fossil fornl. However, the fossil 

leaves are two-faced instead of three-faced, as in the 

existing western yellow pine. 

Occurrence: Republic and Spokane, Wash. 

Pinus tetrafolia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 49, Figure 6 

Leaves coriaceous, with a single bundle and twofaced, in fours, about 6 centimeters long and less than 

a nIillinleter in diameter. Sheaths persistent. 

It is highly improbable that this should represent a, 

distinct botanic species, not only because of the wellknown variability anlOng three-leaved and five-leaved 

forms but also because the present species is based 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 239 

upon a single speciInen. However, I have given it a 

llalne rather than nIultiply the already nUl11erous 

unnamed pines in the literature. The leaves are 

1110re slender than in the associated Pinus sp. ICnowlton. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. 

Pinus sp. Knowlton 

Pinus sp. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. ·Paper 140, p. 26, 

pI. 8, fig. 9, 1926. 

Based by K~nowlton on a single specilnen from a well 

near Mica, southeast of Spokane, which nIay be identical with Pinus 7cnowZtoni Chaney, 10 fr0111 the Eagle 

Creek forJnation of Oregon. There are three speciInens in the 1110re recent collections. The leaves are 

short, and one specinlen distinctly shows the sheath, 

so that it can not be one of the soft pines, as ICnowlton 

inferred. 

Occurrence : Well near Mica, Wash. ; brickyard, 

Spokane, Wash. 

Pinus, staminate aments 

Plate 64, Figures 17-19 

The stalninate al11ents of a conifer are relatively 

C0I111nOn at the brickyard locality, as I have six rather 

well preserved specilnens, which is a large number for 

such accidental fossils. They are about 2~ centimeters long and 5 Inillimeters in dianleter, are slightly 

pedunculate, aI.ld consist of spirally arranged thick 

scales on a stout axis with ends turned up and inlbricated. At the base there is a mass or involucre of 

flat pointed inIbricated bracts. 

I at first thought these basal bracts represented a 

gall of sorne gall nudge and have to thank Dr. E. P. Felt 

for looking at thmn for me and giving me his opinion. 

I have c01npared thenl with various coniferous catkins, 

and they agree best with those of Pinus. As several 

species of Pinus are represented by foliage and seeds 

in the Latah forl11ation, I have attached no name 

to the catkins. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, 'iV~sh. 

Genus TSUGA Endlicher 

Tsuga latahensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figures 3, 4 

Cone scales detached, thin, ovate to nea,rly orbicular. 

These vary considerably in size and form and presmnably represent scales from different parts of 

the cone. 

It 11Iight be expected that the deciduous cone scales 

of Tsuga would be of common occurrence 'in the later 

Tertiary deposits, but such has not been the case, and 

the only Anlerican occurrence known to l11e is the 

record (n01nen nudlun) of a 111m11ber of this genus in 

10 Chancy, n. W., 'rhe flora or the Eagle Creek rormation: Walker Mus. Contr., 

vol. 2, No.5, p. 160, pI. 5, figs. 3, 4, 1920. 

the Bridge Creek beds of the John Day Basin in 

Oregont

ll which is based on a twig and not a cone 

scale. One or two Tertiary species have been recorded 

from Eurasia, and this sparseness again disappoints 

one's expectation. 

The existing species number seven, of temperate 

North A111erica, Japan, central and western China, 

and the Himalayan region. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, 'iVash., collected by E. E. Alexander and C. O. Fernquist. 

Glyptostrobus?, staminate aments 

Plate 63, Figure 1 

The present object represents what in the United 

States have been considered the staminate aments 

sometimes called GZyptostrobus europae'llS ungeri Heel' 12 

and sometinles GZyptostrobus ungeri Heel' 13 and by 

European paleobotanists referred to either of these or 

to GZyptostrobus europaeus Heel'. The last has been 

identified all over the world from almost every possible 

Tertiary horizon and is unquestionably a composite. 

I think that there can be no q ues tion but that the 

Latah specimen is homologous with Heer's numerous 

records of staminate aments of GZyptostrobus, but the 

idea that they can be specifically determined is preposterous, and it is by no means certain that the 

presen t specimen even represents GZyptostrobus. Its 

chief interest in the present connection is that sinrilar 

rm11ains occur in the Mascall formation of Oregon. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by C. O. Fernquist. 

Phylum SPERMATOPHYTA 

Class ANGIOSPERMAE 

Subclass MONOCOTYJ.EDONAE 

Order P ANDAN ALES 

Family TYPHACEAE 

Genus TYPHA Linne 

Typha? sp. Knowlton 

Typha1 sp. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 

28, pI. 9, fig. 11, 1926. 

Fragments of linear monocotyledonous leaves si111i10,1' to the sl11all fragment from Spokane which ICnowlton tentatively referred to the genus Typha are common in the recent collections. Beyond their &111onocotyledonous nature their affinity is· entirely problematic, although they might well represent the genus 

Typha. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon and brickyard at 

Spokane, Wash. 

11 Chancy, R. W., Quantitative studies of the Bridge Creek flora: Am. Jour. Sci., 

5th ser., vol. 8, p. 129, 1924. 

12 Lesquereux, Leo, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras: U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 

Rept., vol. 8, p. 222, pI. 46, figs; I-Ie, 1883. 

18 Knowlton, F. H., Fossil flora or the John Day Basin, Oreg.: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 204, p. 26, 1902. 
240 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Order N AIADALES 

Family N AIADACEAE 

Genus POTAMOGETON Linne 

Potamogeton heterophylloides Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 50, Figures 1-3 

Potamogeton sp. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. SQrvey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 29, pI. 10, figs. 5, 6, 1926. 

The fragment from the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 

Railway cut which Knowlton described is represented 

by 11 specimens in the recent collection, most of 

which are complete. They are slightly smaller than 

the type but vary considerably in size, ranging from 

3 to 8 centimeters in length. The tip, absent in the 

type, is abruptly narrowed to a point. 

I have ventured to give it a specific name in allusion to 

its resemblance to Potamogeton heterophyllus Schreber, 

which is found nearly all over North America as 

well as in Europe. Our eastern Potamogeton nuttallii 

Chamisso and Schlechtendal has submerged leaves 

even more like the fossil. 

Occurrence: Cut on Spokane, Portland & Seattle 

Railway, ·Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway 

cut No.2, and brickyard at Spokane, 'Vash. 

Genus PALAEOPOTAMOGETON Knowlton 

Palaeopotpmogeton florissanti Knowlton 

Palaeopotamogeton jlorissanti Knowlton, U. S. Nat. Mus. 

Proc., vol. 51, p. 251, pI. 16, fig. 1; pI. 17, fig. 3, 1916. 

Fruits exactly like those described by Knowlton 

for this species occur in the Latah formation, where 

they are found detached and unaccompanied by the 

foliage. There can be no doubt of their identity 

with the fruits from Florissant. I can see no evidence 

from either the fruits or foliage that there is any 

relationship with the Potamogetonaceae, but I have 

no suggestions to offer regarding their botanic affinity. 

Under the circumstances I would have ignored these 

small hard spherical fruits of the Latah formation 

except for the fact that they are an additional element 

in synchronizing the floras from Florissant, Colo., 

and those in the vicinity of Spokane. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected by C. O. Fernquist 

Order LILIALES 

Family SMILACEAE 

Genus SMILAX Linne 

Smilax lamarensis Knowlton 

Plate 63, Figure 15 

Smilax lamarensis Knowlton, U. S. Oeo1. Survey Mon. 32, 

pt. 2, p. 685, pI. 121, figs. 3, 4, 1899. 

The single specimen figured is referred to this species 

with some hesitation. It approaches the minimum 

size of the leaves from Yellowstone Park and appears 

to be of a less firm texture, but in view of the well-· 

known variability in the leaves of this genus it seems 

undesirable to multiply fossil species unless really 

distinctive specific characters are present. The Latah 

specimen indicates an ovate leaf about 8 centimeters 

long, with a maximunl width in the lower half of 

slightly over 4 centimeters. The base is rounded 

and cordate. There are three principal primaries; 

the mid vein is slightly more prominent than the 

laterals which are acrodrome. There is a second thinner 

pair of acrodrome primaries about 3 millinleters inside 

the margins which they parallel. The·secondary 

venation is thin but well marked consisting of rather 

closely spaced obliquely somewhat sinuate transverse 

veins, forking or inosculating or connected by cross 

branches, and perfectly characteristic of the genus. 

The leaf texture is thin and soft, as is indicated by 

the way the veins stand out above the lamina and the 

somewhat crumpled character of the lamina. 

The type came from the supposed Miocene of 

Yellowstone Park and was compared by its describer 

with the existing Smilax rotundijolia Linne and Smilax 

pseudochina Linne. It might equally well be compared with Smilax hispida Muhlenberg, Smilax 

waZteri Pursh, or still other existing species. Such 

comparisons, however, have but slight ecologic or 

geographic significance. 

Smilax is new to the Latah flora but has been recorded from the upper Miocene at Flori.ssant, Colo., and 

the Eagle Creek and J\1ascall of Oregon. The species 

at Florissant is Smilax labidurommae Cockerell,14 a 

considerably smaller deltoid form with a truncate 

base. The Mascall species is Smilax wardii Lesquereux,15 an elongated hastate-sagittate leaf. Both 

aTe very different from the Latah species. 

The genus, with well-defined characters, goes back 

certainly as far as the early Eocene and probably to 

the later Cretaceous. The existing species nunlber 

about 200 widely distributed and for the most part in 

lnoist environments, most abundantly in tropical 

America and Asia. There are about 20 species in 

temperate North An).erica, several extending as far 

northward as southern Canada. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash., collected 

by E. E. Alexander. 

Family JUNCACEAE? 

Genus JUNCUS? Linne 

Juncus? crassulus Cockerell 

Juncus crassulus Cockerell, Am. Mus. Nat. Rist. Bull., vol. 24, 

p. 79, pI. 10, figs. 44, 45, 1908. 

There are several specimens from the Latah formation which I am unable to distinguish fronl the so14 Cockerell, T. D. A.," Two new plants from the ·Tertiary rocks of the West: 

Torreya, vol. 14, p. 135, text fig. 1, 1914. 

16 Lesquereux, Leo, Recent determinations of fossil plants from Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Oregon, California, Alaska, Greenland, etc.: U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., 

vol. 11, p. 19, pI. 13, fig. 1, 1888. 
FLORA OF THE 241 

called flowers 1r01n Flol'lssant, Colo., described by 

Cockerell as those of J uncus. I have queried the 

generic nanle, as I anl by no nleans convinced that 

they can be conclusively shown to be referable to that 

genus. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected by C. O. Fernquist. 

Subclass DICOTYLEDONAE 

Series CHORIPETALAE 

Order JUGLANDALES 

Family JUGLANDACEAE 

Genus HICORIA Rafinesque 

Hicoria juglandiformis (Sternberg) Knowlton 

P hyll1:tes ju.glandij ormis Sternberg, Versuch einer geognostichbotanischen Darstellungder Flora der Vorwelt, Band 4, 

index. p. 40, pI. 35, fig. 1, 1825. 

Carya bilinica Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 

8 (Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 191, pI. 39, tigs. 

1, 2, 13, 1883. 

Hicoria j7Lglandiformis Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 152, 

p. 117, 1898. 

Cockerell, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., vol. 24, p. 80, 1908. 

A typical large leaf of this species is present in the 

recent Latah collections. It is altogether improbable 

that this represents the same botanic species as that 

described from Europe, and it would probably be proper 

to take up Rjrchner's Juglans ajjinis from Florissant 

as the proper nalne for the American fossil. It has 

hitherto not been found outside the Florissant Miocene. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Order MYRICALES 

Family MYRICACEAE 

Genus COMPTONIA Banks 

Comptonia insignis (Lesquereux) Cockerell 

Plate 50, Figure 5 

Comptonia insignis Cockerell, Colorado Univ. Studies, vol. 3, 

p. 173, 1906; Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., vol. 24, p. 81. 

1908. 

Berry, Am. Naturalist, vol. 40, p. 499, 1906. 

Knowlton, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 51, p. 260, 1916. 

Myrica insignis Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 

Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1874, p. 312, 1876; U. S. Geol. 

Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 7, p. 135, pI. 65, figs. 7, 8, 1878. 

Myrica 	alkalina Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., 

vol. 8, p. 149, pI. 65-A, figs. 10-15, 1883. 

This hands01ne species, abundant at Florissant, 

Colo., is represented in the recent collections from the 

Latah formation by the fine and characteristic specimen 

figured. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. 

Comptonia hesperia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 50, Figure 6 

It is certainly exasperating that the more rare the 

type generally the more scanty the material. The 

present species is based upon a tiny fragment showing 

LATAH FORMATION 

the parts of but seven lobes. Fortunately these are 

characteristic enough to permit recognition of the 

genus but hardly sufficient to define the species accurately. However, as nothing else of the kind is 

known it nlay be made the type of a distinct species 

and may be described as follows :. 

Leaf lanceolate, dimensions unknown. Midvein 

stout. Lamina rath~r regularly divided nearly to the 

midvein into relatively narrow, falcate-pointed lobes 

about 7 millinleters long and 4 millimeters in lllaximum 

width. There are two relatively stout lateral veins 

in each lobe-the upper running to the tip, the lower 

camptodrome; a third and thinner lateral runs close 

to and subparallel wit.h the lower arched margin until 

it disappears by inosculating distad: all are connected 

by fine oblique veinlets and camptodrome marginal 

arches. The margins of lobes are entire. The sinuses 

between them are evenly rounded. Texture subconaceous. 

The only other plant with cOlllparable foliage is the 

mono typic rosaceous genus Lyonothamnus Gra.y, of 

the southern California islands. In this the normal 

as well as the ancestral leaf is entire, becoming lobulate 

below and finally irregularly pinnately parted into 

numerous segments which are themselves lobulate 

as in Comptonia. Lyonothamnus is lllore coriaceous, 

less regularly lobate, and with more nUlllerous veins 

than Comptonia. 

The present specimen is evidently from the middle 

region of a leaf and may be readily matched among 

the rather variable leaves of the existing sweet fern, 

Comptonia peregrina (Linne) Coulter. The genus 

Comptonia is now a mono typic genus of dry and rocky 

hillsides from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and southward to North Carolina in the Appalachian region, 

although it had a hoi arctic rstnge in the later Tertiary, 

and includes numerous fossil species from the Upper 

Cretaceous onward. Eight other fossil species are 

known from the Tertiary of western North America. 

There are at least two characteristic species at Florissant, and a third from the Miocene of Elko station, 

Nevada-all unlike the present fossil. There are two 

upper Eocene species in Alaska (Kenai formation), 

and two or three additional in the upper Eocene or 

Oligocene 

tonia diforme 

of British 

(Sternberg) 

Columbia. 

Berry (C. 

Of these 

columbiana 

both CompDawson) 

data 

such 

form 

ter 

Comptonia 

of 

Dawson, 

as 

and 

but 

the 

the 

Comptonia 

margin, 

are 

shape 

predryandroides 

not 

smaller 

Lesquereux) 

and 

and 

predryandroides 

division 

minor 

and differ 

may 

features 

of 

are 

the 

silnilar 

well 

in 

lobes, 

Berry 

specific 

of 

stand 

the 

to 

the 

the 

(C. 

venation. 

features 

characin 

La.tah 

cU8pian 

ancestral relationship to Comptonia hesperia. 

Although the genus has failed to perpetuate itself 

in the existing less arid regions of the Pacific slope, 

it was evidently endemic there, as well as in eastern 

Asia, throughout the later Tertiary. That it can not 
242 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

be considered indicative of other than mesophytic 

conditions during Latah time is shown by its associates 

in the past in that general region and by the range of 

the sole surviving species. It was not a "denizen of 

the Latah bottoms but of more or less rocky slopes 

with lessened ground water and a somewhat thinned 

cover. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spo~ane, Wash 

Order SALICALES 

Family SALICACEAE 

Genus SALIX Linne 

Salix florissanti Knowlton and Cockerell 

Plate 64, Figure 16 

Salix florissanti Knowlton and Cockerell, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 696, p. 566, 1919. 

Salix amygdalaefolia Lesquereux, Cretaceous and Tertiary 

floras, p. 156, pI. 3, figs. 1, 2, 1883. (Not Gilib, 1792.) 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 30, 1902. 

Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 11, p. 17, 1888. 

Cockerell, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., vol. 24, p. 82,1908. 

Salix bryani Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 33, pI. 12, fig. 6, 1926. 

This, the smaller of the two more typical willows of 

the Latah fornlation, occurs also at Florissant, Colo., 

and in the Mascall formation at Van Horn's ranch in 

the John Day Basin of Oregon. Knowlton described 

the Latah remains as a new species, but it is obviously 

identical with the Salix amygdalae folia of Lesquereux. 

Occurrence: Cut on Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul ./

Railway and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Salix inquirenda Knowlton 

Salix inquirenda Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 32, pI. 11, figs. 1, 2, 1926. 

This fine and characteristic Salix is not uncommon 

in the recent collections from the Latah formation. 

It varies considerably in size, the largest specimen 

having a nlaximum width of 4.5 centimeters, but 

preserves the inarginal and venation features throughout. The petiole is complete in two specimens and is 

2 and 3 centimeters long, respectively. The new 

occurrences are given below. 

Among existing species this appears to me to be 

closest to some of the forms of Salix lasiandra Bentham, 

a wet-soil type of middle altitudes found west of the 

Sierra Nevada in California, western Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia. 

Occurrence : Vera, Wash. ; Twelfth A venue and 

Thor Street and brickyard, Spokane, Wash. 

Salix remotidens Knowlton 

Salix remotidens Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 32, pI. 12, fig. 7, 1926. 

Although it shows some minor differences, especially 

in the more rounded base and less conspicuous teeth, 

it is doubtfully distinct from the associated Salix 

inquirenda Knowlton. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Salix, pistillate flower 

Plate 63, Figure 5 

Ovary slenderly fusiform, short stipitate, about 45 

millimeters long and 1.25 millimeters in maximum 

diameter. Stipe about 1 milliIneter long. Style practically nonexistent. Stigmas two, short and spreading. 

Scale small and narrow, about half the length of the 

ovary, villous distad. 

This unique fossil is naturally represented by a 

single specimen, which was preserved by some lucky 

accident. That it is a willow can not be doubted, 

as the stigmas of Populus are dilated, parted, or lobed 

and are frequently three and more rarely four in 

number, whereas in Salix they are always two in 

number, although in some species these may be 

parted. Among recent species that I have seen the 

fossil is most like the pistillate flowers of Salix cordata 

~1uhlenberg, a wet-soil shrub ranging from New 

Brunswick to British Columbia and south to Virginia, 

Missouri, Colorado, and California. 

It is an unusual pleasure to find such a flower in 

association with the fossil foliage, and the present 

occurrence is, so far as I am aware, the first to be 

recorded, although poorly preserved catkins and the 

valved capsules have been found fossil. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by C. O. Fernquist. 

Salix sp., stipule 

Plate 52, Figure 6; Plate 64, Figure 9 

In addition to the leaves of three species of Salix 

recorded from the Latah formation there are several 

speCimens of remarkably well preserved stipules which 

might belong to one or the other of these leaf 

species. Detached stipules, when nonfugaceous, are 

exceedingly rare as fossils. The present specimens 

range from 0.8 to 2.5 centimeters long and 4 to 12 

millimeters wide, sheathing at the basal side, pointed, 

and with numerous serrate teeth and a characteristic 

venation. The fossil can be exactly matched by 

selected stipules from the living tree. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus POPULUS Linne 

Populus heteromorpha Knowlton 

PopUlus heteromorpha Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 140, p. 30, pI. 12, figs. 8-10; pI. 13, figs. 1-7; 

pI. 14, figs. 1-3; pI. 15, figs. 3-5, 1926. 

PopUlus fairii Knowlton, idem, pI. 15, fig. 2; pI. 16, figs. 1-3. 

This exceedingly protean species is the most abundant form in the Latah collections. It occurs in all 

sizes and shapes and shows a corresponding range of 

variation in its marginal charR.cters. These have been 

sufficiently illustrated in the large suite of specimens 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 243 

figured by Knowlton. As he suspected, the forms 

cfl.lled fairii are not distinct from the type, but every 

gradation is represented, and leaves with three, four, 

01' five pri1naries are not distinctive. Every locality 

in the recent collections that contains one contains 

the other. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and 

Spokfme, Portland & Seattle Railway cuts Nos. 1 

and 4, Spokane, Wash. 

Populus Iindgreni Knowlton 

Pop~tl1l.s lindgreni Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth 

Ann. Rept., pt. 3, p. 725, pI. 100, fig. 3, 1898; U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 29, pI. 2, fig. 1, 1902; u. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 31, pI. 14, figs. 4-7, 

1926. 

This species, described originally from the Payette 

formation of Ida.ho, was subsequently recorded from 

the Mascall and Latah fornlations. Recently Chaney 

has reported it f.1'Oln, the Blue Mountains, Oregon, 

and Ellensburg, Wash. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Vera, Bigelow Gulch near IIillyard, and Republic, 

V'lash. 

Populus, bud scales 

Plate 50, Figure 4i Plate 63, Figure 8 

Characteristic bud scales of Populus are not uncommOll in the present collec,tion. They are trunca.te at 

the base, acute at the tip, 1.25 to 2 centimeters long, 

longitudinally veined, and of considerable consistency. 

They are involute, as shown by the splitting of specimens that have been flattened during fossilization. 

They are in every wn,y comparable with the large and 

1nore or less resinous outer winter bud scales of the 

existing species and presnmably belong to one of the 

species represented by leaves in the Latah formation. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash 

Populus, pistillate ament. 

Plate 63, Figure 7 

A segment of fruit-bearing catkin of some species 

of P01}ulus, presmnably belonging to one of the named 

lenf species of the Latah formation, is contained in the 

collection. The axis is stout, the capsules are well 

spaced and small, ovate conical, about as wide as long 

and two.:.valved; SOlne are open and others closed. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by E. E. Alexander. 

Populus, amentiferous bract 

Plate 63, Figure 6 

A single specilnen undoubtedly represents a bract 

frOln the catkin of a Populus, presumably one of the 

species so prolifically represented by leaves in the 

Latah fonnation. This bract is about 5 lnillimeters 

long, truncate or slightly excavated at the base, 

expanding upward, the substance thickened in its 

upper half and lacerate. The details of the specimen 

are not clear throughout, but it is obviously flat and 

not tubull1r as it would be if it were a sympetalous 

calyx or corolla, and it agrees closely with the bracts 

of various existing species of Populus, in which the 

bracts are characteristic. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by O. O. Fernquist. 

Order FAGALES 

Family BETULACEAE 

Genus BETULA Linne 

Betula heteromorpha Knowlton 

o 

Bet~tla heteromorpha Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, 

p. 39, pI. 3, figs. 6, 7; pI. 5, fig. 1, 1902i U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 140, p. 34, pI. 17, figs. 5, 6, 1926. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr.. vol. 2, No.5, p. 165, 1920. 

Betula bryani Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 34, pI. 18, fig. 1, 1926. 


Betula thor Knowlton, idem, p. 35, pI. 17, fig. 3. 


This species, described originally from the upper 

part of the Clarno formation of the John Day Basin 

in Oregon, is very common in the Latah formation 

and occurs, also in the Eagle Creek fornlation. The 

forms that I(nowlton described as Betula bryani and 

Betula thor, are nothing but variants of Betula heteromorpha, with which they are connected by insensible 

gradations. These leaves are separated with difficulty 

from some. of the existing western leaves of Alnus. 

,The variations of this Latah species of Betula can be 

matched anlong the leaves of the existing Betula 

occidentalis, which it closely resembles and which 

occurs along stream borders in rich soil through 

British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Vera, Wash.; Bigelow Gulch below Hillyard, Wash.; 

Republic, Wash.; Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and 

cuts on Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway and 

Chicago, ~1ilwaukee & St. Paul Railway, at Spokane, 

vVash. 

Betula fairii Knowlton 

Betula fairii Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 33, pI. 17, fig. 4, 1926. 

Betula nanoides Knowlton, idem, p. 34, pI. 18, fig. 2. 

I can not see any adequate features distinguishing 

what Knowlton referred to the two species cited above; 

in fact, I imagine that both represent merely slllall 

leaves of the associated and nlore abundant Betula 

heteromorpha Knowlton. 

Occurrence: Cuts on Chicago, Nlilwaukee & St. 

Paul Railway and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Rail· 

way and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 
244 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928' 

Betula largei Knowlton 

Plate 50, Figure 12 

Betu~a? largei Knowlton, U. S. Heol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 34, pI. 17, figs. 1, 2, 1926. 

This species was queried by Knowlton because he 

thought it might be an Alnus or Oorylus. There are 

five specimens in the recent collections, including the 

perfect minimum-sized leaf figured. It is very similar 

to the existing Betula luminijera Winkler, of central 

China, which it resembles much more closely than it 

does any existing North American birches. 

Occurrence: Cut on Spokane, Portland & Seattle 

Railway and brickyard at Spokane, Wash.; well at 

Mica, Wash. 

Betula, winged fruit 

PIate 63, Figure 9 

Winged nutlets (samara), roundly obcordate, 6.75 

millimeters in width, thus relatively large. The nut 

is fusiform, compressed, widest and fullest above the 

middle, with basal scar, 4.5 millimeters long and 1.75 

millimeters in ma}"-lmum width. It is crowned with 

two slender persistent curved styles 1 millimeter in 

length. The wings are very delicate, full and rounded, 

and very faintly and openly reticulate-veined. 

This beautiful and characteristic fruit very probably 

represents the genus Betula, the leaves of which are 

among the commonest fossils in the Latah formation. 

It does not seem wise to multiply specific names by 

naming it, as it almost certainly represents the fruit 

of one of the forms represented by leaves which have 

already been named. It can not be conclusively 

proved that Alnus should be excluded from consideration, but as the lea,ves of Betula are so exceedingly 

common in this deposit, as all the existing species of 

Betula have winged nuts, whereas in the existing 

species of Alnus the wing is greatly reduced or entirely 

absent, and as the leaves of Alnus are less common in 

these beds, it seems probable that the refere~ce to 

Betula is correct. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokanel Wash., collected 

by C. O. Fernquist.' 

Genus ALNUS Gaertner 

Alnus elliptica Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 50, Figures 8-10 

Leaves of small size, elliptical in general outline. 

Margin with close-set, prominently crenate teeth. 

Length 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters; maximum width 9 to 

14 millimeters. Petiole very stout, about 4 millimetet!:; 

-long. Midvein stout, prominent. Secondaries relatively stout, regularly spaced, subparallel; they 

diverge from the midvein at angles of about 45°, 

pursue relatively straight ascending courses, and are 

craspedodrome. The tertiaries are obsolete. 

As no larger leaves with these characters occur in the 

collections it is assumed that these small specimens were 

mature. This species is much like what Winkler calls 

Alnus alnobetula var. crisp a in his monograph of the 

Betulaceae. 16 That variety ranges from Newfound-, 

land to Alaska and south to New York, Michigan, and 

British Columbia. 

Occurrence: Republic, near Spokane, Wash. 

Alnus prerhombifolia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 50, Figure 11 

Leaves of medium size; broadly elliptical, almost 

orbicular in general outline, with a shortly pointed tip 

and a rounded or truncate base. Texture subcoriaceous. Margin variously toothed, entire proximad. 

Teeth crenate or serrate and dimorphic. Length 4 

to 6 centimeters; maximum width 2.5 to 4.5 eentimeters. Petiole stout, of unknown length. Midvein 

stout, prominent. Secondaries relatively stout and 

straight, subparallel, regularly spaced. Tertiaries 

well marked, craspedodrome from outer distal part 

of secondaries; percurrent between them. 

I have associated as this new species a somewhat 

variable series of leaves, some of which suggest Betula 

but which appear to me to represent Alnus, especially 

as undoubted cones of Alnus are not uncommon in 

these deposits. They are quite similar to the leaves 

of the existing Alnus rhombijolia Nuttall, a tree of 

stream borders, found from Idaho and Washington to 

southern California. The genus has a considerable 

geologic history and is abundant in the present 

Canadian and Hudsonian life zones. 

Eight normal species from the western Miocene in 

California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have 

been described. These all differ decidedly from the 

present fossil fornl. 

Occurrence: Vera, Deep Creek Canyon, and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Alnus sp. Knowlton 

Alnus sp. Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 33, 

pI. 18, figs. 3-5 a, 1926. 

Pistillate cones of Alnus, identical with those 

figured by I{nowlton from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, are 

contained in the present collections from around 

Spokane, where leaves of this genus have also been 

recognized. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d 'Alene, Idaho; 

Deep Creek Canyon, Spokane, Wash. 

Alnus or Betula, staminate catkin 

The collection contains a single specimen of a 

cylindrical staminate catkin about 3.5 centimeters in 

length and about 6 millimeters in diameter which 

almost certainly represents Alnus or Betula. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

16 Winkler, C., in Engler, A., Betulaceae: Pflanzenreich, IV, vol. 61, p. 107, 1904. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 245 

Family FAGACEAE 

Genus CASTANEA Adanson 

Castanea castaneaefolia (Unger) Knowlton 

Fagus cast(tnea,cfoZia Unger, Chloris Protogaea, p. 104, pI. 28, 

fig. 1, 1847. 

Castanea nngeri Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., 

vol. 8 (Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 246, pI. 52, 

figs. 3-7, 1883. 

Castanea castaneaefolia Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 152, 

p. 60, 1898; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 35, 

pI. 18, figs. 7, 8; pI. 19, fig. 1, 1926. 

This species is not uncommon in the more recent 

collection, from the Latah formation. As noted by 

Lesquereux in the lnaterial from California, the present 

lnaterial shows considerable variation in size and 

proportions, the largest leaf seen having a length of 

24 centimeters and a maximum width of 5.5 centilneters. It is highly doubtful if these western North 

A.merican leaves represent the same botanic species 

as the European fonn to which they have been referred. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and 

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cuts Nos. 1 and 

4, Spokane, Wash. 

Castanea orientalis Chaney 

Plate 51, Figures 4, 5 

Castanea orientalis Chaney, Carnegie Jnst. Washington Pub. 

346, p. 110, pI. 12, figs. 1, 4, 1927. 

Among the leaves from the Latah formation which 

both lillowlton and I have referred to Oastanea castaneaejoZia (Unger) Knowlton are several in which 

the lnarginal teeth are very narrow and long. These 

agree with the species fronl the Bridge Creek formation 

of the Crooked River Basin, in eastern Oregon, recently 

described by Chaney. For the present I have retained both species, but it is highly improbable that 

there were two botanic'species of chestnut at Spokane, 

and it is equally inlprobable that these western American chestnuts should belong to the sanle botanic 

species as that frOIn the European Miocene described 

by Unger. 

1V10re material of Oastanea orientaZis may demonstrate that it varies from the typical form sufficiently 

to include Oastanea castaneaejoZia, but the two are 

best kept separate for the present. In the character 

of the type nlaterial of Oastanea orientaZis there is a 

considerable resemblance to the existing Oastanea 

he'l1/ryi Rehder, of central China. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus FAGOPSIS Hollick 

Fagopsis longifolia (Lesquereux) Hollick 

Plate 50, Figure 7 

Fagol)si.~ long1jolia Hollick, Torreya, vol. 9, p. 2, text figs. 1, 

2, 1909. 

Knowlton, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 51, p. 265, pI. !o, 

fig. 5, 1916. 

Chaney, An1. Jour. Sei., 5th sel·., vol. 2, p. 90. 1921. 

Planera longifolia Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 

Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1872, p. 371, 1873; U. S. Geol. 

Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 7, p. 189, pI. 27, figs. 4-6, 1878. 

Newberry, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 81, pI. 58, 

fig. 3, 1898. 

Penhallow, Roy. Soc. Canada Trans., 2d ser., vol. 8, p. 

70, 1902; Report on Tertiary plants of British Columbia, 

p. 73, 1908. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 712, 1899. 

Quercus semielliptica Goeppert. Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. and 

Geog. Survey Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1871, p. 286, 1872. 

Fagus longifolia (Lesquereux) Rollick and Cockerell, Am. Mus. 

Nat. Rist. Bull., vol. 24, p. 88 (footnote), 1908. 

Zelkowa longifolia (Lesquereux) Engler, in Engler and Prantl, 

Nattirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Teil 3, Abt. 1, p. 65, 1888. 

Myrica oregoniana Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 

33, pI. 3, fig. 4, 1902. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 163, 1920. 

The finding of attached fruits by Hollick in 1909 conclusively showed these leaves to be referable to the 

Fagaceae, and it is difficult to see any reason for not 

referring them directly to the modern genus Fagus. 

Not having examined the fruits personally, I have retained Hollick's genus Fagopsis for the present. 

The species is represented in the Latah formation 

by small leaves, which depart from the type merely 

in having the base somewhat more oblique than in 

most of the Florissant leaves. To the same species 

belongs the form from the Mascall formation referred 

by Knowlton to the genus Myrica. 

The species as now conceived is an abundant and 

widely ranging Miocene type in western North America 

occurring in British Columbia; at Elko station, N ev. ; 

in the Yellowstone Park; in the Mascall formation 

of Oregon; in the Puente formation of Qalifornia; and 

in the Eagle Creek formation of Oregon. If the rarity 

of this form in the Latah formation is of any significance, which is by no means certain, it was not a 

common element in the Latah flora. 

Occurrence: Brickyard and Spokane, Portland & 

Seattle Railway cut No.4, Spokane, Wash. 

Genus QUERCUS Linne 

Quercus cognatus Knowlton 

Quercus cognatus Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 36, pI. 20, figs. 1-4; pI. 21, figs. 1, 2, 1926. 

The form of oak to which Knowlton gave this name 

is one of the commonest types in the Latah fornlation. 

As Knowlton has pointed out, it approaches very closely 

Quercus pseudoZyrata Lesquereux,11 of the MascaU 

formation of Oregon, and Quercus merriami Knowlton, 18 

of the Mascall and Latah formations. 

I can see no valid reason for discriminating Quercus 

cognatu8 and Quercus merriami, and both Quercus 

17 Lcsquereux, Leo, Report on the fossil plants of the auriferous gravel deposits 

of tho Sierra Nevada: Harvard Coil. Mus. Compo Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, 

p. S, pI. 2, figs. 1, 2, 18iS. 

18 Knowlton, F. H., Fossil flora of the John Day Basin, Oreg.: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 204, p. 49, pI. 6, figs. 6, i, pI. 7: figs. 4, 5, 1902. 
246 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

payettensis Knowlton 19 and Quercus rustii Knowlton 20 

are, I believe, variants of the same botanic species. 

The leaves of the lobate ~pecies of oaks are always 

variable, and the Miocene forms of this series differ in 

relative width, number of lobes, and extent to which 

the lobes are incised or extended. It is also most 

improbable that there should have been so many 

Latah species of Quercus. I have not, however, made 

these suggested combinations in '~he present paperfirst, because I do not wish to do any injustice to 

Knowlton's opinion, and, second, because if they 

represent a single botanic species, this can not be conclusively demonstrated, and their description and illustration serve to show the variations, which might be 

ignored if they were definitely considered one species. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Bigelow Gulch, near Hillyard, Wash.; Vera, Wash.; 

brickyard (very common) and Spokane, Portland & 

Seattle Railway cut No.4, Spokane, Wash. 

Quercus payettensis Knowlton 

Quercus payettensis' Knowlton, U. S. GeoI. Survey Eighteenth 

Ann. Rept., pt. 3, p. 730, pI. 102, fig. 9, 1898; U. S. GeoI. 

Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 37, pI. 21, figs. 5-7, 1926. 

As stated in the account of Quercus 'cognatus, this 

form is probably a variant of the same botanic species. 

It was described originally from the Payette formation 

of Idaho. It was recorded by Knowlton from the 

Latah formation at the Edwards ranch, Coeur d'Alene, 

Idaho What I regard as identical material occurs at 

two localities near Spokane. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Vera, Wash.; brickyard at Spokane, 'iVash. (10 specimens). 

Quercus rustii Knowlton 

QuerC1tS rustii Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 36, pI. 21, figs. 3, 4, 1926. 

As stated in my account of Quercus cognatus I regard 

the form to which Knowlton gave the name Quercus 

rustii as another variant of a single botanic species. 

Knowlton points out its affinity with what he called 

Quercus payettensis and QuerC1.lS merriami. I t is not 

so common around Spokane as the other variants 

but occurs at two localities. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Vera, Wash.; brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Quercus merriami Knowlton 

Quercus merriami Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, 

p. 49, pI. 6, figs. 6, 7; pI. 7, figs. 4, 5, 1902; U. S. Geo!. 

Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 35, pI. 19, figs. 4, 5, 1926. 

This form represents leaves like Quercus cognatus, 

Q. rustii, and Q. payettensis, in which the lobes are 

l~ Knowlton, F. H., The fossil plants of the Payette formation: U. S. GeoI. Survey 

Eighteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 3, p. 730, pI. 102, fig. 9, 1898. 

20 Knowlton, F. H., Flora of the Latah formation of Spokane, Wash., and Coeur 

d'Alene, Idaho: U. S. GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 36, pI. 21, figs. 3, 4, 1926. 

extended and become narrowly conical and cuspidate, 

often bristle-tipped. Leaves with very slightly incised lobes have the same texture, venation, and tips, 

and these serve to connect the extremes represented 

by the nominal species nanled above. The present 

form occurs at several hitherto unrecorded outcrops 

around Spokane. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway cut No.2, 

brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut, Spokane, Wash. 

Quercus ursina Knowlton? 

QuerC1tS ursina Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 51, 

pI. 7, figs. 2, 3, 1902. 

There are a few specimens from the brickyard at 

Spokane which, by their small size, obovate general 

outline, extended conical bristle-tipped lobes, with an 

accessory tooth, are indistinguishable from this species. 

Quercus ursina has hitherto been known only from 

the Mascall formation 'of Oregon, where it is associated 

with Ql tercus pseudolyrata Lesquereux and Quercus 

merriami Knowlton---the former doubtfully and the 

latter positively identified by Knowlton in the Latah 

formation. Quercus ursina is probably an extrenle 

variant of Quel'cus merriami. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash. 

Quercus simulata Knowlton, emended 

Plate 51, Figures 6, 7, 9-11 

Quercus simulata Knowlton, U. S. GeoI. Survey Eighteenth 

Ann. Rept., pt. 3, p. 728, pI. 101, figs. 3,4; pI. 102, figs. 1, 

2, 1898; U. S. GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 38, pI. 

22. figs. 3, 4, 1926. 

Chaney, 'Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 168, pI. 12, 

fig. 1, 1920. ' 

Salix elongata Knowlton [not O. Weber], U. S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 140, p. 32, pI. 12, fig. 4, 1926. 

Quercus chaneyi Knowlton, idem, p. 38, pI. 22, fig. 1, 1926. 

Quercus praenigra Knowlton, idem, p. 37, pI. 19, fig. 6, 1926. 

This species was described by Knowlton from the 

Payette formation of Idaho and was identified by the 

same author from the Latah fornlation and by Chaney 

from the Eagle Creek fonnation. I have recently 

detected it in the Esmeralda formation of Nevada. 

There are a large number of specimens of a sinlple, 

prevailingly entire oak in the recent collections made 

around Spokane. These exhibit considerable variation in both size and form, ranging fronl narrowly to 

broadly lanceolate, with entire or sparingly toothed 

margins; the apex may be acuminate or bluntly 

pointed; the base ranges from narrowly cuneate to 

rounded, like the original Payette type and like the 

single Latah specimen which Knowlton described as 

Quercus praenigra. THe similarity in texture and 

venation have convinced me that the citations in the 

above synonYlny represent nothing 1110re than the 

variants of a single Miocene species, comparable with 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 247 

and showing less variation than such a recent species 

as Quercus chrysolepis Liebmann. The fossil is not 

especially close to the canyon live oak but is more like 

the recent Quercus hypoleuca Engelnlann or our eastern willow oak, Quercus phellos Linne. Whatever the 

relationship between the fossil and recent species I 

aIn sure that anyone who has handled a series of 

speciInens of the latter will agree that these Latah 

lea ves represent a single bo tanic species. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Vera, V\Tash.; brickyard, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 

Railway cut, and Deep Creek Canyon, near Spokane, 

Wash. 

Quercus treleasii Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 52, Figures 1-3 

Leaves of relatively, slnall but variable size, 'ovate 

or subelliptical, somewhat narrowed distad to the 

obtusely pointed tip. Base rounded. Margins entire. 

Texture coriaceous. Length fr0111 3.25 to 9 centiIneters; maXinlUJll width from 1.5 to 3 centimeters. 

Petiole short and stout. Midvein stout and prominent. 

Secondaries stout,pronrinent; five to seven pairs diverge 

fr0111 the nlidvein at wide angles, pursue rather angular 

courses, and are camptodr0111e in the marginal region. 

The areolation consists of stout nervilles in a fine nlesh. 

These leaves, which are abundant, have the outline 

of several unrelated genera, but their venation and 

characteristic facies, easily seen but difficult to define, 

staInp theln as belonging to Quercus. They are nanled 

for Prof. Willianl Trelease, our nlost enlinent student 

of the existing oaks. 

Occurrence: Vera and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Quercus sp. Knowlton 

Q'lterC1tS, cup, Knowlton, U. S. Gool. Survey Prof. Paper 140', 

p. 39, pI. 21, fig. 10, 1926. 

A cupule of an oak from the Latah formation at 

Coeur d'Alene was figured by Knowlton. The recent 

collections contain many more or less crushed specimens, doubtless representing more than a single 

botanic species, but the preservation is such that 

no sharp differences can be made out. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.1, Spokane, Wash. 

Order URTICALES 

Family ULMACEAE 

Genus ULMUS Linne 

Ulmus speciosa Newberry 

Ulmus speciosa Newberry, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 5, p. 

507, 1883; U. S. Geo1. Survey Mon. 26, p. 80, pI. 45, figs. 

3-4, 7 (not figs. 2, 5, 8), 1895 [1896]. 

Knowlton,. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 53, 1902; 

U. S. GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 140. p. 39, pI. 18, fig. 

6, 1926. 

Penhallow, Report on Tertiary plants of British Columbia 

p. 94,1908. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 171, 1920. 

Knowlton in' his preliminary account of the Latah 

flora regards the large leaves (Newberry's figs. 3 

and 4) as typical for this species. The smaller leaves 

described by Newberry are referred by Chaney 21 

to his Eagle Creek species, Ulmus tanneri. Newberry's 

Figure 2 and Quercus pseudoamericana Lesquerenx,22 

which Knowlton united with I Ulmus speciosa, differ 

from the others in the very highly developed dimorphic 

teeth and are here excluded from that'-species. 

Only one specimen of Ulmus speciosa was contained 

in ,the collections from the Latah formation studied 

by Knowlton, but it is abundant in the recent collections and occurs in all sizes and also exhibits great 

variations in nlarginal characters. Dentate and serrate 

teeth occur on the same leaf, and although there is 

a tendency for them to be simple they usually show 

some subordinate teeth, and individual specimens 

will have such teeth well developed. 

The type came' from the upper part of the Clarno 

formation of Oregon, and it is doubtfully recorded 

from supposed Oligocene beds in British Columbia 

and occurs also in the Eagle Creek formation of 

Oregon. It is associated in the Latah with mmus 

fruits which differ from any previously described. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash.; Deep Creek Canyon, 

brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cuts Nos. 1 and 4, neaT Spokane, Wash. 

Ulmus, fruit 

Plate 51, Figure 1; Plate 64, Figures 3, 4 

Fruit a samara, long stipitate, broadly lanceolate, 

with an acuminate decurrent base and a deeply cleft 

apex. Texture diaphanous, margin thickened. Finely 

reticulate veined. Length 1.5 to 2 centimeters; maximum width 6 to 8 millimeters; carpellary area 6 by 

3, 4 by 4, 5 by 4, and 7 by 4 millimeters; the slender 

curved stipe 1 centimeter. 

This very characteristic fruit is represented by six 

specimens, of which the most perfect are figured. 

In several specimens the rather large calyx is preserved 

about midway of the stipe. 

Among existing American elnls the one most similar 

to the fossils is the white elm, mmus americana 

Linne, a widely ranging species extending from N ewfoundland to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains 

and southward to Florida 'and Texas and reaching its 

maximum of size and abundance in the, northern part 

of this range. The samaras of mmus americana are 

relatively wider, and the apical auricles are less 

produced. 

21 Chaney, H. W., The flora of the Eagle Creek formation: Walker Mus. Contr., 

vol. 2, No.5, p. 172, pI. 14, figs. 1, 2, 1920. 

22 Lesquereux, Leo, Cretaceous and rrertiary floras: U. S. OeoI. Survey Terr. 

Rept., vol. 8, p. 249, pI. 54, fig. 10, 1883. 
248 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

The present fruit very probably belongs to the same 

botanic species which is represented by leaves in the 

Latah formation. It is quite distinct from previously 

described mmus fruits. mmus with more than a score 

of existing species is widely distributed in the Northern 

Hemisphere except in western North America, reaching southward to the Sikkim Himalayas in Asia and 

to the mountains of southern Mexico in America. 

Despite its absence in the modern flora of western 

North America the genus is well represented throughout the Tertiary of that region and in the Miocene has 

four species ill California and at Florissant, two in 

Oregon (Mascall formation), and one in the Yellowstone 

Park. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family MORACEAE 

Genus FICUS Linne 

Ficus? washingtonensis Knowlton, emended 

Plate 54, Figures 1-3; Plate 55, Figures 5, 6; Plate 62 

Ficus? washingtonensis Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 40, pI. 25; pI. 26, figs. 1-3, 1926. 

This species, as described by Knowlton, was based 

upon four incomplete specimens, only one of which 

.came from the Spokane area, the other three coming 

from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. In the recent collections 

there are a large number of specimens, several of which 

are complete-all of the same species, in my opinion, 

and some not to be distinguished from Knowlton's 

type. I am inclined to think that they represent the 

genus Ficus, and I agree with Knowlton that they are 

specifically distinct from Ficus 80rdida Lesquereux, of 

the California Miocene, although the two are closely 

related. 

The present specimens greatly extend our conception 

of the species and show it to have been exceedingly 

variable in size and form. The petiole is long (over 

4.5 centimeters) and exceedingly stout. The base may 

be rounded, truncate, or cuneate. The primaries in the 

narrower and more elongated forms are frequently 

three instead of five.in number and sometimes diverge 

from above the base, although they are normally basal. 

A large specimen (pI. 62), collected by E. E. Alexander after this manuscript, was submitted for publication, 'still further widens its limits of variation. The 

specimen, which is nearly complete, indicates a length 

of 18 centimeters and a maximum width of i 1.5 

centiIneters. About 2 centimeters of the long petiole 

is preserved, and this adds an unsuspected featurethat is, for a distance of about 1 centimeter immedilLtely below the leaf it is conspicuously alate. The total 

maximunl width of this lanceolat~ affair is 5 millimeters, of which two-thirds consists of marginal wings. 

An additional peculiarity is that the normal full 

rounded leaf margin· on one side about two-thirds of 

the distance above the base is interrupted by an acute 

conical lobe subtending an open rounded sinus. There 

can be no question but that this specimen represents 

the same botanic species to which Knowlton first 

applied this name. The present specimen comes from 

the brickyard at Spokane. 

A representative series of specimens, illustrating the 

variations, are figured herewith. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. ; Vera, Wash. ; Spokane, 

Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.1 and brickyard, 

Spokane, Wash. 

Order PLAT AN ALES 

Family PLATANACEAE 

Genus PLATANUS Linne 

Platanus aspera Newberry 

Platanus a$pera Newberry, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 5, 1882, 

p. 509, 1883; U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 35, p. 102, pI. 

42, figs. 1-3; pI. 44, fig. 5; pI. 59, fig. 3, 1898. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 64, 1902. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 175, 1920. 

This somewhat protean species was described by 

Newberry from the upper part of the Clarno formation 

at Bridge Creek, Oreg. It has also been recorded by 

Chaney from the Eagle Creek formation of Oregon. 

A single specimen in the Latah is unquestionably 

identical with the type in its long, stout petiole, 

numerous prominent nlarginal teeth, and closely 

spaced subparallel secondaries. A second specimen, 

less well preserved, from cut No. 1 also probably 

represents this species. It is very distinct from the 

associated leaves o~ Platanus and could not possibly 

represent a variant of any of these. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cuts No. 1 and 4, Spokane, Wash. 

Platanus dissecta Lesquereux 

Plate 53, Figures 1, 2; Plate 61 

Platanus dissecta Lesquereux, Harvard ColI. Mus. Compo 

Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 13, pI. 7, fig. 12; pI. 10, 

figs. 4, 5, 1878; U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 8 

(Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 249, pI. 56, fig. 4; 

pI. 57, figs. 1, 2, 1883. 

Knowlton, in Smith, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Folio 

86 (Ellensburg, W.ash.), p. 3, 1903. 

Chaney, Carnegie lnst. Washington Pub. 349, p. 27, 1925. 

Acer trilobatum productum (AI. Braun) Heer. Lesquereux, U. S. 

Geol. Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 8 (Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 253, pI. 59, fig. 3, 1883. 

This species, described originally from the auriferous gravel (Miocene) of California and subsequently 

recorded from Ellensburg, Wash., was apparently a 

common element in the Latl1h flora, although no 

specimens were contained in the collections studied 

by Knowlton. Platanus dissecta Lesquereux does not 

differ appreciably fronl the leaves of the existing 

Platanus racemosa Nuttall, a large tree of the canyon 

bottoms and alluvial stream benches from Shasta 

County on the north to Lower California on the south 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 249 

and from the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada 

to the coast. It has evidently retreated to streams 

with the progressive aridity of the region and must 

have undoubtedly enjoyed a less restricted range in 

its early history. It may be a descendant of the 

Miocene Platanus dissecta. Recently Chaney has 

recorded Platanus dissecta from the Mascall formation 

and from the Blue Mountains and Trout Creek in 

Oregon; from Ellensburg, Wash.; and from 49 camp, 

Nevada. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon and Spokane, 

Portland & Seattle Railway cut near Spokane, Wash. 

Plat'anus appendiculata Lesquereux? 

Plate 52, Fig';1re 5 

Platan~t8 appendiculata Lesquereux, Harvard ColI. Mus. Compo 

Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 12, pI. 3, figs. 1-6; 

pI. 6, fig. 7b, 1878. 

This species, described by Lesquereux from Nevada 

and Placer Counties, Cnlif., was doubtfully recorded 

by Knowlton 23 fronl the lone formation (upper Eocene) 

of that State. 

A single incomplete specimen of a Platanus leaf 

fr01n Republic, Wash., differs conspicuously from any 

other Platanus leaves found in the Latah and is referred to this species on account of the agreement in 

venation and the markedly decurrent perfoliate base. 

Occurrence: 'Republic, Wash. 

Order RANALES 

Family MENISPERMACEAE 

Genus MENISPERMITES Lesquereux 

Menispermites latahensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 52, Figure 4 

Leaves of relatively small size, about as long as their 

maximunl width, trilobate, with a wide central lobe 

and a pair of basal lateral lobes. Sinuses rounded, 

extending inward about halfway to the midvein. 

Margin with shallow, irregularly spaced dentate teeth, 

most pronlinent toward the tip of the central lobe and 

on the proximal side of the lateral lobes. AJ?ex 

rounded. Tips of lateral lobes rounded, asymmetric. 

Base perfoHate. Texture thin. Length about 4.8 

centillleters, Jllaximum width, across lateral lobes, 5.25 

centimeters. Primaries stout, diverging from the base 

at angles of about 45°, the laterals curving outward to 

the tips of the lateral lobes. Secondaries numerous, 

ascending, indifferently calnptodrome or craspedodrome according as the margin at their extremities is 

entire or toothed. Areolation large, polygonal. 

This characteristic species is clearly a member of the 

Menispernlaceae and is not unlike some of the modern 

forms which American botanists refer to the genus 

Oebatha Forskal but which the Europeans generally 

U Knowlton, F. H., in Turner, H. W., Auriferous gravels of the Sierra Nevada: 

Am. Geologist, vol. 15, p. 378, 1895. 

include in the large genus Oocculus De Candolle. It 

is also similar to some of the forms referred to Menispermum Linne, which, as now restricted, includes an 

existing species in eastern North America and another 

in eastern Asia. In view of the uncertainty of the 

generic affinity I prefer to refer the fossil to the form 

genus Menispermites, proposed by Lesquereux to fit 

just such cases. 

Leaves of this family are common in the Upper 

Cretaceous of western North America but are extremely rare in the Tertiary of that region. The present 

species is not only a link with the past but also a link 

between eastern Asia and eastern' North America, 

where its descendants still survive. 

Occurrence : Vera, Wash.; brickyard at Spokane, 

Wash. 

Family MAGNOLIACEAE 

Genus .LIRIODENDRON Linne 

Liriodendron hesperia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 51, Figures 2, 3 

Carpels dry,·ligneous, indehiscent; with a proximal 

laterally compressed pericarp and a distalligneoscarious wing; broadly lanceolate, abruptly pointed distad. 

The wing has a conspicuous nlid vein, which is a continuation of the vertical angles of the pericarp, and 

two or three subparallel longitudinal veins from the 

base; these fork distad, as shown in the illustrations; 

the surface is transversely' roughened between the 

veins, more pronlinently centrally. The roughened 

surface of an existing fruit does not show this clearly, 

but if comparison is made with a partly decayed 

modern fruit it is seen to have the sanIe transverse 

lmots of sclerotic tissue, exactly like that seen in the 

fossils. This species is based upon the two specimens 

figured, neither of which is entirely complete .. The 

larger, which has a length of not quite 3 centimeters, 

of which one-third is pericarp, and a width of 7 millimeters, shows the inner side of a carpel in which the 

pericarp is somewhat distorted and flattened; the 

mid vein is wider th~n on the opposite surface, and the 

specimen shows distinctly the 1110re coriaceous tip. 

The smaller specimen, which lacks the apex, is an 

ilnpression of the outer surface of a carpel; it has an 

estinIated length of 2.5 centinleters and a maximum 

width of 5.5 millimeters; the impression of the pericarp 

is fusiform, 5.5 millimeters long and 2.5 millimeters in 

nlaximuln width, deeply impressed in the clay matrix. 

Of the two living species, Liriodendron tulipifera 

and L. chinensis, the fossil is most like the former, 

American form-in fact, the two can not be distinguished. The carpels of the Chinese species are readily 

differentiated from both. 

These specimens are unique in' the Cenozoic history 

of western North Alnerica. The genus' Liriodendron, 

as is well Imown, attained a holarctic distribu tion 

during Upper Cretaceous time and is represented by 
250 	 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

numerous species in both eastern and western North 

America, the Arctic region, and Europe. NoNorth 

American occurrences of Tertiary age have heretofore 

been recorded,24 although fossil species of this age have 

been found in the Arctic region and as late as the Pliocene of Holland and France in Europe and the Altai 

region in Asia. The Holland occurrence is represented 

by carpels which have been referred to Liriodendron 

tulipifera. As the two existing and closely related 

living species are found in China and in southeastern 

North America, and as .the genus was so abundantly 

represented all over North America during the Upper 

Cretaceous period, its apparent absence in the Tertiary 

deposits has been incomprehensible and its presence 

has been freely predicted. Its discovery in the Latah 

formation adds a most important mesophytic elmnent 

to the Latah flora, and we may confidently expect the 

discovery of the foliage, for the carpels are absolutely 

characteristic. 

The only other possible comparison is with the 

samaras of Fraxinus, and they are obviously so differently organized that I have not deenled it necessary 

to enumerate theO contrasts. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash. 

Genus MAGNOLIA Linne 

Magnolia californica Lesquereux 

Magnolia californica Lesquereux, Harvard CoIl.. Mus. Compo 

Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 25, pI. 6, figs. 6, 7 (not 

fig. 5), 1878. 

There are four more or less complete specimens in 

the Latah collections characteristic of this species, 

which has been recorded previously from the Miocene 

of California and Yellowstone Park and from the supposed Eocene of southwestern Oregon. 

Occurrence: Vera, Wash.; brickyard, Deep Creek 

Canyon, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut No.1 at Spokane, Wash. 

M~gnolia dayana Cockerell 

Magnolia lanceolata Lesquereux, Harvard ColI. Mus. Compo 

Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 24, pI. 6, fig. 4, 1878. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 58, 1900. 

Magnolw dayana Cockerell, Am. Naturalist, vol. 44, p. 35,1910. 

Knowlton; U. S. Geol. Survey Ptof. Paper 140, p. 41, pI. 

24, fig. 3, 1926. 

There are in the Latah collections four specimens of 

this large Magnolia which are typical of this species. 

N one are entirely complete, but some show the tip and 

others the base and indicate leaves about 24 centimeters 

long and 7 to 8 centimeters in maximum width. 

The species has been recorded previously from the 

Miocene of California, the upper part of the Clarno 

formation of Oregon, the Ellensburg formation of 

24 A doubtful leaf fragment from the upper Eocene of British Columbia has been 

referred tentatively 'to Liriodelldron (Berry, E. W., Canada Geol. Survey Bull. 

42, p. 110, 1926); and Chaney (Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 173, pI. 14, fig. 

4, 1920) has recorded a very doubtful fragment from the Eagle Creek formation. 

Washington, and the supposed Eocene of southwestern 

Oregon. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.1 at Spokane, Wash. 

Order ROSALES 

Family HAMAMELIDACEAE 

Genus LIQUIDAMBAR Linne 

Liquidambar californicum Lesquereux, emended 

Liquidambar californic1tm Lesquereux, Harvard CoIl. :Mus.. 

Compo Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 14, pI. 6, fig. 7cj 

pI. 7, figs. 3, 6, 1878. . 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 174, 1920. 

Liquidambar europaeum Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 

Rept., vol. 8 (Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 159, 

pI. 32, fig. 1, 1883. 

Newberry, U. S. GeoI. Survey Mon. 35, p. 100, pI. 47, 

figs. 1-3, 1898. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 62, 1902; U. S. 

Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 17, p. 226,1894; Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., vol. 5, p. 585, 1893. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, No.5, p. 174, 1920. 

Liquidambar protensum Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., 

vol. 11, p. 13, pI. 8, fig. 3, 1888. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 62, 1902. 

Liq1tidambar sp. Knowlton, in Lindgren, Jour. Geology, vol. 4, 

p. 890, 1896. 

Liq1tidambar e1trOpaeum patulum Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 204, p. 62, pI. 10, fig. 5, 1902. 

Liquidambar europaeum AI. Braun. Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. 

Mus. Proc., vol. 11; p. 14, 1888. 

Liquidambarsp.? Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 

63, pI. 12, fig. 4, 1902. 

Liquidambar pachyphyllum Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

204, p. 63; pi. 9, fig. 1, 1902; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 140, p: 42, pI. 221 fig. 7; pI. 29, fig. 1, 1926. 

Chaney, 	Walker Mus. Contr" vol. 2, No.5, p. 174, pI. 15, 

figs. 2, 3, 1920. 

Liquidambar convexum Cockerell, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., 

vol. 24, p. 94, pI. 7, fig. 16, 1908. 

Liq1tidambar acutilobum Chaney, 'Walker Mus. Contr., vol. 2, 

No.5, p. 175, pI. 15,' fig. 4, 1920. 

Knowlton recorded five different forms from the 

Mascall formation and Chaney four forms from the 

Eagle Cr'eek formation. To anyone who has collected 

the leaves of our existing Liquidambar styracijlua 

Linne or who contemplates I-Ieer's excellent figures of 

Liquidambar europaeum AI. Braun, from the Swiss 

Miocene, it must be obvious that there is the widest 

variation in size, degree of lobation, and relative 

proportions ,in the same species; somewhat less, but 

still considerable variation in texture; and less but 

still some variation in the marginal teeth and details of 

venation. When ~ variety of species, based on foliar 

features, are described from a single outcrop such a 

differentiation does violence to the facts. All the 

western American Miocene leaves of Liquidambar 

could readily be matched among the material of 

Liquidambal' europaeum from the type locality at 

Oeningen, Baden, or they could equally well be matched 

among the leaves of our existing sweet gum, Liquid­
FLORA OF THE LATAH FOR.MATION 251 

amba'l' stY'I'acijlua. If it is reasonable to conclude 

that the existing Anlerican species has not come down 

unchanged since Tertiary time it is unreasonable to 

suppose that an identical 11

Iiocene species inhabited 

Europe alld western North Alnerica. 

If Braun's name is discarded for American forms the 

oldest available is Liq1.tidamba1· caZijo'l'nicum Lesquereux, which I consider includes all the nominal 

species that hftve been referred to this genus from the 

western Anlerican NIiocene. 

The nlaterial in the Latah fonnation, although not 

abundant, adnlirftbly illustrates the usual situation. 

Knowlton figured both three-lobed and five-~obed 

forms frOln the Latah fornlation as Liquidamba'l' 

1Jachyphyllum. The present collection contains narrow 

acuminately lobed three-lobed leaves with a cuneate 

base and larger five-lobed leaves with broad lobes and 

a cordate base. The venation and the very characteristic lnargin are identicn,l in both, and I have not the 

slightest doubt that all the Latah leaves represent a 

,single species. 	 , 

The species, as conceived by nle, is found in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. Undoubtedly the fine fruitfronl the Latah formation described 

by ICnowlton 25 belongs to it. This, too, is not at all 

different frOl11 the fruits of our existing eastern American species. 

Occurrence: Well near 1t1ica, Wash.; cut No. 2 on 

Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.'s line, 

Deep Creek Canyon, and brickyard, Spokane, Wash. 

Family GROSSULARIACEAE 

Genus RIBES Linne 

Ribes fernquisti Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 21 

Lea,;es ,relatively SIllall , trilobate. Margin, except 

at base and in the sinuses, with course dentate teeth. 

Texture subcoriaceous. Length about 5 centinleters, 

as is also the Inaxinlunl width. Apical lobe about as 

broad as it is long, bluntly pointed at apex. Base of 

the leaf truncate: Sinuses narrow and not deep. 

Priinaries three frOln the top of the petiole, stout and 

pronrinent. Secondaries stout, pronlinent, diverging 

fr0111 the primaries at acute angles. There are three 

or four subopposite to alternate secondaries in the 

central lobo, Clirved proxilnad and 1110re straight distad,. 

and eraspedodrOl11e. In the lateral lobes the basal 

secondary on the outside diverges close to the base 

and is l'eifttively stru,ighter and nlore pronrinent than 

its fellows and might be tenned a subprinlary. There 

is a secondary on the outside below the basal secondary 

on the inside, and the latter is 111uch curved, ascendiilg 

2~ Knowlton, F. H., Flora of the Latah formation of Spokane, Wash., and Coeur 

.d'All':Je, Idaho: U. S. Oeol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 42, pI. 10, fig. 10, 1926. 

l00874°-2!)-IJ.7 

inside the sinus margin and ending caniptodrOl11ely 

if the nlargin is en tire and craspedodrOlnely if it has 

ascended to a point where there is a tooth on the Inargin. 

The prinlaries, particularly the lateral ones, are slightly 

flex~lOus with respect to the alternate divergence of 

the secondaries. The Tertiary branches £rOln the distal parts of the secondaries are well nlarked, and the 

ultil11ate ones are usually craspedodron1e. Internal 

tertiaries are transverse and peI'current or inosculating 

in the Iniddle region. The areolation is an open 111esh 

that agrees precisely .with that in leaves of existing 

nlenlbers of the genus. 

The species is nalned for the collector. 

"Tith the exception that sonle modern leaves of Ribes 

tend to have a cordate base, this Latah species shows 

all the foliar features of the genus, especially in the 

form of the teeth a,nd in the' posi tion and disposition 

of the veins. 

Ribes has not often been recognized iri the fossil 

state. Two species have, however, been recorded 

fron1 Florissant, Colo., but both of these are unlike the 

Latah form. There are over 60 eAisting species of 

Ribes, all shrubby, and widely distributed in the North 

TeInperate Zone and in the Andes of South Anwrica. 

Fully 50 species are known fronl North An1erica. 

There are 18 in the Recent flora of vVashington5 in the arid transition zone and a sixth in the Sonoran 

zone. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash., collected by C. O. Fernquist. 

Family SAXIFRAGACEAE 

Genus HYDRANGEA Linne 

Hydrangea bendirei (Ward) Knowlton 

Plate 52, Figure 7 

Hydrangea bendirei Knowlton, in Merriam, California Univ. 

Dept. 	Geology Bull., vol. 2, p. 309, 1901. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 60, pI. 9, figs. 

. 6, 7, 1902; U: S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 42, 

Pl. 24, fig. 6, 1926. 

MarsiZw bendirei Ward, U. S. Geol. Survey Fifth Ann. Rept., 

p. 446, 1885. 

Porana bendirei 	(Ward) Lesquereux, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., 

vol. 11, p. 16, pI. 8, fig. 4, 1888. 

There are two specin1ens of this species in the recent 

collections. The one figured is complete ~md of special 

interest, because it ha's five fully developed sepals' 

instead of the normal four, a feature not unco111Dlon 

in existing species. There is considerable variability 

in this feature in the sterile flowers of existing 'hydrangeas, and the fossil is otherwise identical not only with 

the type but with the single specinlen fronl the Latah 

form'ation described by ICnowlton in 1926. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut, Spokane, vVash.; Republic, Wash . 
252 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1·928 

Family DRUP ACEAE 

Genus PRUNUS Linne 

Prunus rustii Knowlton 

Plate 55, Figure 1 

Prunus rustii Knowlton, U. S. GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 43, pI. 24, figs. 4, 5, 1926. 

This characteristic species, sparingly represented in 

the collections studied by Knowlton, is not uncommon 

in the later collections. A conlplete leaf is figured 

herewith. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Republic, Wash.; Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and 

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway cut, Spokane, 

Wash 

Family· ROSACEAE 

Genus AMELANCHIER Medicus 

Arnelanchier scudderi Cockerell 

Plate 55, Figure 4 

Amelanchier scudderi Cockerell, Torrey Bot. Club Bull., vol. 33, 

p. 310, text fig. 4, 1906. 

This species was based upon a single incomplete 

specim~n from Florissant, so that, whatever variation 

was present can not be determined. The complete 

leaves in the Latah formation are not exactly like the 

type but are so similar that I have no doubt that they 

represent the same botanic species.· They are relatively slightly longer and narrower and consequently 

have more secondaries; the base is rounded like the 

tip instead of being broadly cuneate, and the teeth are 

more numerous. The Latah leaves may be described as 

follows: 

Leaves almost orbicular, widest in the middle and 

about equally rounded at the apex and base. MidveiIi 

straight and fairly stout. Secondaries thin, seven or 

eight pairs, mostly sirnple, regularly curved and subparallel, rarely forked, camptodrome. Areolation typical of the genus. Lower nlargins entire, upper twothirds with regular teeth. Teeth with a broad crenatelike base and an ultimate apiculate serration. Each 

tooth receives a short tertiary veinlet. . 

This is distinctly an Amelanchier and not a Malus. 

It is close to the l~aves of the existing Amelanchier 

alnifolia Nuttall, from some of the leaves of which it is 

scarcely dis.tinguishable. Amelanchier alnifolia is a 

tall shrub or small tree ranging from Alaska through 

the Coast Ranges to northern California and eastward 

to northern Michigan. Itis found a1ike in moist valleys, 

meadows, and dry slopes but makes its best growth 

in the rich bottom lands of the lower Columbia River 

and the similar meadow lands around Puget Sound. 

The genus is widely distributed throughout the 

north temperate zone. It is abundant at Florissant, 

with three species, but is otherwise unknown ill the 

Pacific slope Miocene. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus CERCOCARPUS Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth 

Cercocarpus praeledifoIius Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figure 7 

Leaves small, lanceloate, petiolate, widest medianly 

and about equally tapering to the pointed apex and 

slightly decurrent base. Texture coriaceous. Margins slightly irregular, involute. Length about 1 

centimeter or slightly more; maximum width 3 to 4 

millimeters. Petiole stout, about 1.5 millimeters 

long. Midvein stout, prominent. Secondaries stout, 

ascending, closely spaced, craspedodrome. 

This characteristic little leaf is especially like those 

of the existing Oercocarpus ledifolius Nuttall, which is 

prevailingly a shrubby form of poor soils ranging fronl 

western vVyoming to Montana, Idaho (Coeur d'Alene 

Mountains), and Oregon (eastern ·Blue Mountains) 

and southward through the Great Basin and Wasatch 

Ranges to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and 

northern slopes· of the San Bernardino Mountains, 

northern New Mexico and Arizona. Although commonly an arid type in chaparral, it reaches its largest 

size in moist richer soils, as on the hills of central 

Nevada. 

The genus contains about six: species confined to 

western North America and Mexico. Several fossil 

species have been described, including one, OercoCarp1.lS antiquus Lesquereux,26 from the supposed 

Miocene of California. This is much larger than the 

Latah species and more like the existing Oercocarpus 

parvifolius Nuttall. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family CAESALPINIACEAE 

Genus CASSIA Linne 

Cassia idahoensis Knowlton 

Plate 55, Figures 2, ~ 

Cassia obtusa Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. 

1845].' 

Rept., pt. 3, p. 731, pI. 100, figs. 4, 5, 1898 [not Cl08, 

Cassia idahoensis Knowlton, U. S. GeoI. Survey Bull. 696, 

p. 146, 1919. 

This species was described in 1898 from the Payette 

formation at Marsh, Idaho, to which it has hitherto 

been· confined. There are three specimens from the 

Latah formation which are identical with the type in 

all their features except that they are larger. 

Occurrence : Vera, Wash.; briekyard and Spokane, 

Portland & Seattle Railway cut, Spokane, Wash. 

26 Lesquereux, Leo, Report on the fossil plants of the auriferous gravel deposits 

of the Sierra Nevada: Harvard ColI. Mus. Compo Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, 

p. 37, pI. 10, figs. 6-11, 1878. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 253 

<.-assia sophoroides (Knowlton) Berry' 

Plate 56, Figure 1 

Phyllites sophoroicles Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 140, p. 48, pI. 26,fig. 8, 1926. 

The single imperfect specimen of tills species from 

the Edwards ranch, Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, 

Idaho, was referred by Knowlton to the form genus 

Phyllites, although its leguminous character was recognized. These leaflets are inequilateral throughout; 

the petiolule is stout and about. 3 millimeters long; 

the tip is usually slightly nlore extended than in Knowlton's type. b 

Although the features of these leaflets are shared 

by a large number of genera of the leguminous alliance, 

they conform to that found in many species of Oassia, 

both recent and fossil, and as this genus is one more 

likely to occur in this strictly tenlperate flora than 

tropical genera with silnilar leaflets," I have transferred theln to Oassia. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut· No. 4 

and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Cassia spokanensis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 18 

This is superficially like Oarpites paulownia Knowlton,27 of the Latah flora, but is clearly an, altogether. 

different object. The leguminous genera whose foliage 

has been recognized are Oassia, Oercis, Sophora, and 

Leguminosites. The last is a form genus, and both 

Oercis and Sophora have radically different pods, leaving only Oassia, and it is to Oassia that I have referred 

ntUnerous sinlilar pods frolll the Eocene of southeastern 

North Anlerica and various localities in South America. 

Pod conlpressed, nearly equilateral in its oval 

profile, rapidly narrowed to the rounded tip find similarly narrowed to the stout stipitate portion above 

the calyx. Texture coriaceous and apparently indehiscent.Obviously single or few seeded. Length 4.3 

eentilneters; maximum width 2.4 centimeters. The 

stout stipitate basal portion included in the length 

as given above is 7 millimeters long and 2 millimeters 

wide. Placental margin conspicuously thickened. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family PAPILIONACEAE 

Genus SOPHORA Linne o 

Sophora spokanensis Knowlton 

Plate 56, Figures 5, 6 

Sophora spokanensis Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 44, pI. 28, fig. 6, 1926. 

This species was described from a single fragment 

of a leaflet. It is not uncommon in the recent collections frOln the Latah formation and may be more 

c(Hnpletely characterized as follows: 

17 Knowlton, F. H., Flora of tho Latah formation of Spokane, Wash., and Coeur 

d' Alono, Idaho: U. S. O~ol. Survoy Prof. Paper 140, p. 50, pI. 29, fig. 12, 1926. 

Leaflets showing considerable variation in size and 

outline, even on a single leaf; varying' from elongateelliptical to ovate-lanceolate; generally widest medially 

but sometimes in the lower half. Apex narrowly to 

broadly rounded and nearly equilateral. Base broadly 

rounded, inequilateral. Petiolule short and stout, 

2 millilneters or less in length. Midvei~ stout, pronlinent. Secondaries thin, somewhat irregularly spaced, 

diverging from the mid vein at angles of 45° or less, 

camptodrome. Length from 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters; 

a single terminal leaflet, obviously undeveloped, is 

1.5 ceutinleters long and about 4 millimeters in maximum width. 

One specimen shows part of a leaf with eight leaflets in position; these inerease in size and relative 

.width as well as spacing from the tip toward the base. 

The leaf is odd-pinnate, thus conforming to the arrangement in Sophora. I much doubt its reference to 

Sophora, however, and it appears to me to be more 

probably referable to Robinia, which has similar, 

odd-pinnate leaves. It is not greatly different, except. 

for its larger size, from Robinia brittoni Cockerell,28 

from Florissant, C()lo. I have not, however, changed 

the generic reference, preferring to wait for certainty 

before making the change. 

. Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon, brickyard, and 

Spokane, Portland &; Seattle Railway cut No.1, 

Spokane, Wash. 

Sophora alexanderi Knowlton 

Plate 56, Figures 2, 3 

Sophora alexanderi Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p: 43, pI. 28, figs. 3-5, 1926. 

This fine species is not uncommon in the Latah 

formation but thus far has been found only as detached 

leaflets. The numerous specimens in the recent collections are all confined to one locality. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, .Idaho; 

brickyard, Spokane, Wash. 

Genus MEIBOMITES Knowlton 

Meibomites knowltoni Berry", no sp. 

Plate. 56, Figure 7 

Leaflet rhomboidal, somewhat inequilateral, with tt. 

broadly cuneate pointed tip and a rounded base .. 

1\1argins strictly entire. Texture of considerable con-· 

sistency.. Length about 6 centimeters; maximunl 

width, midway between the apex and the base, about 

4 centimeters. Petiolule short and stout, b1trely a 

millimeter in length. Midvein stout and prominent. 

Secondaries thin, three camptodrome pairs; the base 

pair are from the extreme base of the midvein, opposite, thickened, diverging at acute angles, ascend­

. ing in such a way .as to appear like lateral primaries,. 

camptodrome. 

28 Cockerell, T. D. A., Descriptions of Tertiary plants: Am. Jour. ScL, 4th ser.~ 

vol. 26, p. 543, fig. 8, 1908. 
254 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS 

This species is unfortunately represented only by 

the single specimen figured. The venation is typically 

leguminous, and the species may be a variant of 

Meibomites lucens Knowlton of the Latah formation 

or a terminal leaflet of which Knowlton's specimen was 

a lateral leaflet, as certain similar existing species of 

Meibomia have the terminal leaflet apparently triveined and the laterals pinnately veined, as in the 

species M. nudijiora (Linne) Kuntze, M. grandijiora 

(Walter) Kuntze, and others. 

The present fossil shows considerable resemblance 

to what Cockerell described from Florissant as Philadelphus palaeophilus/9 but that species is smaller and 

toothed distad. 

The genus Meibomia Adanson (Desmodium Desvaux) 

contains more than 200 existing species of perennial 

herbs, SOllIe of them woody at the base, widely distributed in North and South America, Africa, and 

Australia. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Genus LEGUMINOSITES Bowerbank 

Leguminosites bonseri Berry. n. sp•. 

Plate 56, Figure 4 

Leaflets small, sessile, ovate-Ianceolate and somewhat falcate, inequilateral, widest .below the middle. 

. Tip pointed, apiculate. Base lllarkedly unsymmetri­

'cal, full and rounded on one side, pointed on the other. 

.Margins entire. Texture relatively coriaceous. Midvein stout and prominent, curved. Secondaries relatively stout, about five pairs, diverging from the mid­

'vein at wide angles, camptodrome. 

1 am quite uncertain regarding the botanic affinity 

of these small leaflets. The four specimens in the 

collection are all from one locality, and all suggest that 

they might be small abnormal leaflets of some plant 

whose normal foliage was somewhat different. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Leguminosites alexanderi Berry. n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 16 

Pod (or follicle) of small size, unsymmetrically 

ovate, compressed, upper margin full, lower margin 

straighter. Apj3x missing. Stipe stout, about 3 millinleters 'long. Pod 1.2 centimeters long by 6 millimeters in maximum diameter. Substance of considerable consistency, with an open polygonal areolation.· oEvidently few or single seeded. Named for 

the collector. 

This small pod is unlike any previously known from 

.the Miocene. It seems obviously referable to the 

29 Cockerell, T. D. A., The fossil flora of Florissant, Colo.: Am. Mus. Nat. Rist. 

.Bull., vol. 24, p. 92, pI. 10, fig. 37, 1908. 

TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

leguminous alliance, but its generic reference is 

uncertain. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected by E. E. Alexander. 

Order SAPINDALES 

Family SAPINDACEAE 

~enus SAPINDUS Linn~ 

Sapindus spokanensis Berry. n. name 

Sapindus angustifolius Lesquereux, U. S. GeoI. and Geog. Survey 

Terr. Ann. Rept. for 1873, p. 415, 1874; U. S. GeoI. 

Survey Terr. Rept., vol. 7 (Tertiary flQra) , p. 265, pI. 49, 

figs. 2-7, 1878. 

Knowlton, U. S. GeoI. Survey Bull. 204, p. 79, 1902 lnot 

Blume]. 

The name Sapindus angustijolius was proposed by 

Lesquereux for the leaflets of Sapindus fronl Florissant, 

Colo. The species was subsequently recorded fr0111 

the Fort Union fornlation of Montana and fronl the 

Mascall forlliation of Oregon. As conceived by 

Lesquereux it had wide linlits, and at least two of its 

variant's have been referred to new species by Cockerell.30 The leaflets of Sapindus show a great variabilityand much convergence, and it nlay well be that 

fossil species have been unduly 11l1.lltiplied. Leaflets 

agreeing with Lesquereux's type nlateriul are sparingly 

represented in the Latah fon11ation. Phyllites crusta­

.cea Knowlton,31 from the Latah fornlation at Mica, 

may represent a leaflet of this species. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, vVash . 

Sapindus armstrongi Berry. n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 14 

Leaflets relatively small, ovate, inequilateral. Tip 

acute. Base prolonged downward from the narrower 

side of the lamina about 2 nmlillleters below the base 

on the wider side of the lamina. Petiolule stout, 

curved, about 2 millimeters long. Margins entire, 

evenly rounded. Texture subcoriaceous. Length 

about 5.5 centimeters; nlaximum width. about 2 

centimeters. Midvein stout, prominent. Secondaries stout, about nine pairs, diverging from the lllidvein at wide angles and camptodrome in the marginal 

region. Tertiaries well marked, variably subpercurrent. Areolation of very fine subquadrangular 

meshes. 

1(P.is apparently represents a new species, one that 

is uncommon in the present collections. It is nal11ed 

for L. K. Armstrong, president of the Northwest 

Science Association. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by E. E. Alexander . 

30 COCkerell, T. D. A., The fossil flora of Florissant, Colo.: Am. Mus. Nat. Bist. 

Bull., vol. 24, p. 101, 1908. 

81 Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 47, pI. 29, fig. 6, 1926. 
FLORA OF THE ~ATAH FORMATION 

Family CELASTRACEAE 

Genus CELASTRUS Linne 

Celastrus lacoei Lesquereux 

Celastrus lacoei Lesquereux, Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, 

p. 184, 1883. 

Knowlton, 	U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 51, p. 281, pI. 24, 

fig. 6, 1916. 

This species, which was desc:ribed from Florissant , Colo., is represented by a single conlplete specimen in 

the recent collections fr0111 the Latah forrnation. The 

spatulate form, toothed 111argin, size, and venation a~'e absolutely characteristic. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Celastrus spokanensis B~rry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figure 5 

Leaves relatively snlall, obovate or broadly spatulate w~th a widely rounded tip and a decurrent base, 

about 3.5 centil11eters long and 2 centimeters in maxinunn width. Leaf substance thin but apparently 

stiff. Margins with extrel11ely fine, closely spaced 

serrate teeth. Petiole broad, with several parallel 

vascular strands. 11idvein relatively broad but not 

especially prol1unent. Secondaries, thiu, nunlerous, diverging fr01n the lnidvein at acute angles in a sOlnewhat 

flabellate lnanner, ascending, sonletimes forked and 

inosculating, not craspedodr01ne but sendiug branches 

to the nlarginal teeth. Tertiaries not luade out. 

In general appearance this leaf suggests, at first 

sight, the fanrily Rosaceae, especially the crus~galli 

section of Orataegus. It is also not dissinrilar fronl 

Ol'ataegus teutonica described by Unger from the Mioeene of Parschlug in Styria. The details of the venation, however, appear to 111e to be more like that 

characteristic of the fanlliy Celastraceae, as exemplified 

in the genus },1aytenus or in numerous exotic existing 

species of Celastrus such as trigynus, senegalensis, nutans; 

and nemorosus. 

There are species of Celastrus in the Miocene of the 

11ascall forrnation of Oregon, the Payette formation 

of Idaho, and two at Florissant, Colo., but these are 

alllnarkedly distinct fr0111 the Latah species. 

Occurrence: Spok.ane, Portland&Seattle Railway cut 

No.1, Spokane, Wash., collected by C. O. Fernquist. 

Genus EUONYMUS Linne 

Euonymus knowltoni Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 56, Figure 9 

Leltves of 111ediulll size, ovate-la11ceolate. Tip acuIninate, not greatly produced. Base broadly cuneate. 

Texture subcoriaceous. 1~argin with fine, closely 

spaced, inconspicuous serrate teeth. Length about 

11 eentilneters; 111axinlunl width, near the nriddle 

of the leaf, about 3.5 centimeters. Petiole not preserved. 11idvein stout and prominent. Secondaries 

thin, five or six irregularly spaced pairs; diverging 

from the nridvein at angles of about 45°; more in the 

tip; sweeping upward in long ascending curves and 

arching along the margins. Tertiaries thin, typical 

of the Celastraceae, and exactly matched in the genus 

Euonymus. 

This characteristic form is not common in the collections, but this ~s probably without significance. The 

genus nlakes its appearance in the basal Eocene but 

has heretofore been unknown in American post-Eocene 

deposits, although common in European deposits, of 

later Tertiary age and present in the existing flora of . 

North A111erica, in which there are about five temperate species and five or si.~ additional in Central 

America. 

The existiug species number about 65 and are widely 

distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere but 

massed in the southeastern Asiatic region. Two survive as shrubs in the moister parts of the Pacific 

coastal region. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family ACE~ACEAE 

Genus ACER Linne 

Acer oregonianum Knowlton 

Plate 57, Figure 2; Plate 63, Figure 11 

Acer oregonianum Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Sur~ey Bull. 204, P 


75, pI. 13, figs. 5-8, 1902. 


In addition to leaves of maple there are seven fruits 

contained in the recent collections from the Latah formation representing four localities. These are all of a 

single species and are indistinguishable from Acer 

oregonianum, of the Mascall formation of Oregon, and 

quite unlike the other three nonrinal species of Acer 

fruits which Knowlton described from thejMascall. 

Knowlton compared Acer oregonianum with the fruits 

of the existing Acer macrophyUum Pursh, which they 

much resemble. They are somewhat smaller than these 

-and about equally like the eAisting Acer circinatum 

Pursh. Both these modern species are abundant 

stream-bank and rich-bottom species of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California-regions 

of deep moist soil and abundant precipitation. Over 15 

species of Acer have been described from the Miocene 

of the Pacific slope of North America, but there is a 

certain duplication in the unavoidable practice of giving 

different names to the leaves and fruits. The genus is 

common at Florissant, Colo., and in the California, 

Mascall, and Eagle Creek Miocene. It 'has recently 

been reported by Chaney from Trout Creek, Oregon, 

and 49 camp, Nevada.Bla. 

81" In an account of the flora of the Crooked River Basin of Oregon published 

since this paper was written (Chaney, R. W., Carnegie lnst. Washington Pub. 

346, p. 126,1927), Chaney refers fruits identical with those from the John Day Basin 

described by Knowlton as Acer oregonianum to Acer osmonti, without, however, 

mentioning Knowlton'S specimens. Although it is probable that the fruits and 

leaves described as Acer osmonti belong to the same species, such practices are to 

be deprecated in the absence of direct proof of relationship. 
256 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash.; Deep Creek Canyon, 

brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut No.1, Spokane, Wash. 

Acer chaneyi Knowlton 

Plate 63, Figure 13 

Acer chaneyi Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Pli.per 140, 

p. 45, pI. 27, fig. 2, 1926. 

This species was described from the single specimen 

figured, which was fairly complete but lacked the terminallobe. ThIs deficiency I am able to supply from 

a recent specimen collected by E. E. Alexander. 

The species is a handsome one with long, slender, 

much cut lobes and appears to be very similar to if 

not identical with Acer osmonti Knowlton,alb described 

from the beds at Bridge Creek, ill the John Day Basin, 

and recently recorded by Chaney 31c from the Crooked 

River Basin in Oregon. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Acer merriami Knowlton 

Acer merriami Kno'wlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 76, 

, pI. 14, figs. 2, 3, 1902; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 45, pI. 28, fig. 1, 1926. 

A fragmentary specimen and its counterpart are contained in the present collection from the locality south 

of Vera. Knowlton's Latah material came from a 

well at Mica. 

Occurrence: Well at Mica, Wash.; south of VeJ~, 

Wash. " '-...,' 

Acer bendirei Lesquereux 

Acer bendirei Lesquereux, V. S. Nat. Mus. Proc., vol. 11, p. 

14, pI. 5, 1888. ' , 

. Knowltov, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 73, 1902; 

U. S. Geol. Survey Erof. Paper 140, p. 45, pI. 27, fig. 3, 

1926. 

There are two specimens of this species in the recent 

collections.. It occurs also in the Miocene of Oregon· 

(Mascall formation) and California. Knowlton's 

Latah specimen was obtained from a well at Mica. 

Occurrence: Well at Mica, Wash.; brickyard and 

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.1, 

Spokane, vVash. • 

Acer minor Knowlton 

Plate 64, Figure 2 

Acer minor Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 76, pI. 

14, figs.' 2, 3, 1902; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 45, pI. 27, fig. 4, 1926. 

This species was described originally by Knowlton 

from the Mascall formation of the John Day Basin, 

Oregon, and was one of three species of fruits founded 

largely on differences of size. A very imperfect spe,cimen from the Latah formation at Deep Creek, northSib Knowlton, F. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, p. 72, pI. 13, fig. 3, 1902. 


31e Chaney, R. W., op. cit., p. 126, pI. 17, fig. 6; pI. 18, figs. 1, 3, 5, 1927. 


west of Spokane, was referred to this species in 1926 

by Knowlton, who remarks that maples seenl to be 

rare in the Spokane area. Subsequent collections in 

this area show this not to have been the case, as both 

leaves and fruits are not at all uncommon. Presumably the present fruit represents one of the leaf 

species. One other type 'of maple fruit has been 

described from the, Latah formation in the present 

work and identified as Acer oregonianum Knowlton. 

The latter is three to four times the size of Acer minor, 

with more spreading wings and has less oval seed 

cavities. I have no doubt that the two represent 

different species and not merely differences in size 

and form of a single species. 

The present specimen was collected recently by C. O. 

Fernquist and shows the complete fruit but lacks 

the peduncle. The seed cavities are relatively wide, 

and the base of the wings is incurved so that the wing 

axes are parallel. The whole is but 11 millimeters 

long and 7 millimeters wide. It adds another common 

element to the floras of the Mascall and Latah forma·, 

tions. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon and brickyard, 

Spokane, Wash. 

Family ANACARDIACEAE 

Genus RHUS Linne 

Rhus merrilli Chaney 

Plate 51, Figure 8 

Rhus merrilli Chaney, Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. 346, p. 

125, pI. 16, figs. 1, 2, 1927. 

This new species, described since the major portion 

of this paper was written, is represented in the Latah 

flora by several specinlens which I had supposed were 

variants of Quercus simulata Knowlton. The type 

came from the Bridge Creek formation of the Crooked 

River basin in eastern Oregon, and is said to bear a 

close resemblance to Rhus sylvestris Siebold and 

Zuccarini of central and southern China and Chosen; 

it is thus another link in the community of relationship 

between the present Chinese flora and the Miocene 

flora of western North America. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family HIPPOCAST AN ACEAE 

Genus AESCULUS Linne 

Aesculus hesperia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 56, Figure 8 

Leaflets large, obovate in general outline. Apex 

abruptly pointed. Base narrowly cuneate. 1.1argins 

throughout with closely spaced serrate teeth, which 

become more prominent and aquiline or couchantserrate' distad. Length 18 centimeters; maximunl 

width 8 centimeters. Midvein stout, prominent on the 

under side of the leaflet, slightly flexuous. Secondaries 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 257 

stout, pronlinent; about ten opposite to alternate, 

irregularly spaced pairs; the lower four or five pairs 

diverged fronl the Inidvein at angles of 45° or less, are 

straight or flexuous ascending, eventually canlptodrome but sending off on the outside numerous regular 

tertiaries, the distal craspedodronle, the proximal 

camptodrom.e and sending off regular craspedodrome 

veinlets to the nlarginal teeth; the distal secondaries 

diverge at wider angles, 45° or more, are more curved 

than the proxilnal ones, and likewise send branches of 

the second or third order to the nlarginal teeth. The 

internal tertiaries are pr01ninent, regularly spaced, 

generally simple percurrent but occasionally forked. 

This striking species is unfortunately represented 

only by the single specimen figured. It has the 


. characters of this genus wellnlarked and is quite unlike 


the other Alnerican Miocene species, which conlpriso 


a smaller fOl'ln fronl the ~/lascall fornlation of Oregon 


and an undescribed species fr01n the auriferous gravel 


of California. 

Aesculus has about a dozen existing species and is 

represented in the wanner temperate parts of all the 

holarctic continents. Anlong these a single form, 

usually a snlall tree, survives on the Pacific slope, 

where it has bec01ne restricted to the wetter valleys 

and streanl borders in California. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut, Spokane, 'Nash. 

Order RHAMNALES 

Family RHAMNACEAE 

Genus P ALIURUS Jussieu 

Paliurus hesperius Berry 

Phl.te 57, Figure 1 

Pali1tn~s heSl)eri'us Berry, Am. Jour. SeL, 5th ser., vol. 16, p. 40, 

figs. 1-3, 1928. 

Leaves of Inedium size, broadly ovate, widest below 

the lniddle; the apex pointed but not extended; base 

broadly rounded or slightly cordate. Texture subcoriaceous. Margins with closely spaced, prevailingly 

small, crenate teeth. Length about 7 centimeters; 

maxilnum width about 4.5 centimeters. Petiole not 

preserved. Midvein stout, prominent. Lateral prinlaries diverge fr0111 the base at acute angles; these 

are as stout as the nlidvein and curve upward and 

barely escape being acrodronle by uniting with short 

secondaries fr0111 the distal part of the 111idvein. The 

lateral prilnaries give off on the outside several camptodr01ne secondaries. The areolation is a fine nlesh 

indistinctly preserved. 

Leaves of this type have been referred to Zizyphus, 

G'rewiOl)sis, and Pop'l.llus, but their features are'more 

distinctly those of Paliurus. 

The genus is represented in existing floras by only 

two or three species of southern Europe and Asia and 

is no longer a native of the Western Hemisphere. 

About 30 fossil species have been described, based for 

the most part upon leaves. The oldest of these occur 

in the North American Upper Cretaceous. The fruits 

are perfectly characteristic, and the oldest known 

instance of their occurrence is Paliurus mississippiensis 

Berry,32 of the lower Eocene in southwestern North 

America. Losquereux 33 identified a leaf of somewhat 

dubious characteristics as a species of Paliurus from 

the Miocene of Florissant, Colo. 

My reasons for referring the present form to Paliurus 

rather than to Rhamnus or Oeanothus is its perfect 

agreenlent with the existing Asiatic Paliurus orientalis 

and the presence of characteristic Paliurus fruits in 

beds of approximately the same age as the Latah 

formation at Grand Coulee, Douglas COlUlty , Wash. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Wash. 

Genus RHAMNUS Linne 

Rhamnus spokanensis Berry, n. sp. 

. Plate 57, Figures 4, 5 

Robinia'! sp., Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 44, pI. 28, figs. 7, 7a, 1926. 

Additional material enables nle to assign the correct 

botanic position to the small leaf which Knowlton 

tentatively referred to the genus Robinia. This was 

not a leaflet of a pinnate leaf but a complete leaf, the 

venation of which is entirely unlike that of Robinia 

and, on the other hand, characteristic of the genus 

Rhamnus. It may be described as follows: 

Leaves of variable but small size, inequilaterally 

elliptical, with a rounded or subcordate decurrent base 

and a slightly narrowed rounded or -bluntly pointed 

apex. Margins entire, sometimes slightly undulate. 

Texture subcoriaceous. Length ranging from 1.5 to 

3.75 centimeters; nlaximum width, in median region, 

from 9 millimeters to 1.6 centimeters. Petiole stout, 

enlarging proximad, curved, about 5 millimeters long 

in the largest leaf seen. ~1idvein relatively very stout, 

somewhat flexuous curved proximad. Secondaries 

five or six pairs, relatively stout, at least two pairs 

diverging at acute angles fr0111 the top of the petiole, 

occasionally forking, eventually ascending subparallel 

with the lateral margins, along which they arch. The 

nloredistal secondaries are lessstraight than the basals, 

irregularly spaced, and ascending. The tertiaries are 

well nlarked, simple or inosculating, percurrent. 

.The genus Rhamnus, with about 60 existing species, 

is found in all temperate regions except Australia and 

32 Derry, E. W., The lower Eoeene floras of southeastern North America: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 91, p. 279, pI. 71, fig. 4, 1916. 

33 Lesquereux, Leo, The Cretaceous and Tertiary floras: U. S. Gool. Survey 

Terr. Rept., vol. 8, p. 188, pI. 38, fig. 12, 1883. 
258 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS 

the islands of the Pacific. There are two species and 

as luany varieties living on the Pacific slope, but these 

are quite different fronl the present fossil, which.is also 

markedly distinct from previously described Miocene 

forms! of which there are four at Florissant and in 

Yellowstone Park. 

The present species, except for its more rounded tip, 

is very luuch like the late Miocene Rhamnus oeningensis 

Heer., of Europe. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. . 

tl Order MALVALES 

Family TILIACEAE 

Genus TILlA Linne 

THia hesperia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 57, Figure 3 

Leaves large, broadly ovate and inequilateral, of 

thin texture, about 15 or 16 -centimeters in length and 

9 centimeters in maA'imum width below the middle. 

Apex acuminate. Base missing. Midvein stout and 

relatively straight. Secondaries stout, about' six 

alternate pairs, diverging about 45°, curving upward, 

craspedodrome, giving off one or more craspedodrome 

branches on the outside toward their tips. The basal 

pair are not differentiated from their fellows except 

for the series of craspedodrome tertiaries which they 

give off on the outside. The inner tertiaries are 

regularly spaced subpercurrent, frequently inosculating 

veins of considerable caliber. The margin is regularly 

serrate, with relatively small teeth. 

This leaf is about the size of the larger leaves of the 

existing Tilias of southeastern North America,from 

which it differs primarily.in its somewhat less relative 

width and nlore produced tip. The only western 

Tertiary species known to me, Tilia populifolia 

Lesquereux, from Florissant, is similar except that the 

basal secondaries are differentiated as lateral primaries. 

A second Miocene species, Tilia pedunculata Chaney,34 

is based upon a fruit bract. of a linden from the Eagle 

Creek formation of Oregon. As no foliage was· discovered in the Eagle Creek formation, it is possible 

that this fruit bract may represent the botanic species 

of which Tilia hesperia is the foliage. . 

The genus Tilia is found at the present time widely 

distributed in the humid north temperate zone except 

in western America, central Asia, and the Himalayan. 

region. 

Qccurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cu£at Spokane, Wash. 

34 Chaney, R. W., The flora of the Eagle Creek formation: Walker Mus. Contr., 

vol. 2, No.5, p. 179, pI. 19, figs. 3, 4, 1920. 

TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Family MALVACEAE 

Genus HIBISCUS? Linne 

Hibiscus? occidentaiis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figures 13-15 

Carpels small, compressed, ovate, broadly rounded 

distad, asymmetrically contracted proximad. Embryo 

nearly straight. Carpel wall finely netted, veined, with 

scarious margin about 1 millimeter wide, radially 

veined. Length about 6 millimeters; maximum width 

about 3 millimeters. 

These objects are not uncommon in the Latah 

formation and appear to be definitely referable to the 

Malvaceae and.·probably to the genus Hibiscus. 

That genus, heretofore unknown in the fossil state, 

so far as I. am aware, comprises nearly 200 recent 

species, widely distributed in warm and temperate' 

regIOns. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by C. O. Fernquist and E. E. Alexander. 

Order P ARIET ALES 

Family TERNSTROEMIACEAE 

Genus TERNSTROEMITES Berry 

Ternstroemites idahoensis (Knowlton) Berry 

Plate 58, Figure 1 

Myrica? idahoensis Knowlton, U. S. Geoi. Survey Eighteenth 

Ann. Rept., pt. 3, p. 724, pI. 99, fig. 7, 1898; U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 696, p. 395, 1919. 

This species was described from the Payette formation of Idaho and doubtfully referred to the genus 

Myrica by Knowlton. If the type had shown the venation it would have been obvious that this form was not 

related to Myrica. Characteristic leaves are present 

in the Latah formation. These vary in length from 6 

to 10 centimeters and in maximum width from 1.7 to 

2.6 centimeters.. The midvein becomes characteristically thickened and prominent in the lower half of the 

leaf. The marginal teeth show some variation in 

size and are obsolete below. The secondaries are 

large1y immersed, about eight camptodrom~ pairs. 

This leaf is clearly referable to the Ternstroemiaceae 

(Theaceae), which are so common in the early Tertiary 

of southeastern North America and in the existing 

floras of southern and eastern Asia and tropical Anlerica. It seems probable that the present fossil species 

represents either St1.lartia Linne or Gordonia Linne, the 

only two surviving genera in temperate North America, 

both of which are represented in eastern North America and eastern Asia, but I prefer to refer it to the form 

genus Ternstroemites, although it is exceedingly like 

the leaves of Gordonia. 

Occurrence: ~rickyard at Spokane, Wash. 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 259 

Order LA URALES 

Family LAURACEAE 

Genus LAURUS of authors 

Laurus princeps Heer 

Plate 58, Figure 5 

Laur,us princeps Heel', Flora tertiaria Helvetiae, Band 2, p. 77, 

pI. 89, figs. 16, 17; pI. 90, figs. 17,20,1856. 

Lesquereux, Cretaceous and Tertiary tioras, p. 250, pI. 58, 

fig. 2, 1883. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 725, pI. 

95, fig. 3, 1899. 

LaUr1LS omn(l1:s Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, 

p. 41, pI. 23, figs. 1-3, 192? . 

The type cam.e from the European Miocene, and the 

propriety of considering a western American form as 

identical with it is highly questionable. 

The species occurs in the auriferous gravel of California and probably in the Miocene of Yellowstone Parle 

Occurrence: Bigelow Gulch, near Hillyard, Wash.; 

brickyard and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut, Spokane, Wash.; cut 1 mile west of Shelley Lake, 

10 luiles east of Spokane, Wash. 

Laurus grandis Lesquereux 

Plate 58, Figure 3 

La~Lr1LS gmndis Lesquereux, Cretaceous and Tertiary floras, p. 

251, pI. 58, figs. 1, 3, 1883. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 725, pI. 93, 

fig. 3; pI. 95, fig. 1, 1899. 

This species, which is recorded from California and 

Yellowstone Park, is represented by several specimens 

from the Latah fonuation, of which one of the more 

complete is figured. 

Occurrence: Brickyard and Spokane, Portland & 

Seattle Railway cut, Spokane, Wash. 

Laurus similis Knowlton 

Plate 58, Figure 2 . 

Laurus similis Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Twentieth Ann. 

Rept., pt. 3, p. 48, pI. 5, figs. 1-4, 1900. 

Chaney, Walker Mus. Contr., vol: 2, No.5, p. 173, 1920. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 140, p. 41, pI. 23, 

figs. 4-6; pI. 24, fig. 2, 1926. 

As ]nay be gathered fronl the previously figured 

material, this species, as conceived by its describer, 

exhibits considerable variabHity. It was originally 

described from the west side of the Cascade Range in 

Oregon and subsequently recorded by Chaney from 

the Efigle Creek formation. It proves to be abundant 

in the Latah fonnation, I(nowlton having recorded it 

from several localities, and several additional are 

represented in the recent collections. One mediumsized SpeCi111en shows the complete petiole, which is 

stout, expanding proxilnad to the stout base, and 3.5 

centilneters long. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek, Bigelow Gulch near Hillyard, Vera, Chicago, ~1ilwaukee & St. Paul Railway 

cut, brickyard, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut, all near Spokane, Wash. 

Genus SASSAFRAS Nees 

Sassafras hesperia Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 2 

This species is based upon the single leaf figured, 

which can not be expected to portray the foliage 

accurately. However, the leaf variations of the recent 

and fossil species have been so exhaustively studied 

t.hat it is not difficult to surmise the limits of variation 

in the leaves of this l\1iocene species. The type may 

be described as follows: 

Leaf of medium size and texture, oval in general 

outline, divided by a relatively narrow but rounded 

sinus, which extends about one-third of the distance 

to the base, into a broad, round-margined, bluntly 

pointed terminal lobe and a more pointed, subconical, 

lateral lobe. The base is bro.adly cuneate. The margins are entire but slightly undulate, and there is a 

slight emargination nlidway up on the right, where the 

leaf is deformed by lateral pressure after its inclusion 

in the clay. Length about 9 centimeters; maximum 

width about 5.25 centilneters. The petiole is stout 

but broken away just below the base of the leaf. The 

midvein is stout. Lateral prilnaries, nearly as stout as 

the nlidrib, diverge from the nlidvein at acute angles; 

. the left-hand one runs to the tip of the lateral lobe ; 

the right-hand one becomes thinner distad, where it is 

deformed and its ultilnate course obscured, although 

it probably inosculates with a branch fr01n the basal 

secondary on the right side. The secondaries diverge 

at angles of 45°' or slightly more; those from the 

midvein comprise three pairs, which ascend in sweeping curves except for the lowermost on the left, which 

is straighter and continuously stouter and which runs 

directly to the sinus, where it joins the vein forming the marginal hem of the sinus. T.fle secondaries 

from the lateral prilnaries form full curves except in 

the tip of the lateral lobe, where their initial course is 

straighter and they are more abruptly camptodrome. 

The tertiaries are well marked and are typical of the 

genus. In the base of the leaf a well-developed vein 

on each side ascends parallel and close to the margin to 

join a branch from the basal secondary on each side, 

giving an inverted triangle effect, which is characteristic of Sassafras. 

As I have mentioned, the bilobate, mitten-like leaf 

of the type can hardly be considered to be characteristic of Sassafras hesperia, which must have had also 

entire and trilobate leaves as in our existing American 

species of Sassafras. It adds a striking element to the 

Latah flora and one that is unique in the Tertiary 

floras of North America, illustrating the danger of 

relying on negative evidence, 
260 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

A second leaf of what is presumably this same 

species has been collected by C. O. Fernquist slice 

the foregoing description was written and verifies 

the prediction there made. This second specimen 

is smaller and is symmetrically trilobate with three 

primaries. The lobes are broader, less elongate, and 

more abruptly conical than in ,the specimen figured. 

Sassafras appears in the geologic record toward 

the end of the Lower Cretaceous in both western 

Europe (Albian) and eastern North America (Patapsco formation). It is exceedingly common in the 

Upper Cretaceous of North America, Europe,· and 

the Arctic. The Eocene has several species in Greenland and Europe but only a single one in North America, and this in British Columbia, Sassafras selwyni 

Dawson.35 Sassafras hesperia is sufficiently like S. 

selwyni to be considered its Miocene survivor in the 

West. The later Tertiary records are all from Europe, 

where the genus survived well into Pleistocene time. 

Among the abundant later Tertiary floras of North 

America not a trace of Sassafras has been discovered, 

although it must have been a member of our eastern 

mesophytic and Pacific humid floras during all of that 

long time. Our existing American species, long considered the sole survivor of the genus, ranges from 

Massachusetts to Iowa and Kansas and from Ontario 

and Michigan to Florida and Texas. Sassafras is one 

of the few genera of the large and prevailingly tropical 

family Lauraceae that are confined to the temperate· 

zone. Recently two living species have been discovered in China, adding another example to the many 

previously known of closely related plants occurring 

in southeastern North America, western North America, and eastern Asia and no longer native in Europe, 

although present there in late Tertiary and even In 

Pleistocene time. 35a. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

G~nus UMBELLULARIA Nuttall 

Umbellularia dayana (Knowlton) Berry 

Plate 58, Figure 4 

Salix dayana Knowlton, U. S. Geo1. Survey Bull. 204, p. 31, 

pI. 2, figs. 9, 10, 1902; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 32, pI. 12, figs, 1, 2, 1926. 

This species, described as a willow from the Mascall 

formation of Oregon, was recorded by Knowlton from 

the Latah formation at the Edwards ranch, Stanley 

Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The venation is not that 

of Salix but is typically lauraceous, and I have therefore transferred it to the genus Umbellularia. 

This genus, represented in the living flora by a single 

species which is associated with the redwood and which 

36 Berry, E. W., Tertiary fioras of British Columbia: Canada GeoI. Survey 

BUll. 42, p. 114, pI. 14, figs. 1-4, 1926. 

36a Since this report ~'as written R. W. Chaney (op. cit., p. 58) has recorded the 

presence of a E.assa/ras leaf in the Clarno formation of the Crooked River Basin in 

Oregon. 

ranges from the Rogue River Valley in Oregon southward through the Coast Ranges and along the western 

slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the San Bernardino 

Mountains, is represented in the upper part of the 

Clarno formation of the John Day Basin in Oregon 

by Dmbellularia oregonensis (Knowlton and Cockerell) 

Chaney. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Umbellularia laneeolata Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 1 

Leaves mostly small, lanceolate; widest medially 

and usually slightly nlore tapering distad than proximad, although occasionally the reverse is true. 11argins entire, sometinles faintly undulate. Texture 

coriaceous. Length 6.5 to 8.5 centimeters; lllaxiuulul 

width 1.5 to 1.85 centimeters. Tip aculllinate. Base 

narrowly cuneate. Petiole stout, its length unknown. 

Midvein stout, pronrinent. Secondaries four to six 

stout, subopposite to alternate pairs, hence widely 

but fairly regularly spaced, curved, ascendjng, ultimately camptodrome. Areolation finely meshed, lauraceous. 

This characteristic form differs from the associated 

Umbellularia dayana in its generally snlaller size, lanc~olate outline, narrower base, and much nlore ascending secondaries. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon and brickyard at 

Spokane, Wash. 

Order UMBELLALES 

Family ARALIACEAE 

Genus ARALIA of authors 

Aralia whitneyi Lesquereux 

Aralia whitneyi Lesquereux, Harvard CoIl. Mus. Compo Zoology Mem., vol. 6, No.2, p. 20, pI. 5, fig. 1, 1878. 

Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 32, pt. 2, p. 748, pI. 99, 

fig. 3,1899. 

Chaney, Am. Jour. Sei., 5th ser., vol. 2, p. 90, 1921.· 

This characteristic species is represented by a specilllen and its counterpart from Republic. It occurs 

in the Miocene of California and Yellowstone Park 

and doubtfully in the Mascall formation of Oregon. 

It has recently been recorded from the Puente fornlation of California. 

Occurrence: Republic, Wash. 

Family CORNACEAE 

Genus CORNUS Liime 

Cornus aeuminata Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 3 

Leaves ovate-Ianceolate, widest below the nliddle, 

with an extended acununate tip, of somewhat delicate texture. Margins entire. Base nussIng, presumably cuneate. 11idvein slender, curved. Sec­
FLORA OF THE 261 

ondaries two opposite, subacrodrome pairs, originating 

in the basal third of the leaf. 

This species is based upon the single incomplete 

specinlen figured, and its botanic relationship is SOlnewhat questionable. It is referred to Oornus because 

of its reselnblance to the leaves of the existing Oornus 

canadensis Linne, fr01n which its sole difference is 

the produced tip of the fossil leaf. 

Oornus canadensis is a widely ranging herbaceous 

{ol'ln of low woods found fr01n Newfoundland to Alaska 

and southward to Colorado and California. The 

genus Oornus contains about 25 existing species in 

the North Ternperate Zone and in South Arnerica. 

The fossil species are nmnerous and extend back to 

Upper Cretaceous tinle. There are three other Miocene species on the Pacific slope-one in Yellowstone 

Park and two, in California. 

Occurrence: Republic, VVash. 

Genus NYSSA Linne 

Nyssa knowltoni Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 7 

Leaves elliptical, bluntly pointed at the apex, 

rounded at the base, of thin texture. Margins entire 

except for a few scattered blunt points distad. Length 

about 10 centimeters; lnaximum width, near the middle 

of the leaf, 6.5 centimeters. Petiole not preserved. 

Midvein stout, prominent, curved. Secondaries stout, 

ten or eleven pairs, irregularly spaced and more 

crowded toward the base; they diverge from the 

lnidvein at wide angles and are camptodrome. Tertiaries nlostly percurrent, thin. The single specimen 

is sOlnewhat inequilateral. 

This 1nay represent the foliage of the same botanic 

species which furnished the Nyssa fruits in the Latah 

formation. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Nyssa magnifica (Knowlton) Berry 

Carpites magnifica Knowlt.on, U. S. GeoI. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 50, pI. 29, fig. 10, 1926. 

Additional nlaterial fronl a new locality is contained 

in the recent collections. The ribs are more clearly 

defined than in the type and are six in number on the 

llnpression and hence must have been more numerous 

around the whole periphery. In life the cross section 

must have been rOlmd or but slightly compressed. 

This is clearly indicated by the present material. I 

see no reason for doubting that this represents a stone of 

a large-fruited Nyssa. I have handled a great many of 

these fro111 the early Tertiary and Pleistocene, and the 

Latah species res.embles sonle of the former very closely. 

The genus is an old one, present in the early Tertiary of the western United States but not certainly 

known fronl the Miocene except in the eastern part of 

the continent. The existing species of Nyssa are all 

arborescent and are confined to southeastern Asia 

LATAH FORMATION 

and southeastern North America, although they are 

not uncommon in the European Tertiary. The genus 

is apparently represented by a single leaf in the present 

collections. A somewhat dubious leaf form from the 

Eagle Creek formation of Oregon is referred to Nyssa 

by Chaney. 36 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut and brickyard, Spokane, Wash. 

Family UMBELLIFERAE 

Genus UMBELLIFEROSPERMUM Berry, n. gen. 

Umbelliferospermum latahense Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figures 10-12 

The type and only species of this new genus is .based 

upon four specimens, well shown in the accompanying 

figures. Fruit relatively large, dry, flattened, about 

1 centimeter long and from 0.75 to 1 centimeter in 

maximum width; the carpellary part 10 nlillimeters 

long by 5 to 7 millinleters in maximum width; bordered 

by wings which are about 1 millimeter wide at the base 

and increase in width upward and extend beyond the 

top of the carpels as auriculate lobes. Carpel with one 

or two longitudinal ribs on the face, emarginate at the 

base, crowned with two styles about 4 millimeters 

long, their bases surrounded by a rosette of processes 

about half the length of the styles, presumably representing calyx teeth or stylopodium processes. 

I have not been able to match these fruits exactly' 

among the recent genera in this extensive family and 

have therefore coined for them the form genus Umbelliferospermum. Among similar recent Umbelliferae 

the fossils appear to most resemble the genus Rhodosciadum S. Watson or Deania Coulter and Rose, 

which comprises five or six existing Mexican species. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected 

by E. E. Alexander and C. O. Fernquist. 

Series GAMOPETALAE 

Order ERICALES 

Family ERICACEAE 

Genus ARCTOSTAPHYLOS Adanson 

Arctostaphylos knowltoni Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 4 

Leaves sessile, obovate, subcoriaceous, entire margined. Length about 4 centimeters; maximum width 

12 or 13 millimeters. Midvein stout, prominent. 

Secondaries largely immersed, diverging from midvein 

at varying acute angles, ascending, camptodrome. 

Tertiaries largely immersed. 

These leaves appear to be clearly allied to those of 

the modern species of this genus, which number about 

a score, some hoI arctic in their distribution. The 

genus is especially abundant in western North America. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

36 Chaney, R. W., The flora of the Eagle Creek formation: Walker Mus. Contr., 

vol. 2, No.5, p. 180, pI. 20, figs. 1-3, 1920. 
262 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

Arctostaphylos spatulata Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figure 6 

Leaves small, narrow and elongated, spatulate, 

mucronate tipped, widest above the middM, the entire 

margins gradually and straightly narrowed to the 

narrowly cuneate and practically sessile base. Texture 

coriaceous. Length about 2.6 centimeters; maximum 

width 6 millimeters. Midvein stout and prominent, 

thickening proximad. Secondaries thin, about five 

ascending camptodrome pairs: 

This is quite distinct from the associated Arctostaphylos knowltoni and apparently represents a second 

and hitherto undescribed late Tertiary species. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected by C. O. Fernquist. 

Genus MENZIESIA J. E. Smith 

Menziesia knowltoni Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 12 

Leaves small, slightly obovate, widest medially 

,and the base slightly more narrowed than the tip. 

'Thin in texture and with entire margins. Length 

:3 to 3.5 centimeters; maximum width 1.2 to 1.6 

·centimeters. Petiole stout and short, about 2 milli­

:meters in length. Miqvein stout oand prominent. 

,secondaries thin, regularly spaced, five or six campto­

,drome pairs. 

These leaves present the features of the genus 

llenziesia, which has not, so far as I Imow, been 

found fossil heretofore. The existing species number 

:seven or. eight, one in the eastern mesophytic region of 

North America, three in western North America, and 

the rest in eastern Asia. The present fossil species 

is much like Menziesia glabella Gray, a shrub found 

from Lake Superior to Oregon and British Columbia. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Family V ACCINIACEAE 

Genus VACCINIUM Linne 

Vaccinium americanum (Lesquereux) Berry 

Vaccinium salicoides Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 46, pI. 28, figs. 9, 9a, 1926. 

Salix pseudoargentea Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 204, 

pI. 2, figs. 2-4, 1902; in Smith, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. 

Atlas, Folio 86 '(Ellensburg, Wash.), p. 3, 1902. 

Santal1lm americanum Lesquereux, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 

Rept., vol. 8 (Cretaceous and Tertiary floras), p. 164, 

pI. 32, fig. 7, 1883. 

This species, described from the Mascall formation 

of Oregon and' also recorded from the Ellensburg formation of Washington, is sparingly represented in the 

Latah formation and at Florissant, Colo. It is obvi­

.ously not a Salix, its somewhat coriaceous texture 

,and areolation stamping it as a member of the Vacciniaceae, and it appears identical with what Knowlton 

oalled Vaccinium salicoides from the Latah formation 

of the Coeur d'Alene district, Idaho. 

The genus Vaccinium, with over 100 existing species, 

is widely distributed in temperate and cooler parts of 

the world, with nine species in the present flora of 

Washington. 

Occurrence: Stanley Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 

brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Vaccinium bonseri Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 59, Figure 5 

Leaves small, sessile, spatulate, coriaceous, with 

entire margins. Length 1.1 to 1.4 centimeters; lnaximum width £;.5 to 7 millimeters. Apex rounded, 

apiculate. Base cuneate. Midvein stout and prominent, expanding sixfold near the base. Secondaries 

four or five stout, largely ilnlnersed pairs, camptodroITle. 

These characteristic little leaves are very similar to 

those of Vaccinium uliginosum Linne and V. vitis-idaea 

Linne and perhaps are most like Vaccinium lucidl1lm ~f 

gardens. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut No.1 and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Vaccinium bonseri serrulatum Berry, n. var. 

Plate 63, Figures 19, 20 

Leaves sessile, small, elongate-elliptical, relatively 

coriaceous. Margins with tiny, renlotely and irregularly, spaced, serrate teeth. Apex bluntly pointed. 

Base entire, slightly decurrent to the greatly expanded 

base of the midvein. Length about 11 millinleters; 

maximum width, midway between the apex and' the 

base, about 6 millimeters. Midvein stout and curved, 

its pro},,'1.mal fourth much expanded, and prominent 

on the under side of the lea.f. Secondaries three or 

four pairs, stout, irregularly camptodrome. Tertiaries 

well marked, inosculating and becoming attenuated 

to form.an oblique mesh whjch beconles finer in the base 

of the leaf. 

At first sight this leaf suggests some of the smaller 

leaflets of various Rosaceae, as, for example, Rosa 

nitida Willdenow, but the venation is ericaceous and 

not rosaceous, the Rosaceae differing in areolation 

and being characterized by nlore nunlerous and lnore 

clearly defined secondaries. It is also similar to leaves 

from the European Tertiary which Heer and Saporta 

have referred to the genus Myrsine. 

The genus Vaccinium seenlS to be clearly indicated 

by the sjze, texture, venation, and marginal characters, 

and as the size and form are so siInilar to the associated 

Vaccinium bonseri it is described as a variety of that 

species, fro.m which its chief difference is the toothed 

margin. As in the living species of Vaccinium there 

are a considerable number in which the margins range 

from entire to serrulate, it is not only possible but 

probable that the present form and Vaccinium bonseri 

represent a single Miocene species. This can not be 

demonstrated, however, except by the rather unlikely 
FLORA OF THE LATAH FORMATION 263 

contingency of finding lnaterial which would show both 

for111s on a single twig. 

Similarities between the present fossil forDls and the 

leaves of several existing species of Vaccinium might 

be pointed out. There is considerable resemblance to 

the p.xisting holarctic Vaccinium vitis-idaea Linne and 

to Vaccinium caespitosum ldiehaux, which ranges from 

Labrador and Maine to Colorado and Alaska, and also 

to severnlof n10re teInperate habitat-for example, Vaccinium vaciZZans I(alln-and othersmight ben1entioned. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Vacciniurn spokanense Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 64, Figure 8 

Leaf sIllall, ovate, With a bluntly pointed tip and a 

broad sessile base. Margins entire. Length about 

1.9 centimeters; Inaxinlulll width, midway between 

the apex and the base, 8 lnillinleters. lVlidvein stout 

and prOlninent, expanding at the truncate base to 

the full width, which is 2.5 Inillimeters. Secondaries' 

relatively stout, five or six ascending pairs, diverging 

fro.m the Inidvein at acute angles, especially the lower 

three pairs, which diverge frOll1 the expanded proxinlal 

part of the Inidvein, calnptodrome. 

This characteristic sIn all leaf is thus far representeu 

by only the specimen figui·ed. 

Occurrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collee-ted by C. O. Fernquist. 

Order EBEN ALES 

Family EBEN ACEAE 

Genus DIOSPYROS Linne 

Diospyros princetoniana Cockerell 

Plate 59, Figure 6; Plate 60, Figures 1-3 

Diospyros princetoniana Cockerell, Am. Mus. Nat. Rist. Bull., 

vol. 24, p. 105, pI: 10, fig. 36, 1908. 

This species, as described by Cockerell, was based 

upon a menger aDlount of m.aterial. According to 

I(nowlton,37 the material which he studied in the 

Hambach collection fr01n Florissant, as well as Cockerell's species, is not to be distinguished from the 

American material which Lesquereux and others have 

refen:ed to the European .Diospyros brachysepala ·Al. 

Braun. The status of D. brachysepala is most uncertain. The type material came from the late Miocene 

(Sannatian) of Baden, but various workers have 

recorded the species fronl every cone-eivable Tertiary 

horizon in Europe, and American students have 

recorded it from a. large number of early Tertiary 

localities in North America. Obviously as the name 

stands in the literature it represents a composite 

species. Despite the sinlilarity in the leaves from 

North America and Europe it is highly improbable 

that a single botanic species ranged over two continents. 

Leaves of this type are not uncommon in the Latah 

formation, and I have taken up Cockerell's name for 

87 Knowlton, F. D., U. S. Nut. Mus. Proc., vol. 51, p. 285, 1916. 

thenl, despite their practical identity with the European late Miocene leaves. The Latah leaves in my 

opinion are clearly referable to Diospyros, t.he venation 

and general facies being uniform despite the considerable variability in size and outline. The species 

. may be more fully described as follows: 

Leaves broadly lanceolate, usually widest medially 

but occasionally above the middle. Generally about 

equally pointed at both ends but showing a tendency 

for the tip to be less acute than the base. The base is 

normally decurrent, but the tip is frequently apiculate. 

Texture subcoriaceous. Petiole stout, 5 to 10 millimeters in length. ~1idvein stout, prominent on the 

under side of the leaf, frequently curved. Secondaries. 

thin, not prominent, ascending, c~t.nlptodrome. Length 

3.5 to 8 centimeters; maximum width 1.1 to 3 centimeters. 

The specimens fronl the Latah formation may be 

compared with the Miocene forms figured by Heer.~R 

I am not prepared to say whether the forms. fromi 

Oklahoma and Yellowstone Park which have' been 

referred to Diospyros brachysepala represent Dio81!'Yr!OS. 

princetoniana or not. 

Occurrence: Brickyard, Spokane, Wasn., where it 

is common and to which it is confined. 

Order GENTIAN ALES 

Family APOCYNACEAE 

Genus APOCYNOPHYLLUlVI Unger 

Apocynophyllum latahense Berry, n. sp•. 

Plate 60, Figures 4, 7 

Leaves of variable size, oblong lanceolate, the top 

missing in all the specimens, presumably pointed, the: 

base abruptly incurved and decurrent. Margin·s 

entire. Length (estimated) lO to '15 centimeters; 

maA~mum width 2.25 to 4.25 centimeters. Petiole 

long and very stout, preserved for 2.5 centimeters in 

a small specimen. Midvein very stout. Secondaries 

relatively thin, numerous, diverging from the midvein 

at wide angle~, camptodrome. 

These leaves, all of which are unfortunately incomplete, have a11 the features of the Apocynaceae. Their 

exact generic affinity is uncertain. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon, Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.4, and bri,ckyard at 

~pokane, Wash. 

Order POLEMONIALES 

Family CONVOLVULACEAE 

Genus PORANA Burmann 

Porana rnicrocalyx (Knowlton) Berry 

Diospyros'l microcalyx Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper' 

140, p. 46, pI. 22, figs. 5, 6, 1926. 

An additional complete specimen of this form from', 

a new locality enables me to correct Knowlton's. 

tentative reference .of it to the genus Diospyros. It. 

ES Beer, Oswald, Flora tertiaria Belvetiae, pI. 102, figs. 1-14. 1859. 
264 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS -TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1928 

·does not belong to that genus, nor is Knowlton's 

description fully complete. The persistent sepals 

are five in number divided to the .base, and narrow to 

blunt pointed when cOlnpletely worked out of the 

matrix. The venation isnot longitudnal but reticulate, 

with several veins from the base, much as in Porana ' 

oeningensis Heer, which it greatly resembles. The 

capsule is preserved as a spheroidal cavity about 2 

millimeters in diameter. 

The genus Porana, which is confined to the Old 

World in the recent flora, is not uncommon in the 

later Tertiary of Europe. It has not been previously 

recognized in North America except at Florissant, 

Colo., where it is not uncommon and represented by 

three species, all of which differ from the one under 

consideration. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Order RUBIALES 

Family CAPRIFOLIACEAE 

Genus VIBURNUM Linne 

Viburnum lantanaColium Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 60, Figure 6 

Leaves entire, ovate, subcoria4us. Margins with 

regular, closely spaced dentate teeth. Length about 

11 centimeters; maximum width about 7 centimeters. 

Midvein stout, prominent. Secondaries stout, seven 

or eight mostly alternate pairs; diverging from the 

'mid vein at angles of 45° or less, ascending, craspedodrome; the two or three basal pairs curve upward and 

then outward distad, giving off several craspedodrome 

tertiaries; these craspedodrome branches from the 

secondaries become progressively less numerous toward 

the tip of the leaf. Internal tertiaries well marked, 

closely spaced, mostly percurrent. 

This striking species is unfortunately represented 

by only the single incomplete specimen figured, but 

the generic character of the venation is so typical 

that there can be no doubt of its affinity. It adds a 

new type to the flora of the Pacific slope Miocene. 

The genus has about 100 existing species, mostly in 

eastern Asia and North America but represented in 

Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America. There 

are about 20 species in the United States, but none of 

the western ones ar~ arborescent. The genus is an old 

one with many fossil species and is well represented in 

the Eocene of the Western States but is not certainly 

known from the Miocene, although doubtfully recorded from California and Saskatchewan. 

The present fossil species is extremely like the 

leaves of Viburnum lantana Linne, of middle Europe, 

the type of the section Lantana of the subgenus 

Euviburnum. I t is also similar to Viburnum paZaeolantana Unger, of the Pliocene of Styria. 

Occurrence: Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 

cut No.4 at Spokane, Wash. 

Viburnum fernquisti Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 63, Figure 10 

Stone compressed, oval and slightly unsymmetrical 

in outline,' widest medially, rounded proximad and 

bluntly pointed distad, coriaceous, with two or three 

low rounded unequally developed longitudinal ridges 

on each surface. Length 6.5 millimeters: maxinlum 

width 3.5 millimeters. 

A species based upon foliage is associated with these 

stones, and it is quite probable that stones and leaves 

represent the same botanical species, but this can not 

be demonstrated. 

Occ'urrence: Brickyard at Spokane, Wash., collected by C. O. Fernquist. 

POSITION UNCERTAIN 

Carpolithus pteraformis Berry, n. sp. 

Plate 60, Figure 5 

Winged fruits or seeds of considerable size, irregularly elliptical. Base rounded, expanding on one 

side of the seed or the seed cavity about one-fourth 

of the distance above the base to about twice its 

basal width, arching to the rounded sligthly inequilateral tip-the margin straighter on the opposite 

side. Seed or seed cavity but slightly thicker than 

the wing, rounded distad, pointed proximad, situated 

in the narrowed base of the wing, about 1.25 centimeters long and 5 millimeters wide. Whole fruit 3 

centimeters long and 1.1 centimeters in maximum 

width. Wing substance coriaceous, without venation, 

obliquely wrinkled, with a conspicuously· beveled 

distal margin. This and other features suggest that 

it represents a winged seed of a capsular fruit and that 

these seeds were closely packed in the fruit. 

Superficially these fossils suggest the seeds of the 

winged-seeded conifers and also the samaras of Acer. 

They are clearly not related to either of these and 

are readily discriminated from the seeds of Pinus 

and the samaras of Acer occurring in the Latah formation. They are thicker and lack the venation of 

both of these types. They nlay represent the genus 

Gordonia. 

Occurrence: Vera, Deep Creek Canyon, and brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

Carpites rnenthoides Knowlton 

Carpites menthoides Knowlton, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

140, p. 49, pI. 26, fig. 4, 1926. 

Specimens rangirig from 1 to 2 centimeters in dialneter are contained in the recent collections. I regard 

their implied relationship with the Labiateae as 

entirely problematic. 

Occurrence: Deep Creek Canyon, . Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway cut No.1, and brickyard at 

Spokane, Wash. 
PLATES 4'9-64 


2(}5 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 49 

1 2 

5 

3 

4 9 

7 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

1,2. Fish scales, probably of Leuciscus (p. 226). 6. Pinus tetTalolia Berry, n. sp. (p. 238). 3,4. Asplenium occidentale Berry, n. sp. (p. 236). Figure 4 shows the venation in 7. Pinuslatahensis Berry, n. sp. (p. 238). the distal, medial, and proximal parts of a pinnule, X 2. 9 . Pinus macTophylia Berry, n. sp. (p. 238) . 5, 8 . Pinus monticolensis Berry, n. sp., winged seeds (p. 238). 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 50 

5 

2 

1 

3 

~ 4 

6 8 

7 9 

10 12 

11 13 14 15 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

1.-3. Po/amoge/on he/erophylloides Berry, n. sp., showing variation among the suh· 8-10. Alnus elliptica Berry, n. sp. (p. 244). Figure lO shows Figure 8 X 4 to show 


merged leaves (p. 240) . details of marginal teeth and venation. 
 4 . Populus, bud scale (p. 243). 11. Alnus prerhombiJolia Berry, n. sp. (p. 244). 5. Complonia insignis (Lesquereux) Cockerell (p. 241). 12. Betuw. largei Knowlton (p. 244). 6. Comp/onia hesperia Berry, n. sp. fragment of a leaf (p. 241). 13-15. Unnamed anomalous or juvenile leaves of Quercus. 7. i?agopsis longiJolia (Lesquereux) Hollick, a small leaf (p. 245). 
U. S . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 51 

2 

1 

3 

4 

5 

7 

6 

8 


9 10 11 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 


1. Ulmus, characteristic winged fruit, X 2 (p. 247). 6, 7, 9- 11. Quercus simulata Knowlton. illustrating ,'ariation in size and appear­
 2,3. Liriodendron hesperia Berry, n. sp., winged fruits, X 2 (p. 249). anec of the leaves of this species (p. 246).


4, O. Caslanea orienta/is Chaney (p. 245). 8. Rhus muri/Ii Chaney (p, 256), 

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPEH 154 PLATE 52 

3 


1 


4 
 8
 7 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATIO 

1-3. Quercus treleasii Berry, n . sp. (p. 247). 6. Salix, sUpule (p. 242).

4 . Menispermites latahensls Berry, n . sp. (p. 249). 7 . lIydrangea bendirei (Ward) Knowlton, sterile flower with five sepals (p. 251). 5. Ptatanus appendiculata Lesqucreux? (p. 249). 8. Quercus, unnamed leal. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSI ONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 53

FOSS[LS FROM THE LATAH FORMATlON 


1, 2. Platanus dissecta Lesquereux (p. 248). The fragment shown in Figure 2 gives tbe details of venation 

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 54 

1 


/ , 

\ ' , 

} 

3 


2 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

1-3. Ficus? washingtonensis Knowlton, illustratiug the variations of size and form in this species (p. 248) 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 55 

4 

2 

1 

5 6 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

l.. Prunus TUstii Knowlton (p. 252). 2, 3. Cassia idahoensis Knowlton (p. 252) 

4. Amelanchier scudderi Cockerell (p. 252). 

5,6. Ficus? washingtonensis Knowlton (p. 248). 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 56 

9 7 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

1. Cassia sophoroides (Kn owlton) Berry (I? 253). 7. lIfeibomites knowUoni Berry. n. sp. (p. 253). 

2, 3. Sophora alexanderi Knowlton (p. 253). 8 . Aesculus hesperia B erry. n . sp. (p. 256). 

4. Lequminosites bonseri Berry. n. sp. (p. 254). 9. Euonymus knowUoni Berry. n. 5p. (p. 255). 

6, 6. Sophora spokanenBis Knowlton (p. 253). Much of tbe pinnate leaf is shown in Figure 5. 
U. S . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSION AL PAPER 154 PLATE 57 

1 

5 

6 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

1. Paliurus hesperius Berry, n. sp. (p. 257). 4,5. Rhamnus spokanensis Berry, n . sp. (p. 257). 

2. Acer oregonianum Knowlton, winged fruit (p. 255) . 6. Acer, sp. 3. Tilia hesperia Berry, n . sp., part of a large leaf (p. 258). 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 58 

2 


1 


4 
 5 3 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 


1. TeTnstToemites idahoensis (Knowlton) Berry (p. 253). 4 . UmbellulaTia dayana (Knowlton) Berry (p. 260) . 2 . LauTus similis Knowlton (p. 259). 5 . LauTus princeps lieer (p. 259). 3 . LaUTUS grandls Lesquereux (p. 259). 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 59 

1 

4 

6 7 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATIO 

1. Umbellularia lanceolala Berry . n . sp. (p. 260). 5. lTaccinium bonseri Berry. n. sp. (F' 262).

2. Sassafras hesperia Berry. n . sp. (p 259). 6 . Diospyros princetoniana Cockerel (p.263). 3 . Cornus acuminata Berry. n. sp. (p. 260). 7. Nyssa knowltoni Berry. n. sp. (p. 261). 

4 . Arctostaphylos knowltoni Berry. n . sp. (p. 261). 
U o So GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 P LATE 60 

3 

2 

4 

1 

5 

6 

FOSSlLS FROM THE LATAH FORMATIO 

1-30 Diospyros prince/oniana Cockerell, showing the limits of variation of this 5 0 Carpolithus plera/ormis Derry, n. sp., a characteristic winged fruit (po 264) 0 

species (p. 263). 60 Viburnum lantana/oUum Berry, n. sp. (p. 264). 4, 70 ApocynophyLlum latahense Berry, n . sp., showing the limits of variation of 

this species (p. 263). 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SUHVEY PHOFESSIONAL PAPEH 154 PLATE Gl 

/ 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 


Platanus di88ecta Lesquereux (p. 248). A nearly complete leaf from the brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPEH 154 PLATE 62 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATIO 

Ficus? washinqtonensis Knowlton (p. 248). An unusually large leaf from tbe brickyard at Spokane, Wasb., sbowing a conical marginal lobe on one side, and tbe wings on tbe upper part of tbe petiole. 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 154 PLATE 63 

2 


3 

4 

12 

11 

20 

5 

7 

6 

FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATION 

9 . Betula, winged fruit, X 2 (p. 244) . 
 10. Viburnum fernquisti Berry, n. sp., stone (p. 264).

11. Acer oregonianum Knowlton (p. 2.55).

12. Menziesia knowltoni Berry, n. sp. (p. 262).

13. Acer chaneyi Knowlton, apical lobe (p. 256). 14. Sapindus armstrongi Berry, n. sp. (p. 254). 

15. Smilax lamarensis Knowlton (p. 240). 

9 

13 


16 17 


16. Leguminosites alexanderi Berry, n. sp., pod (p. 254). 

17. Carpites ginkgoides Knowlton. 
 1 S. Cassia spokanensis Berry, n. sp., pod (I'. 253), 


19,20. Vaccinium bortseri serTulutum Berry, n . var ., Figure 20 X 4 (p. 262),


21. Ribes fernquisti Berry, n. sp. (p. 251), 
 All from the brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 


18 


1. Glyptostrobus?, staminate aments (p. 239). 

2. Taxodium, staminate amen ts (p. 237). 
 3,4. Tsuga latahensis Berry, n. sp., cone scales (p. 239). 


5 . &llix, pistillate flower, X 2 (p. 242). 
 6 . Populus, bract of a pistillate flowcr, X 4 (p. 243). 


7. Populus, pistillate ament (p. 243). 

8. Populus, bud scale (I'. 243). 
U . S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIO 'AL PAPER 154 PLAT E 64 

2 


4


3 


5 


7 


6 
 8 


9 


10 13 
 12 14 15 


)(4 

!," 

19 

16 


17 


11 


20 


21 
 22 23 


FOSSILS FROM THE LATAH FORMATIO 

1. Unnamed fruiL, X 4. 8. 17aecinium spokanense Berry, n. sp. (p. 263). 17- 19. Pinus, staminate aments (p. 239). 

2. Acer minor Knowlton (p. 256). 9 . Salix, stipule (p. 242). 2 0, 21. Woodsia bonseri Berry, n . sp. (p. 236). Figure 


3,4. Ulmus, fruiLS X 2 (p. 247) . 10-12. Umbellijerospermum latahense Berry, n. sp. 21 X 4. 


5 . Celastrus spokanensis Berry, n. sp. (p. 255). (p. 261). 2 2, 2 3 . Woodwardia praeradicans Berry, n. sp. (p. 236). 


6. Arctostaphylos spatulata Derry, n. sp. (p. 262). 13-15. lIibiscus'! oeeidentalis Berry, n . sp., seed (p. 258). All from brickyard at Spokane, Wash. 7. Cereocarpus praeledifolius Berry, n. sp. (p. 252). 16. Salix flo rissanti Knowlton and Oockerell (p. 242).