Geological Survey Bulletin 204 Fossil Flora of the John Day Basin, Oregon

Family LAURACEAE.

LAURUS OREGONIANA a. sp.

Pl. IX, figs. 2, 3.

Laurus n sp., Knowlton in Merriam, Univ. Cal., Bull. Dept. Geol., Vol. II, No. 9, p. 309, 1901.

Leaves coriaceous in texture, narrowly lanceolate in shape, narrowed from apparently above the middle to a long narrowly wedge-shaped base (upper portion not preserved, but apparently long and narrowly acuminate); midrib thick below, becoming very slender in the upper portion; secondaries about 6 pairs, thin, alternate, arising at an acute angle, passing high up near the margin, where they join, by a series of broad loops, the one next above; nervilles prominent, oblique to the midrib and mainly broken, producing large, irregular areas; finer nervilles numerous, very thin, oblique to the stronger ones; ultimate nervation made up of very minute but regular reticulations.

This species is represented thus far by only two specimens, the one figured and another much less perfect. The one shown in the plate was about 18 cm. long (13.5 cm. in length is now preserved), and 3.5 cm. wide at a point probably a little above the middle. It is impossible to estimate the length of the other specimens, but it is wider, being fully 4.5 cm. wide. The nervation differs slightly, also, the secondaries arise at a less acute angle, but otherwise there is no appreciable difference.

The affinity of the unfigured example seems to be with some forms of Laurus californica Lesq., but it differs in having the secondaries at a more acute angle of divergence and undoubtedly belongs with the leaf figured. It may also be compared with Persea punctulata Lesq. a

Locality.—Van Horn's ranch, about 12 miles west of Mount Vernon, Grant County, Oregon. Collected by Merriam's expedition of 1900 (Mus. Univ. Cal., No. 868).

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a Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XI, p. 26, Pl. XIV, fig. 1, 1888.

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CINNAMOMUM DILLERI Knowlton.

CINNAMOMUM DILLERI Knowlton, Twentieth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv., Pt. III, p. 47, Pl. IV, fig. 1, 1900.

The material from Cherry Creek obtained in 1901 contains one nearly perfect example and several fragmentary specimens that must belong to this species. The most perfect specimen is slightly larger than the type, but otherwise there is no appreciable difference.

The type was described from Comstock, Douglas County, Oregon, in beds supposed to be Miocene in age, but associated with it were shells of Cardita planicostata and other characteristic Eocene fossils. As the beds at Cherry Creek are certainly Eocene it would seem to sustain the contention that the beds at Comstock are also of this age.

Locality.—Cherry Creek, Crook County, Oregon. Collected by Knowlton and Merriam, July, 1901 (U. S. Nat. Mus., Nos. 9055, 9056).

CINNAMOMUM BENDIREI n. sp.

Pl. X, fig. 4.

Leaf membranaceous in texture, oblong-lanceolate in shape, long wedge-shaped at base, apparently rather obtusely pointed at apex; margin entire; petiole long and slender; midrib thick below, becoming very thin above, with two or three pairs of thin secondaries in the upper part which are at a low angle; lower pair of strong secondaries arising at a point well above the base of the blade, passing up at an acute angle to near the upper part of the leaf, and here they become thin and join with the equally thin secondaries from the upper part of the midrib; each of the large secondaries with several thin loops on the outer side; nervilles numerous, thin, crossing between the midrib and strong secondaries, mainly percurrent though irregular; finer nervation producing rather large blocks.

The example figured is the only one found in the collections. It lacks only the extreme upper portion. The length was about 6.5 cm., exclusive of the petiole, which is 1.5 cm. in length. The width of the blade is 2.5 cm. at the broadest point, which is slightly above the middle.

This species is wholly unlike anything before reported from the beds at Bridge Creek. It is perhaps nearest to certain forms of C. Scheuchzeri of Heer, being, for example, hardly to be separated from a leaf figured by Ludwig a in his Fossile Pflanzen aus der ältesten Abtheilung der Rheinisch - Wettraurer Tertiär - Formation. This, however, is not the typical form of C. Scheuchzeri, and I prefer to describe it as new rather than unite it with an anomalous leaf that has been referred to an established species.

Locality.—Bridge Creek, Oregon. Collected by Maj. Charles E. Bendire (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 8490).

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a Palœontographica, Vol. VIII, Pl. XLI, fig. 8.

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