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

Family EBENACEÆ.

DIOSPYROS ALASKANA Schimper.

DIOSPYROS ALASKANA Schimper, Pal. Veg., Vol. II, p. 949, 1872.

Diospyros lancifolia Lesq., Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XI, p. 21, 1888.

Represented by the upper portions of two leaves only; probably correctly identified.

Locality.—Cherry Creek, Crook County, Oregon. Collected by Maj. Charles E. Bendire. (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 2461.)

DIOSPYROS ELLIPTICA n. sp.

Pl. XVI, fig. 5.

Leaf coriaceous in texture, elliptical in shape, rounded at base to the short petiole, very obtuse at apex; midrib very thick; secondaries four or five pairs, thin, alternate, at an angle of about 45°, camptodrome arching and joining well inside the margin with a fine mesh outside; intermediate secondaries occasional; finer nervation producing an irregular network.

Of this species I have only seen the leaf figured. It is elliptical in outline, very obtuse at apex, and rounded at base. It is 3.25 cm. in length to the petiole, which is less than 3 mm. long and 2 cm. in width. The nervation consists of a very thick midrib and some four or five pairs of alternate thin secondaries which arch and join some distance from the margin.

This species has the nervation of living American species of Diospyros, but is more obtuse at apex than is usual in these leaves.

Locality.—Van Horn's ranch, about 12 miles west of Mount Vernon, Grant County, Oregon. Collected by Knowlton and Merriam, July, 1901, (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 8556).