two new fossil plants from the triassic of

TWO NEW FOSSIL PLANTS FROM THE TRIASSIC OF PENNSYLVANIA.

By Edgar

T.

Wherry,

Assistant Curator, Division of MineralogyandPetrology, UnitedStatesNational Museum..

I.

A NEW CONIFER FROM

CARVERSVILLE.

The

occurrence of fossil plants at Carversville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania,

was

first

made known by

Prof. Ainos P.

Brown

in 1911.^ Inadditiontothetwocycadsandfourconifersdescribed

by

Professor Brown,^ fragmentary remains of several other species of bothclassesarepresent atthelocality, and oneconifer, collected

by

the writerin 1912,issidhciently well preservedto justify description.

It bears

some

resemblance to a plantwhich has been found in the Triassic of other parts of this country, and assigned to PaUssya sphenolepis (FriedrichBraun)Brongniart,^butitsleaves aretoolong, slender, widely spaced, and withtoo obscure a midrib forit tobe identifiedwiththatoranyother previously

known

form. Itappears to belong,however,tothe

same

genus,*andisaccordingly describedas:

PALISSYA LONGIFOLIA, newspecies.

Plate29.

Description.

— Stem

6-8

mm.

indiameter, striate,with subopposite leafy branches 2-2.5

mm.

in diameter at intervals of5-6 cm.,

and

with scattered leaves between the branches. Leaves of

main

stem and branches ahke, 2-3 cm. long, 1.5-2.5

mm.

wide, separated

by

interspaces ofabouttheir

own

width,inclined at45-60°, subopposite;

linear inouthne, gradually andshghtly contracted at thebase and

somewhat

decurrent; toward terminations narrowed shghtly, but

1Proe.Acad. Nat.Sci.,Phila., 1911, p.17,pis. 1-5.

2Podozamiies formosusBrown,ZamilesvelderiBrown,Cheirolepismuensterl(Schenk) Schimper,C. latus Brown,Pallss'ja diftusa(Emmons)Fontaine,andP.oblusaBrown.

3InYorkCoimty,Pa.,Ward,StatusoftheMesozoicflorasoftheU.S.,20th.\nn.Rept.U.8.Qeol.

Survey,pt.2,1900, p. 249, pi. 32;andinNorthCarolina,Fontaine, idem.,p. 30J, pis. 41-45.

«DifferingfromVoUziainhaving theleavesallalike,and fromAJ'jcrliaintheleavesbeingmuchlonger than broadandinthepresenceofadistinct(thoughfaint)midrib.

ProceedingsU. S. National Museum.Vol.51—No,2154.

327

328 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.

vol.51.

tips obtuse;

ncncs

4-7, parallel; niclrib rather indistinct, yet un- doubtedlypresentin

some

leaflets.

Type.—

Cat. No.34992,U.S.N.M.

Locality.

—

^Quarryone-fourth milenortheastofCarversville,

Bucks

County, Pennsylvania; fragments fairly

common

in the dark gray micaceous-sandyshales at thislocality, but mostlypoorly preserved.

Horizon.

—

^Lockatong formation;^ probably within a few feet of thebase.

The

lackof similaritybetween mostof the plants of this locality and those of

York

County, Pennsylvania (about 100 miles to the southwest),as well asthoseofVirginiaand NorthCarohna,isa note- worthyfact. In the absenceof exact

means

of correlationbetween thebedsof the several regions,it isnotpossible to decide whether this is due to geographic or to stratigraphic separation; but there

isnothingabout anyoftheformsoccurring here to castdoubtonthe correctness ofthe usualassignmentoftheLockatongformationtothe MiddleTriassic.

2.

A PLANT OF UNKNOWN AFFINITY FROM NORTHERN BUCKS

COUNTY.

About

a mile south of the to\\'n of Sellersville a lens ofgreen to blackshale

some

50^{feet in}thicknessoccursinthemidstoftheusual softred sediments (Brunsv,nck^{shale) of}theregion.

Where

cut

by

the Philadclpliia

&

Reading Railwaylinethisshalecontains the remains of a plant wliichisso deiinite that itseems worthdescription,even though its systematic position is indeterminate. Scattered frag- ments of

what

^is apparently the

same

form occur in similar beds alongtliisrailroad inLehigh County,three-fourths mile northeastof Coopersburg station. Fragments of

what may

be the

same

plant occurintheCumberlandarea, NorthCarolina,^andelongated leaves resembling those^ofthepresent plantin

York

County, Pennsylvania.^

As

pointed out

by

Ward, a generic

name

which carries with itno systematic implications ^is desirable for such material, and as itis

very unusual to find determinable fossil plants in the Brunswick beds,the

name

Brunswickia seemsthemost appropriate.

1ProfessorBrown,at thetimeofthepublicationofhispaper,hadnotvisitedthe locality,butasthemap

oftheSecond Pennsylvania GeologicalSurvey showsthe rock, at thepointwherethequarrywasreported to be, as"Norristown shale"(nowtermed Stockton formation).ProfessorBrowngavethisasthehorizon of theoccurrence. Thematrixofthefos-sils is,however,likewhathasbeen describedasthe "Gwynedd^"

(Lockatong formation),andonvisittagthe quarryin 1912,thepresentwriterfoundittoliewithin that formation,although notfaraboveitsbase. Tliis correctionishereemphasized becauseofthe desu-ability oflocating asexactlyaspossible thehorizonsatwhichfossilsoccurinthecomparativelyunfossiliforous Triassicbeds.

JFontaine,Mon.6,U.S. Geol.Survey, \9&\p. 90, pi.-38,fig.4.

3Yorkiagraminoide^,Wanner and Ward,20thAnn.Rept.,U.S.Geol.Survey,1900, pt.2,p. 264,pi. 34.

NO. 2154.

TWO NEW

TRIASSIC FOSSIL

PLANTS—WHERRY. 329

BRUNSWICKIA, newgenus.

Typeof^thegenus.

— ^The

^following

^new

^species:

BRUNSWICKIADUBIA,newspecies.

Plate30.

Description.

—

^{Groups of elongate, striate leaves, diverging in a}

plane,withthe followingdetailed characters: Length, 6cm. ormore;

width, 1.5-2

mm.;

rather thickandrigid; outline linear; nerves5-8, equidistant, parallel,

somewhat

unequal, though without definite midrib; atbase sheathing the stems,whichareapparently branched, and diverging so that they are ultimately separated

by

interspaces ofabouttheir

own

width; inone specimencurving

upward

ina con- icalmass 1 cm. high,fromastructureless base.

Type.—

C&t. No.34993,U.S.N.M.

Localities.

—

^Cutof Philadelphia

&

Reading Railway three-fourths milesouthof SeUersville station,

Bucks

County, Pennsylvania; also along the

same

road thi'ee-fom-ths mile northeast of Coopersburg station,Lehigh County, Pemisylvania.

At

thefirstfairlyabundant, and forming prominentyellow streaksintheblack^shale.

Horizon.

—

^Brunswick formation; the first locality hes approxi- mately2,800feet above the baseofthe formation, the second 7,000 feet higher. This plant has of course no value in determining whethertheBrunswickisofuppermostTriassic orlowermostJuras- sicage

—

a questionwhich canonly be decided

by

discoveryof

more

definitelydeterminablefossilstherein.

U.C.NATIONALMUSEUM

U.S.NATIONALMUSEUM PROCEEDINGS,VOL.51 PL.30

Brunswickiadubia,newspecies.

Fordescription see page 329.