^^■ xy J >' /' \^. ■■^, ^^-^ COUNTY PARKS. I77 care of such lands or for their purchase. The result in Mas- sachusetts of a very simple effort has in five years proved most gratifying to the projectors as to every lover of his native land. Thousands of acres have already been rescued from spoliation and subjected to intelligent management such as will eventu- ally result in the attainment of all the beneficent ends for which public parks exist. In Iowa nothing is done; nothing will be done until somebody or some association of our citizens make a beginning. That the effort will one day be made there is no doubt. Whether it shall be made in time to save that which Nature in this direction has already committed to our hands is a question. Is not the problem worthy the considera- tion of the Iowa citizen and legislator and does it not open to us a field where by practical' activity we may again show before the world our practical sense and wisdom. r y o ' ■ r '^ Notes on the Cretaceous Flora of Western Iowa. By PAUL BARTSCH. A YEAR ago I received from the State University for iden- tification a quantit}- of material containing fossil leaves. The rock containing the fossils is a very hard ferruginous aren- aceous shale, belonging to the Dakota group of the Creta- ceous strata. It was taken from the Ilolman Cut, Woodbury Co., NE. qr., Sec. 30, Twp. 88, R. ^7. Mr. Bain gives the following table of the strata in the locality concerned: 12 Loess with some concretions ....... 20 feet II Sandstone, yellow to white . 20 " 10 Shale, lignite in part ........ i^4 " 9 " white to yellow or gray ....... 4 " 8 " d.irk gray, argillaceous ...... 3 " 7 " white, very silicious ....... 2 " 6 " dark gray ......... 2 " 5 " gray to yellow . . . • . . . 10 " 4 " black to gray . . . . . . . . i)4 " 3 " grayish yellow with ferruginous disseminations . . 2 " 2 " tire clay .......... 8 " I " gray to yellow, iron stained . . . . . . 10 " Number 5, he continues "bears a great many crystals of selenite, also large ferruginous boulders of sandstone in which numerous imprints of Dakota leaves are imbedded." The mode of occurrence of these leaves is somewhat vari- able. At times they appear horizontally flattened, parallel to the plane of deposition. Then again we find them bent, twisted, torn, ami mixed up in general confusion. Occasionally the rock seems composed entirely of fossil 178 CRETACEOUS FLORA OF WESTERN IOWA. I79 leaves for a thickness of several inches as if the wind had piled them up and the}' had become fossilized in this state. Some of the leaves are preserved in such a perfect state that they must have grown at, or at least very near the place where thev were found; transportation from a distance would cer- tainly have more or less damaged them. If we ma}- take the character and perfection of the fossils as evidence we can picture to ourselves the surroundings of Sioux City in the early Cretaceous as a scene of swamps and bavous with an occasional strip of high land which was cov- ered by a mixed forest. The autumn winds that shook the leaves from the trees carried them to the marshes where they became water-soaked, sank, and were buried under the sedi- ments borne in by streams swollen with autumnal rains. The finer silt sifted through the coarser sand and thus softly cov- ered and preserved the leaves in the minutest detail to the present day. The following species have been authenticajj.^^ determined: I. POPULUS KANSASEANA Z^5^. ^^-''"^ Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. G^jT^urT^Mon. XVII.., X.42, PI. XVII., Figs. 1-7. \ r.':';'''^ •■^^'^i^ X Three specimens in a fair state or^pKes^i:vatipij are^Mfuie collection. 2. POPULUS HYPERBOREA Hce7\ Heer, Fl. Foss. Arct., vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 106, PL XXIX., Figs. 6-9; PI. XXVII., Fig. 8d; PI. XXX., Fig. 2b; vol 6, Abth. 2, p. 64, PL XXVII., Figs. 6, 7; PL XXL, Fig. i a. Lesq., FL Dak. Or., U. S. Geo. Sun, Mon. XVII., p. 43, PL III., Figs. 9-1 1 ; PL VIII., Fig. i; PL XLVIL, Fig. 5. A single good specimen is listed. 3. Salix protEv^kolia var. Longifoi.ia Lesq. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sun, Mon. XVII., p. 50, PL LXIV., Fig. 9. Several fragments occur most of which show characteristic details well. Ill— 4. G iSo NATURAL HISTORY 15ULLETIN. 4. Myrica lon(JA Ilccr. Protcoidcs longas Herr, Fl. Foss. Arct., vol. 3. pt. 2, p. no, PI. XXXI., Figs. 4, 5; PI XXIX., Fig. 8 b; ibid., vol. 6, 2 Abth; p. 65, PI. XVIII., Fig. 9 b; PI. XXIX., Figs. 15-17; PI. XXXIII., Fig. 10; PI. XLI., Fig. 4b, d. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Men. XVII.. p. 67, PI. III., Figs. 1-6. One specimen was found. 5. FiCUS M.\GNOLL'EFOLIA LcSlJ. Cret. and Tert. FL, p. 47, PI. XVII., Fig. 5, 6. Lesq.. Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 79, PI. XVI., Fig. 4. One specimen listed. 6. Ficus in.4:qualis Lesq. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr.. U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 82, PI. XLIX., Figs. 6-8; PI. L., Fig. 3. A single specimen listed. 7. Daphxopmyllum dakotense Lesq. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 99, PI. LI., Figs. 1-4; PI. LII., Fig. I. Only one specimen listed. 8. CiNNA.MOMUM ELLiPsoiDEU.M Sap. & Mar. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 105, PI. LI., Figs. 8-9. A single specimen very nicely preserved, listed. 9. CiNNAMOMU.M SEZANNENSK Watekt. Daplnioi^ene sezannensis (Wat.) Sap. & Mar., Fl. de Sezanne, p. 369, PI. VIII., Fig. 5, (fragment) ; Sap. & Mar.,Veg. Marne's Heers. de Gelinden, p. 47, PI. VI., Figs. 5, 6. CintiamomiDii sezannense Sap. & Mar., Revis. Fl. Gelinden, p. 60. PI. IX., Figs. 2-6. Heer., Fl. Foss. Arct., vol. 6, 2 Abth., p. 77, PI. XIX., Fig. 8; PI. XXXIII., Figs. 11, 12, vol. 7, p. 30. PI. LXI., Fig. I a. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVll., p. 107, Pi. XII., Figs. 6,7. CRETACEOUS FLORA OF WESTERN IOWA. jgi A single incomplete specimen was found making the deter- mination somewhat doubtful. 10. DlOSPYROS PRIM.EVA Hec)'. Phyll. Cret. du Nebr., p. 19, PI. I.. Figs. 6,7; Fl. Foss. Arct., vol. 6, 2 Abth., p. 80, PL XVIII., Fig. i; vol. 7, p. 31, PL LXL. Figs. 5 a, b, c: Newberry, Later Ext. FL, p. 8, Illustr. Cret. and Tert. PL, HI., Fig. 8; Lesq., Cret. and Tert. FL, p. 59. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 109, PL XX., Figs. 1-3. A single specimen listed. 11. DiOSPVROS PSEUDOANCEPS LcSCJ. Report of the Geological State Survey of Minnesota, by Prof. Winchell, unpublished. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. iii, PL XXIL, Fig. i. A single specimen listed. 12. DiOSPYROS ROTUNDIFOLIA Lcsq. Cret. FL, p. 89, PL XXX., Fig. i: Lesq., FL Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 112, PL XVII., Figs. 8-1 1. A single specimen was listed. 13. Inga cretacea Lcsq. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVIL, p. 153, PL LV., Fig. II. A single specimen was listed. 14. Rhamnus ten ax Lesq. Cret. FL, p. 109, PL XXL, Fig. 4. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVIL, p. 170, PL XXXVIIL, Fig. 6. Two well preserved specimens were found. 15. RuA.MNus in/equilateralis Lesq. Lesq., FL Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVIL, p. 170, PL XXXVII., Figs. 4-7. Two good specimens were obtained. G 2 l82 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN. 1 6. LiRIODENDRON GIGANTEUM Lcsg, Cret. Fl., p. 93, PI. XXII., Fig. 2; Cret. and Tert. Fl., p. 74. Lesq., Fl. Dak. Gr., U. S. Geo. Sur., Mon. XVII., p. 206, PI. XXV., Fijr. i; PI. XXVI., Fig. 5; PI. XXVII., Fig i. A single fragment was found which appears to represent this species. A number of complete specimens not yet determined are in the collection, besides hundreds of fragments, some (mono- cotyledonous), too fragmentary to permit of positive identifi- cation. Thanks are due F. H. Knowlton. of Washington, D. C, for assistance in making the determinations here recorded. The locality has never been adequately w'orked by the col- lector. It is hoped that future effort may result in bringing to light a much larger list of these most interesting organic remains. QE924 .B32 1896 gen Bartsch, Paul/Notes on the Cretaceous fl 3 5185 00094 8438 ./ k A f^\