PINUS TRIPHYLLA AND PINUS QUINQUEFOLIA FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS OF MASSACHUSETTS

Dwarf shoots and needle leaves of Pinus triphylla Hollick and Jeffrey and P. quinquefolia Hollick and Jeffrey have been discovered recently in a Late Cretaceous age clay deposit on Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachusetts. Detailed study of these fossils provides further information on the internal construction of the two taxa. This new information permits both species to be compared easily with similar fossil forms from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan as well as with dwarf shoots and needles of modern species of Pinus. As a result, the relationships between Cretaceous pines and the extinct genus Prepinus are found to be less than previously believed. Moreover, the dwarf shoots and needles of Cretaceous members of the genus Pinus appear to be most like those of present-day species included in the subgenus Pinus.