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SUMMARY The genus Zelkova contains species which are nowadays distributed in an extremely fragmentary, mainly Asiatic, area. The Island of Crete retains geographically the species nearest to Italy. Fossil leaves and pollen discovered in some sites of Central Italy furnish evidence of the distribution of these trees before and during the Last (Eemian) Interglacial and of their persistence during part of the Last (Wurmian) Glaciation. The evidence is seen in two pollen diagrams from boreholes at Castiglione and Fucino which have stratigraphic continuity; at the base of the series Zelkova reaches conspicuous peaks in a phase which can be correlated with the Eemian Interglacial. During the climatic fluctuations of the last glacial Zelkova disappears in steppe periods and spreads again in favourable times up to the time of extinction, which seems to occur in both series somewhat before the latest glacial acme.

In this paper we discuss processes of slope denudation during the Holocene in the hilly area near Sendai.We gave it our general consideration of the history of local geomorphic environments and hillslope development based on the analyses of sediments located in isolated depressions, including pollen analyses, radiocarbon datings and plant communitical data. The main results are as follows.1. Three periods of hillslope instability are identified: 1) before 9, 000y.B.P., 2) between 6, 000 and 2, 500y.B.P., with a prominent period between 6, 000 and 5, 000y.B.P., and 3) after 1, 000y.B.P. The unstable period between 6, 000 and 5, 000y.B.P. is contemporaneous with the Hypsithermal epoch (Fig. 4).2. It is not yet certain that the unstable period after 1, 000y.B.P. can be wholly attributed to soil erosion caused by human impacts on natural vegetation.3. Palynological analysis is useful for the clarification of slope conditions at various in time, for increases and decreases of pollen grains of certain plants which reflect geomorphological conditions, (especially Zelkova, Ulmus, Carpinus, Fraxinus and Fagus), enable one to determine micro-topographical changes on hillslopes.4. Different kind of denudation process on hillslope, i.e. soil creep on crest slope in the stable period (Fig. 7a) and small surface failure of slump type on side slope in the unstable period (Fig. 7b), has characterized present hillslope morphology.

The Kissawa Formation deposited during the Shimosueyoshi Transgression, ca 150, 000-ca 130, 000 FT y.B.P., is subdivided into six local pollen assemblage zones at Saigato, namely from the lower Ka-I, II, III, IV, V and VI, based on the occurrence of the tree pollen with a high value. Macro-plant remains which are mostly seeds and fruits occur commonly from the upper Ka-I to the Ka-V. Specific compositions of the plant fossil assemblages change conspicuously in two horizons, i.e. the upper Ka-I and the boundary between the Ka-V and the Ka-VI. During the zones of the upper Ka-I to the Ka-V, such warm temperate to sub-tropic elements as Lagerstroemia, Sapium sebiferum, Melia azedarach, Aleurites cordata, Ehretia dicksonii and Buxus, and the temperate elements commonly distributed in Japan coexist constantly. The temperate trees of Ulmus and/or Zelkova predominate in the lower Ka-I of the initial layer, and those of Cryptomeria, Alnus and Picea in the Ka-VI are predominant. Because of this, it is assumed that the climatic condition during the Shimosueyoshi Transgression is similar to that of the present at least.

The organic chemical profiles of fossil Acer and Quercus leaf tissues are presented and correlated with those of previously described fossil Celtis, Ulmus and Zelkova and interpreted in conjunction with referable extant genera. Intrageneric comparisons among fossil and extant taxa indicate that relatively minor phytochemical differences exist suggesting that little flavonoid and steroid evolution since post-Miocene times has occurred. Biosystematic relationships between living North American and Asian genera indicate that in some cases (Quercus, Zelkova) a greater affinity exists between living Asiatic species and elements of the Succor Creek Flora. The chemical data are proposed as an independent parameter in assessing angiosperm biogeography and proposed migration patterns of the Fagaceae and Ulmaceae. The high chemical fidelity seen between some living and fossil genera preserved in ash-fall deposits is ascribed to the reaction of membrane bound lipids with various organic acids and to subsequent rapid dehydration. THE chemical profiles of plant and animal fossils and of organic-rich sediments are affected by various physical and chemical factors that collectively alter their original biochemistry (Jones and Vallentyne, 1960; Kvenvolden, 1966; Brooks, 1971). While chemical data may provide some basis for deducing a fossil's original biochemistry, and thereby provide broad taxonomic inferences (Niklas, 1976; Niklas and Gensel, 1977), diagenesis generally prevents direct comparisons between extant and fossil taxa thought to be related on the basis of morphology or anatomy. The degree of diagenesis may to some extent be determined by the presence of various organic constituents known to be labile, unstable, or thermometric. This is particularly true if the fossil taxon has a putative extant representative. In this paper we present the organic chemical profiles of five angiosperm genera representative of the Succor Creek Flora of Miocene age (Graham, 1963, 1965; Taggart and Cross, 1975). Previous reports have shown that leaf tissues isolated from volcanic ash-fall lenses show only

A Fagus-like leaf fossil (cuticular compression) with an attached fruit, differing from any known Fagus species (fossil or extant) or other fagoid taxa, has been discovered from the Miocene Clarkia Lake deposits of northern Idaho. Because of its unusual morphology (especially the fruit) the fossil taxon has been described as a new genus and species, Pseudofagus idahoensis Smileky and Huggins. The successful previous use of paleobiochemistry in studies of fossil taxa from the Miocene Succor Creek Flora of Oregon suggested that chemical data might help clarify the taxonomic affinities of Pseudofagus. Indeed, examination of the chemistry of the fossil, Pseudofagus idahoensis, and comparison with extant Fagus species and related fagoid genera indicate that: 1) based on steroid chemistry, Pseudofagus idahonesis does belong in the Fagaceae; 2) like all extant species of Fagus, the fossil lacks the tannin component, ellagic acid, which separates it from other extant fagoid genera, and 3) its simple flavonoid pigment profile places it closest to the extant North American Fagus grandifolia or the European/Eurasian Fagus sylvatica. However, the exclusive presence of an isorhamnetin (3'-methoxyquercetin) 3-0-glycoside, onocerane, and 5a-cholestane imparts a species-specific chemical character to Pseudofagus idahoensis, which also sets it apart from extant species of Fagus. While the chemistry does not decide the taxonomic level to be accorded to the fossil, it certainly supports, along with morphology and anatomy, the distinctness of Pseudofagus and its proposed relationships within the Fagaceae. RECENT WORK by Niklas (1976) and Niklas and Gensel (1976, 1977, 1978) has shown the taxonomic and systematic utility of using the paleobiochemistry of fossil plants in comparative chemical studies with putative extant relatives. Steroids, fatty acids, alkanes, and phenolics from fossil plants have proven to be the most useful compounds in these studies. Extracts of extant plants are subjected to artifical thermolytic diagenesis and then directly compared to extracts of the fossil taxa which have themselves undergone "natural" diagenesis (i.e., fossilization). Congruence in chemical data between unequivocally identified fossil plants and their contemporary counterparts is quite high, contributing to the utility of the approach. Further, statistical analysis of these chemical ' Received for publication 9 October 1979; revision accepted 10 December 1980; held in abeyance for publication with the preceding manuscript by Smiley and Huggins. The authors thank Professor T. Tanai, Hokkaido University, for providing samples of several species of Fagus. Thanks also are extended to Mr. T. Delendick, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, for collecting other specimens of Fagus from various arboreta and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. As always, we are indebted to Dr. Pat Holmgren, the New York Botanical Garden, for access to herbarium material. Mrs. Regilda Foscaldi provided invaluable technical assistance during the chromatographic analyses. This work was supported by NSF grant DEB-7904551 awarded to the authors. data via suitable computer programs produce three-dimensional clusters of taxa (fossil and extant) remarkably similar to taxonomic arrangements based on morphology and other paleobotanical evidence (Niklas and Gensel, 1978). With the discovery of flavonoids preserved in fossil angiosperm leaves, i.e., Zelkova (Ulmaceae, Succor Creek Flora), Niklas and Giannasi (1977a) have extended this paleochemotaxonomic approach to the study of angiosperm systematics, phylogeny, and phytogeography. The occurence of flavonoids in the angiosperm leaf compressions is quite significant since these compounds are already used in contemporary plant chemosystematics at all taxonomic levels and in nearly all plant groups (Smith, 1976; Alston, 1967). Thus they provide a broadly based set of chemical data that can be readily compared between fossil and extant taxa. Subsequent work (Giannasi and Niklas, 1977) showed that the fossil flavonoid find was not a "freak" occurrence since distinct flavonoid profiles were found in additional fossil taxa (e.g., Celtis and Ulmus). Further, thermolytic studies on authentic flavonoids indicated that they do not undergo diagenesis (other than terminal destruction) and thus if found in fossils, represent original, unaltered constitu

The Ohnuma moor is situated at an elevation of 610 m on the southeast slope of Mt. Torokawa (1039 m) in the northeastern part of the Chugoku mountains, western Japan. A 640 cm long core containing peat and clay deposits sampled at the moor was palynologically examined at intervals of 10 cm to 20 cm. Six 14C-dating samples were analyzed: the age of the deepest samples (595–605 cm) is 18,500 ± 280 yr B.P. Therefore, it is estimated that sediments started to accumulate in the moor ca. 20,000 years ago. From the results of pollen and spore analysis four major vegetational changes including four subzones could be recognized from the bottom to the surface as follows: A1 zone (640-430 cm, 20,000-14,000 yr B.P.) with subarctic taxa (Pinus, Tsuga, Abies, Picea, Betula). A2 zone (430-330 cm, 14,000-11,500 yr B.P.) with subarctic taxa and cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved taxa (Lepidobalanus, Fagus). B zone (330-250 cm, 11,500-8000 yr B.P.) with cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved taxa and temperate deciduous broad-leaved taxa (Carpinus, Juglans and Pterocarya, Ulmus and Zelkova). C1 zone (250-170 cm, 8000-4000 yr B.P.) with a temperate coniferous taxon (Cryptomeria), cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved taxa and a temperate evergreen broad-leaved taxon (Cyclobalanopsis). C2 zone (170-60 cm, 4000-1700 yr B.P.) with a temperate coniferous taxon, and cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved taxa. D zone (60-0 cm, 1700-0 yr B.P.) with secondary forest taxa (Pinus, Lepidobalanus). The investigated part of the core covers approximately the last 20,000 years of the late Pleistocene and the Holocene including a time gap of a few thousand years in pollen zone B, and the reconstructed vegetational history can be regarded as typical for the period from the latest Wurm to the present day in the Chugoku mountains, western Japan.

An index to the bad rice harvest, Icd, in the Tohoku district, northern part of Japan, is defined according to Hatake's table. A comparison between Icd and annual growth rate of the tree-ring of a zelkova felled in Yamagata shows that the large variation of Icd reflects the change of natural weather conditions. Bad harvest years are objectively defined using Icd, and superposed epoch analysis is applied to the study of the relationship between bad harvest and solar activity. The results show an increase of bad rice harvest about one year after the sunspot minimum. The growth rate of the zelkova also has a small maximum around the sunspot minimum.

Using modern pollen and radiolarian distributions in sediments from the northwest Pacific and seas adjacent to Japan to interpret floral and faunal changes in core RC14-103 (44°02′N, 152°56′E), we recognize two major responses of the biota of eastern Hokkaido and the northwest Pacific to climatic changes since the last interglaciation. Relatively stable glacial environments (∼80,000–20,000 yr B.P.) were basically cold and wet (8°C and >1200 mm mean annual temperature and precipitation, respectively), supporting climax broadleaf deciduous forest with Quercus and Ulmus/Zelkova, with surface waters in the northwest Pacific characterized by warm (>1.5°C) winter and cold (10.4°–14.3°C) summer temperatures. Climatic evidence from RC14-103 shows a high degree of local and regional variation within the context of global climatic change. Correlative ocean and land records provide the detailed input necessary to assess local/regional responses to variations in other key elements (i.e., solar radiation, monsoonal variations) of the northeast Asian climate system.

Post-Glacial sapropelic muds in a deep-sea Mediterranean core, offshore Crete, reveal an abundant pollen content, supposedly coming from the nearby island. Above a littoral zone of herbaceous vegetation, the pollen spectrum suggests a dense Mediterranean forest cover, with Pinus and Quercus dominating, but with quite a few balkano-caucasian trees—Tilia, Liquidambar, Ostrya, Alnus, Betula, Corylus, Carpinus, Zelkova, cf. Pterocarya, cf. Engelhardia (which have now all disappeared from the island,, except Zelkova and Carpinus and Cedrus, now also extinct, whose closest present-day occurrences are in Lebanon, Cypus and Morocco. These rich flora and dense vegetal cover do not necessarily imply a more humid climate than today; the present rainfall is sufficient for these species in convenient locations; rather, it points to the devastation of the vegetation by man and goat in the Mediterranean area for 8,000 years.

SMILEY, CHARLES J. CMacalester Coll., St. Paul, Minn.) A record of Paulownia in the Tertiary of North America. Amer. Jour. Bot. 48(2): 175-179. Illus. 1961.-Paulownia, an eastern Asiatic genus in the family Scrophulariaceae, has been identified from fossil leaves in the Ellensburg flora of Washington. Age of these fossils is late Miocene (Barstovian) to early Pliocene (Clarendonian). They are nearly identical to leaves of the living P. tomentosa (Thunberg) Steudel, a deciduous tree now growing in temperate parts of China and one that has escaped from cultivation in eastern United States. Identification is based on comparative leaf morphology. Modern and fossil Paulownia leaves may be distinguished from those of such other genera as Buettneria, Catalpa, and Cercis by secondary and tertiary venation. Central Washington environment during this time was well suited to the growth and reproduction of Paulownia, judging from such fossil associates as Liquidambar, Nyssa, Passiflora, Persea, Rhododendron, Ulmus, and Zelkova. Deciduous habit, present temperate environment, possible early Tertiary record in Alaska, later Tertiary records in middle latitudes of North America and Europe, and present occurrence in China indicate that Paulownia was once widely distributed over the northern hemisphere. Secular climatic trends toward cooler conditions since the Eocene appear to have resulted in the southward migration of Paulownia as a member of the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora. Subsequent extinctions in Europe and North America may have resulted from Pleistocene glacial climates, and from barriers to further

The “Yasiki-mori” (forest in farmyard, or mantles of trees for houses) develops on the Musasino upland, a western suburb of Tokyo, where there prevails the north-west wind in winter, causing the inhabitants to believe that the mantle is for the wind. As to the dis-tribution of the wind mantle, Dr. Yazawa has written a paper for this Review (Vol. 12, 1936, Nos. 1 and 2). The present author, who has studied the types and functions of the mantle, selected two villages, one of “Einzelfdorf” and the other of the “Strassendorf” type. The number investigated totaled 677 farm houses, of which 70%, have thatched, 25% zinc, and 5% tile roofs. (1) Farmyards having tree-belts all round them formed 64.4% (see Table 2, p. 630). The belts, which are dense, mostly, stand on the north and west sides of the yards (see Table 1, p. 629) which coincide with the direction of the prevailing wind in winter. (2) The trees are evergreens (nearly 75, %) and shed leaved (25%). In the former, quercus trees predominate, followed by cedar and bamboo; in the latter we find mostly zelkova trees. As to the distribu-tion of the trees according to direction: most of the quercus lie southward, followed by W, N, and E. The cedar lies mostly W, and least S, and the zelkova mostly N and S and least W and E. (3) Styles and types : The author classified them into 6 styles, M, Mz, Mq, Z, Q, Qq, Of these Mq, and Qq are developed the most, with tall hedges of Quercus on the south side (see Pls. 14 and 15). There are two types, the one the mixed forest (M), consisting of evergreens and shed leaved trees, and the other of quercus only (Q); their ratio is 7:3. M, which is large in size, is always found in old settlements and the rich farms, whereas Q is small found in new set-tlements and the poorer farms. This fact shows that the type indi-cates some of the history, and the social and economic conditions of a settlement. (4) Functions: (a) Wind mantle as protection from the prevailing wind in winter and tyfoon in summer. (b) Adjustment of climate in winter and summer. (c) Protection against sand winds and fires. (d) Econnomically, for wood as material for building and making tools. (e) Decoration of farmyards and houses. In Japan, these house mantles are also developed in Toyama, Tottori, Sizuoka, and I wate prefectures showing various styles and types of which the author will write on another occasion.

Plant microfossils have been recovered from Oligocene sediments which outcrop along the Fraser River in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada. The sediments are composed of interbedded clays, sands, gravels, and lignites which were deposited as a part of an ancestral Fraser River system.The most commonly encountered members of the assemblage are Quercus, Alnus Carya, Liquidambar, Ulmus/Zelkova, Juglans, Pterocarya, Osmunda, and members of the Taxodiaceae, with infrequent occurrences of Engelhardtia, Prosopis, ?Psilotum, Ephedra, and ?Dorstenia. This assemblage suggests a warm temperate to near subtropical climate. A warm polar sea, a lowered Coast Range to the west, and a greater elevation of the Rockies to the east are suggested as a possible explanation for the climate.One new genus and 11 new species have been erected. Several species, including Prosopis quesneli, Diervilla echinata, Triporate B, and Taxodium rousei appear to be restricted to these beds, and may well be good index fossils for the Oligocene of western Canada.

The Author, on the basis of numerous results of pollen analysis on turfy-clayey deposits especially in Delta Padano, shows the gradual impoverishment, the main ancient species (Pinus haploxylon, Abies nordmanniana, Tsuga, Cedrus, Carya, Pterocarya, Zelkova, Castanea latifolia) suffered from during middle and upper Pleistocene.

Compared with the number of cambial punctures chewed by the smaller European elm bark beetle, Scolytus multistriatus (Marsham), on cut twigs of American elm, Ulmus americana L., in a series of twig-feeding tests conducted under variable temperature conditions in laboratory, there was relatively little to no significant increase or decrease in the number of such punctures on the following trees: Siberian elm, Ulmus pumila L.; Vanhoutte' English elm, U. procera Vanhouttei (Schelle) Rehd.; Japanese elm, U. japonica (Rehd.) Sarg.; Buisman selection smoothleaved elm, U. carpinifolia Gleditsch; Augustine ascending elm, U. americana ascendens Slavin F.; slippery elm, U. fulva Micheux; or on Japanese zelkova, Zelkova serrata (Thunb.) Mak. On David hemiptelea, Hemiptelea Davidii (Hance) Planch., there were significantly fewer cambial punctures while on native hackberry, Celtis occidentalis L., and white oak, Quercus alba L., no such punctures occurred.

Angiosperm leaf fossils (16.7-25 × 10 6 years by potassium/argon dating) referable to Zelkova were isolated from pyroclastic deposits in the Succor Creek Formation, Oregon. These fossils reveal a three-dimensional structure in mesophyll cell layers and vascular bundles, while transmission electron microscopy of fixed tissues reveals well-preserved chloroplasts with grana stacks and starch, as well as nuclei with condensed chromatin. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that cell walls retain a cellulosic microfibrillar architecture, while ultrastructural and cytochemical confirmation is presented for chloroplast starch and the presence of native cellulose. The preservation of cell walls and cytologic structures in fossil materials of this age indicates an unusually mild fossilization process attending the post-depositional maturation of associated sediments. The preservation observed appears to be associated with rapid physical dehydration coupled with endogenous fixation by organic acids (possibly tannins and/or chlorophyll derivatives).

Examination of previously described and some undescribed leaves of Ulmus and Zelkova from the later Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene of western North America indicates that at least eight species of Ulmus and two species of Zelkova are represented. Three new species are described: Ulmus chaneyi, U. knowltoni, and Zelkova browni.

Organic solvent extractions of Zelkova oregoniana, a Miocene angiosperm compression fossil, indicate the chemical preservation of kaempferol, dihydrokaempferol, an n-alkane chain length range of 10 to 32 carbons, hydroxy acids, steranes, triterpenoids, and methyl pheophorbide a. This appears to be the oldest occurrence of flavonoids in fossil sediments reported.