Specimen USGS 11600.2 is in the right of the above image.
Locality
Latitude: 56.268889° N
Longitude: -158.659722° W
Chignik (B-2) Quad.
Collected by R.A. Spicer and J.A. Wolfe.
Floodpain swamp. Lower part of Tolstoi Formation.
Description
Leaf: simple; symmetrical; ovate; apex attenuate; base decurrent; margin crenate with narrow rounded sinuses and rounded apices with the tip of the median vein of the tooth projecting beyond the tooth apex to form a small spine or bristle, teeth regular in size and arrangement, margin entire near the leaf base; venation pinnate, simple craspedodromous; primary vein moderate, straight; secondary vein arising at an acute angle (45-65°), becoming more acute towards the apex, straight and running through to form median veins of the teeth, basal secondary veins slightly recurved; tertiary veins straight, percurrent, may be branched once joining the secondary veins approximately at right angles, higher vein orders obscure.
Remarks
This somewhat advanced leaf (as far as its venation is concerned) exhibits characters found in extant members of the Fagales. The marginal teeth have the midvein projecting beyond the apex; a feature which according to Hickey and Wolfe (1975) might represent a modified Urticoid tooth. The pinnate venation with strongly transverse tertiary veins are also common features in the Fagales. Bell (1957) described a somewhat similar leaf (p. 42; Plate 25, Fig. 1) under the name Dryophyllum ripleyensis (Berry) Bell from the Protection Formation. Berry (1925) had originally described such a leaf assigning it to 'Fagus' (Tournefort) Linnaeus (p. 47; Plate 5, Fig. 6; Plate 7, Fig. 1) but Bell considered it more appropriate to classify it in the form genus Dryophyllum.