Vaccinium, Linnaeus, 1753

Stults, DZ & Axsmith, BJ, 2015, New plant fossil records and paleoclimate analyses of the late Pliocene Citronelle Formation flora, U. S. Gulf Coast, Palaeontologia Electronica (New York, N. Y.: 1991) 2 (6), pp. 1-35 : 9

Genus VACCINIUM Linnaeus, 1753 Vaccinium sp.

Figure 2.7–2.8

Description. One mostly complete, simple, petiolate, elliptic, symmetrical leaf, 4 cm long, 1.7 cm wide (L:W ratio 2:1) is attributed to Vaccinium . Margin is unlobed, apically serrate. The base and apex are acute. Primary framework is pinnate. Secondary venation is brochidodromous. The secondary veins are regularly spaced, noticeably thickened, and form angles approximately 45° from the midrib. Veins of a gauge between secondary and tertiary thicknesses (but not intersecondaries) form loops off the secondary veins toward the basal end, a common feature in extant Vaccinium species. Tertiary veins are irregular, reticulate. Teeth on the apical portion of the leaf are few and small, sinuses angular, straight proximally and distally. The presence of these few, small apical teeth occur in several extant species of Vaccinium (such as some morphotypes of V. corymbosum and V. tenellum ).

Site occurrence. Scarborough School.

Remarks. Vaccinium has 25 recognized species in North America, most of which occur in the west. However, five species occur in the warmer southeastern portion of the continent ( V. crassifolia , V. darrowii , V. hirsutum , V. myrsinites , and V. tenellum ). Fossil leaves of Vaccinium were listed as a possible component of the Miocene Clarkia flora of Idaho ( Smiley and Rember, 1985) and have been identified from the Miocene Succor Creek flora of Oregon ( Fields, 1996).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Representative Aquifoliaceae through Juglandaceae from the Citronelle Formation. 1. Ilex sp. leaf (UF 19210–062063), scale bar equals 5 mm. 2. Clethra cf. alnifolia (UF 19210–062064) partial leaf, arrow indicates mucronate tooth apex, scale bar equals 5 mm. 3. Close-up of Figure 2.2 Clethra leaf, note mixed-percurrent tertiaries, scale bar equals 2.5 mm. 4. Extant Clethra alnifolia leaf from USAM herbarium for comparison with Figure 2.2, scale bar equals 5 mm. 5. Gaylussacia sp. leaf (UF 19315–062065), scale bar equals 5 mm. 6. Extant Gaylussacia sp. from USAM herbarium for comparison with Figure 2.5, scale bar equals 5 mm. 7. Vaccinium sp. leaf (UF 19315–062066), scale bar equals 5 mm. 8. Close-up of Vaccinium leaf margin from Figure 2.7 showing teeth, scale bar equals 2.5 mm. 9. Carya fruit (UF 19315 – 062068), scale bar equals 5 mm. 10. Carya sp. catkin with in situ pollen (UF 19315 – 062067), scale bar equals 5 mm. 11. Carya sp. pollen tetrad from specimen in Figure 2.10, scale bar equals 10 µm.