Carpolithus prangosoides Berry, 1916

Na, Yuling, Blanchard, Jane & Wang, Hongshan, 2019, Fruits, seeds and flowers from the Puryear clay pit (middle Eocene Cockfield Formation), western Tennessee, USA, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 49) 23 (3), pp. 1-57 : 39-40

Carpolithus prangosoides Berry, 1916

Figure 56

1916 Carpolithus prangosoides Berry , p. 351, pl. 104, fig. 9.

1916 Carpolithus henryensis Berry , p. 352, pl. 112, fig. 16.

1926 Terminalia vera Berry , p. 61, figs. 1–5.

1930 Terminalia vera Berry , pp.119–122, pl. 49, figs.

21–27.

2013 Carpolithus prangosoides Berry ; Wang, Blanchard, and Dilcher, p. 50, fig. 43.

Description. Fruit elliptic, with five longitudinally attached lateral wings; wing venation reticulate. Seed body narrowly elliptic with longitudinal striations and a strong middle ridge.

Number of specimens examined. 6. UF15820- 048318, 048319, 059459, 059471.

Remarks. O’Leary (2007) and Wang et al. (2013) summarized the nomenclatural history of Carpolithus prangosoides Berry , a common winged fruit from the Claiborne Group in Tennessee and Kentucky. The Puryear specimens show some variation of fruit size, from 1.5 cm to 3 cm long and from 7 mm to 14 mm wide. As O’Leary (2007) noted, none of the specimens observed show the preservation of the pedicel, indicating that the fruits were probably sessile or that they were shed by abscising from the distal end of the pedicel. The strong middle ridge probably indicates the attachment scar of a fruit wing.

One specimen ( Figure 56.3 , 5 ; UF15820- 059471) from the Puryear locality shows that at least six small, probably immature, winged fruits are similar to other specimens of Carpolithus prangosoides in appearance. They all have an elliptic fruit body with longitudinally attached wings but are much smaller compared with other C. prangosoides specimens (5 mm long and 1.8 mm wide vs. 1.5 cm to 3 cm long and from 7 mm to 14 mm wide). The number of wings of each fruit is unknown due to the preservation. The bases of these fruits are not observed. However, their orientation seems to indicate that they are borne on an axis (or a peduncle) of an infructescence. We illustrate this specimen here and temporarily assign it to C. prangosoides . It would be significant if indeed future collection can confirm this assignment since it is unknown if these are simple fruits or they are attached on a peduncle to form an infructescence. These six fruits on this specimen differ from the fruits of Claiborne Infructescence Type 5 (Blanchard et al., 2016, pp. 41–42, figure 44) in their larger size (5 mm long and 1.8 mm wide vs 2 mm long and 1 mm wide) and shape (elliptic vs crescent) ( Table 5).

Another specimen ( Figure 56.7–9 ; UF15820- 059459), a laterally compressed floral structure ca. 1.1 cm long and 0.8 cm wide at the distal end, shows five (?) outer perianth parts (wings?) attached to the fruit body. The incomplete pedicel is ca. 2.5 mm long and 0.7 mm wide. This specimen is similar to the winged fruits of Carpolithus prangosoides . However, all other specimens of Carpolithus prangosoides that we have examined do not have pedicels preserved or observed. Since this specimen is not well-preserved, and it shows similarity to C. prangosoides in having possible fruit wings, we illustrate it here simply for comparison. However, there are not enough characters for us to assign it to C. prangosoides or to establish a new morphotype.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Ceratophyllum muricatum Chamisso subspecies incertum (Berry) Herendeen, Les and Dilcher, 1990: 1) CONN-Q12-03, specimen showing fruit body and lateral spines; 2) CONN-Q12-04, an incomplete fruit showing lateral spines. All scale bars equal 2 mm.

FIGURE 56. Carpolithus prangosoides Berry, 1916: 1) UF15820-048318, a large fruit with elliptic fruit body and three wings (indicated by arrows). Scale bar equals 4 mm; 2) Enlargement of Figure 56.1 to show reticulate venation of the fruit wing. Scale bar equals 1 mm; 3) UF15820-059471', seven immature, elliptic fruits about 5 mm long and 1.8 mm wide. Note that two fruits on the left and two fruits at the lower right overlap. Scale bar equals 3 mm; 4) UF15820-048319, a fruit with rounded wing apices. Scale bar equals 4 mm; 5) Enlargement of two fruits in Figure 56.3 to show thin fruit wing (indicated by lower right arrow) and fruit body (dark area indicated by upper left arrow). Scale bar equals 1 mm; 6) Enlargement of distal part of fruit in Figure 56.4 to show at least four wings (indicated by arrows). Scale bar equals 1 mm; 7) UF15820-059459, a laterally compressed floral structure with attached pedicel. Scale bar equals 2 mm; 8) Enlargement of the apical portion of Figure 56.7 to show the light-colored perianth parts (indicated by arrow) and enclosed darker structure. Scale bar equals 1 mm; 9) Enlargement of the basal portion of Figure 56.7 to show the pedicel (indicated by arrow). Scale bar equals 1 mm.