Appofructus sp.

Friis, Else Marie, Crane, Peter R. & Pedersen, Kaj Raunsgaard, 2019, The Early Cretaceous Mesofossil Flora Of Torres Vedras (Ne Of Forte Da Forca), Portugal: A Palaeofloristic Analysis Of An Early Angiosperm Community, Fossil Imprint 75 (2), pp. 153-257 : 194-195

Appofructus sp.

Text-fig. 26c, d

D e s c r i p t i o n a n d r e m a r k s. Appofructus sp. is based on a single isolated fruit that has an oblique stalk at the base of the ventral margin ( Text-fig. 26c ). The fruit is about 0.55 mm long and 0.4 mm wide, crescent-shaped and laterally flattened. The stigma is sessile and indistinct. As in Appofructus nudus the fruit wall is thin with smooth outer surface that lacks trichomes. However, the fruit wall is not crumpled and appears more rigid that in A. nudus . A single Goczania - type pollen grain was observed on the fruit surface. The grain is preserved with the proximal face upwards and there is no information on the pollen aperture. The grain is oblate, circular in equatorial outline and about 12.5 µm in equatorial diameter ( Text-fig. 26d ). The exine is tectate with microechinate surface sculpturing. The surface sculpturing appears slightly coarser than in the pollen grains associated with Appofructus nudus , and the microechinae are more widely spaced, but otherwise the pollen grain appears very similar to those associated with A. nudus (see above).

A f f i n i t y a n d o t h e r o c c u r r e n c e s. Appofructus sp. is very similar to fruits of Appofructus nudus and is probably related to extant Piperales (see above).

Figures

Text-fig. 26. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of fruits of Appofructus gen. nov. and associated pollen grains; Torres Vedras locality, Portugal. a, b) Appofructus nudus gen. et sp. nov., lateral views of fruits (holotype figured in a) showing the ribbed surface, the poorly defined apical stigmatic area and short stalk; c, d) Appofructus sp. lateral view of fruit showing the absence of hooked hairs, the apical stigmatic area, the short stalk and pollen grain from the fruit surface (d); e–g) Appofructus nudus gen. et sp. nov., individual monocolpate pollen grains (f, g) from the group of pollen grains on the stigmatic surface (e). Specimens, TV44-S148143 (holotype; a); TV44-S148007 (b), TV38-S174610 (c, d), TV44-S148141 (e, f), TV44-S136687 (g). Scale bars 300 Μm (a–c), 60 Μm (e), 6 Μm (d, f, g).