Laurophyllum pseudovillense KVAČEK

Dedicated in memory of the late FrantiŠek Holý (1935 - 1984), an eminent Czech palaeobotanist, Holý, František, Kvaček, Zlatko & Teodoridis, Vasilis, 2012, A Review Of The Early Miocene Mastixioid Flora Of The Kristina Mine At Hrádek Nad Nisou In North Bohemia (The Czech Republic), Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 68 (3 - 4), pp. 53-118 : 62-63

Laurophyllum pseudovillense KVAČEK

Pl. 1, figs 18-20, pl. 11, figs 6-7

1966

1971

Laurophyllum villense KVAČEK et BŮŽEK , p. 209, pl. 1, fig. 6, pl. 2, fig. 1, pl. 4, figs 1-2, nom. illegit. (non Laurophyllites villensis WEYLAND et KILLPER ) (Hrádek/N., Kristina Mine). Laurophyllum pseudovillense KVAČEK , p. 62, pl. 1, figs 1-3, pl. 11, figs 1-3, text-fig. 10 (Hrádek/N., Kristina Mine).

Incomplete and fragmentary simple leaves, petiolate, lamina elliptic to ovate, 21–26 mm long, 12–19 mm wide, base cuneate, decurrent into fragmentary petiole (2 mm long), apex not preserved probably acuminate and blunt, margin entire, venation brochidodromous, midrib strong, straight, secondary veins thinner straight, looping by margin, opposite to alternate, originating at an angle of 40–50°, tertiary veins perpendicular, straight or sinuous to curved, often forked, venation of the higher orders regular polygonal reticulate, areolation well developed, 4-sided, veinlets unbranched to one branched. Adaxial epidermis moderately cutinized, smooth, on veins faintly striate, outline of non-modified cells polygonal, 10–20 µm in diameter, anticlinal walls smooth and straight or slightly curved, abaxial epidermis very thinly cutinized, smooth, non-modified cells hardly discernible, stomata brachyparacytic, oval, (10–)15–20 µm long, delicately reflected in the cuticle, trichome bases simple, conspicuous, thickened, with a circle of subsidiary cells, sparsely scattered among stomata, more often on veins. Mesophyllous lens-shaped oil cells common.

D i s c u s s i o n: Kvaček and Bůžek (1966) wrongly assigned this species to Laurophyllites villensis WEYLAND et KILPPER and only later Kvaček (1971) corrected this mistake. Laurophyllum pseudovillense has been rarely recognized in the European Miocene ( Knobloch and Kvaček 1976) and is aberrant from most other fossil Lauraceae by its very delicate thinly cutinized abaxial epidermis which corresponds with several modern genera, e.g., Persea MILL. , Litsea LAM.

M a t e r i a l: Isolated leaf compressions on slides, G 8986-9004, 9171b (KR 102, 128, 129, 136, 179, 198, 200, 209, 264, 265, 325/2, 476, 477, 478, 486).