ALTINGIACEAE Lindley, 1846

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 : 24

Family ALTINGIACEAE Lindley, 1846

Claiborne Altingiaceae Infructescence Type 1 Figure 28

Description. Pedunculate globose infructescence 1.1–2.1 cm in diameter. Peduncle at least 9 mm long and 1.5 mm wide with smooth surface. Fruits clustered together without obvious central receptacle cores exposed. No obvious styles observed on the distal ends of the fruits.

Number of specimens examined. 3. UF15820- 043600, 059407.

Remarks. This infructescence type, like those reported from the Warman clay pit (Wang et al., 2013, p. 11, figure 7), lacks persistent styles and stigmas. The lack of obvious persistent styles indicates that this infructescence type may be more closely related to the genus Altingia rather than Liquidambar since persistent styles and stigmas are typical features of mature infructescences of Liquidambar but are lacking in Altingia (Ickert-Bond et al., 2005, 2007).

Figures

FIGURE 28. Claiborne Altingiaceae Infructescence Type 1: 1) UF15820-43600, infructescence with cluster of fruits. Scale bar equals 3 mm; 2) UF15820-059407, infructescence with cluster of fruits and peduncle. Scale bar equals 2 mm.