Andrewsiocarpon puryearensis, Na & Blanchard & Wang, 2019

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 : 25-26

Andrewsiocarpon puryearensis sp. nov.

Figure 30

Diagnosis. Large, loculicidally dehiscent capsule containing five valves and winged seeds; a medial ridge and an apical beak present on each valve; one or two seeds per locule, each with an apical wing; seed wing membranous with no apparent veins. A central columella present. Pedicel stout.

Description. Large, loculicidally dehiscent capsule containing five valves and winged seeds; a medial ridge and an apical beak present on each valve; valve ca. 25–30 mm long and 9 mm wide; apical beak ca. 3 mm long and 1 mm wide; one or two seeds per locule, ca. 20 mm long and 5 mm wide, each with an apical wing; seed wing membranous with no apparent veins. A central columella present, ca. 20 mm long and 5 mm wide. Pedicel stout, ca. 8 mm long and 4 mm wide.

Holotype. Designated here. UF15820-061133 .

Paratype. UF15820-059410 .

Number of specimens examined. 2. UF 15820- 059410, 061133.

Species epithet etymology. Referring to the occurrence of this species in the Puryear locality, Tennessee.

Remarks. Both the capsules and the seeds are larger than those of Andrewsiocarpon henryense or Gordonia sp. (Grote and Dilcher, 1989; Wang et al., 2013). The new species also differs from them in the presence of a medial ridge and a distinct beak on each valve.

Berry (1916b, p. 288, pl. 72, figure 4) described one specimen from the same locality and assigned it to Sterculiocarpus sezannelloides . Sterculiocarpus is a fossil genus that Berry (1916b, p. 287) established “for fruits referable to the family Sterculiaceae , but without exact living representatives.” Although similar to our current specimen in size and in possessing five valves, Berry’s specimen contains numerous elliptical seeds.

Berry (1916b, p. 288, pl. 74, figures 1–3) described another five-valved fruit from DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, and assigned it to Sterculiocarpus eocenicus . This specimen is dramatically larger (6 cm long and 6 cm wide) than both Andrewsiocarpon puryearensis and Sterculiocarpus sezannelloides .

Figures

FIGURE 30. Andrewsiocarpon puryearensis sp. nov. 1) UF15820-61133, specimen showing five seeds (s) and four valves (v). Note the central columella is inferred by the circular depression (indicated by the white arrow) and the fifth valve is inferred by the depression at the bottom of the capsule (indicated by the black arrow). Scale bar equals 5 mm; 2) UF15820-059410, showing two laterally compressed valves, pedicel (p), and a central columella (c). Scale bar equals 5 mm.