Castanopsoidea columbiana Crepet and Nixon 1989

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 : 14-15

Castanopsoidea columbiana Crepet and Nixon 1989

Figure 20

Description. Laterally preserved, unbranched infructescences bearing ovate, alternately arranged, sessile, cupules ca. 7–8 mm long and 3– 3.5 mm wide; axis ca. 3–3.5 cm long and 1.5–2 mm wide. The cupule covered by overlapping linear, transversely arranged scales with acute apices. Dispersed fruit sessile, triangular, ca. 5 mm long and 5 mm wide.

Number of specimens examined. 3. UF15820- 059490a, 061131, 059483.

Remarks. These specimens probably represent infructescences with mature cupules attached. The characters of the Puryear specimens, including infructescences with alternately arranged, sessile cupules that are covered by overlapping linear, transversely arranged scales, and triangular fruits, are consistent with those described by Crepet and Nixon (1989, figs. 11–12, 16–23) from the Buchanan locality ( Table 2), except that the cupules of the Puryear specimens have better preserved elongate external scales with hairs and that the detached fruits of the Puryear specimens do not show well-preserved fruit wings and styles. Crepet and Nixon (1989, p. 847) suggested that the spines on the cupule developed late and elongated considerably during maturation. The lack of fruit wings and styles of the detached fruits from the Puryear locality may be the result of transportation before deposition and/or preservation.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Castanopsoidea columbiana Crepet and Nixon, 1989: 1) UF15820-061131, showing an incomplete, unbranched infructescence. Scale bar equals 5 mm; 2) Enlargement of Figure 20.1 to show transversely arranged scales on the cupule (indicated by arrows). Scale bar equals 1 mm; 3) UF15820-061131', counterpart specimen showing scales with acute apices. Scale bar equals 5 mm; 4) UF15820-059483, showing a sessile fruit with spiny scales. Scale bar equals 2 mm; 5) UF15820-059490a, proximal portion of an incomplete infructescence showing four cupules. Note one cupule is detached. Scale bar equals 5 mm.