A reassessment of Taeniopteris daintreei from the Victorian Early Cretaceous: a member of the Pentoxylales and a significant Gondwanaland plant

Abstract

Plant remains from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria are described. These are leaves referred to Taeniopteris daintreei, female fructifications referred to Carnoconites cranwellii and microsporangiate structures herein described as Sahnia laxiphora sp. nov. These are considered to belong to the extinct group, the Pentoxylales, originally described from localities variously dated as Jurassic or Early Cretaceous in the Rajmahal Hills of India. It is suggested that the Pentoxylales, long regarded as an obscure group, are in fact a major and important part of the mid Mesozoic Gondwana flora in Victoria.