Tertiary plant fossils from Australia's 'Top End'

Abstract

An assemblage of Tertiary plant fossils is described from Melville Island, Northern Territory, which is in the far north of Australia and currently experiences a monsoonal climate. The leaves examined included probable Cupressaceae, Proteaceae (Grevillea, and forms comparable with the Madagascan genus Dilobia) and Melaleuca (Myrtaceae). They indicate a non-rainforest community which probably had seasonal rainfall.