Leaf fossils of Proteaceae tribe Persoonieae from the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene of New Zealand
Raymond J. Carpenter A E , Jennifer M. Bannister B , Gregory J. Jordan C and Daphne E. Lee DA Department of Ecology and Environmental Biology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
C School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.
D Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
E Corresponding author. Email: raymond.carpenter@adelaide.edu.au
Australian Systematic Botany 23(1) 1-15 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB09015
Submitted: 2 June 2009 Accepted: 19 November 2009 Published: 17 February 2010
Abstract
Fossils from the Newvale lignite mine, Southland, are the first substantiated foliar records of Proteaceae subfamily Persoonioideae. The fossils possess very large stomata, a probable synapomorphy for Persoonioideae, and within Proteaceae the combination of this feature and more or less parallel-aligned, brachyparacytic stomatal complexes and undulate anticlinal epidermal cell walls is uniquely found in this subfamily. The new genus Persoonieaephyllum is described to recognise affinity of the fossil leaves and cuticles with tribe Persoonieae of Persoonioideae and their distinction from its only other extant representative, Placospermum. Two new species are described. P. ornatum is represented by linear leaves less than 20 mm wide and possessing more or less parallel-aligned major veins. These leaves closely match those of extant hypostomatic, broad-leaved species of tribe Persoonieae and are distinct from Placospermum in venation and several cuticular details. P. villosum has so far been recovered only as cuticular material in disaggregated lignite. It is distinct from P. ornatum in having abundant trichome bases, an absence of surface tubercules, and even larger stomata (guard cells often >70 μm long). The fossils extend the known record of Persoonioideae in the New Zealand–New Caledonia region by ~20 million years.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Peter Weston (NSW) for the provision of specimens, and to him, Hervé Sauquet and Austin Mast for comments on unpublished phylogenetic data. RJC thanks BRI for herbarium access and microscope facilities. We thank Mr B. Highsted, and Mr K. McLaren of Solid Energy for kindly allowing access to the Newvale Mine. The lignite blocks were collected with the assistance of J. Lindqvist and D. Ferguson. We also thank participants of ARC–NZ Research Network for Vegetation Function WG32 and J. Conran for discussions that assisted this work. Funding was provided by an Otago Research Grant from the University of Otago, the Marsden Fund (New Zealand) and the Australian Research Council.
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