Eocene plant fossils from the Lefroy and Cowan paleodrainages, Western Australia

Abstract

Forty-two dispersed cuticle taxa are described from late Middle Eocene drill core samples in the Lefroy and Cowan paleodrainages (Kambalda–Norseman region), Western Australia. They are preserved in fluvial-marginal marine sediments of the Pidinga and Werillup Formations. Thirty-four distinct cuticle taxa occur in the richest sample including Cupressaceae, Araucariaceae (Agathis), Podocarpaceae (Dacrycarpus, Acmopyle, Dacrydium), Cunoniaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae, Casuarinaceae (Gymnostoma), Nothofagus subgenus Lophozonia and tribes Embothrieae, Macadamieae and Banksieae of the Proteaceae. The presence of at least 12 taxa of Proteaceae provides further support for palynological evidence of a rich proteaceous component in Eocene Western Australian assemblages.