EARLY TERTIARY MACROFOSSILS OF PROTEACEAE FROM TASMANIA

Proteaceous leaves from two Early Tertiary sites in Tasmania are descr ibed and discussed. Based on gross leaf morphological and cuticular ch aracters, 15 species are recognised from Oligocene lacustrine sediment s at Cethana. Specimens of two taxa are not distinguishable from the e xtant species Telopea truncata from Tasmania and Lomatia fraxinifolia from north-eastern Queensland, and are therefore assigned to these spe cies. Two new species of Banksieaephyllum are recognised. Ten other ta xa are difficult to identify to existing genera, and are therefore ref erred to a new genus Proteaciphyllum. They all possess features typica l of subfamily Grevilleoideae. Other, less well preserved, but probabl e Proteaceae from Cethana are also described. Specimens from the Leven River deposit, probably also of Oligocene age, are assigned to a new species of Orites, O. excelsoides. This species is closely related to extant O. excelsa from rainforests of north-eastern New South Wales an d north-eastern Queensland. Cethana has by far the highest diversity o f Proteaceae of any fossil flora described to date. The fossils also d emonstrate the past association of now geographically remote taxa, and the prevalence of sclero- and xero-morphy in the family by the Oligoc ene.