A TAXODIACEOUS SEED CONE FROM THE TRIASSIC OF ANTARCTICA

A silicified seed cone is described from the lower Middle Triassic of Antarctica. The cone measures up to 3.4 cm long and 1.4 cm wide, and c onsists of helically arranged cone scales attached to a eustelic axis. Bract and ovuliferous scale are approximately of equal length and fus ed at the base. The bract is entire and vascularized by a single trace . The ovuliferous scale contains five distal lobes, each vascularized by a terete strand that divides to form a smaller trace to each of the five inverted ovules. Ovules are small and flattened with the three-p arted integument attenuated into oppositely positioned lateral wings. The Triassic specimens are compared with both extant and fossil conife r seed cones and believed to have their closest affinities within the Taxodiaceae.