PALISSYA CONES FROM THE MESOZOIC OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW-ZEALAND

Cones from the Early Cretaceous of southeastern Victoria, and Middle J urassic of southeastern Queensland are described and illustrated. They are compared with Palissya bartrumi from the Jurassic of New Zealand and the Palissya type material, P. sphenolepis, from the Liassic of Sw eden and Germany. Cones from Australia and New Zealand share the same basic structure. They are composed of stalked sporophylls arranged hel ically on a central axis, with paired, cup-shaped processes attached a daxially to the sporophyll blade. These processes surround indentation s in the sporophyll surface that are probably the sites where seeds we re once attached. Morphological differences, the number of adaxial pro cesses pet sporophyll, and geographical and chronological separation, are the basis for describing the Victorian and Queensland specimens as several new species.