Early Cretaceous ferns from lacustrine limestones at Las Hoyas, Cuenca Province, Spain

A brief outline is presented of the geological conditions prevailing in the hard-water lake that produced the Las Hoyas fossiliferous site in the Serr ania de Cuenca (north-east central Spain). The corresponding Barremian lami nated limestones contain varied fossil remains including plants. The fern c omponent of the assemblage is described in the present paper, Ten taxa are referable to the families Matoniaceae, Dicksoniaceae and Schizaeaceae, whil st eight are unclassified. A new species of Dicksoniaceae is described: Con iopteris laciniata. Three species, Pelletixia valdensis, Cladophlebis alber tsii, and Sphenopteris fontainei. are recorded here fur the first time outs ide the English Wealden: one species, Acrostichopteris foliosa, is new to t he Barremian of Europe. The fern assemblage from the Las Hoyas site is most similar to that of the English Wealden. The xeromorph character of some sp ecies in noted. Although the specimens from Las Hoyas are generally small, even tiny, most are still identifiable leaf fragments presented as imprints on platy limestone. Epidermal detail has been obtained from a few impressi ons. Some rather delicate remains, such as indusia, a crozier with pinnules , and fragments of Pelletixia valdensis occur, thus suggesting limited resi dence time in water.