Cunoniaceae in the Cretaceous of Europe: Evidence from fossil flowers

Fossil flowers of the Cunoniaceae from Late Cretaceous sediments of souther n Sweden are described in detail. The flowers are small, bisexual, actinomo rphic, tetramerous with broadly attached valvate sepals; they have narrowly attached petals; eight stamens in two whorls; a massive, lobed nectary; a semi-inferior, syncarpous gynoecium with axile placentation; numerous ovule s; separate styles; and peltate, probably secretory, trichomes. They share many features with extant representatives of both the Cunoniaceae and Aniso phylleaceae. However, the gynoecium structure in particular indicates a clo ser relationship to the Cunoniaceae. The floral characters are not specific for any extant genus of the family and therefore a new genus and species, Platydiscus peltatus gen. et sp. nov., is formally described. This is the f irst record of cunoniaceous floral structures from the Northern Hemisphere and the oldest record of Cunoniaceae flowers worldwide. (C) 2001 Annals of Botany Company.