Smilax sp.

Stults, DZ & Axsmith, BJ, 2015, New plant fossil records and paleoclimate analyses of the late Pliocene Citronelle Formation flora, U. S. Gulf Coast, Palaeontologia Electronica (New York, N. Y.: 1991) 2 (6), pp. 1-35 : 21

Smilax sp.

Figure 8.2–8.3

Description. One partial leaf represents Smilax . Margin is entire. Primary venation is basal acrodromous with five primary veins. Secondary veins are excurrent, and many arch from their respective primary veins. An intramarginal secondary vein is present in the basal region. Tertiary and quaternary veins are irregular reticulate ( Figure 8.3 ).

Site occurrence. Lambert Station.

Remarks. There are 350 species of Smilax , 20 in the flora of North America, about half of which occur in the southeastern United States. Although the family is mainly pantropical, some species occur in southern South America, New Zealand, and temperate areas of the northern hemisphere (Vinnersten and Bremer, 2001). Smilax leaves have been described from middle Eocene sediments of western Tennessee, ( Dilcher and Lott, 2005).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Representative Sapindaceae (continued), Smilicaceae, and Ulmaceae from the Citronelle Formation. 1. Acer cf. saccharinum partial leaf (UF 19315–062088), scale bar equals 1 cm. 2. Smilax sp. partial leaf (UF 19413– 062089), scale bar equals 5 mm. 3. Close-up of Figure 8.2 Smilax leaf showing higher order venation details, scale bar equals 2.5 mm. 4. Ulmus sp. leaf (UF 19413–062090), scale bar equals 5 mm. 5. Close-up of Figure 8.4 Ulmus leaf showing margin details and multiple orders of teeth, scale bar equals 2.5 mm.