Caryanthus communis Friis, 1983

Heřmanová, Zuzana, Kvaček, Jiří, Dašková, Jiřina & Halamski, Adam T., 2020, Plant reproductive structures and other mesofossils from Coniacian / Santonian of Lower Silesia, Poland, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 61) 23 (3), pp. 1-23 : 8

Caryanthus communis Friis, 1983

Figure 4 A-C

v1964 Microcarpolithes triasseris Knobloch , ( Knobloch, 1964) p. 170, pro parte.

v1983 Caryanthus communis Knobloch and Mai , ( Knobloch and Mai, 1983) p. 308, pl. 8, figs. 5, 8, 11-13.

v1986 Caryanthus communis Knobloch et Mai , ( Knobloch and Mai, 1986), p. 75, pl. 5, figs. 18,19.

v2006 Caryanthus communis Knobloch et Mai ; ( Friis et al., 2006) p. 113.

v2016 Caryanthus communis Knobloch et Mai ; ( Heřmanová et al., 2016) p. 36, pl.1, figs. 1-9.

Holotype. No. NMP F 3577 , published by Knobloch and Mai (1983); pl. 8, fig. 5, stored in the

National Museum Prague, Late Cretaceous, Upper

Turonian–Santonian, České Budějovice – Rožnov borehole GB-3190.0– 3190.1 m, Czech Republic.

Description. Single specimen from Rakowice

Małe locality, flat fruit of ovoid shape ( Figure 4A ).

Length 1.3 mm; breadth 0.8 mm. Apical part of fruit concave ( Figure 4B ). Persistent perianth fused basally, forming hypanthium. Tepals attached on the top of hypanthium. Tepals not preserved; their insertion indicated by attachment scars, indicating four tepals in two decussate pairs. Lateral face of fruit shows a long concave tepal attachment scar, placed mid-way between the base and the apex. Medial scars small, close to the base. The lateral face of the fruit shows a diamond shaped area. Length of this area 0.9 mm; breadth of fruit 0.7 mm. Epidermis of the fruit composed of small irregular cells ( Figure 4C ).

Remarks. The specimen from the Rakowice Małe locality is slightly longer than other fruits of Caryanthus communis ( Heřmanová et al., 2016) . The species Caryanthus communis is described as having a concave base, but the specimen from Rakowice Małe has slightly pointed base. However, absence of this character may be due to poor preservation of the specimen.

Range. Late Coniacian or early Santonian age.

Occurrence. Rakowice Małe locality.

Material studied. K 2899; the material is housed in the National Museum Prague.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Caryanthus (A) Caryanthus communis broadly elliptical fruit, no. K2899; (B) Caryanthus communis apical part of fruit, no. K2899; (C) Caryanthus communis detail of epidermis, no. K2899 (D) Caryanthus trebecensis ribbed fruit, no. K2900; (E) Caryanthus trebecensis apical part of fruit, no. K2900; (F) Caryanthus trebecensis detail of epidermis, no. K2900; (G) Caryanthus sp. ribbed fruit, no. K2906; (H) Caryanthus sp. apical part of fruit, no. K2906; (I) Caryanthus sp. detail of epidermis, no. K2906; (J) Caryanthus sp. X-ray image, longitudinal/lateral section of fruit, no. K2906; (K) Caryanthus sp. X-ray image, transversal section of fruit, no. K2906; (L) Caryanthus sp. X-ray image longitudinal/adaxial-abaxial section of fruit, no. K2906. Scale bar for all images 0.1 mm. All specimens from Rakowice Małe locality.