Gordonia warmanensis Grote and Dilcher, 1992

Blanchard, J, Wang, H & Dilcher, D, 2016, Fruits, seeds and flowers from the Bovay and Bolden clay pits (early Eocene Tallahatta Formation, Claiborne Group), northern Mississippi, USA, Palaeontologia Electronica 19 (3), pp. 1-59 : 24

Gordonia warmanensis Grote and Dilcher, 1992

( Figure 20 )

v* 2013 Gordonia warmanensis Grote and Dilcher ; Wang et al., p. 30, fig. 24.

Description. Winged seed 1.5 cm long and 4 mm wide at the widest part of the wing at the point of attachment to the seed. Ventral margin of wing slightly concave; dorsal margin convex; apex of wing rounded. Seed triangular, 6 mm long, and 4 mm at widest point.

Number of specimens examined. 3. UF15737- 059235, 059239.

Remarks. Four dispersed seeds have been reported from the Warman clay pit ( Grote and Dilcher, 1992; Wang et al., 2013). These seeds were assigned to the same species as the capsules found at the Warman clay pit because of their similarity to the in situ seed fragment in having an oblique body with a concave ventrobasal border and a rounded basal tip ( Grote and Dilcher, 1992). The oblique arrangement of the seed body is also a diagnostic character distinguishing these specimens from other winged fossil seeds, including Saportaspermum occidentalis ( Meyer and Manchester, 1997, pl. 74, figures 14-20) and Saportaspermum kovacsiae ( Kvaček and Wilde, 2010, p.172-178, figure 9A-H; Collinson et al., 2010, figure 1F; Collinson et al., 2012, plate 46a-h).

Figures

FIGURE 20. Gordonia warmanensis Grote and Dilcher, 1992: 1-2) UF 15737-059235, 059235'. Part and counterpart of a specimen showing a winged seed. Note slightly concave ventral margin and convex dorsal margin. Scale bar equals 1 mm; 3-4) UF 15737-059239, 059239 '. Part and counterpart of a specimen showing slightly concave ventral margin and convex dorsal margin. Scale bar equals 1 mm.