Reyispermum, Friis & Crane & Pedersen, 2018

Friis, Else Marie, Crane, Peter R. & Pedersen, Kaj Raunsgaard, 2018, Extinct Taxa Of Exotestal Seeds Close To Austrobaileyales And Nymphaeales From The Early Cretaceous Of Portugal, Fossil Imprint 74 (1 - 2), pp. 135-158 : 144

Reyispermum gen. nov.

T y p e. Designated here, Reyispermum parvum gen. et sp. nov.

P l a n t F o s s i l N a m e s R e g i s t r y N u m b e r.

PFN000094 (for new genus).

E t y m o l o g y. In recognition of Jacques Rey (*1940, †2018) for his important contributions to understanding the Cretaceous geology of Portugal.

D i a g n o s i s. Isolated seeds occurring singly. Seeds tiny, anatropous, bitegmic and exotestal. Seeds bilaterally symmetrical with dorsiventral plane of symmetry. Seed surface smooth without longitudinal ridges. Raphal region distinct, seen externally as a slightly raised rounded ridge that extends from the hilum to the chalazal end opposite the micropyle. Hilum and micropyle separated by a moderate zone of testal sclerenchyma. Hilar scar small, circular without a rim. Micropyle formed by the inner integument (tegmen) and marked on the seed surface by a transverse slit through the outer integument (testa) adjacent to hilar scar. Testa formed from an outer layer (exotesta) of palisade-shaped sclerenchyma cells and an inner thin layer of thin-walled parenchyma cells (mesotesta/endotesta). Testa bulging below hilum. Palisade-shaped cells of exotesta with evenly thickened anticlinal walls and a straight lumen. Anticlinal walls of exotestal cells strongly undulate toward the inside and toward the outside, resulting in stellate-undulate facets and a jigsaw puzzle-like pattern on the seed surface except in the micropylar region where the anticlinal walls are straight and the outer facets polygonal. Tegmen thin.

C o m m e n t s o n t h e g e n u s. Seeds assigned to Reyispermum are similar to those of Pazlia and Pazliopsis , but much smaller and the sclerenchyma tissue beneath the hilum is much less prominent. Seeds of Reyispermum are also similar in wall structure to the seeds of the extinct genus Illiciospermum FRUMIN et E.M.FRIIS, described from the early Late Cretaceous of Kazakhstan ( Frumin and Friis 1999), as well as seeds of extant Illicium (Illiciaceae) ( Oh et al. 2003). The slight bulge in the hilar-micropylar area resembles the strophiole seen in Illiciospermum and Illicium , but in these two genera the strophiole is more prominent and distinctly bulging and also clearly separates the hilum and micropyle. In Reyispermum the slight bulge in the hilar-micropylar area is positioned below the hilum.