Prunus

Niccolini, Gabriele, Martinetto, Edoardo, Lanini, Benedetta, Menichetti, Elena, Fusco, Fabio, Hakobyan, Elen & Bertini, Adele, 2022, Late Messinian Flora From The Post-Evaporitic Deposits Of The Piedmont Basin (Northwest Italy), Fossil Imprint 78 (1), pp. 189-216 : 200

Genus Prunus L., 1753

Prunus aff. laurocerasus L., 1753 Pl. 5, Fig. 10

M a t e r i a l. An incomplete, strongly compressed endocarp from Ciabòt Cagna.

R e m a r k s. The fossil endocarp bears a narrow ventral keel, an acute apex and a round base, with a ventral vascular bundle extended from the apex to the basal attachment scar. The finely mottled surface, the lanceolate outline and the dimensions seemed at first glance similar to those of endocarps of Prunus laurocerasus shown in the USDA Plant Database (Pl. 5, Fig. 9). An overview of material of the Modern Carpological Collection of the Turin University confirmed that the fossil endocarp was similar in all visible details to the extant ones of P. laurocerasus (from the Palmengarten of Frankfurt am Main). Most of the other Prunus species showed clearly different endocarps (e.g., larger dimensions, different shape, thicker wall or strongly ornamented surface), apart from P. lusitanica L. (again from the Palmengarten of Frankfurt am Main). It could be suggested that the fossil may be more similar to P. laurocerasus (length range 8–10 mm), as its length (9 mm) exceeds the length range of P. lusitanica L. (6–8 mm). The latter species was indicated as occurring in Italy during the Chibanian in Pianico ( Martinetto 2009).

In consideration of the still poorly understood phylogeny of Prunus ( Hodel et al. 2021) and of the well-assessed dating of the Ciabòt Cagna deposit (5.5–5.3 Ma), the single fossil endocarp described above could be relevant for future investigations on the time of the first appearance of phylogenetically diagnostic characters.