Salix aff. viminalis

Denk, Thomas, Sami, Marco, Teodoridis, Vasilis & Martinetto, Edoardo, 2022, The Late Early Pleistocene Flora Of Oriolo, Faenza (Italy): Assembly Of The Modern Forest Biome, Fossil Imprint 78 (1), pp. 217-262 : 240

Salix aff. viminalis L., 1753 vel. S. eleagnos SCOP., 1771

Text-fig. 12e, f

M a t e r i a l. Oriolo MSF 801, 803.

D e s c r i p t i o n. Leaf, simple, petiolate, lamina lanceolate,> 65 mm long, 5–11 mm wide, base and apex narrow acute, secondary venation brochidodromous, secondary veins departing from primary vein at steep angles, 0–2 intersecondary veins between two consecutive secondary veins.

R e m a r k s. Determination of Salix spp. based on leaf morphology is difficult because extant species frequently hybridise with other species, and the same can be expected for Pleistocene taxa. The leaves from Oriolo most probably belong to either S. viminalis or S. eleagnos . Pure S. eleagnos usually has narrower leaves with the leaf base tapering into the petiole, but various hybrids with other species match the fossil leaves. Salix viminalis is a typical element of riparian scrub (together with S. triandra L., see below), whereas S. eleagnos may be a riparian element or part of xeric alluvial vegetation ( Ellenberg 1996, Schratt-Ehrendorfer 2000).

Figures

Text-fig. 12. a, b: Salix aff. caprea. a: Oriolo MSF 857. b: Oriolo MSF 860. c, d: Salix aff. alba. c: Oriolo MSF 854. d: Oriolo MSF 854. e, f: Salix aff. viminalis vel eleagnos. e: Oriolo MSF 803. f: Oriolo MSF 801. g: Salix aff. triandra Oriolo MSF 626. h–k: Salix spp. div. indet. h: Oriolo MSF 865. i: Oriolo MSF 807. j: Oriolo MSF 804. k: Oriolo MSF 802. Scale bars 10 mm (a–e, h, i–k), 50 mm (f, g).