Meliaceae JUSS.

Smith, MacKenzie A., Greenwalt, Dale E. & Manchester, Steven R., 2023, Diverse Fruits And Seeds Of The Mid-Eocene Kishenehn Formation, Northwestern Montana, Usa, And Their Implications For Biogeography, Fossil Imprint 79 (1), pp. 37-88 : 59-60

Family Meliaceae JUSS.

Genus cf. Cedrela P. BROWNE

Text-fig. 9d

M a t e r i a l. USNM PAL 623735.

L o c a l i t y. Dakin.

D e s c r i p t i o n. Winged seed at least 7.5–10.8 mm long, 3.4–4.9 mm wide at widest; seed body elliptical, on proximal side of wing, long axis of seed body almost parallel to wing, pointing slightly ventrally, 2.5–3.4 mm long, 1.3–2.1 mm wide; wing extending around whole seed body becomes wider halfway down seed body and becomes widest past the distal pole where it maintains width; wing contains small, straight striations that run parallel to the course of the wing.

R e m a r k s. We were unable to observe the cellular pattern of the wing so are hesitant to place it firmly in the genus Cedrela because similar veinless single-winged seeds occur in many other taxa (for listing of examples, see Kvaček and Wilde 2010). Cedrela is reported from the early Eocene Kisinger Lakes and (rarely) in the Green River Formation, late Eocene Florissant Formation of Colorado ( MacGinitie 1953) and early Oligocene Bridge Creek flora of the John Day Formation, Oregon ( Meyer and Manchester 1997). Cedrela -like seeds are known from the late Eocene Whitecap Knoll flora of the John Day Formation, Oregon but differ in wing cell pattern ( Manchester 2000).

Figures

Text-fig. 9. a: USNM PAL 625742 Dipteronia samara showing pedicel, disc, an undeveloped fruit and a developed fruit. Scale bar 5mm. b: USNM PAL 621805 wings of cf. Boniodendron capsule. Scale bar 2mm. c: USNM PAL 625792 Sapindaceae capsular fruit with wings, septae and seeds. Scale bar 5mm. d: USNM PAL 623735 cf. Cedrela seed. Scale bar 3mm. e: USNM PAL 622276 Ailanthus confucii fruit showing seed body, ventral vein and stylar vein. Scale bar 5mm. f: USNM PAL 624113 Rutaspermum sp. Scale bar 2mm.