Thuites STERNBERG, 1825

Greguš, Josef & Kvaček, Jiří, 2015, Revision Of Cenomanian Flora From The Maletín Sandstone, Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 71 (3 - 4), pp. 315-364 : 323

Thuites STERNBERG, 1825

T y p e: Thuites alienus STERNBERG, 1825, p. 38 , pl. 45, fig. 1.

E m e n d e d d i a g n o s i s. Sterile shoot helically covered with rhombic leaf cushions. Needles slightly protruding, imbricate, in terminal part acuminate. Needles longer than width of leaf cushions. In longitudinal section, needles of sigmoid shape.

D i s c u s s i o n. Sternberg (1825) defined the genus Thuites only on the basis of a sterile branch. He did not established type of the genus, which was done later by J. Kvaček and Straková (1997). As was shown by Kendall (1949), and Cleal and Rees (2003), other species described by Sternberg (1825) from the British Jurassic belong to Brachyphyllum expansum . The modern genus Sequoia ENDLICHER is not suitable for sterile fossil material as used by Velenovský (1885b) or Knobloch (1971), because it is also characterized by reproductive organs ( Farjon 2005). Here we suggest using the genus Thuites for sequoia-like sterile foliage. The genus Brachyphyllum LINDLEY et HUTTON ex BRONGNIART has, compared to genus Thuites , length of needles shorter or equal to the length of leaf cushions, and not sigmoid in longitudinal section. The genus Pagiophyllum HEER has, like the genus Thuites , length of needles longer than leaf cushions, but they are not sigmoid in longitudinal section. From a nomenclature aspect, the genus Thuites even has priority over the genus Pagiophyllum . According to Herman and J. Kvaček (2010), the genus Geinitzia ENDLICHER , in contrast with the genus Thuites has needles falcate, not sigmoid, curved towards the terminal part of the shoot. The genus Cyparissidium HEER has needles more adpressed to the shoot, and slightly flattened.