Caesalpinia sp.

Na, Yuling, Blanchard, Jane & Wang, Hongshan, 2019, Fruits, seeds and flowers from the Puryear clay pit (middle Eocene Cockfield Formation), western Tennessee, USA, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 49) 23 (3), pp. 1-57 : 9

cf. Caesalpinia sp.

Figure 11

1992 cf. Caesalpinia sp. , Herendeen, p. 94, figs. 25– 33.

Description. “The fruits are 4.5–6.1 cm long, 1.3– 1.9 cm wide; apex and base angular, acute to obtuse; fruits sessile; margins straight or with one shallow constriction; seeds 3–7, symmetrical, transverse; seed chambers well developed; sutures narrow; parallel oblique striations and fractures on valves; fruits dehiscent, valves twisting.” (Herendeen, 1992, p. 94).

Number of specimens examined. 6. UF15820- 005862, 008961.

Remarks. Herendeen (1992) reported six specimens from the Puryear locality (two are illustrated here) and one specimen from the Lawrence clay pit, Tennessee. The dehiscence of the fruits is indicated by the presence of parallel, oblique striations on the fruit valves, and the symmetrical seed outline is suggestive of a caesalpinioid/mimosoid affinity.

Figures

FIGURE 11. cf. Caesalpinia sp.: 1) UF15820-005862, fruit showing at least seven seed chambers, one seed impression in valve (indicated by arrow), and angular apex on the right. Scale bar equals 4 mm; 2) UF15820-008961, fruit showing seven seed chambers, oblique striations (os), and obtuse apex on the right. Scale bar equals 4 mm.