Olearia sp.

Pole, Mike, 2022, A vanished ecosystem: Sophora microphylla (Kōwhai) dominated forest recorded in mid-late Holocene rock shelters in Central Otago, New Zealand, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 1) 25 (1), pp. 1-41 : 21

Olearia sp.

Figure 20

Material. Present in 10% of the shelters with dry vegetation. Shelter-003: LX5419; Shelter-005: LX5404, LX5409; Shelter-006: LX5556; Shelter-012: LX3146, LX3147; Shelter-025: LX3177; Shelter-029: LX5806; Shelter-030: LX2440; Shelter-043: LX2596; Shelter-095: LX2890; Shelter-097: LX2458, LX2460, LX2462; Shelter-098: LX3023.

Remarks. Abaxial cuticle with dense, squat trichome bases and stomatal complexes which have an indistinct outline, but an ornamentation of fine ridges, and adaxial cuticle with clearly defined, relatively large, isodiametric epidermal cells, and mostly no trichome bases is regarded as Olearia . There are also fragments of adaxial cuticle with multi-cellular trichome attachment scars, also regarded here as Olearia . However, Olearia is a diverse genus, and while some fragments are consistent with locally occurring species such as O. lineata ( Cockayne, 1910) , like the Poaceae , a much larger reference collection is needed to clarify identification at the species level.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Olearia sp. cuticle morphology (Transmitted light microscopy). A. Abaxial surface showing a dense mass of trichome bases obscuring most stomatal complexes (LX2495, Coprolite-13, scale bar equals 40 μm). B. Non-stomatal (adaxial) surface showing a trichome attachment scar extending over several epidermal cells (LX3147, Shelter- 12, scale bar equals 40 μm).