Davidia antiqua (NEWBERRY)

Manchester, Steven R., 2014, Revisions To Roland Brown’S North American Paleocene Flora, Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 70 (3 - 4), pp. 153-210 : 176

Davidia antiqua (NEWBERRY) MANCHESTER

Davidia , the dove tree, was particularly common in the Paleocene of Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota (Manchester 2002). Although the laminae are similar in general form to some extant species of Viburnum and were called Viburnum antiquum (NEWBERRY) HOLLICK sensu Brown (leaves), and the associated detached fruits were called Viburnum tilioides WARD ( Brown 1962) , the leaves can be distinguished from most Viburnum by their long petioles, and the fruits by the presence of germination valves, five or more radially arranged single-seeded locules and lack of a well-defined axial vascular bundle (Manchester 2002). Fruits of Davidia antiqua were borne singly on an elliptical inflorescence head, subtended by scars that bore large bracts like those of modern Davidia involucrata of China.

Beringiaphyllum cupanioides (NEWBERRY) MANCHESTER, CRANE et GOLOVNEVA

In addition to the modern genera mentioned above, Cornales were well represented by extinct genera. One of these was Amersinia MANCHESTER, CRANE et GOLOVNEVA, the fruits of which are known from China and Far Eastern Russia, as well as Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and Alberta. Amersinia bore elliptical infructescence heads on long peduncles, bearing numerous trilocular fruits with apical germination valves. The morphology and anatomy of these fruits, preserved in silicified specimens, confirms their position within Nyssaceae having characters shared with extant Davidia and Camptotheca . Consistently associated with Amersinia fruiting material, both in North America and eastern Asia, are leaves of Beringiaphyllum cupanioides MANCHESTER, CRANE et GOLOVNEVA, which Brown had called Viburnum cupanioides ( Manchester et al. 1999; Feng et al. 2002). The Beringiaphyllum-Amersinia plant appears to have been common near sites of lacustrine deposition during the Paleocene.