Ligustrum miovulgare Doweld, 2018

Doweld, Alexander B., 2018, Palaeoflora Europaea: Notulae Systematicae ad Palaeofloram Europaeam spectantes I. New names of fossil magnoliophytes of the European Tertiary. I. Miscellaneous families, Phytotaxa 379 (1), pp. 78-94 : 86

Ligustrum miovulgare Doweld , sp. nov.

– Ligustrum vulgare var. fossilis Palibin ex Baikovskaja (in Kryshtofovich & Baikovskaja 1965: 122, pl. 38, fig. 1, 2, 6; pl. 36), nom. inval. (ICN, Art. 40.1).

– Ligustrum vulgare f. fossilis Palibin (1952: 518) , nom. nud.

Description:—Leaves petiolate (0.6–0.8 cm), lanceolate to widely lanceolate, with wedge-shaped, sometimes elongate basis and gradually attenuate to acicular apex. Midvein thick, slightly thinned apically. Secondary veinlets diverging from midvein at 45–50°, thin, slightly curved, mainly alternate, jointing to form loops near leaf margin, sometimes preliminarily forked.

Type:—[fossil leaves] Krynka river, right tributary of Mius river, Matveev-Kurgan district, Rostov region, Russian Federation (holotype, 1063/982, Komarov Botanical Institute, RussianAcademy of Sciences,St.- Petersburg, Russian Federation)—figured by Kryshtofovich & Baikovskaja 1965: pl. 38, figs. 10, 10a.

Occurrence:—Middle Miocene (Serravalian = Upper Badenian); Europe.

Eponymy:—From Miocene, a geological epoch and Ligustrum vulgare Linnaeus (1753: 7) .

IFPNI: E7C0856B-0953-DD9A-02F5-CD2FAFC1F789.

Note:—Baikovskaja (1965: 122) attempted to validate at the rank of a fossil-variety previously proposed fossil-form of Ligustrum vulgare f. fossilis Palibin (1952) , nom. nud., which was never formally described from Akchagylian sediments of Eastern Transcaucasia (Shvindgeli range, Southern Kakhetia). However, she did not validate the infraspecific fossil-taxon due to the lack of type designation (ICN, Art. 40.1), being based on several leaf imprints (Coll. 982: 996–1005). The main difference between extant species L. vulgare and fossil L. miovulgare is in leaf venation (Baikovskaja 1965).