SMITH, UNA R. Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K710, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA. - Systematic analysis of fossil fruits placed in the eurosid II clade.
Several orders and families of the angiosperm clade eurosid II include
well-documented fossil fruits. Published descriptions of these fossil
fruits are analyzed to test whether the fruits do in fact belong where
they have been placed; and, if so, examine how selected characters of
these fruits compare with those which would have been inferred from
current phylogenies of eurosid II. Relevant fossil taxa include
Dressiantha (Capparales), Florissantia (Malvales),
Sterculiocarpus coloradensis (Sterculiaceae),
Pteleaecarpum (Tiliaceae, Craigia), Daberocarpon
(Malvaceae), Landeenia (Sapindales), Sapindaceacarpum
and Wehrwolfea (Sapindaceae), and Turpinia
(Staphyleaceae).
Key words: Capparales, fossil fruits, Malvales, paleobotany, Sapindales, systematics