丰富的化石记录显示中生代和新生代紫萁属在北半球广泛分布。本文描述了发现于福建中中新世佛昙群的紫萁属一新种: 漳浦紫萁(Osmunda zhangpuensis Z. X. Wang and B. N. Sun, sp. nov.)。化石小羽片保存完好, 呈线状披针形, 边缘具齿, 羽状脉序。在该属现生种中, 当前化石种与现生种 Osmunda banksiifolia 在形态上最相似。当前化石的发现表明, 早在中中新世紫萁属就已生长在福建省。漳浦紫萁和之前报道过的附生真菌化石以及龙脑香科、桑科、豆科、荨麻科、胡桐科、大戟科、樟科等植物的存在, 表明福建在中中新世时期的气候温暖湿润。

Abundant fossil records indicate that the genus Osmunda L. was widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Here, a new species of Osmunda, namely Osmunda zhangpuensis Z. X. Wang and B N. Sun, sp. nov., is described based on well-preserved sterile pinnules from the middle Miocene Fotan Group in Fujian, Southeast China. The pinnules of the new species are linear-lanceolate with serrate margins and pin-nate venation. Of extant Osmunda species, O. zhangpuensis sp. nov. most closely resembles Osmunda banksiifolia. Thediscovery of the new species suggests that the Osmunda existed in this region during the middle Miocene. Moreover, the presence of O. zhangpuensis sp. nov., together with the epiphyllous fungi on many leaf megafossils of Dipterocarpaceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae, Urticaceae, Calophyllaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Lauraceae, suggests that the paleoclimate during the middle Miocene in Fujian, China was warm and humid.

中国科学院战略性先导专项(B 类) (XDB26000000)、国家自然科学基金(41972010, 41772014, 41902010)、江苏省自然科学基金(BK20191100)和中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所古生物与地层学国家重点实验室(No. 20192109)联合资助