A new species of Osmunda L. (Osmundaceae) from the middle Miocene of Fujian, Southeast China
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Abstract:
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.
