Kenilanthus marylandensis E.M.Friis, K.R.Pedersen et P.R.Crane

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN002004

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:2004

Authors: E. M. Friis, K. R. Pedersen & P. R. Crane

Rank: species

Genus: Kenilanthus E.M.Friis, K.R.Pedersen et P.R.Crane

Reference: Friis, E. M., Pedersen, K. R. & Crane, P. R. (2017): Kenilanthus, a new eudicot flower with tricolpate pollen from the Early Cretaceous (early-middle Albian) of eastern North America. – Grana 56(3): 161–173.

Page of description: 163

Illustrations or figures: figs 1–5

Name is type for

Types

Original diagnosis/description

Flower small, pentamerous, isomerous, and containing both stamens and carpels. Receptacle dome-shaped. Perianth of a single whorl of five tepals with a possible additional whorl toward the outside; aestivation quincuncial. Androecium of ten stamens in two whorls. Stamens differentiated into a short, stout filament and an elongated, basifixed anther. Anthers dithecate and tetrasporangiate with thecae projecting towards the outside of the flower. Pollen tricolpate and reticulate, heterobrochate with graded reticulum. Muri obliquely segmented and spinulose, supported by sturdy columellae. Gynoecium superior, consisting of one whorl of five free carpels. Carpels distinctly separate below, but converging above. Carpels sessile, elongate, and plicate, with two longitudinal placentae on either side of the ventral suture, each of which bears many ovules in a longitudinal row. Stomata are present on the carpel surface.

Etymology

From the State of Maryland, USA, where the fossil was recovered.

Stratigraphy

Cretaceous, Lower Cretaceous, Albian
Patapsco Formation; basal part of pollen subzone II-B; early-middle Albian

Locality

United States
Kenilworth (Bladensburg), west facing exposure overlooking Washington, DC, Prince Georges County, Maryland (38° 55ʹ 53ʺ N, 76° 55ʹ 45ʺ W)