Wireroadia Xiao Q.Zhang, Y.D.Wang, Dilcher et Manchester

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN000789

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:789

Authors: X. Zhang, Y. Wang, D. L. Dilcher & S. R. Manchester

Rank: genus

Reference: Zhang, X., Wang, Y., Dilcher, D. L. & Manchester, S. R. (2020): Wireroadia, A new genus of winged fruit from the Cretaceous of Alabama and New England, USA. – International Journal of Plant Sciences 181(9): 898–910.

Page of description: 901

Type

Original diagnosis/description

Triwinged disseminules with a pedicellate globose body (interpreted as fruit body) with a slender apical protrusion. Pedicel thick. Fruit body smooth to longitudinally ribbed. Three prominent longitudinal wings with parallel sides and rounded apexes arise from the base of the body. Wings almost parallel in their orientation or diverging from each other at angles less than 20°. Wing venation subparallel with occasional dichotomies. Two longer symmetrical wings ascend “behind” the globose body, and a shorter median wing arises “behind” (more distal fromthe body) the two longer wings. Epidermal cells of the wings polygonal with straight anticlinal walls; stomatal complexes paracytic, with a cycle of cells surrounding each stomatal complex; trichome bases abundant. Two ormore small bract-like appendages arising frombase of the globose body on the “front” side opposite the wings.

Etymology

Named for a roadcut of Wire Road in Lee County, Alabama, where the most informative specimens were collected.