The first record of fossil wood of Winteraceae from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica

Fossil wood of the Winteraceae from the Upper Cretaceous sediments of James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, is described here for the first time. The specimen is characterized by the absence of vessels, rays of two distinct sizes and tracheids with one–three rows of circular bordered pits, mainly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Botany
Main Authors: Poole, Imogen, Francis, Jane E.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Annals of Botany Company 2000
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/21207/
https://doi.org/10.1006/anbo.1999.1049
Description
Summary:Fossil wood of the Winteraceae from the Upper Cretaceous sediments of James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, is described here for the first time. The specimen is characterized by the absence of vessels, rays of two distinct sizes and tracheids with one–three rows of circular bordered pits, mainly on the radial walls, grading to horizontally elongate and scalariform. Despite anatomical conformity to the family Winteraceae, the fossil wood is not identical to any one extant genus and therefore has been assigned to the fossil organ genus Winteroxylon Gottwald with which the fossil shows greatest similarity.