Malvaceae Info (Home)
Fossil Index
Fossil material of plants can be difficult to identify as to species, genus, or larger taxonomic units, as usually what is found is individual parts of plants, such as wood, leaves, flowers, fruits or pollen, and these are often insufficient for identification, particularly for older material why is less closely related to modern material, and may be less well preserved. Consequently, and as fossils of one plant part often cannot be unambigiously associated with those of another plant part, palaeobotanists use form genera to classify parts of plants of uncertain taxonomic position. The suffix -xylon is often used in generic names, indicating a similarity with the wood of the modern genus whose name is combined with that suffix. The suffix -inium is also commonly used. It cannot be assumed that a fossil wood represents a species particularly close to the modern genus; for example Cretaceous Bombacoxylon is unlikely to be any more closely related to Bombax than to any other living bombacoid genus, and Hibiscoxylon niloticum would appear to be dombeyoid rather than malvoid.
Tile cells are a wood anatomical feature that have a restricted taxonomical distribution, being found in some (but not all) woody genera of Dipterocarpaceae and Malvaceae. Hence fossil wood types contaning tile cells can be confidently identified as belonging to one of these two families. Fossil wood types lacking these are harder to associate successfully with modern taxa, and some specimens have by various authors been attributed to distantly related genera. Furthermore some sets of specimens have been variously attributed to both single taxa and divided among distantly related genera.
The Inside Wood database [1, 2] contains information on the properties of fossil woods.
Surveys of fossil dicotyledonous wood were published in 1931 [3] and 2004 [4]. Using these as a base I expect that this page has fairly complete coverage of taxa. However material may be ascribed to a living genus (see my Sterculia Gallery), and this could have been overlooked.
Actinophoroxylon heteroradiatum K.Kramer [a] is a fossil wood from the Tertiary of Sumatra and Sumbawa [5]. As Actinophora is a synonym of Schoutenia it presumably resembles the wood of the latter.
Annamoxylon sterculioïdes C. Vozenin-Serra [4, b] is a fossil wood from the Pliocene of central Vietnam [1].
Bastardiopsis palaeodensiflora Ramos, Brea et Krӧhling is a fossil wood described from the Late Pleistocene El Palmar Formation of northeastern Argentina, assigned to an extant genus. [6]
Berryoxylon arcotense ...
Bombacoxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant bombacoids. The earliest records are from the Late Cretaceous of North America (e.g. the Campanian age Ajuga formation of Texas).
The species Bombacoxylon owenii (Carr.) Gottwald has a wide geographical and temporal range. It is recorded from the late Cretaceous or Eocene of Ethiopia [c 7], the Oligocene of Tunisia [d 7], the Oligocene of France [e], the Oligocene and Early Miocene of Egypt [8], the Neogene of Algeria [7], the Middle or Upper Miocene of the Siwalik Hills of Pakistan [f], the Lower Miocene of Libya, the Miocene of Sardinia, and the Miocene of Bavaria [g 9]. The basionym is Nicolia owenii Carr.; other placements are Caesalpinium owenii (Carruthers) Schuster [10] and Dombeyoxylon owenii (Carruthers) Kräusel [4].
Bombacoxylon affine (Felix) Gottwald is recorded from the Tertiary of Ethiopia [7]. The basionym is Dombeyoxylon affine Felix [4].
Bombacoyxlon bombacoides (Bancroft) Kräusel is recorded from the Miocene of Kenya [7]. The basionym is Dryoxylon bombacoides Bancroft [4].
Bombacoxylon galletti Beauchamp & Lemoigne is recorded from the late Cretaceous or Eocene of Ethiopia [c, 7].
Bombacoxylon grambastii Lemoigne is recorded from the Miocene of Ethiopia [h, 1].
Bombacoxylon langstoni Wheeler and Lehman is recorded from the Campanian Ajuga formation of Texas [11].
Bombacoxylon monodii (Boureau) Gottwald is recorded from the Tertiary of Algeria and Mali [7]. The basionym is Dombeyoxylon monodii Boureau [4].
Bombacoxylon pondaungense is recorded from the late middle Eocene Pondaung formation of Burma [i]. Bombacoxylon is also recorded elsewhere from the Tertiary of Burma [j].
Bombacoxylon tertiarum Mehrotra, Tiwari, Srivastava, & Shukla ...
Camptostemoxylon mahurzarii Trivedi is recorded from the Deccan [4].
Ceiba archeopentandra and Ceiba huancabambiana ...
Chattawaya paliformis is found in the Middle Eocene Clarno Formation of Oregon. It is a wood similar to Pterospermum, but differing in having very large and irregularly shaped tile cells. [12]
Colaxylon is a form genus representing wood similar to that of extant Cola. Colaxylon coppensi Koeniguer is recorded from Niger and Chad. Coloxylon (sic) deschampsii ...
Dombeyoxylon is a form genus representing wood similar to that of extant Dombeya.
Dombeyoxylon sturanii is recorded from the Eocene of France [4, k].
Dombeyoxylon oweni which is recorded from the Eocene and Oligocene of Libya and Algeria, and the late Cretaceous or Eocene of Ethiopia, is a synonym of Bombacoxylon owenii.
Dombeyoxylon monodii which is recorded from the Tertiary of Algeria and French West Africa [13], is a synonym of Bombacoxylon monodii.
Dombeyoxylon jacksonensis Berry is recorded from the Eocene Fayette and Jackson Formations.
Dombeyoxylon affine is recorded from the Tertiary of Ethiopia. [3]
Dombeyoxylon aegypticum Schenk is recorded from the lower Oligocene of Egypt. Dombeyoxylon is also recorded from Intertrappean beds in Madhya Pradesh.
Dombeyoxylon affine Felix ....
Dryoxylon is a form genus representing wood of uncertain dicotlyedonous affinity. Four species have been associated with Bombacaceae (Bombacoideae or Durioneae). Dryoxylon bombacoides Bancroft has been transferred to Bombacoxylon. Dryoxylon siamensis Prakash has been considered a synonym of Bombacoxylon owenii, but has also been suggested to be lecthyidaceous or combetaceous. Dryoxylon intertrappea T.Trividi, and Dryoxylon mahurzarii T.Trividi are possibly bombacaceous. [4]
Elizbethiaxylon patagonicum is a fossil wood species from Lower Paleocene of Patagonia. [14]
The name Elizabethiaxylon honours the Elizabeth Wheeler. [14]
Grewia americana Woodcock, Meyer & Prado
There are nomenclatural issues with the names applied to woods perceived to be allied with Grewia [, ].
Grewioxylon was introduced independently, by Schuster [10] and Shallom [], as a form genus for fossil wood similar to that of extant Grewia. Schuster's type species, Grewioxylon swedenborgii, from the Tertiary of the East Indies, has subsequently been reinterpreted as a dipterocarp (i.e. not malvaceous), first as Dipterocarpoxylon swedenborgii (Schuster) Kräusel and subsequently as Shoreoxylon swedenborgii (Schuster) Schweitzer. Consequently the name Grewioxylon is not available for its original purpose; Grewioxylon Schuster because its type species is reclassified in another genus, and Grewioxylon Shallom because it is a later homonym. Therefore Grewinium Srivastasa and Guleria was introduced as a replacement name for Grewioxylon Shallom []. The type species of Grewinium is Grewinium intertrappeum (Shallom) Srivastasa and Guleria [15]. Not all species of Grewioxylon have been formally transferred to Grewinium.
Grewinium posseses tile cells of the Pterospermum-type [16].
Guazuma santacruzensis Woodcock, Meyer & Prado
Guazumaoxylon miocenica from the Cucuracha Formation of the Miocene of Panama is similar to the wood of modern day Guazuma [19, 20].
Heritieroxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Heritiera.
Heritieroxylon keralaensis is described from the Middle Miocene of Kerala [21].
Heritieroxylon arunachalensis is described from the Mio-Pliocene of Arunachal Pradesh [22] and also reported from the late middle Eocene Pondaung formation of Burma [m].
Heritieroxylon vietnamense is described from Pleistocene (dated at 700,000 years) deposits in Vietnam.
Heritieroxylon is also recorded from the Tertiary of Burma [j].
Hibiscoxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Hibiscus.
Hibiscoyxlon niloticum is recorded from Cretaceous sediments in Egypt [23], and from the late Cretaceous or Eocene of Ethiopia [24].
Hibiscoxylon intertrappeum is found in intercalated sediments in the Deccan Traps (which are of Late Cretaceous and Lower Paleaocene age) [25]. The latter bears tile cells of the Pterospermum type, and is interpreted by the authors as being close to that genus.
Javalinoxylon multiporosum is a fossil wood common in the Javalina Formation of the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Texas [26]. It was described as malvalean, and apparently was most similiar to members of the traditional Malvaceae and Sterculiaceae. Javalinoxylon weberi is a fossil wood from late Campanian–early Maastrichtian Olmos Formation of Coahila [n]. Javalinoxylon deca is a fossil wood from the Upper Cretaceous of Chihuahua [27].
Luehea stratificata
Matisianoxylon brasiliense
Notomalvaceoxylon magallanense Martínez & Leppe is described from the Maastrichtian (latest Cretaceous) Dorotea Formation of southern Chile. [28]
Ochroma pozoensis ...
Parabombacaceoxylon magniporosum Wheeler, Lee & Matten
Periplanetoxylon panamense from the Cucuracha Formation of Miocene of Panama is similar to the wood of modern day Pentaplaris [19, 20]
Pterospermoxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Pterospermum. It possess tile cells [16]. It is recorded from the Pliocene of Kutch (India) [29] (as Pterospermoxylon kutchensis [30]).
Pterospermoxylon bengalensis is described from the Miocene of Bengal.
Quararibeoxylon sanctijosephii is described from Brasil [o]. (It was published in a conference paper of which I once found an abstract - it appears to no longer have any web footprint at all.)
Reevesia japonoxyla
Reevesia miocenica - see Wataria miocenica.
Reevesia oligocenica - see Wataria oligocenica.
Reevesia wallichii, from the Pleistocene of Java [3].
Sillimannia texana Unger is from the Cretaceous of Texas, and was identified by Unger as sterculiaceous [3].
Staubia eriodendroides Felix is from the Tertiary of Hungary, and said to be dombeyoid [].
Sterculioxylon and Sterculinium are form genera representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Sterculia.
Sterculinium dattai is recorded from the Miocene of Assam [31].
Sterculioxylon rhenanum is recorded from the Tertiary of Germany [p].
Sterculioxylon (Nicolia) aegyptiacum (Unger) Kräusel is recorded from Eygpt, from the Tertiary of French Equatorial Africa [32], and under the name Nicolia aegyptiaca from the Senonian (Cretaceous) or Landenian (Tertiary) of Belgium [33], and from the late Cretaceous or Eocene of Ethiopia [c].
Sterculioxylon freulonii is recorded from the Lower Eocene of Libya [34]; it is said to approach Sterculia oblonga in characteristics.
Sterculioxylon deccanensis [35] and Sterculioxylon shahpuraensis [36] are recorded from the Intertrappean Formation (Palaeocene?) of the Deccan.
Sterculioxylon pondicherriense is recorded from the Cuddalore Series of the Lower Miocene of eastern peninsular India [37].
Sterculioxylon kalagarhense is recorded from the Miocene of Uttar Pradesh [38].
Sterculioxylon varmahii is recorded from the Mio-Pliocene of Arunachal Pradesh [22].
Sterculioxylon dattai is recorded from the Tertiary of Assam [39].
Sterculioxylon giarabubense (Chiar.) Kr. is recorded from the Oligocene of Fayum.
Tarrietoxylon sumatrense Kräusel is from the Tertiary of southern Sumatra [].
Tarrietioxylon hazzeldinewarrenii Crawley.
Tilioxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Tilia. As Tilia has a long fossil record, composed of flowers and fruits (identifiable by their distinctive bracts), as well as pollen, leaves and wood, Tilia-like wood is often placed in Tilia rather than Tilioxylon; for example in the petrified forests of the Oligocene and Miocene of Lesbos.
Tilioxylon lueheaformis is recorded from the Eocene Oldhaven Beds of England [40]. The name Tilioxylon palaeocordatum has also been used.
Tilia miocenica and Tilia "crystllophora" are recorded from the Miocene of Korea and Japan respectively [41].
Triplochitioxylon is a form genus representing fossil wood similar to that of extant Triplochiton. It possesses tile cells [16].
Triplochitioxylon oregonensis is recorded from the Eocene of North America [42].
Veraguasoxylon panamense is described from Oligocene-Miocene Santiago Fm. of the Azuero peninsula of Panama. It is identified as malvaceous by the presence of tile cells of the Pterospermum-type, but is distinct from all known living and fossil malvaceous woods. [43].
A number of fossil wood types from Oligocene and Miocene of Japan were previously placed in Reevesia, as Reevesia miocenica and Reevesia oligocenica. These wood types are characterised by distinct ring porosity and tile cells in rays. Comparison with extant wood specimens showed that only one agreed with modern Reevesia, the remainder not agreeing with any extant malvalean genus. Terada and Suzuki [44] interpreted them as an extinct genus of Helicteroideae, most similar to the living genus Triplochiton, and the North American fossil wood Triplochitioxylon, to which they gave the name Wataria, in honour of an earlier worker on this material.
They recognised 3 species; Wataria miocenica (Watari) Terada and Suzuki, Wataria oligocenica (Suzuki) Terada and Suzuki and Wataria parvipora Terada and Suzuki. A fossil forest from the Lower Miocene of Japan is dominated by stumps of Wataria parvipora, and also by fallen leaves of Byttneriophyllum tiliifolium, from it is inferred that the wood and leaves represent the same plant [45].
Wataria miocenica and Wataria parvipora are also known from Korea [46, 47, q].
Wataria yunnanica Li et Oskolski ...
Wataria kvacekii Wheeler and Manchester is described from the Late Eocene of Oregon [48]
Wheelerooxylon atascosense is a fossil wood from the Late Cretaceous of Coahuila [49].
References
Bibliography
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© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023 Stewart R. Hinsley