Fossil water lily fruits with seeds Nymphaea subgenus Lotos, from the Oligocene of Armissan/ Narbonne (France)* Rainer Butzmann¹ & Thilo C. Fischer²
Dedicated: Prof. Dr. D.H. Mai, Berlin
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The fossil fruits of Nymphaeaceae are described, which can unambiguously be affiliated to the Nymphaeaceae genus Nymphaea subgenus Lotos. Such findings were first described 1865 by Saporta Fig. 1b, as Anoectomeria brongniartii (Fig. 1a-e), A. nana and A. media (Fig.4 e, f), but due to lack of preserved seeds and a misinterpretation of the organisation of the fruits these could only be affiliated to Nymphaeaceae in general. Especially the characteristical mode of fruit dehiscence, which leads to typical stigmatic discs in extant as well as in fossil specimens Fig. 3 a, b, only allows for this affiliation (Fig. 2 a-e) Here the flowers/fruits described by Saporta (rhizome, leaves and isolated seeds were also included in his taxa) are revised to Nymphaea (subgenus Lotos) brongniartii. The identification of the historical specimens with preserved seeds (Zittel 1888, BSGP Munich Fig. 2 a-e ) allows a new interpretation of such fossils and, hence their identification as fruits of the subgenus Lotos. By the interpretation of the comparable Paleogene fossils as belonging to subgenus Lotos the minimal geological age of it would even be Middle Eocene.
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Diagrammatic representation of Fig.2a/e
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Historical specimens from Saporta NHMN Paris 1865
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Historical specimens from Zittel BSGP Munich 1888
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Stigmatic disc/carpel
Extant dehisced fruit
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These fruits can be characterized by the presence of a receptacle consisting of fused linear carpels with longitudinal furrows surrounded by sickle-shape bases of stamens arranged in concentric fused rows. The oldest of such fruits are Nymphaeites palaeolobioides (Engelhardt) Kirchheimer (Fig. 4 a from the Middle Eocene of Messel and Nymphaeites saxonica from the Upper Eocene of Bornstedt (Fig.4 b) (both Germany). Seeming members of subgenus Lotos in contrast are Nymphaea haeringiana, formerly Palaeolobium haeringianum) from Bad Häring, Duxer Köpfl ((Fig.4 c, d), both Austria)) and Nymphaea brongniartii (emend. from Anoectomeria media and A. nana) from Manosque (Fig. 7e, f).
Seed 4a
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∗ Reference: Zitteliana, 2013, A 53, 93 – 104
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Abbreviations for institutions are: Bayerische Staatsammlung für Geologie und Paläontologie München,(D); Geologisches Institut der Universität Innsbruck(A), Botanische Staatsammlung München (M) (D), Musèum national d´Histoire Naturell Paris (F), Naturkunde Museum Berlin (D).
Rainer Butzmann1* Fuggerstraße 8, D-81373 München, Germany, and Thilo C. Fischer² Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Biocenter Botany,Großhadernerstr. 2-4, D-82152 Planegg Martinsried, Germany *Author for correspondence: E-mail:
[email protected]
