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Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstractsPaleocene gymnosperms from Mount Somers, New ZealandMike Pole*Thirteen conifer macrofossils and a gymnospermous leaf of uncertain affinity are documented from the early-mid Paleocene of the Mount Somers coal mine, Canterbury, New Zealand. Podocarpaceae are prominent and diverse. Two taxa are formally described as new genera of Podocarpaceae; Mumu somerensis gen. et sp. nov. and Tiotio imbricatus gen. et sp. nov. A second species of Kakahuia, K. drinnanii, is described. There are also two species of Prumnopitys; P. limaniae sp. nov. and P. sp. `Mt Somers'. A further five taxa of Podocarpaceae are informally described. Shoots with decussately-arranged scale leaves are identified as Libocedrus cf. L. bidwillii (Cupressaceae). Paahake papillatus gen. et sp. nov. is compared with Sciadopitys (Taxodiaceae) and Torreya (Taxaceae). A single small piece of cuticle belongs in the Araucariaceae and is tentatively identified as Araucaria. An additional new genus and species, Hoiki mcqueenii gen. et sp. nov., has an unusual epidermal morphology with transversely oriented stomates but is of unknown affinity. These species grew in a clastic swamp where Podocarpaceae formed one of the major elements. The Libocedrus and Prumnopitys specimens are the oldest macrofossil records of a conifer genus extant in New Zealand. New terms are introduced for stomatal distribution on conifer leaves.Keywords: Araucariaceae; Cupressaceae; New Zealand; Paleocene; Podocarpaceae; paleobotany; Taxaceae; Taxodiaceae; cuticle; terminology
(c) Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 28, Number 3, September 1998, pp 375-403
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