Revisions to Roland Brown’s North American Paleocene flora

Steven R. Manchester

Pages	153-210
Citation	MANCHESTER, Steven R.. Revisions to Roland Brown’s North American Paleocene flora. Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis. Prague: National Museum, 2014, 70(3-4), 153-210. ISSN 2533-4050 (tisk), 2533-4069 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/fiamnpsbhn/70-3-4/revisions-to-roland-browns-north-american-paleocene-flora

Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis | 2014/70/3-4

The Paleocene megafossil flora of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region in the United States of America, including leaves, cones, fruits, and seeds, monographed by Roland W. Brown in 1962, has been reevaluated and updated to include subsequent taxonomic revisions. The scope of this investigation included thousands of specimens from more than 450 localities of the Fort Union, Evanston, Ferris, Raton, Bear, Lebo, Melville, Ludlow, Tongue River and Sentinel Butte strata of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota. A large number of floristic elements remain uncertain as to their modern familial affinities due to limited diagnostic characters, or insufficient comparative investigations. Nevertheless, many of Brown’s determinations have been upheld and several newly recognized genera and families have strong support. The flora includes greater diversity of Platanaceae and Cornales than Brown had recognized. These, together with Fagales (particularly Betulaceae and Juglandaceae), Saxifragales (Trochodendroides, Archeampelos and Nyssidium), are widespread and prominent members of the flora. New combinations introduced here include Ensete goldianum (LESQUEREUX) comb. nov., Macginitiea nobilis (NEWBERRY) comb. nov., Platanites raynoldsii (NEWBERRY) comb. nov., Trochodendroides genetrix (NEWBERRY) comb nov., Cucurbitaciphyllum lobatum (KNOWLTON) comb. nov., and Mciveraephyllum nebrascense (SCHIMPER) comb. nov. Georeference data are provided for all of the localities cited by Brown.

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