Cucurbitaciphyllum lobatum (Knowlt.) Manchester

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN001944

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:1944

Author: S. R. Manchester

Rank: species

Basionym: Aralia lobata Knowlt.

Genus: Cucurbitaciphyllum Manchester

Reference: Manchester, S. R. (2014): Revisions to Roland Brown's North American Paleocene flora. – Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis 70(3–4): 153–210., link

Page of description: 169

Other combinations

Types

Original diagnosis/description

Leaves small or of medium size, coriaceous, three-ribbed from the very base, where the lateral ribs form the margin for some distance; five or seven lobed, the central lobe much longer than the others, narrow, cut into several very large lanceolate lobes; upper lobes similar to the middle lobe but smaller; next pair much reduced, with only one or two of the large lobes; midrib of the central lobe very strong, with several pairs of alternate, strong secondaries; lateral ribs that supply the upper pair of lobes strong, at an angle of about 65°; basal lobe supplies with a midrib which arises form the lateral rib some distance from the base and which in turn, in seven-lobed leaves, gives rise to the midrib of the lobe.

Emended diagnosis

Manchester (2014: Acta Mus. Nat. Pragae, Ser. B, Hist. Nat., 70(3-4): 170):
Leaves palmately trilobed, 3.5 to 15 cm long, 5 to 13 cm wide. Petiole narrow, not swollen at junction with lamina. Lamina base cordate. Lobes obovate, with smaller lobes and teeth along the margins; lobe apices acute. Sinuses of lobes and teeth usually rounded. Venation actinodromous, with a primary vein in each lobe, that of the central lobe symmetrically placed, those of the lateral lobes, placed asymmetrically, closer to the proximal margin. Often with an strong secondary or subprimary vein, arising near the base on abaxial side of the lateral primaries and feeding to a basal large tooth or small external lobe. Secondary veins pinnate in 7 to 9 pairs per lobe, camptodromous to semicamptodromous; lower pairs arising at 80 to 90° from the midvein and interconnecting to form an incomplete intramarginal vein (where the margin is untoothed); upper secondaries arising at narower angles (30–45°), craspedodromous where teeth are present. Intersecondary veins common. Tertiary veins percurrent to reticulate. Lower surface dotted impressions of numerous hair-like trichomes. Simple trichomes are seen as densely spaced protrusions on impression surfaces representing the lower surface of the lamina.

Stratigraphy

Paleogene, Paleocene
Aminas Formation

Locality

United States
Pagosa Quadrangle, Colorado, 1,000 feet south of Talian Mine, 5 miles north of Pagosa Junction