Sinocarpus Leng et E.M.Friis

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN002820

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:2820

Authors: Q. Leng & E. M. Friis

Rank: genus

Reference: Leng, Q. & Friis, E. M. (2003): Sinocarpus decussatus gen. et sp. nov., a new angiosperm with basally syncarpous fruits from the Yixian Formation of Northeast China. – Plant Systematics and Evolution 241: 77–88., link

Page of description: 79

Type

Original diagnosis/description

Infructescence with a main axis bearing one terminal fruit and pairs of lateral fruits in a decussate arrangement. Main axis slender with dilated nodes and long internodes. Pedicels of lateral fruits slender and long. Receptacle convex. Nature of perianth unclear due to incomplete preservation. Androecium not observed. Gynoecium superior and basally syncarpous, composed of 3 or 4 carpels in a whorled arrangement and united for about half their length. Each carpel containing about 10 anatropous ovules/seeds borne along linear placentae. Seeds flattened and embedded in a thick amorphous material. Surface cells of the seeds in the hilar and raphal regions rectangular, with protruding anticlinal walls and concave periclinal walls.

Etymology

From the country (Sino-, referring to China) where the fossil was collected, and fruit (-carpus, Greek).