TRIVETT, M.L.1*, G.W. ROTHWELL1, and R.A. STOCKEY2. 1Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701, USA; 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB T6G2E9, Canada. - A permineralized schizaeaceous fern from the Late Eocene of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Several fertile pinnules with abaxially borne sporangia have been
discovered in calcareous marine nodules from the Late Eocene Appian
Way locality on the East coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia,
Canada. Each fertile segment is rolled toward the abaxial surface,
forming a roughly spheroidal structure. Sporangia are abaxial and
enclosed by the lamina. The specimens also display false indusia that
each cover several sporangia. The receptacle is thick and branched,
bearing broadly attached sporangia and numerous paraphyses. As is
diagnostic for schizaeaceous ferns, sporangia of the fossil are
flask-shaped with a short stalk, and have a uniseriate, transverse
annulus at the apex. Spores are tetrahedral and trilete, with a
psilate surface. The false indusium and unornamented trilete spores
suggest affinities with Lygodium, but the grouped sporangia and
rolled pinnules of the fossil comprise a unique combination of
characters.
Key words: anatomy, Eocene, fern, fossil, Schizaeaceae