Rinvenimento del polline di Keteleeria in alcuni depositi quaternari dell'Italia centro-settentrionale

Abstract

THE DISCOVERING OF THE KETELEERIA'S POLLEN-GRAIN IN SOME QUATERNARY DEPOSITS OF THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ITALY. — The Author observes the specy of Keteleeria with the pollen analysis executed on deposits of turfys, clays and brown coals of some Umbro-Marchigiano and of the Po Plain localyties.

The Keteleeria to-day is living only in China and Japan; in Italy it was living also during the early and middle Pleistocene.     

Survival and long-term maintenance of tertiary trees in the Iberian Peninsula during the Pleistocene: first record of Aesculus L. (Hippocastanaceae) in Spain

The Italian and Balkan peninsulas have been places traditionally highlighted as Pleistocene glacial refuges. The Iberian Peninsula, however, has been a focus of controversy between geobotanists and palaeobotanists as a result of its exclusion from this category on different occasions. In the current paper, we synthesise geological, molecular, palaeobotanical and geobotanical data that show the importance of the Iberian Peninsula in the Western Mediterranean as a refugium area. The presence of Aesculus aff. hippocastanum L. at the Iberian site at Cal Guardiola (Tarrasa, Barcelona, NE Spain) in the Lower–Middle Pleistocene transition helps to consolidate the remarkable role of the Iberian Peninsula in the survival of tertiary species during the Pleistocene. The palaeodistribution of the genus in Europe highlights a model of area abandonment for a widely-distributed species in the Miocene and Pliocene, leading to a diminished and fragmentary presence in the Pleistocene and Holocene on the southern Mediterranean peninsulas. Aesculus fossils are not uncommon within the series of Tertiary taxa. Many appear in the Pliocene and suffer a radical impoverishment in the Lower–Middle Pleistocene transition. Nonetheless some of these tertiary taxa persisted throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene up to the present in the Iberian Peninsula. Locating these refuge areas on the Peninsula is not an easy task, although areas characterised by a sustained level of humidity must have played an predominant role.     

Analisi polliniche di depositi lacustri delle pendici del M. Vulture in Basilicata

Abstract

Pollen analysis of lake sediments on Mt. Vulture in Basilicata (Southern Italy).—A marshy sediment, about 7 meters thick, containing fossil pollen, has been discovered in a little lake of volcanic origin on a slope of Mount Vulture in Lucania at 656 m above sea level.

The sediment shows four distinct layers from the top to the bottom. The deepest layer, from 7 to 5.75 m, consisting of clay containing Betula and Ostrya, indicates a rather arid climate; the next layer, from 5.75 to 3.75 m, made up of mud rich in organic substance and containing pollen of Fagus and Abies, is witness of a damp and warmer climate; the following layer, from 3.75 to 2.25 m, with clay containing Betula, Ulmus, Ostrya and Corylus suggests a return to a more arid climate; lastly, the upper layer, from 2.25 m to the surface, with marshy mud rich in organic substance and pollen of plants with greater water requirements leads us to think of a return to a damper climate.     

INVESTIGATIONS OF TERTIARY ANGIOSPERMS: A NEW FLORA INCLUDING EOMIMOSOIDEA PLUMOSA FROM THE OLIGOCENE OF EASTERN TEXAS

A new fossil flower and inflorescence-bearing locality has been discovered in the Oligocene of the Texas Gulf Coast. The new flora is similar to the Middle Eocene Claiborne Flora of the southeastern USA, but the quality of preservation is sometimes better in the Oligocene fossils. One component of the new flora, a mimosoid legume inflorescence, appears identical with Eomimosoidea plumosa, first reported from the Claiborne Formation of western Tennessee. Investigations of these younger specimens indicate that the taxon had changed little during the Middle Eocene-Oligocene interval, and the better quality of preservation of the Texas specimens has provided further insights into the structure of the fossils. Comparisons of the fine structural details of the pollen of Eomimosoidea with similar pollen of extant mimosoids has confirmed that the fossil genus is indeed extinct and suggests that tetrahedral tetrads of columellate, tricolporate pollen grains are ancient, possibly primitive, in the Mimosoideae.     

Note critiche sulla flora d'Italia. II. Il gruppo di Minuartia verna

Abstract

Critical notes on the flora of Italy. II. The Minuartia verna group. The following paper contains a re-examination of the Minuartia verna–complex in Italy based on a revision of herbarium-specimens and observations in nature. The author proposes to divide this polymorphic species into 4 subspecies. Two of them (subsp. verna and subsp. collina) are largely corresponding to the opinion of earlier authors. The subsp. attica is also represented in the flora of Southern Italy, but Italian populations are slightly different from those of Greece (which must be regarded as typical). The subsp. grandiflora living in a small area in Sicily, which was incompletely known, is described and its relations to the other subspecies are discussed.     

The Morphology of Pollen Tetrads and Viscin Threads in Some Tertiary,Rhododendron-Like Ericaceae

The morphology of pollen tetrads and viscin threads is described in fossil Ericaceae pollen from various Eocene/Oligocene/Miocene localities in Europe (Germany, Austria), North America (eastern U.S.A.), and Asia (eastern China). The typical characters of the tetrad configuration, the exine ornamentation and sculpturing, and especially the viscin thread morphology are extremely similar to or even indistinguishable from that in extant members of Rhododendron. All these pollen morphological features strongly suggest that all the investigated material can be assigned to a modern taxon of the Ericaceae: either to Rhododendroideae or even to Rhododendron itself.     

Il genere Allium L. in Italia. IV. Studio citofotometrico sul granulo pollinico di Allium Chamaemoly L.

Abstract

The genus Allium L. in Italy. IV. A DNA cytophotometric study on the pollen grain of Allium chamaemoly L. — A cytophotometric analysis of DNA contents in pollen generative and vegetative nuclei of Allium chamaemoly L. was carried out. DNA synthesis in both nuclei was confirmed and a lightly higher DNA amount than 2C in the vegetative nucleus was pointed out. An analysis of the Fast-green stainable histones in the generative and vegetative nuclei was also accomplished. While the generative nucleus had a very high content of Fast-green stainable histone, the vegetative one have nearly no stainable histone. The occurrence of DNA synthesis and the very low histone content suggest the vegetative nucleus is functional and biochemically activ. The higher than 2C DNA content supports the possibility of a DNA amplification process including probably the amplification of ribosomal cistrons in the pollen vegetative nucleus.     

Hemiptelea mikii sp. nov. (Ulmaceae), fossil fruits and woods from the pleistocene of central Japan

A new fossil species,Hemiptelea mikii, is described on the basis of fruits from the Pleistocene of central Japan. It is distinguished fromH. davidii, the only extant species of the genus restricted to Korea and China, in having shorter fruits. Fossil woods discovered from the same horizon differ from the extant one in some anatomical characteristics, and are assigned to the new fossil species. Taken together with earlier records of fossil fruit occurrence in the early and the middle Pleistocene of central Japan, the latest finding of fossil fruits and woods from the last glacial sediments (ca. 50,000 years ago) at Kita-egota site of Tokyo suggests thatH. mikii was widespread in central Japan throughout the Pleistocene and survived until as late as the Last Glacial age.     

L'Azione Fisiologica del Nichel Sulle Piante di un Terreno Serpenitinoso

Abstract

The Author, on the basis of numerous results of pollen analysis on turfy-clayey deposits especially in Delta Padano, shows the gradual impoverishment, the main ancient species (Pinus haploxylon, Abies nordmanniana, Tsuga, Cedrus, Carya, Pterocarya, Zelkova, Castanea latifolia) suffered from during middle and upper Pleistocene.     

The diversity and paleoenvironmental significance of Calophyllum (Clusiaceae) from the Miocene of southeastern China

Abstract

Three species within the genus Calophyllum collected from middle Miocene Fotan Group sediments in Zhangpu County, Fujian, southeastern China are described in this paper. These fossils include Calophyllum zhangpuensis sp. nov., Calophyllum striatum, and Calophyllum suraikholaensis. The new fossil species C. zhangpuensis sp. nov. is oval, possesses entire leaves with closely spaced parallel secondary veins and has a round, or slightly retuse, apex. These specimens represent the first known fossil records of this relative wide leaf-type form of Calophyllum from China and have a length:width (L:W) ratio less than 3:1. In combination with the known modern geographic distribution and habitats of this wide leaf-type Calophyllum and other plants, data suggest that the middle Miocene Fotan flora is indicative of a warm climate. Thus, based on available fossil data, we speculate that this genus probably originated in India during the Paleocene before spreading from India to Bangladesh and into China, Sumatra, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Java during the Neogene, leading to its modern distribution. At least, the 3 fossil species in this region can explain floristic exchange between India, Fujian, and South China, which is consistent with previous studies; the occurrence of these 3 species indicates that Calophyllum began to diversity in China no later than the Miocene.     

La Flora Delle Gole di Popoli (Pescara)

Abstract

Flora of Popoli's gorges (Central Italy). — The results of floristic research developed from 1967 to 1969 at the Popoli's gorges (province of Pescara, in Abruzzo, Central Italy) are reported. Short accounts on the geographic position, on the geology and climate of the gorges are given, together with the floristic index of 696 entities, 4 of which are new for Abruzzo. For each species the biological and the phytogeographical categories are indicated; and for the whole of the flora the biological spectrum. This shows that this flora is a submediterranean one, with altitude influences. Critical remarks are developed about the taxonomy and distribution in the region of Abruzzo of several species wich looked particularly significant to the author.     

The ultrastructure of Cerebropollenites from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Asia

The dispersed pollen taxon Cerebropollenites recovered from the Jurassic of Afghanistan and Cretaceous of China was investigated ultrastructurally. Cerebropollenites lacks the differentiation of the proximal and distal hemispheres, a faint proximal triradiate mark, and an equatorial fringe, all features found in extant Tsuga, however, the gross pollen morphology, and the wall ultrastructure of Cerebropollenites suggests an affinity with the extant genus Tsuga (Section Micropeuce). The differences observed between Cerebropollenites and Tsuga are no greater than the differences observed between the pollen of the two Sections of Tsuga, Hesperopeuce and Micropeuce. The occurrence of Cerebropollenites in the Jurassic and Cretaceous is, thus far, the only fossil evidence that the genus Tsuga may have been present in the Mesozoic, and suggests that the Pinaceae, which is unequivocally recognized in the Cretaceous, may have had an earlier origin.     

Tursia—A New Ichnogenus from Pleistocene Shallow Water Settings in Southern Italy

Abstract

Tursia flabelliformisigen. et isp. nov. is described from the lower Pleistocene Argille Subappennine Formation near Tursi, southern Italy. The trace fossil occurs in protected sandy shoreface sediments and is associated with abundantBichordites. Tursia is a vertical fan-shaped spreite structure that is interpreted as the feeding trace of a deep infaunal deposit-feeding organism, either bivalve or “worm.”     

ADDITIONS TO THE MIOCENE SUCKER CREEK FLORA OF OREGON AND IDAHO

Study of plant microfossils and additional macrofossils collected from sediments in the vicinity of Sucker Creek along the Oregon-Idaho boundary has provided additional data on the composition of this fossil flora. A total of seven taxa new to the flora have been recognized. These include colonies of Botryococcus; pollen of Podocarpus, Pachysandra, and the Onagraceae; and leaves of Cephalotaxus californica and Vaccinium sophoroides. The occurrence of Podocarpus in this mid-Miocene flora is particularly significant in view of the limited number of records of this genus in the Tertiary of North America. In addition to these new records, the presence of three additional taxa—Castanea, Nyssa, and Ilex—previously recognized on the basis of leaf remains, is further substantiated by the occurrence of fossil pollen in the sediments.     

Climate-influenced boreotropical survival and rampant introgressions explain the thriving of New World grapes in the north temperate zone

The north temperate region was characterized by a warm climate and a rich thermophilic flora before the Eocene, but early diversifications of the temperate biome under global climate change and biome shift remain uncertain. Moreover, it is becoming clear that hybridization/introgression is an important driving force of speciation in plant diversity. Here, we applied analyses from biogeography and phylogenetic networks to account for both introgression and incomplete lineage sorting based on geno...     

Prime indagini sulla flora pollinica aerodiffusa nella città di Messina e correlazioni meteorologiche (maggio 1985 - aprile 1986)

Abstract

Air-borne pollen census in Messina in the years 1985–1986 - Pollen of 20 herbs and weeds, and that of 14 trees or shrubs, were identified in the air of Messina (Southern Italy), in the years 1985–1986. The relative frequencies were correlated with climatic factors affecting the pollen diffusion in the studied area.     

Stellavelum arborensis igen., sp. nov., Stellavelum uncinum igen., isp. nov. and Termitichnus namibiensis isp. nov.; New Ichnofossils from Cenozoic deposits of Namaqualand,South Africa

Three new ichnotaxa are described from Cenozoic paralic to continental sediments on the west coast of South Africa. Stellavelum arborensis and Stellavelum uncinum are assigned to a mixed Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies and Termitichnus namibiensis is assigned to the Termitichnus ichnofacies. An interpretation of the sedimentary record shows that the Stellavelum trace makers were probably sediment ingesting annelids that lived in dense colonies in sheltered lagoonal environments during Neogene times. The Termitichnus namibiensis trace fossils are interpreted as actively backfilled termite nests which form an early to mid‐Pleistocene palimpsest, terrestrial ichnofabric which is superimposed on the older marine sediments.     

Oviposition patterns and larval damage by the invasive horse‐chestnut leaf miner Cameraria ohridella on different species of Aesculus

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Frammenti cotiledonari di Aesculus hippocastanum L. coltivati in vitro. Primi dati sul comportamento dell'amido e dell'escina

Abstract

Fragments of Aesculus hippocastanum L. cotyledons grown in vitro. First results about starch and aescin characteristic features.—Cotyledon fragments of Aesculus hippocastanum grown in vitro in different media have been able to form callus and roots. The starch granules in the new cells are compound in structure and morphologically different from the simple cotyledon granules, whereas they are similar to the granules of the other parts of the plant in toto. Moreover, the callus has no aescin even though it originates from the cotyledor tissues.