Angiosperm fruit and leaf fossils from Miocene silcrete, Landslip Hill, northern Southland, New Zealand

Abstract

Impressions of fruits and leaves of angiosperms recovered from Landslip Hill near Gore, eastern Southland, include some showing features attributable to Corynocarpus, others that may belong to Avicennia, Pomaderris, and Pouteria as well as the already described Fagaceae and Casuarinaceae. These, along with araucariacean fossils, allow the reconstruction of a warm temperate Early Miocene vegetation in eastern Southland, which may have been coastal.

Keywords:

• Landslip Hill
• Southland
• silcrete
• Early Miocene
• fossil fruits
• fossil leaves
• warm temperate

Notes

Department of Geology, University of Otago. J. D. Campbell passed away on 27 July 2001. Correspondence regarding this paper should be addressed to D. Lee, Department of Geology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.