Fossil Nothofagus from the Longford Formation, Murchison, New Zealand

Abstract

Four Upper Miocene species of Nothofagus are described from the Longford Formation near Murchison, southeast Nelson. One of the species, N. novaezealandiae (Oliver) comb. nov. has been recorded from Upper Miocene strata at Kaikorai, Dunedin; the remaining three, N. bidentatus, N. oblonga and N. oliveri, are new. The Longford Formation comprises floodplain deposits with basal estuarine beds and coal laid down by a meandering river with a high bed load. At least some species grew on the floodplain itself, in a moist, warm termperate to subtropical climate.