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Abstract

Fossils can shed new light on plant biogeography and phylogeny. Pinnately lobed leaves from the Oligo-Miocene Newvale
lignite mine, South Island, New Zealand are the fi rst extra-Australian leaf fossils of the charismatic genus Banksia (Proteaceae),
and they are assigned to a new species, B. novae-zelandiae . Comparison with extant taxa shows that the fossils are best regarded
as an extinct stem relative of Banksia because their available features are either plesiomorphic for the genus (notably, the stomata
are superfi cially placed, not sunken in balloon-like pits as in many extant species) or lack evidence of synapomorphies that would
enable them to be placed in the crown group. Banksia novae-zelandiae does, however, exhibit two cuticular features that are
unique or highly derived for Banksia. These are rugulate subsidiary cell ornamentation and the presence of complex papillae that
extensively cover the abaxial leaf surface. The fossils add to the widespread records of the pinnately lobed leaf form in Banksia in
Australia beginning in the late Paleocene. This form is now limited to species confi ned to sclerophyllous heathlands of Mediterranean
climate in southwestern Australia. Banksia novae-zelandiae could be part of a lineage that had a long history in New Zealand,
perhaps dating to the early Paleogene.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Carpenter, RJ and Jordan, GJ and Lee, DE and Hill, RS
Keywords:	Banksia ; crown group; cuticle; leaf fossils; long-distance dispersal; Proteaceae; stem group; vicariance
Journal or Publication Title:	American Journal of Botany
ISSN:	0002-9122
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900199
Additional Information:	Copyright © 2010 Botanical Society of America
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