PIGG, KATHLEEN B.1* AND STEVEN R. MANCHESTER2. 1Department of Plant Biology, Box 871601, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1601, and 2Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. - Silicified heptalocular fruits from the middle Miocene Yakima Canyon flora, central Washington state.
A new type of fossil fruit is described based on several silicified
specimens from the middle Miocene Yakima Canyon flora of central
Washington state. Fruits are smooth, subglobose heptalocular berries
10 mm high and 11.5 to 12.4 mm in equatorial diameter with a
hypogynous perianth scar on the peduncule. The seven locules are
radially arranged within the parenchymatous pericarp. Each locule
contains up to 5 seeds in subapical, axile placentation. Seeds are
irregularly shaped, 4.6 mm long x 1.9 mm wide, and have a curved
embryo cavity. The seed coat consists of densely packed sclereids.
Many seeds contain well developed embryos. This material demonstrates
that the Yakima Canyon flora contains unusual taxa, along with its
more typical Miocene elements.
Key words: angiosperm, fossil, fruit, Miocene, Neogene, silicified