Szekessy Vilmos (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 54. (Budapest 1962)

Rásky, K.: Tertiary plant remains from Hungary (Upper Eocene and Middle Oligocene)

towards base. Remains of petiole 0,8 cm long, rather thick. Thick midrib gradually attenuate towards apex. 14 — 16 lateral veins on both sides of midrib, almost at right angles to it. Lateral veins relatively thick, forking before reaching leaf margin. Furcate secondary veins connected by angular (and not semicircular) arches in front of leaf margin. Wide areas within forkings connected up to secondary veins with further angular loops. Among secondary veins, also other ones originate from midrib, parallel with, but thinner than, laterals. In general, they divide horizontally areas delimited by two secondaries, then fuse into angular loops. Intermediate space between secondary veins interwoven with horizontally elongated large-meshed venation, enclosing also another, polygonal reticulation of smaller interstices. Leaf coriaceous. Remarks : The leaf fragment of Baloghia miocenica ETTINGSHAUSEN (1869, p. 45, Pt. 50, Fig. 22), described from Kutschlin, can hardly be compared, due to its not too well preserved nervation, with the Upper Eocene remains from Budapest. For this cause, we designated as lectoholotype the better preserved find from the Buda marl formation. On ETTINGSHAUSEN^ imperfect figure, it is just the characteristical pattern of the secondary veins which cannot be satisfactorily discriminated, though it is an indubitable fact that ETTINGSHAUSEN^ Kutschlin specimen represents the genus Baloghia. The fossil leaf itself will represent this similarity surely better than the drawing made of it. One might find leaves of approximately similar shape and venation both from the European and American Tertiaries, some of them described even from other families than the Euphorbiaceae, but nowhere do we meet again the characteristical design of the secondary venation of the leaves of Baloghiaephyllum miocenicum. Myrtus caryophylloides SAP. (1863, p. 19, PI. 2, Fig. 6), and Myrtus rectinervis SAP.'

(1863, p. 19, PI. 11, Fig. 5) are leaves known from the French Eocene flora, but they differ essentially (by the marginal venation having evolved from the secondary veins) from that of Baloghiaephyllum. There is a like difference concerning the leaves of Ficus omballi BROWN (1929, p. 285, Pt. 72, Fig. 2) known from the Middle Eocene flora of the Green River, and those of Ficus myrtifolia ampla BERRY (1930, p. 65, Pt. 32, Fig. 13) from the Eocene Wilcox flora, since, in both these cases, the connection of the secondary veins results in a marginal venation. The disparity is again the same with regard to the leaves of ETTINGSHAUSENS species Ficus persephones (ETTINGSHAUSEN 1872, p. 19, Taf. 29, Fig. 2), Ficus tenuinervis (Taf. 6, Fig.

8), or Ficus rectinervis (Taf. 8, Fig. 17), described from Sagor: they all display the marginal vein. Comparison with recent species: searching for similitudes among the recent species, the leaves of Baloghia lucida ENDL. stand indubitably nearest to the fossil ones. Both the shape of the leaf and the pattern of thevenation of the recent leaf, shown for the sake of comparison (Plate I., Fig. 2), agree remarkably well with those of the fossil remains. Baloghia lucida ENDL. thrives today on the Norfolk Islands and in New Caledonia, being also a tree of the rain forests in Australia. The trees or shrubs have coriaceous leaves. ANACARDIACEAE Heterocalyx ungeri SAPORTA (Plate VI, Figs. 5-6) Description: a smaller fruit with persistent calyx remnants. An impression and its counterpart was found in the Upper Eocene deposit of the Buda marl. Fruit elongate-oval. Surface of fruit showing small, irregular, polygonal cells. Length of fruit 0,7 cm, its greatest width 0,2 cm. Remainders of 3 or 4 sepals visible on base of fruit. Length of wings 0,7 cm, their greatest 3 Természettudományi Múzeum Evkönyve -