REVISION OF THE ENGLISH WEALDEN FLORA 



77 











Fig. 37 A-G Torreyites detrili sp. nov. All lower cuticle. A, inside of lower cuticle showing longitudinal groove, with median region to right and marginal 

 region to left, V.64613, SEM. x 125; B, lower cuticle showing longitudinal groove, with median region to right and marginal region to left, V.64612. LM, 

 X 125; C, outer surface showing ridges, small round papillae with depressed tips and long papillae overhanging groove, V.64629. SEM. x 500; D, groove 

 with long marginal papillae forming overhanging fringe (left-hand margin) or obscuring groove individually (right-hand margin), V.64612, LM, x 500; E, 

 single stoma obscured by papillae, V.64612, LM, x 500; F, inside of single stoma, showing ring of subsidiary cells surrounding pair of guard cells, 

 V.64613, SEM, x 500; G, inside of single stoma, showing guard cells with square-ended polar appendages, V.64613, SEM, x 500. 



that these regions shared more common features than has previously 

 been supposed. This is supported by the new occurrence in the 

 English Wealden of types of needle-leaved conifers commonly 

 found in other Cretaceous floras (Vakhrameev 1991). Members of 

 the Taxaceae are slow growing and long-Uved, typically occurring 

 within sheltered forest vegetation, often in small local populations in 



damp, valley-bottom sites not subject to severe summer desiccation 

 (Page 1 990b). If Torreyites detriti does belong to this family, it would 

 be reasonable to conclude that it occupied a similar niche. 



Modem Ginkgo is deciduous, and Zhao et a! ( 1 993 ) have described 

 G. manchuricu. from the younger Mesozoic of North East China, 

 occurring in thick masses of detached leaves which clearly indicate 



