g^rly Cretaceous macrofloras 
39 
description 
Fronds linear, pinnate, petiolate, up to 16 mm 
u ,jde, 155 mm long. Rachis stout, up to 1 mm thick, 
pinnules inserted adaxially on rachis. Pinnule base 
slightly auriculate or contracted (Figure 7C). 
adjacent pinnules slightly imbricate. Pinnule bases 
glutting alternately on adaxial surface of rachis 
farming a zig-zag pattern on impressions (Figures 
6 jj, 7D). Pinnules oblong or falcate, apices pointed 
a cute, slightly inclined distally (Figures 6H,I). 
pinnules arise at 50°-70° from rachis, reaching 8 x 
2 mm. Veins emerge from centre of pinnule base, 
dichotomize, slightly diverge, intersect apical and 
lateral margins without anastomoses. 
Comments 
In gross morphology these fronds are similar to a 
n umber of bennettitalean foliage species including 
ptilophyllum pecten (Phillips) Harris, 1969, P. 
horridum Roy, 1963, P. canthifera Douglas, 1969, and 
Qtozamites exliislopi Bose, 1974. However, the 
contracted pinnule bases, slightly expanded 
basiscopic pinnule lamina, pinnule imbrication, 
and relatively short, slightly falcate pinnules with 
obtuse apices suggests that the Western Australian 
specimens are better assigned to P. cutchense Bose 
and Kasat, 1972, a common Jurassic? to Early 
Cretaceous species of India and Australia (Walkom 
1944; Glaessner and Rao 1955; White 1961a,b; Bose 
and Kasat 1972). Most previous Australian studies 
have assigned such remains to Otozamites 
betigalensis (Oldham and Morris) Schimper, 1870 
but Bose and Kasat (1972) transfered the type 
specimens of that species to P. cutchense. Walkom's 
(1917a, 1919a) Ptilophyllum pecten specimens from 
the Lower Cretaceous Stanwell and Burrum Coal 
Measures may also belong to P. cutchense based on 
pinnule morphology. 
Several Otozamites species identified by Walkom 
(1921b) from the Yarragadee Formation, northern 
Perth Basin, have much broader and either 
substantially longer or shorter pinnules than P. 
cutchense and are probably of Middle to Late 
Jurassic age based on palynological studies of that 
unit (Backhouse 1988). 
Ptilophyllum boolensis (Douglas) Douglas, 1969 
Figure 7G 
1993 Ptilophyllum boolensis; McLoughlin and 
Guppy; p. 14; figure 21. 
Holotype 
GSV58781 (Geological Survey of Victoria); 
Strzelecki Group, Zone B (Neocomian); Boola 
Boola Forest, Gippsland, Victoria (Douglas 1969). 
Material 
WAM P.96.13. 
Distribution 
Broome Sandstone (Neocomian-Barremian), 
Canning Basin; Strzelecki Group, Zone B 
(Neocomian), Victoria. 
Description 
Single diminutive lanceolate pinnate frond 
fragment preserved as an impression in siliceous 
siltstone. Rachis slender (<1 mm wide). Pinnules 
attached to upper surface of rachis. Pinnules very 
small (<3 mm wide, <5 mm long), circular to 
elliptical, bases truncate to auriculate, apices 
broadly rounded (Figure 7G). Pinnules inserted 
alternately at about 50° to rachis; adjacent pinnules 
slightly overlap producing a zig-zag pattern along 
rachis. Single vein enters centre of pinnule base 
and dichotomizes two or three times, ultimate 
veins diverging straight to lateral and apical 
margins. 
Comments 
Although Douglas' (1969) Ptilophyllum boolensis 
specimens were defined partly on cuticular 
features not available for the Western Australian 
specimens, the Broome Sandstone frond (Figure 
7G) appears to be attributable to this species based 
on its size and circular to elliptical pinnules. 
Otozamites pecten Sitholey, 1984 from the ?Jurassic 
of India is a similar diminutive frond with 
rounded, partly overlapping, pinnules. 
Furthermore, its squat, sinuous-walled, papillate 
"4 Figure 7 A, Taeniopteris daintreei McCoy, 1874; WAM P.64.15; Broome Sandstone; x 2; B, Nilssonia sp. B; Base of 
frond; WAM P.88.5; Broome Sandstone; x 2; C,D, Ptilophyllum cutchense Morris (in Grant) emend. Bose and 
Kasat, 1972; (C) UWA16684, Leederville Formation, x 1.5.; (D) WAM P.88.172; Broome Sandstone; x 1; E, 
Zamites sp.; isolated pinnule; UWA118826; Bullsbrook Formation; x 2; F, Nilssonia sp. A; fragmentary 
pinnules; WAM P.96.3; Nanutarra Formation; x 1.5; G, Ptilophyllum boolensis (Douglas) Douglas, 1969; 
WAM P.96.13; Broome Sandstone; x 6; H, Araucaria sp. B; WAM P.90.1; latex cast of axis with imbricate 
leaves; Broome Sandstone; x 5; I,J, Ptilophyllum acutifolium Morris (in Grant), 1840; (I) WAM P.96.2, apical 
portion of frond, Nanutarra Formation, x 2; (J) WAM P.89.162, Broome Sandstone, x 1; K, silicon cast of 
Araucaria sp. A; slender branches with elongate rhomboid leaves; WAM P.96.7; Broome Sandstone; x 3. 
