Early Cretaceous macrofloras 
Table 2 Distribution of fossil plant taxa in the studied stratigraphic units. See text for author citations. 
53 
SPECIES 
d o 
Q S 
w g 
uj O 
—1 UL, 
«.7 
0 o 
o 2 
05 S- 
-J 05 
D O 
CQ U. 
< V 
C5 
05 O 
fc: < 
2 S 
< o 
2: U, 
w 
u z 
2 o 
n ° 
P 7 
s < 
00 cn 
W 
2 
3 H 
OD 
O 2 
05 < 
00 CO 
Isoetites elegans 
Nathorstianella babbagensis 
Hausmannia sp. 
Cladophlebis cf. oblonga 
Phyllopteroides westralensis 
Micropliyllopteris gleichenioides 
Roebuckia spalulata 
Aculea bifida 
Sphenopteris warmgulensis 
Sphenopteris sp. A 
Thinnfeldia cf. talbragarensis 
Tacnipteris daintreei 
Pinnate frond 
Nilssonia sp. A 
Nilssonia sp. B 
Ptilophyllum acutifolium 
Ptilophyllum cutchense 
Ptilophyllum boolensis 
Zamiles sp. 
Araucaria sp. A 
Araucaria sp. B 
Araucaria sp. C 
Araucarian cones 
Araucarian cone scales 
Elatocladus ginginensis 
Carpolithes bullbrookensis 
Winged conifer seeds 
Bucklandia sp. 
Ribbed axes 
Rhizomoptcris sp. 
Mesembrioxylon sp. 
Saprophytic fungi 
+ 
+ + 
+ + 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ + 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
coastal plain environments. The latter units are 
richer in lycophytes and pteridophytes probably 
owing to milder local maritime climates and wetter 
riparian environments, or higher water tables in 
lowland settings. 
Relationships with other Australian floras 
Other significant Australian mid- to late 
Mesozoic floras include the Gippsland-Otway 
Basin assemblages of Victoria (Douglas 1969, 1973; 
Drinnan and Chambers 1986), the Talbragar flora 
of New South Wales (WaLkom 1921a; White 1981), 
the Eromanga, Clarence-Moreton, Laura, Styx, and 
Maryborough Basin floras of Queensland (Walkom 
1917a,b, 1918, 1919a, 1928; Hill et al. 1966; Gould 
1978, 1980; McLoughlin and Drinnan 1995; 
McLoughlin et al. 1995), the Bauhinia Downs flora 
of the Northern Territory (White 1961b), the Mt 
Babbage flora of South Australia (Glaessner and 
Rao 1955), and the Mingenew (Yarragadee 
Formation) flora of Western Australia (Arber 1910; 
Walkom 1921b). Of these, the Otway, Gippsland, 
and Eromanga Basin floras are the best known. 
Douglas (1969, 1971) proposed four assemblage 
zones (Zones A-D) for Victorian Neocomian to 
Early Albian strata based on plant macrofossils and 
tied these to the independent palynostratigraphic 
zonation of Dettmann (1963); later refined by 
Dettmann and Playford (1969), Dettmann and 
Douglas (1976), and Helby et al. (1987). Douglas' 
(1969) megafloral zones are largely based on the 
presence or absence of key foliage species hence 
their recognition may be strongly influenced by 
local palaeoenvironmental, depositional, and 
seasonal factors. The collective Western Australian 
assemblages bear greatest similarity to Douglas' 
(1969) Zone B (Neocomian) flora due to the 
presence of the key species Taeniopteris daintreei 
and Ptilophyllum boolensis. Phyllopteroides 
westralensis is an entire-margined form similar to P. 
