54 
S. McLoughlin 
laevis from the Victorian Zone B (and equivalent 
strata in Queensland). This favours an Early 
Cretaceous age but P. ivestrcilensis requires further 
study to determine its phylogenetic relationships 
with the range of eastern Australian species. 
Another diagnostic Victorian Zone B species, 
Pachypteris austropapillosa is absent from the 
Western Australian assemblages although a poorly 
preserved pinnate frond from the Bullsbrook 
Formation (Figure 6D) may be a related form. 
Douglas's (1969) latest Jurassic or earliest 
Cretaceous Zone A floras are characterized by 
bennettitalean leaf forms not recognized in 
Western Australia. Victorian Zone B floras are also 
rich in bennettitaleans but only one Western 
Australian form (Ptilophyllum boolensis) is shared 
suggesting significant intra-Australian floristic 
provincialism. Nevertheless, the abundance of 
bennettitaleans in Zone B suggests better 
correlation with the Western Australian floras than 
does the succeeding Zone C where bennettitaleans 
are entirely absent. The Victorian Zone C (?late 
Neocomian to early Albian) floras also differ from 
the Western Australian assemblages by the 
presence of ginkgophytes, sphenophytes, 
angiosperms, and a range of distinctive 
pteridophyte and conifer species (Drinnan and 
Chambers 1986). A few species ( Taeniopteris 
daintreei, Sphenopteris warragulensis, and Aculea 
bifida) are shared between these assemblages but 
some of these forms may be long-ranging. Douglas' 
(1969) Zone D (middle-?late Albian) floras are 
dominated by conifer and fern species which are 
not represented in Western Australia. Australian 
Cenomanian floras mark the decline of many 
gymnosperm groups and diversification of the 
angiosperms (McLoughlin et al. 1995). 
The Talbragar Fish Bed flora (Merrygoen 
Ironstone Member of tire Purlawaugh Formation) 
illustrated by Walkom (1921a) and White (1981) is 
generally regarded as late Early Jurassic in age 
(Hind and Helby 1969; Gould 1975) but contains a 
number of superficially similar plant fossils to the 
Western Australian Early Cretaceous assemblages 
including species of Taeniopteris, Thinnfeldia, 
Prachyphyllum (Araucaria herein), Nilssonia, and 
Rissikia (= Elatocladus). However most forms can be 
distinguished at species level and the generic 
similarities may be due to palaeoecological 
similarities between these assemblages. The Early 
and Middle Jurassic floras of the Marburg 
Formation, Walloon Coal Measures, and 
equivalents in the Clarence—Moreton Basin of New 
South Wales and Queensland (Walkom 1915, 
1917a,b, 1919b; Hill et al. 1966; Gould 1971, 1980; 
McLoughlin and Drinnan 1995) also share several 
genera with the Western Australian Cretaceous 
assemblages but clear species-level distinctions are 
apparent. Plant assemblages from the Dalrymple 
Sandstone, Laura Basin, initially assigned to the 
Cretaceous by Walkom (1928) are now regarded as 
Jurassic in age (Gould 1975) and only share one 
species ( Microphyllopteris gleichenioides) with the 
Western Australian assemblages. The Middle to 
Late Jurassic floras of the Yarragadee Formation, 
Perth Basin, Western Australia (Arber 1910; 
Walkom 1921a; McLoughlin and Hill, in press) 
contain Otozamites fronds and Pagiophyllum 
branchlets that differ from the Early Cretaceous 
fossils. Several other fragmentary plant fossils have 
been recorded from the Yarragadee assemblages 
but the flora requires systematic revision. 
A small plant assemblage of probable Late 
Jurassic age from the Hooray Sandstone in the 
northwestern Eromanga Basin, Northern Territory' 
(Gould 1978), is dominated by Bennettitalean 
fronds (Ptilophyllum sp.) and conifer twigs but no 
species are shared with the Western Australian 
Cretaceous floras. 
The Maryborough Formation of the 
Maryborough Basin, Queensland, contains a small 
macroflora showing some similar elements 
[Taeniopteris spp., Ptilophyllum pecten (= 
?Ptilophyllum cutchense)] to the Western Australian 
assemblages (Walkom 1918). However, the 
Maryborough Formation floras are more similar to 
the Gippsland Basin Zone C (?late Neocomian to 
earliest Aptian) macrofloras in terms of the conifer, 
ginkgophyte and equisetalean groups represented. 
The Albian Burrum Coal Measure flora from the 
Maryborough Basin (Walkom 1919a) has a number 
of generic similarities to Western Australian 
assemblages but there are few conspecific elements. 
The presence of angiosperms and ginkgophytes in 
the Burrum flora suggests closer correlation with 
the Victorian Zone C-D floras. Similarly, the Styx 
Coal Measures of central Queensland are also 
characterized by the presence of angiosperms and 
are probably of Albian age (Walkom 1919a; 
Dettmann and Playford 1969; Dettmann and 
Douglas 1976). 
The little-studied Stanwell Coal Measures west 
of Rockhampton, Queensland, are associated with 
marine strata yielding Neocomian bivalves 
(Skwarko 1968 and early to middle Albian 
palynofloras (Dettmann and Playford 1969). They 
also contain a macroflora consisting of Equisetites 
sp., Cladophlebis sp., Phyllopteroides laevis, 
Taeniopteris spp. (cf. Taeniopteris daintreei), 
Ptilophyllum pecten (cf. Ptilophyllum cutchense), 
Araucarites polycarpa Tenison-woods, and 
Elatocladus plana (cf. Elatocladus ginginensis), 
showing strong similarities to the Western 
Australian assemblages (Walkom 1915, 1917a,b; 
Hill et al. 1966; Cantrill and Webb 1987). Cantrill 
and Webb (1987) suggested a Neocomian age for 
the Stanwell Coal Measures owing to the 
occurrence of the index fossil Phyllopteroides laevis 
