Carpological Evidence for Fossil Eucalyptus and Other Leptospermeae (Subfamily Leptospermoideae of Myrtaceae) From a Tertiary Deposit in the South Australian Arid Zone

Abstract

A silicified fossil flora containing fruits like those of Leptospermeae (subfamily Leptospermoideae of Myrtaceae) is reported from the South Australian arid zone. The fossils are surface moulds and casts only. A selection is illustrated and discussed. Some are consistent with various sorts of Eucalyptus. Others resemble fruits of Leptospermum, Melaleuca and Callistemon, Calothamnus and Angophora. The flora is Tertiary, probably late Tertiary but possibly much older. The fossils and their circumstances are consistent with a mid-Tertiary central southern Australian eucalypt vegetation, in which the various series of eucalypts were already differentiated as postulated in existing, widely held views of eucalypt evolution and prehistory.