Published June 4, 2026 | Version v1

Banisteriaecarpum giganteum Krausel 1952

  • 1. Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Palaeobiology, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2. University of Vienna, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Vienna, Austria & AZ Pollen Research (AZPR), Stockerau, Austria
  • 3. Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 4. Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

Description

Banisteriaecarpum giganteum (Goepp.) Kräusel, 1952

Fig. 14 A – E

Banisteriaecarpum giganteum (Goepp.) Kräusel Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf. Ges., (485): 80. 1952.

Material.

UMJ 79251, UMJ 79268, UMJ 79985, UMJ 79986, UMJ 79987, UMJ 79988, UMJ 79989, UMJ 79990, UMJ 79991, UMJ 79992, UMJ 79993, UMJ 80000, UMJ 80003, UMJ 80004, UMJ 80005, UMJ 80006, UMJ 222041, UMJ 222048, UMJ 222052, NHMW coll. Steinböck nos. 15 a, one unnumbered specimen.

Description.

Winged mericarps, general outline maple-like, mericarps up to 110–140 mm long, 40–50 mm wide, proximal part shortly stalked, with ovate to elliptic ovary, up to 35 mm long, distal part with a prominent wing.

Discussion.

These spectacular mericarps were originally assigned to Acer, but later work has placed them within Malvales (e. g., Kvaček and Hably 2014). Recent findings of fossil wood, foliage, and mericarps attached to a peduncle (Yamada et al. 2025) strongly suggest a closer relationship of the fruits of Banisteriaecarpum with the extant genus Triplochiton K. Schum. (Malvaceae s. l. subfamily Sterculioideae) from tropical Africa, based on the observation that fossil mericarps were attached to a peduncle with five attachment scars. Previously, Kvaček and Hably (2014) suggested closer relationships with Heritieria Aiton (incl. Tarrietia Blume; (Malvaceae s. l. subfamily Helicterioideae) with a modern range in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and eastwards to the Western Pacific. In the latter, the proximal part of the ovary with the elongated stalk and the mericarps are closely similar to the fossil ones, while in Triplochiton the ovaries are attached laterally. Since subfamilies Helicterioideae and Sterculioideae are not closely related (Hernández-Gutiérrez and Magallon 2019), the fossil-taxon might represent an extinct group displaying a mosaic of characters found in different extant subfamilies.

Notes

Published as part of Denk, Thomas, Bouchal, Johannes M., Dirr, Lukas, Nickel, Simon & Gross, Martin, 2026, The late Middle Miocene (late Sarmatian) flora of Graz-Andritz (Austria): Environmental, climatic, and biogeographic patterns, pp. 333-372 in Fossil Record 29 (1) on pages 333-372, DOI: 10.3897/fr.29.187793

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Additional details

References

  • Kvaček Z, Hably L (2014) The whole plant reconstruction of Banisteriaecarpum giganteum and Byttneriophyllum tiliifolium - a preliminary report. Folia Musei rerum naturalium Bohemiae occidentalis Geologica et Paleobiologica 48: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2478/fbgp-2014-0001
  • Yamada T, Nishino M, Uemura K (2025) New observations on extinct Malvaceae from the lower Miocene of Japan: Fruit morphology, taphonomy, biogeography and paleocology of Banisteriaecarpum and associated foliage, pollen and wood. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 337: e 105331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2025.105331
  • Hernández-Gutiérrez R, Magallon S (2019) The timing of Malvales evolution: Incorporating its extensive fossil record to inform about lineage diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 140: e 106606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106606