Epidermal Anatomy of Glyptostrobus Europaeus (Brongn.) Unger from The Late Oligocene of The Westerwald (Rhinelandpalatinate, W-Germany)

Abstract

Details of the epidermal anatomy of Glyptostrobus europaeus (BRONGN.) UNGER from the Late Oligocene locality Norken in the Westerwald (Rhineland-Palatinate, W-Germany) are documented and described by means of scanning electron microscopy of in situ cuticles. The taxon had a wide distribution over the entire Northern Hemisphere during the Oligocene and it is considered to represent the most common conifer during the Cenozoic of Europe, but cuticles from this taxon are rarely figured in the literature. The cuticles from Norken exhibit cellular patterns and details (e.g. of stomatal complexes) typical for taxodioid Cupressaceae. Anatomical observations are in close agreement with results for this taxon from other Central European localities. The in situ cuticles had already fragmented into very small pieces, and this explains why it was so far impossible to retrieve cuticles from this locality by means of standard cuticular analytic techniques.