The problematic genus Problematospermum

Abstract

AbstractThe name Problematospermum has been used for Mesozoic age fossil seeds with a tuft of hairs at one end, the systematic affinity of which is uncertain. The generic name and names of two species were introduced by Turutanova‐Ketova but not validated in her 1930 publication. Paleobotanists have evidently been unaware of this because Turutanova‐Ketova is consistently cited as the authority for the names. Krassilov inadvertently validated the generic name Problematospermum and species name P. ovale in 1973, so the authority should be cited as “Turut.‐Ket. ex Krassilov”. This paper clarifies the nomenclatural problems surrounding these names. An additional problem is that the type specimen indicated by Krassilov is missing. A neotype is designated here to replace the missing type for P. ovale. The generic diagnosis for Problematospermum is amended to clarify contradictory interpretations in the literature.