Revision of Supposed Jurassic Angiosperms from New Zealand

Abstract

IN Arber¹, Laurent identified two angiosperms, Artocarpidium arberi Laurent and Phyllites sp., on a slab of matrix from a large collection from Waikato Heads; Arber¹ also identified Cladophlebis australis (Morris) in the same slab and suggested a Neocomian age for the whole collection. In spite of intensive collecting at Waikato Heads, no further angiosperms have been found, and Edwards² doubted whether the slab came from Waikato Heads. He concluded that the rest of the Waikato Heads flora is Upper Jurassic. Evidence is presented here in support of Edwards's suggestion that the slab did not come from Waikato Heads; and further that it came from Upper Cretaceous (about Maestrichtian) coal measures of Pakawau, South Island. The age of the remaining plant fossils truly from Waikato Heads is not precisely known. Dr. C. A. Fleming (New Zealand Geological Survey) has told me that the underlying marine beds are probably Neocomian.