Oldest fruit of Phyllanthaceae from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Singpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

A permineralized fruit from the latest Cretaceous of central India is recognized as a member of the malpighialean family Phyllanthaceae. The fruit is a tricarpellate, septicidal capsule 2.8 mm in diameter possessing two ellipsoidal seeds per locule. The pericarp includes two main layers, each uniseriate and composed mainly of columnar cells. This fruit, named Phyllanthocarpon singpurensis gen. et sp. nov., confirms the presence of Phyllanthaceae in India ca 66 million years ago, well prior to its tectonic fusion with Eurasia, and is an early record for the euphorbioid clade in Malpighiales.