''Fothergilla malloryi'' is an extinct species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Hamamelidaceae Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier syste ...

known from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

leaves found in the early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

Klondike Mountain Formation deposits of northern

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. The ''F. malloryi'' leaves are the earliest appearance in the fossil record of a member of the witchalder genus ''

Fothergilla ''Fothergilla'' (witch alder) is a genus of two to four species of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to woodland and swamps of the southeastern United States. They are low-growing deciduous shrubs growing to tall with downy ...

'', which includes the living species '' F. gardenii'', and '' F. major'', both of which are native to the southeastern United States. The genus also includes three or four other fossil species with two Asian Miocene species, '' F. viburnifolia'' from China, '' F. ryozenensis'' from Japan along with one Miocene North American species, '' F. praeolata'' of Oregon. '' Fothergilla durhamensis'' described from Eocene sediments in

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the ...

is considered dubious in placement, and it was transferred to the genus '' Platimeliphyllum'' by Huegele ''et al.'' (2021).

History and classification

''Fothergilla malloryi'' is represented by a single counterpart

compression fossil A compression fossil is a fossil preserved in sedimentary rock that has undergone physical compression. While it is uncommon to find animals preserved as good compression fossils, it is very common to find plants preserved this way. The reason f ...

specimen from the

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian ...

aged Klondike Mountain Formation which outcrops in Republic,

Ferry County, Washington Ferry County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,178, making it the fourth-least populous county in Washington. The county seat and largest city is Republic. T ...

. The age of the formation is based on

Argon–argon dating Argon–argon (or 40Ar/39Ar) dating is a radiometric dating method invented to supersede potassiumargon (K/Ar) dating in accuracy. The older method required splitting samples into two for separate potassium and argon measurements, while the newer ...

, which has returned a date of 49.4 ±0.5 million years old. The fossil was recovered from "Boot Hill",

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

site UWBM B4131 located within the city limits of Republic. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

specimen for ''Fothergilla malloryi'' is numbered UWBM 56625 and currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. The specimen was studied by paleobotanists Meghan G. Radtke and Kathleen B. Pigg of the School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University and Wesley C. Wehr of the

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (Burke Museum) is a natural history museum in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. Established in 1899 as the Washington State Museum, it traces its origins to a high school naturalist club fo ...

in Seattle. Radtke, Pigg and Wehr published their 2005

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

for ''F. malloryi'' in the ''

International Journal of Plant Sciences The ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' covers botanical research including genetics and genomics, developmental and cell biology, biochemistry and physiology, morphology and structure, systematics, plant-microbe interactions, paleobotany, ...

''. The

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

of the specific name ''malloryi'' was derived from V. Standish Mallory, University of Washington professor of geology and paleontology,V.-Standish-Mallory Encyclopædia Britannica>
/ref> in honor of his contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Washington State.

Description

The specimen used for the description of ''F. malloryi'' is a simple, ovate leaf having a slightly asymmetric base. The overall length of the leaf is and is at the widest point near the base. The pinnate secondary veins diverge from the primary vein at an angle of 53° and form a craspedodromous patterning. The leaf margin has large rounded, possibly glandular teeth each with a single major vein. ''F. malloryi'' is similar in size range to the extant ''F gardenii'' and the Miocene ''F. viburnifolia'', but differs in the structuring of the leaf base. ''F. malloryi'' is generally shorter and less elongated then the Miocene species ''F. ryozenensis'' while the Oregon species ''F. praeolata'' has a notably different overall shape and petiole structure.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5473927 Hamamelidaceae Flora of Washington (state) Fossil taxa described in 2005 Plants described in 2005 Ypresian plants of North America Extinct flora of North America Klondike Mountain Formation