''Palaeoaldrovanda splendens'' is a
form taxon
Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncertainty; the goal of sc ...
of uncertain identity.
It was for a long time thought to be an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
angiosperm
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 ...
allied to the
carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans
Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...
genus ''
Aldrovanda
''Aldrovanda'' is a genus of carnivorous plants encompassing one extant species (''Aldrovanda vesiculosa'', the waterwheel plant) and numerous extinct taxa. The genus is named in honor of the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the founder of ...
''.
Cajsa Lisa Anderson ''et al.'' (2005) wrote: "synapomorphic characters that link the fossils seeds
f ''P. splendens''to extant ''Aldrovanda'' include hard
testa with an outer epidermis of
palisade cell
Palisade cells are plant cells located on the leaves, right below the epidermis and cuticle that is the outermost layer of the leaf. In simpler terms, they are known as leaf cells. Palisade means "stake" in latin, they are vertically elongated an ...
s and with a smooth, strongly reflecting surface, short