Pallioporia symplocoides

Lignified fruit in drupe of Pallioporia From an old collection.

A drupe is a type of fleshy fruit with a seed enclosed in a hard stone, called an endocarp, which in turn is surrounded by a pulp (mesocarp) and a skin (epicarp). Common examples of drupes are cherries, peaches, plums, olives and mangoes.

Pallioporia It is a genus of plants belonging to the Symplocaceae family (order Ericales) including species of mainly mountainous trees and shrubs, currently distributed in warm regions of America and eastern Asia to Australasia. Although not currently found in Europe, the family was well represented there during the Tertiary, with at least eleven distinct species of Symplocos recognizable from fossil fruits in the European Neogene. In addition to several fossil species of Symplocos and two extinct genera of fruits attributed to Pallioporia and Sphenotheca.

Currently, the Adendorf Mine contains predominantly light gray silty sands to clays over weathered Devonian rocks, the Tertiary thickness is approximately 46 m. In the lower half of the outcrop, two lignite horizons are distinguished, which can be traced along the entire outcrop. Additionally, there are numerous channel systems with pronounced erosion unconformities, as well as stratified and lenticular concentrations of plant remains, including seeds, fruits, leaves, and conifer cones. These deposits are interpreted as wash lines in the area of ​​meandering rivers. The rich macroflora of the Adendorf clay quarry was studied in particular by GOSSMANN (1989) and WINTERSCHEID (1990). The plants can be assigned to a species-rich mixed laurel forest, while on the sandbanks the pine and laurel forest elements formed much more species-poor stands.

Most of the finds come from accumulations interpreted as wash margins. Tree trunks up to several meters long are found here, as well as cones, fruits and seeds. Very common elements are Pinus sp. (Pinaceae = pine family), Trigonobalanopsis exacantha (Fagaceae = beech family), Tectocarya sp. y Mastixia sp. (both Mastixiaceae), Leucothoe narbonnensis (Ericaceae = heather family), Sphenotheca incurva y Symplocos spp. (both Symplocaceae). The flora of coarse clastic gullies, on the other hand, is much poorer in species and consists of larger remnants (cones of Pinus and Mastixiaceae). A flora poor in species was also recovered in the two lignite seams, where Carpolithus hafniensii is the most common (Carpolithus is a collective genus for systematically unclassifiable fruits or seeds). This species is frequently found in lignite seams or high-carbon sediments in the Rhineland and is considered typical of peat bog and swamp biotopes.

The box is included in the price.