Lilla Hably

Pliocene mesophytic forests surrounding crater lakes in western Hungary

Abstract Two new palaeobotanical sites, Gerce and Pula from western Hungary, found in volcanic craters are characterized in terms of floristic composition, vegetation, and palaeoclimate. Radiometric dating of adjacent volcanic bodies indicates the age of the fossiliferous deposits near the Lower/Upper Pliocene boundary. Deciduous broad-leaved, woody plants prevail in both localities ( Quercus , Ulmus , Zelkova , Acer , Salicaceae) and are associated with some rare exotic elements ( Ginkgo , Torreya , Engelhardia , Eucommia , Sassafras ) and Buxus . The climatic conditions inferred from the reconstructed vegetation indicate a Cf-type of climate with a mean annual temperature of 10–13°C and some dry periods during the year.

Fruits of Tetrapterys (Malpighiaceae) from the Oligocene of Hungary and Slovenia

Propeller-like winged fruits of Tetrapterys harpyiarum Unger from the Oligocene of Sotzka, Budapest, Eger-Vécsey valley, and a new occurrence at Eger-Kiseged, were reinvestigated and compared in detail with extant species of Tetrapterys (Malpighiaceae) and with other dicotyledonous genera with four winged fruits. T. harpyiarum fruits are bilaterally symmetrical, consisting of a globose nut surrounded by four elongate wings with parallel venation. Tetrapterys is now distributed only in tropical America and this implies that there was an opportunity for Tetrapterys to spread between the Partethys region and the New World during the Tertiary.

Revision of 'Abelia' fruits from the Paleogene of Hungary, Czech Republic and England

Abstract Four-winged propeller-like fruits formerly attributed to Abelia (Caprifoliaceae) from the Late Eocene Bembridge flora of England, the Late Eocene Kuclin flora of Czech Republic and the Early Oligocene Obuda and Eger-Kiseged floras of Hungary have been reinvestigated based on about 50 specimens. Specimens with intact pedicels show that the calyx is hypogynous rather than epigynous as previously interpreted. Because they possess a superior ovary, they cannot belong to Abelia or to the Caprifoliaceae. The fossil was compared with other extant and fossil genera with similar four-winged fruits, but its systematic affinities remain uncertain. We assign the fruits to a new genus, Raskya , as Raskya vetusta (Ettingshausen) Manchester et Hably, comb. nov. Although its familial affinities remain uncertain, Raskya is significant biogeographically and biostratigraphically because of its occurrence both in Hungary and England in marginal marine strata of the Upper Eocene to Lower Oligocene. Other species of fossil fruits formerly attributed to Abelia are also rejected, and the fossil record of this genus remains to be convincingly documented.