Jaguariba Explained

Jaguariba wiersemana was a species of herbaceous, rhizomatous, aquatic plant, which occurred in the early Cretaceous period of Northern Gondwana.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Jaguariba wiersemana was an aquatic herbaceous plant with up to 15 mm wide rhizomes and up to 1.5 mm wide adventitious roots. The petiolate, alternately arranged, simple leaves had elliptic-ovate, 16-53 mm long, and 19-69 mm wide leaf blades. The petioles were 42-118 mm long, and 2-6 mm wide. The leaf venation was actinodromous.^[1]

Taxonomy

Publication

It was first described by Clément Coiffard, Barbara Adelheid Rosina Mohr, and Mary Elizabeth Cerruti Bernardes-de-Oliveira in 2013.

Type specimen

The holotype is kept in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. The type locality is Nova Olinda, Brazil.

Position within Nymphaeales

It is placed within the family Nymphaeaceae.^[2]

Etymology

The generic name Jaguariba is derived from Rio Jaguaribe in Ceará, Brazil. The specific epithet wiersemana honours John Harry Wiersema.

Notes and References

1. Coiffard, C., Mohr, B. A., & Bernardes-de-Oliveira, M. E. (2013). "Jaguariba wiersemana gen. nov. et sp. nov., an Early Cretaceous member of crown group Nymphaeales (Nymphaeaceae) from northern Gondwana." Taxon, 62(1), 141-151.
2. Coiffard, C., Bernardes-de-Oliveira, M.E.C. (2020). Angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous of Northern Gondwana: A Track Record. In: Iannuzzi, R., Rößler, R., Kunzmann, L. (eds) Brazilian Paleofloras. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90913-4_31-1