Nuphaea Explained

Nuphaea engelhardtii was a species of aquatic plant, which occurred in the Eocene period of Germany.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Nuphaea engelhardtii was an aquatic plant with petiolate, macrophyllous, simple, ovate leaves with an entire margin. The base of the lamina is cordate. The leaves have a prominent medial vein.

Taxonomy

Publication

It was published by Carole T. Gee and David Winship Taylor in 2019.

Type specimen

The type specimen was collected by Hermann Engelhardt in the Messel Pit, Hessen, Germany.^[1]

Position within Nymphaeales

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

Etymology

The generic name Nuphaea reflects the intermediate position of the genus between the genera Nuphar and Nymphaea. The specific epithet engelhardtii honours the German paleobotanist Hermann Engelhardt (1839–1918).

Ecology

Habitat

It grew at the edges of the Messel lake.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Gee, C. T., & Taylor, D. W. (2019). "An Extinct Transitional Leaf Genus of Nymphaeaceae from the Eocene Lake at Messel, Germany: Nuphaea engelhardtii Gee et David W. Taylor gen. et sp. nov." International Journal of Plant Sciences, 180(7), 724-736.
2. Vera, E. I., Loinaze, V. S. P., Moyano-Paz, D., Coronel, M. D., Manabe, M., Tsuihiji, T., & Novas, F. E. (2022). Paleobotany of the uppermost Cretaceous Chorrillo Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina: insights in a freshwater floral community. Cretaceous Research, 138, 105296.
3. Smith, K. T. (2021). The Messel Pit: Window into a Greenhouse World. Geoconservation Research, 4(2), 547-556.