The Early Cretaceous flora from Profeti, Caserta, Southern Italy

An examination has been carried out of the floral assemblage from the lower–middle Aptian locality of Profeti village, near Caserta, Campania, Southern Italy. The assemblage consists of vegetative and reproductive remains belonging to conifers and to isolated angiosperm leaves. The genera Brachyphyllum, Araucarites, Nageiopsis, Frenelopsis, and Cupressinocladus? are documented. Macroscopical and cuticular analyses with light and scanning electron microscopes enable the description of a new cheirolepidiacean species: Frenelopsis profetiensis.The assemblage shows the classical features of xeromorphy. Sedimentological analysis together with macroscopical and cuticular features of the studied samples, suggests a subtropical climate, probably under semi-arid or arid conditions. The floristic composition shows close affinities with other coeval Tethyan communities, but no similarity with the Gondwanan flora.