A new species of four-winged fruits (Trilobium maii sp. nov.) from the middle Eocene of Eckfeld (Eifel, Germany)

Various kinds of fruits and seeds are known from the bituminous shales filling a middle Eocene maar at Eckfeld near Manderscheid (Eifel, Germany), some clearly adapted to wind dispersal. One of them is a consistently four-winged fruit with a long stalk and a superior fruit body carrying persistent style and stigma. It is presently represented by more than 80 specimens and described as a new species of an extinct genus, Trilobium Saporta emend. All of the major characters of Trilobium maii sp. nov. are met in fruits of extant Anacardiaceae. However, some similarities to fruits of Porana (Convolvulaceae) may also be recognised. The new species is another example supporting the considerable amount of extinct taxa in Northern Hemisphere Paleogene floras. The mode of dispersal as indicated by such a type of winged fruits fits to a paratropical vegetation as previously suggested for the middle Eocene at Eckfeld. The locality represents the oldest occurrence for Trilobium fruits. By the late Eocene, they are known from a broader area in Europe, but, at the same time still completely unknown from North America and Asia.