Early history of Cainozoic Asteraceae along the Southern African west coast

A previous report of pollen of Mutisieae (Asteraceae) from marine sediments off the southern Namibian west coast is re-assessed and planktic foraminifera data are presented that support an Eocene age for the fossil specimens. The pollen grains in the marine sediments could be the oldest record for the family. An Eocene age for Mutisieae-like forms confirms that this group is basal in the Asteraceae and that the family originated in the Gondwanan region of southern Africa and South America. The prominence of this pollen type in the Palaeogene may relate to the early development of subtropical aridity in the region.