A fossil genus of the Frullaniaceae (Porellales, Jungermanniopsida) from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar

Recent findings established the Albian-Cenomanian amber of Myanmar (Burmese amber) as an important source of Mesozoic cryptogams. Here, we describe an inclusion within Burmese amber as Protofrullania cornigera gen. et sp. nov. in the extant family Frullaniaceae (Porellales, Jungermanniopsida). Diagnostic characters include its incubous leaves consisting of a dorsal lobe and a ventral lobule forming a watersac, and strap-shaped, prominent underleaves producing a rhizoid bundle from the uppermost sector of the long, narrow disc. Bark fragments connected to some of the rhizoid bundles provide evidence that the fossil was an epiphyte.