A fossil fern indicator of epiphytism in a Tertiary flora

Abstract

The first known indicator of probable fern epiphytism in the Tertiary fossil record is documented from the Eocene London Clay of southeast England. This pyritised fern rachis exhibits major deviation from the basic form of petiolar vascular trace morphology shown by the other London Clay fossil ferns and is here attributed to the Polypodiaceae. This represents the first known occurrence of this family in the London Clay macroflora, and brings the total of distinct fern rachis types from the Lower Tertiary of southeast England to six. The significance of this find is interpreted in relation to its probable origins from a tropical rainforest palaeoflora in which it is proposed that this specimen represents the first occurrence of an epiphytic component.