A middle Eocene fossil plant assemblage (Powers Clay Pit) from western Tennessee

Abstract

Plant megafossils are described, illustrated and discussed from Powers Clay Pit, occurring in the middle Eocene, Claiborne Group of the Mississippi Embayment in western Tennessee. Twenty six species and eight types of plants, and two species of insect larval cases are represented in this study. They include Lauraceae, Annonaceae, Smilacaceae, Platanaceae, Altingiaceae, Myrtaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Salicaceae, Moraceae, Rhamnaceae, Sapindaceae, Nyssaceae, Theaceae, Apocynaceae, Rubiaceae, Araliaceae, Oleaceae, entire margin morphotype 1-5, tooth margin morphotype 1, reproductive structure morphotype 1, Folindusia, and Terrindusia. Specimens collected from Powers Pit are compared to those from previous studies from western Tennessee, the Claibome Group in general, and assessed in terms of extant relationships. The extant relationships of plant megafossils described in this study provide clues to the paleoenvironment of western Tennessee during the middle Eocene. The paleoenvironment may have been subtropical accommodating warm tropical to cool temperate plant species.