Abietites linkii(Römer) andPseudotorellia heterophyllaWatson: coniferous or ginkgoalean?

Cheirolepidiacean foliage and pollen from Cretaceous high-latitudes of southeastern Australia

“…Fossils Libocedrus acutifolius and Libocedrus obtusifolius from the late Paleocene of Australia (Whang and Hill, 1999) have a Florin ring that is divided into lobes, but no true papillae overarching the stomatal pore. Pseudotorellia linkii Watson in Watson and Harrison, (1998), has overarching papillae on subsidiary cells but is distinctly multiveined (Watson and Harrison, 1998).…”

New Ginkgophytes from the Upper Triassic–Lower Cretaceous of Spitsbergen and Edgeøya (Svalbard, Arctic Norway): The History of Ginkgoales on Svalbard

“…The difference between them is cryptically recognized in the different cutinization of subsidiary and normal epidermal cells. Lundblad (1957Lundblad ( , 1968 and Bose and Manum (1990) translated and slightly emended Florin's diagnosis of the genus, not accepting the emendation by Watson (1969) that was done to include a Wealden species, which later turned out to be a synonym of the conifer Abietites linkii (Römer) Dunker (Watson and Harrison 1998). Bose and Manum (1990) discussed the genus circumscription and also its position, treating it as ginkgophyte.…”

“…The assignment of Pseudotorellia to the Ginkgoales or ginkgophytes has recently been challenged (Watson and Harrison 1998), and its taxonomic position is currently debated (Kiritchkova and Nosova 2009). A consensus has not been reached yet, and it remains unclear whether Pseudotorellia is a ginkgophyte or a conifer similar to broad-leaved, multiveined conifers of the Araucariaceae.…”

“…A consensus has not been reached yet, and it remains unclear whether Pseudotorellia is a ginkgophyte or a conifer similar to broad-leaved, multiveined conifers of the Araucariaceae. According to Kiritchkova and Nosova (2009), at least some of the species assigned to Pseudotorellia are definitely ginkgophytic, whereas some others might be coniferophytic, according to Watson and Harrison (1998). The latter paper, however, was not considered by Kiritchkova and Nosova (2009), who accepted the Svalbard species as ginkgophyte.…”

“…However, the authors did not give further notice of what those characters are. If the characters pointed out by Watson and Harrison (1998;hypostomatic, fewer veins, thick cuticles, strictly longitudinal alignment, and elongation of stomata and all ordinary epidermal cells) are considered to assign Pseudotorellia to conifers rather than to ginkgophytes, then other genera, such as Arberophyllum and Desmiophyllum, that are regarded as ginkgophytes would also have to be reconsidered as conifers rather than ginkgophytes. It has to be admitted that even Kiritchkova and Nosova (2009) do not provide strong evidence why the characters they define for Pseudotorellia justify a ginkgophyte affinity.…”