Nuphaea

Nuphaea; Temporal range: Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Spermatophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Order:	Nymphaeales
Family:	Nymphaeaceae
Genus:	†Nuphaea; Gee et David W. Taylor
Species:	†N. engelhardtii
Binomial name
	†Nuphaea engelhardtii; Gee et David W. Taylor

Nuphaea engelhardtii was a species of aquatic plant, which occurred in the Eocene period of Germany.¹

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Nuphaea engelhardtii was an aquatic plant with petiolate, macrophyllous, simple, ovate leaves with an entire margin. The base of the lamina is cordate. The leaves have a prominent medial vein.¹

Taxonomy

Publication

It was published by Carole T. Gee and David Winship Taylor in 2019.¹

Type specimen

The type specimen was collected by Hermann Engelhardt in the Messel Pit, Hessen, Germany.¹

Position within Nymphaeales

It is placed within the family Nymphaeaceae.²¹

Etymology

The generic name Nuphaea reflects the intermediate position of the genus between the genera Nuphar and Nymphaea. The specific epithet engelhardtii honours the German paleobotanist Hermann Engelhardt (1839–1918).¹

Ecology

Habitat

It grew at the edges of the Messel lake.³

References

Gee, Carole T. & Taylor, David Winship (2019). "An extinct transitional leaf genus of Nymphaeaceae from the Eocene Lake at Messel, Germany: Nuphaea engelhardtii Gee et David W. Taylor gen. et sp. nov". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 180 (7): 724–736. doi:10.1086/704376.
Vera, Ezequiel I.; Perez Loinaze, Valeria S.; Moyano-Paz, Damián; Coronel, Marina D.; Manabe, Makoto; Tsuihiji, Takanobu & Novas, Fernando E. (2022). "Paleobotany of the uppermost Cretaceous Chorrillo Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina: insights in a freshwater floral community". Cretaceous Research. 138 105296. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105296.
Smith, Krister (2021). "The Messel Pit: Window into a Greenhouse World". Geoconservation Research. 4 (2). doi:10.30486/gcr.2021.1926272.1087.

[Gee_&_Taylor,_2019-1] Gee, Carole T. & Taylor, David Winship (2019). "An extinct transitional leaf genus of Nymphaeaceae from the Eocene Lake at Messel, Germany: Nuphaea engelhardtii Gee et David W. Taylor gen. et sp. nov". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 180 (7): 724–736. doi:10.1086/704376.

[Vera_et_al.,_2022-2] Vera, Ezequiel I.; Perez Loinaze, Valeria S.; Moyano-Paz, Damián; Coronel, Marina D.; Manabe, Makoto; Tsuihiji, Takanobu & Novas, Fernando E. (2022). "Paleobotany of the uppermost Cretaceous Chorrillo Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina: insights in a freshwater floral community". Cretaceous Research. 138 105296. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105296.

[Smith,_2021-3] Smith, Krister (2021). "The Messel Pit: Window into a Greenhouse World". Geoconservation Research. 4 (2). doi:10.30486/gcr.2021.1926272.1087.

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