Fossil mega- and microflora from the Březno Beds s.s. (Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, Coniacian)

The fossil megaflora of the Březno beds s.s. (fine-grained mudstone-dominated facies, as opposed to the coarse-grained facies of the so-called Chlomek or Chloumek beds, both constituting the Březno Formation s.l.) is investigated on the basis of 38 specimens, 31 of them coming from Březno. The other localities are Podlesí (Waldek or Valdek), Opatovice nad Labem, and Vršovice u Loun. The most common species are the conifers Frenelopsis cf. alata (9 specimens, 24% of the material) and Geinitzia reichenbachii (8 specimens, 21%). In the entire assemblage conifers are represented by five taxa (31% of the total) and 26 specimens (68% of the total). Angiosperms (10 taxa, 63% of the total) are mostly represented by single specimens.Fertile material includes conifers Araucaria fricii (Araucariaceae) and Sphenolepis lepidota (Cupressaceae) as well as angiosperms Anthocephale bohemica (infrutescence incertae sedis) and Allericarpus parvivalvis (Bayer) J. Kvaček et Heřmanová (Ericales, fruit). The rest of the megaflora consists of leaves. The new form group Elattophylls Halamski [represented in the material studied by Densinervum manifestum (Bayer) Halamski and J. Kvaček] is proposed for leaves with low rank venation. Rubiaephyllum Bayer emend. J. Kvaček is emended as a fossil-genus for elliptic leaves with pinnate venation and an apical gland. The following new combinations are introduced: Sphenolepis lepidota (Bayer) J. Kvaček et Halamski comb. nov., Dicotylophyllum caloneurum (Bayer) Halamski and J. Kvaček comb. nov., and Densinervum manifestum (Bayer) Halamski and J. Kvaček comb. nov.The microflora was investigated at Březno and is dominated by marine species (58%, 16 taxa). Among terrestrial palynomorphs (26 taxa) the Normapolles group is the richest with the most diversified genus Trudopollis (five species). The occurrence of Vitreisporites pallidus (Reissinger) Nilsson is the youngest record of the Caytoniales in Europe and is only slightly older than the youngest world record of this group of plants (Santonian of Sakhalin). The palynomorph assemblage allows the studied flora to be dated to the Coniacian.