View source for Langeria

{{short description|Extinct genus of flowering plants}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Langeria magnifica 02.jpg
| image_upright = 0.7
| image_caption =
| genus = Langeria
| species = magnifica
| parent_authority = [[Jack A. Wolfe|Wolfe]] & [[Wesley Wehr|Wehr]]
| authority = Wolfe & Wehr
}}
'''''Langeria''''' is an [[extinct]] genus of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Platanaceae]] containing the solitary species '''''Langeria magnifica'''''. ''Langeria'' is known from [[fossil]] leaves found in the early [[Eocene]] deposits of northern [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], United States and similar aged formations in [[British Columbia]], Canada.<ref name="Dillhoff2005">{{cite journal |last1=Dillhoff |first1=R.M. |last2=Leopold |first2=E.B. |last3=Manchester |first3=S.R. |year=2005 |title=The McAbee flora of British Columbia and its relations to the Early-Middle Eocene Okanagan Highlands flora of the Pacific Northwest |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=151–166 |doi=10.1139/e04-084|bibcode=2005CaJES..42..151D }}</ref>
==Distribution==
''Langeria magnifica'' has been identified from a series of locations ranging from the [[Klondike Mountain Formation]] near [[Republic, Washington]]<ref name="WandW87">{{cite journal |last1=Wolfe |first1=J.A. |last2= Wehr |first2=W.C. |year=1987 |title=Middle Eocene dicotyledonous plants from Republic, northeastern Washington |journal= United States Geological Survey Bulletin |volume=1597 |pages=1–25}}</ref> north. At least three locations in British Columbia have ''Langeria'' fossils, including the [[Coldwater Beds]] Quilchena locality near [[Merritt, British Columbia|Merritt]], the [[Tranquille Formation]]s [[McAbee Fossil Beds]] near [[Kamloops, British Columbia|Kamloops]], and the [[Chu Chua Formation]]s Joseph Creek site near [[Chu Chua, British Columbia|Chu Chua]]. Generally speaking, the age for the locations is [[Early Eocene]], with the sites that have current [[uranium–lead dating|uranium–lead]] or [[argon–argon dating|argon–argon]] radiometric dates being of [[Ypresian]] age, while the undated sites and sites with less current dating being possibly slightly younger and [[Lutetian]] in age.<ref name="Greenwood2005">{{cite journal |last1=Greenwood |first1=D.R. |last2=Archibald |first2=S.B. |last3=Mathewes |first3=R.W |last4=Moss |first4=P.T. |year=2005 |title=Fossil biotas from the Okanagan Highlands, southern British Columbia and northeastern Washington State: climates and ecosystems across an Eocene landscape |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=167–185 |doi=10.1139/E04-100|bibcode=2005CaJES..42..167G }}</ref>
==History and classification==
''Langeria magnifica'' was described from a series of [[type specimens]], the actual [[holotype]] specimen being UW 39713, in the [[paleobotany|paleobotanical]] collections of [[Burke Museum]], University of Washington, and its [[Compression fossil|counterpart]] being UCMP 9273, currently preserved in the [[University of California Museum of Paleontology]]. An additional eight leaves from both the Burke Museum and UC Museum of Paleontology were designated [[paratype]]s specimens. Working from those specimens, collected in the [[Republic, Washington]] area in the early 1980s, the fossils were studied by [[Jack A. Wolfe]] of the [[University of California]] and [[Wesley C. Wehr]] of the Burke Museum.<ref name="WandW87"/> They published their 1987 [[Type (biology)|type description]] for the genus and species in a [[United States Geological Survey]] [[monograph]] on the North Eastern Washington dicot fossils. The genus name ''Langeria'' is a [[matronym]] honoring the American [[Philosophy of mind|philosopher of mind]], [[Susanne K. Langer]], who influenced the analysis and organization of scientific data.<ref name="WandW87"/> The [[Botanical name|specific epithet]] ''magnifica'' would imply "magnificently large". Wolfe and Wehr note that the extinct species ''[[Fortunearia weedi|"Fortunearia" weedi]]'' is distinctly similar to ''Langeria magnifica'' and might turn out to be [[Congener (biology)|congeneric]].<ref name="WandW87"/>
When first described, ''L. magnifica'' was placed in the family [[Hamamelidaceae]], commonly known as the [[witch-hazel]] family,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jf1bbevG5TMC&pg=PA243|title=Life in Stone: A Natural History of British Columbia's Fossils|first=Rolf |last=Ludvigsen|year=2011|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0774841511|page=243}}</ref> by Wolfe and Wehr.  This placement was later questioned and the genus was subsequently reclassified by Indah Huegele and Steven Manchester (2022) as a member of the [[plane tree]] family [[Platanaceae]].<ref name="Langeria2022">{{cite journal |last1=Huegele |first1=I. B. |last2=Manchester |first2=S. R. |year=2022 |title=Newly Recognized Reproductive Structures Linked with ''Langeria'' from the Eocene of Washington, USA, and their Affinities with Platanaceae |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=183 |issue=5 |pages=367–379|doi=10.1086/720138 }}</ref>
==Description==
The simple leaves of ''Langeria magnifica'' are generally [[Pinnation|pinnate]] in venation with an overall ovate to elliptical shape and an apex that is notably pointed. The [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] can reach lengths of up to {{convert|6|cm|in|abbr=on}} The margin of the leaf has evenly spaced, distinct hook-shaped teeth with rounded [[Sinus (botany)|sinuses]] separating them.<ref name="WandW87"/> The teeth are entered by a secondary vein or by a veinlet from the loop of a secondary vein. The primary vein has between ten and twelve secondary veins diverging from it at low angles toward the apex and getting higher in angle towards the base. The simple or forking tertiary veins diverge from the {{convert|0.3|-|0.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} apart, and the quaternary ones form a coarse reticulated pattern surrounding the [[areole]]s.<ref name="WandW87"/>
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18345070}}
[[Category:Hamamelidaceae|†]]
[[Category:Prehistoric angiosperm genera]]
[[Category:Ypresian plants of North America]]
[[Category:Monotypic Saxifragales genera]]
[[Category:Extinct flora of North America]]
[[Category:Coldwater Beds]]
[[Category:Chu Chua Formation]]
[[Category:Klondike Mountain Formation]]
[[Category:Tranquille Formation]]
[[Category:Taxa described in 1987]]