Monetianthus mirus was a species of fossil plant, which occurred in the early Cretaceous period of Portugal.Friis, E. M., Pedersen, K. R., von Balthazar, M., Grimm, G. W., & Crane, P. R. (2009). "Monetianthus mirus gen. et sp. nov., a nymphaealean flower from the Early Cretaceous of Portugal." International Journal of Plant Sciences, 170(8), 1086-1101.
Description Generative characteristics Monetianthus mirus had small, bisexual, actinomorphic flowers with 9-10 tepals. The androecium consists of 20 stamens. The pollen grains are monocolpate and reticulate. The gynoecium consists of 12 syncarpous carpels. The ovules are anatropous.
Taxonomy Publication It was published by Else Marie Friis, Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen, Maria von Balthazar, Guido W. Grimm, and Peter Robert Crane in 2009.
Type specimen The type specimen was collected in Vale de Agua in western Portugal.
Position within Nymphaeales It is placed in the family Nymphaeaceae.Fossilworks: Monetianthus mirus. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2024, from https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=207951 Alternatively, it has been proposed to include this genus in a newly described family Monetianthaceae Doweld.Doweld A.B. 2022. New names of fossil Nymphaeaceae and allied forms. Geophytology 52(1&2): 1–28.
Etymology The generic name Monetianthus honours Claude Monet. The specific epithet mirus, from the Latin mirus, means wonderful, remarkable, or extraordinary.
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