A N N A L E S H I S T O R I C O - N A T U R A L E S M U S E I N A T I O N A L I S H U N G A R I C I Volume 89. Budapest, 1997 pp. 5-10.

A newly recovered collection of the E a r l y Miocene flora of K y m i (Greece) previously misinterpreted

as the Upper Miocene flora of Tál lya (NE Hungary)

ERDEI, B. 1 & Z . K V A Í E K 2

1 Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum H-1087 Budapest, Könyves Kálmán krt. 40, Hungary

Department of Palaeontology, Charles University Albertov 6, Praha 2, Czech Republic

ERDEI, B. & K V A Í E K , Z. (1997): A newly recovered collection of the Early Miocene flora of Kymi (Greece) previously misinterpreted as the Upper Miocene flora of Tállya (NE Hungary). - Annls hist.-nat. Mus. natn. hung. 89: 5-10.

Abstract - A collection of Tertiary plants from 1875, kept in the Hungarian National Museum, Bu­dapest without indicated locality was wrongly interpreted by KLÁRA RÁSKY, the keeper of the col­lection, as coming from the Upper Miocene flora of Tállya. The type of formated pieces of marl, the composition of the flora and the composition of the ostracod assemblage differ from all known data from this part of the Hungarian Upper Miocene. On the other hand, the material exactly mat­ches collections from the last century distributed into various European museums from Kymi situ­ated on the Island of Evia (Euboia), Greece. This Early Miocene flora includes a quite characteris­tic and partly endemic assemblage, which is also typical of the collection at hand. With 9 figures.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Hungary is quite rich in Upper Miocene palaeontological localities. Most of them are situated in northeastern Hungary in the Tokaj-Eperjes Mountains (Fig. 1 ) . Two sites, E rdőbénye and Tál lya, yielded plant fossils on which several widely spread woody ele­ments were described for the first time.

G Y U L A K O V Á T S was the first who studied the floras of Erdőbénye and Tál lya in the middle o f the last century. His results were published in 1 8 5 6 , entitled "Fossile Flora von E r d ő b é n y e " and "Fossile Flora von Tál lya" ( K O V Á T S 1 8 5 6 « , b). His rival as regards the study of the floras in Erdőbénye and Tállya anyway, C O N S T A N T I N V O N E T T I N G S H A U S E N , also published a study entitled "Beitrag zur Kenntniss der fossilen Flora von Tokaj" three years earlier ( E T T I N G S H A U S E N 1 8 5 3 ) . However, he considered the flora of Erdőbénye and Tál lya to be equivalent floristically, and united them as the flora of Tokaj. Even D. S T U R dealt wi th these two floras in his work "Bei t räge zur Kenntniss der Flora der Süss-wasserquarze der Congerien- und Cerithien-Schichten im Wiener und Ungarischen Bec­ken" ( S T U R 1 8 6 7 ) . The most detailed and well-known work is G Á B O R A N D R E Á N S Z K Y ' S

great Sarmatian monograph entitled "Die Flora der sarmatischen Stufe in Ungarn" ( A N D R E Á N S Z K Y 1 9 5 9 ) .

A t the same time, K L Á R A R Á S K Y carried out research on the Sarmatian flora of Tál ­lya based on the collection deposited at the Department of Botany of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. Her work resulted in two brief publications ( R Á S K Y

1 9 5 8 , 1 9 6 4 ) .

R Á S K Y believed wrongly, without any good evidence, that a part o f the collections from 1 8 7 5 on the labels of which the exact locality was not stated came from Tállya (see also A N D R E Á N S Z K Y 1 9 5 9 : 2 3 ) . Thus quite surprising elements, such as Diospyros rugosa S A P O R T A 1 8 6 2 , abundant remains o f Daphnogene, were announced for the flora of Tál­lya by R Á S K Y .

However, in the course of the revision of the flora from Tállya it has turned out that a considerable part o f the fossils published by R Á S K Y as the fossils provided by the site o f Tá l lya was collected in fact during the last century at the Early Miocene site of K y m i in Greece (Fig. 2 ) and not at the Upper Miocene locality o f Tállya in Hungary.

A t first sight, well formated slabs o f yellowish marl deviate from the material known from the Hungarian Sarmatian, but exactly match other collections of the K y m i flora, kept e. g. in the Natural History Museum in Vienna (including the type material of U N G E R 1 8 6 2 ) and elsewhere. Both the Greek collection excavated at K y m i and the orig­inal collections of K O V Á T S and R Á S K Y - provided really by the site in Tállya - are de­posited at the Department of Botany o f the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Buda­pest. R Á S K Y believed wrongly that the collection from "Tál lya" ( i . e. from Kymi ) was made by K O V Á T S himself.

R Á S K Y ( 1 9 5 8 ) separated the flora of Tállya into two groups. The first one is very similar to the Sarmatian floras of Erdőbénye with numerous common species, namely: Zelkova zelkovifolia ( U N G E R 1 8 4 3 ) B Û Z E K et K O T L Á B A , 1963 , Podocarpium podocar-

pum (A . B R A U N , 1 8 5 1 ) H E R E N D E E N 1 9 9 2 , Querem kubinyii ( K O V Á T S ex E T T I N G ­

S H A U S E N , 1 8 5 1 ) C Z E C Z O T T 1 9 5 1 , Acer integerrimum (ViviANi, 1 8 3 3 ) M A S S A L O N G O ,

1 8 5 8 , Carpinus grandis U N G E R 1 8 5 0 sensu H E E R , 1856 , etc. ( A N D R E Á N S Z K Y 1 9 5 9 ,

E R D E I 1 9 9 5 ) . Its fossiliferous matrix, which is rhyolitic tuff or clayey sediment often si-

licified secondarily, is also similar. According to the associated molluscs (Cardium glei-

chenbergense PAPP, 1 9 5 4 ) , the plant fossils occurred presumably in the layers o f the

upper part o f the Lower Sarmatian to the lower part of the Upper Sarmatian ( B O H N N É

H A V A S , pers. comm.). The material collected and published by K O V Á T S in the last cen­

tury ( K O V Á T S 1856/7) and the fossils collected by R Á S K Y in Tállya belong to this group.

The fossiliferous matrix of the second group separated by R Á S K Y is clayey marl.

Actually, these plant fossils are representatives o f the flora of K y m i in Greece. Based on

the elements of the flora, its age must be older than Sarmatian. Not being aware of the

true origin of the material, R Á S K Y considered it to be of Upper Badenian age and be­

lieved that somewhere nearby Tál lya such layers had been once accessible. The fact that

the exact locality o f the fossils belonging to the second group of R Á S K Y is K y m i in

Greece is supported by three facts:

1. Based on our studies, the list of species (of R Á S K Y ' s second group) is consider­

ably similar to that of the flora o f K y m i (UNGER 1 8 6 2 , 1 8 6 7 ) . In addition, the list also

provides some species which have been unknown to date in the Tertiary floras o f Hun­gary.

2 . In order to obtain more exact information about the age of the flora, associated ostracods were studied. It has turned out that the clayey marl contains a quite special and exotic fauna o f ostracods which is not characteristic of the Hungarian region ( K O R E C Z , pers. comm.).

3. Only the year of the collection, 1 8 7 5 , without the name of the exact locality was stated on the labels of the fossils. R Á S K Y concluded that the remains were collected but not studied by K O V Á T S in the last century. However, in 1 8 7 5 (indicated as the year o f the collection), K O V Á T S had already died so he could not collect the fossils. Presumably, the Hungarian Natural History Museum obtained the material from the Natural History M u ­seum in Vienna or bought it directly from Greece in the last century.

A N D R E Á N S Z K Y ( 1 9 5 9 : 2 3 ) mentioned the collection in his monograph but hesitated to include it into the Sarmatian floras since the name o f the locality was not explicit ly stated on the labels. He added that its age would have been much older than the Sarma­tian i f the locality had been Tállya at all.

According to studies carried out on foraminifers ( K O R E C Z N É L A K Y 1 9 7 6 ) , Lower Badenian layers proved by foraminifers cannot be found in the Tokaj Mountains. The composition o f the flora suggests an older age than Early Badenian, namely, Early Miocene. The plant fossils from the A l ive r i -Kymi Basin come from strata dated by mam­mals ( K L E I N H O F M E I J E R & B R U I J N 1 9 8 8 ) as o f Early Miocene (Ottnangian) age.

Since the K y m i flora from Greece was misinterpreted as a Hungarian one, a correc­tion o f this misunderstanding is needed. A revision of the flora of K y m i is being carried out by one of us (Z. K V A Í E K ) ; therefore, we do not publish a detailed taxonomical revi­sion. Only an improved list of the species identified in the K y m i collection (published earlier by R Á S K Y as coming from the site of Tál lya) is attached below.

The fol lowing data published by R Á S K Y must be corrected: 1. R Á S K Y ( 1 9 5 8 ) mentioned on page 183 under the heading "Pflanzen des ton-

mergelartigen Horizonts" the flora o f the layers o f clayey marl wrongly as coming from Tállya. These fossils are the representatives of the flora of K y m i .

The true flora of Tállya is published on page 1 8 4 under the title "Pflanzen des dünn-blattrigen und des mergelartigen Horizonts".

Accordingly, PI. 16, Figs 1 - 1 2 and PI. 17, Figs 1-8 show the specimens o f the flora of K y m i .

Specimens from Tállya are shown only on PI. 17, Figs 9 - 1 1 (fruits o f Koelreuterici). 2 . R Á S K Y ( 1 9 6 4 ) reported Diospyros rugosa S A P O R T A from Tállya on page 6 3 , PI.

7 , Fig. 3 , PI. 12, Fig. 4 . These specimens are also the representatives of the K y m i flora. The improved list o f the species of the collection from K y m i kept in the Hungarian

Natural History Museum, Budapest and published partly by R Á S K Y (wrongly as the flora of Tál lya) is as follows ( R Á S K Y did not study all the fossils available for her so additional species have been identified in the collection as wel l ) :

Pronephrium stiriacum ( U N G E R , 1 8 4 7 ) K N O B L O C H et K V A C E K , 1 9 7 6

Pinus sp. (seed, Cedrela bienensis H u et C H A N E Y , 1 9 4 0 in R Á S K Y ) Pinus sp. (seed, Canotia tallyana R Á S K Y , 1 9 5 8 ) (Fig. 4 )

Glyptostrobus europaeus ( B R O N G N I A R T , 1 8 3 9 ) U N G E R , 1 8 5 0 (twigs, cones, seeds) Myrica lignitum ( U N G E R , 1 8 4 7 ) SAPORTA, 1 8 6 5 (Fig. 8 ) Myrica vindobonensis ( E T T I N G S H A U S E N , 1 8 5 1 ) H E E R , 1 8 5 6

Daphnogenepolymorpha ( A . B R A U N , 1 8 4 5 ) E T T I N G S H A U S E N , 1 8 5 1 (Fig. 6 ) (Cinna-momophyllum polymorphism ( A . B R A U N , 1 8 4 5 ) K R Ä U S E L et W E Y L A N D , 1 9 5 9 and Cinna-momophyllum scheuchzeri ( H E E R , 1 9 1 4 ) K R Ä U S E L et W E Y L A N D , 1 9 5 0 in R Á S K Y )

Laurophyilum sp. (Fig. 7 ) Laurophyllum cf. pseudoprinceps W E Y L A N D et KlLPPER, 1 9 6 3 Persea sp. Leguminosae gen.et sp. (Fig. 9 . ) "Ficus " truncata H E E R , 1 8 5 9 "Pittosporum" sp. "Grevillea" kymmeana U N G E R , 1 8 6 1 Diospyros rugosa S A P O R T A , 1 8 6 2 (Fig. 3 ) cf. Rhus sp. Quercus mediterranea UNGER, 1 8 4 7 Quercus ex gr. drymeja UNGER, 1 8 4 7 Quercus neriifolia A. B R A U N , 1 8 4 5 (Asclepiophyllum podalyrii ( U N G E R ) B E R G E R in

R Á S K Y )

Quercus sp. (Sapindus falcifolius A . B R A U N , 1 8 5 1 , Juglans acuminata A . B R A U N , 1 8 4 5 in R Á S K Y )

Alnus gaudinii ( H E E R , 1 8 5 6 ) K N O B L O C H et K V A C E K , 1 9 7 6

Alnus cycladum U N G E R , 1 8 6 7 (Fig. 5 )

Fig. 1. Sarmatian palaeobotanical localities of Hungary

Figs 2-9. 2 = location of the site of Kymi (on Euboia); 3 -9 - : plant remains from Kymi (white bars = 1 cm); 3 = Diospyros rugosa SAPORTA; 4 = Pinus sp., 5 = Alnus cycladum UNGER; 6 = Daph-nogene polymorpha (A. BRAUN) ETTINGSHAUSEN, 7 = Laurophyllum sp.; 8 = Myrica lignitum (UNGER) SAPORTA; 9 = Leguminosae gen. et sp.

Acer tricuspidaium B R O N N , 1 8 3 8

Populus populina ( B R O N G N I A R T , 1 8 2 2 ) K N O B L O C H , 1 9 6 4 {Populus latior A .

B R A U N , 1836inRÁSKY)

Zizyphus cf. paradisiaca ( U N G E R , 1 8 4 5 ) H E E R , 1 8 5 9

Smilax sp. Members of the Lauraceae are represented in great quantity. Twenty-two percents

of the remains belongs to that family. This element is not characteristic o f the Badenian and Sarmatian floras of Hungary. Some species of Quercus occurring in the flora have not been reported so far from the Hungarian floras. Some of them possess leaves with en­tire margin which suggests an older age o f the flora.

The proportion o f leaves (specimens) wi th entire margin is surprisingly high, more than 5 0 % which refers to a subtropical climate.

Alnus cycladum U N G E R , 1 8 6 7 is a quite rare species since it has been reported up to now in Europe only from one locality, K y m i . This fact also supports the true origin of the collection.

After all, the flora does not fit in wi th the Upper Miocene floras o f Hungary as re­gards either its composition of species or its climatic demands.

In consequence, correction o f such inaccurate publications is important from the point of view of distribution of various taxa in time and space, as well as palaeophyto-geography and evolution o f Neogene European floras as a whole.

* * *

Acknowledgements - This study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA:F019235).

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