Faboidea crassicutis

Faboidea crassicutis

Bowerbank

Fossil group Plants
Order Icacinales
Family Icacinaceae
Genus Faboidea
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Faboidea crassicutis was an early Eocene member of Icacinaceae known from a remarkably robust fruit stone. The preserved endocarp is squat and broader than long, with a very thick woody wall and an irregularly corrugated exterior. It enclosed a single pendulous seed; a groove on one side of the seed marks the course of the raphe. These characters show that the fossil represents the hard inner part of a one-seeded drupaceous fruit rather than an isolated seed.

The whole plant is not preserved, so its precise growth form cannot be demonstrated. Icacinaceae are woody plants, and the family includes trees, shrubs and climbers, making a woody habit a reasonable family-level inference but not a Species-level fact. Faboidea is retained as a distinct fossil genus because its unusually squat form and heavy endocarp differ from the more lenticular, ridged stones assigned to Iodes. The London Clay specimens are especially valuable because internal anatomy — including a marginal vascular bundle embedded in the wall and a papillate locule lining — confirms the family placement.

Quick Identification

Look for: a large, very squat fruit stone that is wider than long, with a thick wall and an irregularly corrugated surface. Complete identification is strengthened by CT/section evidence showing an embedded marginal vascular bundle and a papillate inner locule lining.

Diagnostic Features

  • Endocarp is squat and transversely oval, distinctly broader than long.
  • Wall is unusually thick for the London Clay Icacinaceae, commonly about 1.5–3.5 mm.
  • External surface is irregularly corrugated rather than covered by a regular reticulum of narrow ridges.
  • Primary marginal vascular bundle is embedded within the endocarp wall.
  • Locule lining is papillate; the enclosed seed is anatropous and bears a lateral raphe groove.

Fossil Details

Typical size
Endocarp about 15–19 mm long, roughly 19–25 mm wide and 7–14.5 mm thick.
Fossil material
Seed, Fruit
Preservation
Many specimens are pyritised and surface abrasion can substantially reduce the original corrugation. Pyrite decay, cracking and loss of the outer wall can make the endocarp appear smoother than it was in life; internal CT characters are therefore important on worn material.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.

References

  • Eleanor Mary Reid; Marjorie Elizabeth Jane Chandler. (1933). The London Clay Flora. . British Museum (Natural History), London View reference
  • Gregory W. Stull; Neil F. Adams; Steven R. Manchester; Dan Sykes; Margaret E. Collinson. (2016). Revision of Icacinaceae from the Early Eocene London Clay flora based on X-ray micro-CT. Botany, 94(9), 713–745 View reference
Last Reviewed
26 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris