Abstract
Fossil flora from brackish Burdigalian (Ottnangian) sediments in Brno-Líšeň is an important contribution to knowledge of floristic evolution and palaeoclimatic changes in Western Carpathians. The studied material comprises fragmentary leaf imprints, few fruits/seeds and pollen from single palynomorph-rich sample.
Macrofloral remains include 3 ferns (Osmunda parschlugiana, Salvinia reussii,? Polypodiaceae indet.) and 17 angiosperms (e.g. Daphnogene cinnamomifolia, "Parrotia" pristina, Leguminophyllum spp., Podocarpium podocarpum, Engelhardia orsbergensis, Ulmus cf. pyramidalis, Schoenoplectiella cf. ragozinii).
Palynospectrum comprises 106 taxa, including abundant palaeotropical elements of zonal evergreen forest, i.e. Sapotaceae, Palmae, Engelhardia, Platycarya, Fagaceae, Araliaceae, Cornus-Mastixia, accompanied with arctotertiary elements of deciduous zonal forest (Quercus, Carpinus, Fagus, Carya, Juglans, Tilia, Betula, Parrotia) and deciduous azonal (riparian) forest (e.g.
Alnus, Salix, Ulmus). Aquatic plants, algae (Prasinophyceaceae, Botryococcus) and marine dinoflagellates indicate the marine environment with freshwater impact.
Vegetation of open areas and heliophytes characterized by Olea, Celtis, Buxus, Ephedra, Rosaceae and Poaceae are sporadic, as well as conifers of extrazonal forest such as Cedrus, Tsuga, Picea. The studied palynospectrum contains higher deal of thermophilic flora and does not point to cooling event reported by some authors from Polish Part of Carpathian Foredeep.