Abstract
Old palaeobotanical collections from Early Oligocene sites at Florsheim near Mainz, Germany, and Budapest - Nagybatonyi, Hungary, contain leaflets of a cycad. The epidermal trait, rows of serially arranged short cells within bands of prosenchymatous cells, and the articulate leaflet base prove its affinity to Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae), presently endemic to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
This is the first fossil record of this genus based on leaf epidermis evidence corroborating palaeophytogeographic links between Europe and Mexico & Central America during the Cainozoic. Ceratozamia floersheimensis (ENGELHARDT) comb. n. is similar to a group of extant species with coriaceous, linear - lanceolate leaflets (C kuesteriana and allies).
It grew as dispersed undergrowth in humid - sub-humid subtropical notophyllous evergreen forests in Europe during Early Oligocene.