ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Revisiting Graminocarpon, a distinctive monocot
seed from the latest Cretaceous
Deccan Intertrappean beds of India
1
Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7800, USA
2
Department of Botany, Jashbhai Muljibhai Patel College, Bhandara, 441904-M.S, India
3
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA;
and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
4
Post Graduate Department of Botany, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur, India
5
Gondia Education Society High School and Junior College, Mohadi. Dist., Gondia, 4416014-M.S., India
6
School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801,
Israel
7
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109,
USA
Submission date: 2025-12-27
Acceptance date: 2026-04-02
Online publication date: 2026-06-29
Publication date: 2026-06-29
Acta Palaeobotanica 2026; 66(1): 83-94
HIGHLIGHTS
- Graminocarpon is known from several late Cretaceous sites in central India
- Graminocarpon is not a grass and not a fruit
- Micro-CT scanning reveals similarities and differences from seeds of palms
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Disseminules of Graminocarpon Chitaley et Sheikh, found at several sites of the Deccan intertrappean
cherts in central India, have been reinvestigated based on physical thin sectioning and peeling and by X-ray
micro-CT scanning. The globose seeds, measuring 2 to 2.5 mm in diameter, with a prominent furrow on one side
and the apparent circular hilum in the center of the furrow, have a thin seed coat composed of two cell layers.
The straight cylindrical embryo with no evidence of plumule differentiation is obliquely positioned in the plane
of symmetry on the side opposite the furrow and is capped by a circular operculum. The combined morphological
features support its recognition as a monocot, but exclude it from the Gramineae/Poaceae. Secure systematic
placement is difficult, however, as we failed to find a direct match among extant taxa. The general geometry of
the seeds, and position of the embryo and embryo cap presents similarities with the Arecaceae. However, the
fossil appears to be unique among monocots, not readily attributed to a modern clade.
FUNDING
Field work for this project was
supported in part by National Science Foundation
grants to S.Y. Smith (EAR 1338295) and
S.R. Manchester (EAR 1338285). The resource
of extant comparative palm fruits and seeds
used for this study was supported by National
Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation
Improvement Grant to K.K.S.M. and S.Y.S.
(DEB 1701645).
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors
have declared that no competing interests exist.
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