Mesodescolea

{{Short description|Prehistoric plant}}

{{Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Geological range/linked|Early Cretaceous}}

| image = Leaf_of_Mesodescolea_plicata_from_the_Anfiteatro_de_Tic%C3%B3_formation.jpg

| regnum = Plantae

| unranked_divisio = Angiosperms

| genus = Mesodescolea

| genus_authority = S.Archang.{{Cite journal|last=Archangelsky|first=Sergio|date=1963|title=A new Mesozoic flora from Ticó, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology|volume=8|issue=2|pages=45–62|doi=10.5962/p.313876|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/313876|doi-access=free}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * M. plicata (type species)

}}

Mesodescolea is a genus of fossil foliage with uncertain affinities from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina{{Cite journal|last=Archangelsky|first=Sergio|date=1963|title=A new Mesozoic flora from Ticó, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology|volume=8|issue=2|pages=45–62|doi=10.5962/p.313876|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/313876|doi-access=free}} and Antarctica.{{Cite journal|last1=Hernández|first1=Pedro|last2=Azcarate|first2=Valeria|date=1971|title=Estudio paleobotánico preliminar sobre restos de una tafoflora de la península Byers (Cerro Negro), Isla Livingston; Islas Shetland del Sur, Antártica|url=http://antarticarepositorio.umag.cl//handle/123456789/688|language=es}} It includes only one species, Mesodescolea plicata.

== Taxonomy ==

The genus was first erected by Sergio Archangelsky based on material from the Aptian of the Anfiteatro de Ticó formation.{{Cite journal|last=Archangelsky|first=Sergio|date=1963|title=A new Mesozoic flora from Ticó, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology|volume=8|issue=2|pages=45–62|doi=10.5962/p.313876|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/313876|doi-access=free}} The name of the genus is dedicated to the naturalist Horacio Descole. Although it was originally compared to cycadalean genera such as Ctenis and Stangeria, its affinities were originally considered uncertain. Later reinvestigations and emendations cemented the view that Mesodescolea was a member of the Cycadales family Stangeriaceae.{{Cite journal|last1=Artabe|first1=Analía E.|last2=Archangelsky|first2=Sergio|date=1992|title=LAS CYCADALES MESODESCOLEA ARCHANGELSKY EMEND. ARCHANGELSKY y PETRIELLA 1971 (CRETACICO) y STANGERIA MOORE (ACTUAL) ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO DE LA EPIDERMIS FOLIAR CON MICROSCOPIA ELECIRONICA DE BARRIDO Y TRANSMISION|journal=Ameghiniana|url=https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/article/view/2088|language=es|volume=29|issue=2|pages=115–123|issn=1851-8044}}{{Cite journal|last1=Artabe|first1=Analia E.|last2=Stevenson|first2=Dennis Wm.|date=1999|title=Fossil Cycadales of Argentina|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4354347|journal=Botanical Review|volume=65|issue=3|pages=219–238|doi=10.1007/BF02857630|jstor=4354347|bibcode=1999BotRv..65..219A |s2cid=12370067|issn=0006-8101|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Archangelsky|first1=Sergio|last2=Petriella|first2=Bruno|date=1971|title=NOTAS SOBRE LA FLORA FOSIL DE LA ZONA DE TICO, PROVINCIA DE SANTA CRUZ. IX. NUEVOS DATOS ACERCA DE LA MORFOLOGIA FOLIAR DE MESODESCOLEA PLICATA ARCH. (CYCADALES, STANGERIACEAE)|url=https://botanicaargentina.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/88-94006.pdf|journal=Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica|volume=14|pages=88–94}} Other authors have proposed that the genus represents a member of the angiosperms with affinities with the ANA grade or Chloranthaceae.{{Cite journal|last1=Coiro|first1=Mario|last2=Martínez|first2=Leandro C. A.|last3=Upchurch|first3=Garland R.|last4=Doyle|first4=James A.|date=2020|title=Evidence for an extinct lineage of angiosperms from the Early Cretaceous of Patagonia and implications for the early radiation of flowering plants|url=https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.16657|journal=New Phytologist|language=en|volume=228|issue=1|pages=344–360|doi=10.1111/nph.16657|pmid=32400897|hdl=11336/146478 |s2cid=218618827|issn=1469-8137|hdl-access=free}}