An apparently ericoid complex of taxa represented by over 1000
flowers, inflorescence fragments, fruits and leaves is a dominant
element of the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) New Jersey fossil flora,
but is also represented in other Upper Cretaceous Atlantic Coastal
Plant localities including Martha's Vineyard. Flowers are five-merous
with superior ovaries and have 5 stamens alternating with 5 presumably
staminodal nectaries. The disparate taxa share a common floral plan,
abaxial sepal glands, clawed petals, axile/intruded parietal
placentation, lobed spherical stigmas, dorsifixed anthers,
tricolporate pollen and distinctive trichomes. They are linked by a
subset of these attributes. Fruits are capsules and leaves are folded
and have distinctive glands. Different taxa are distinguished by
sometimes dramatically contrasting characters including: sepal gland
distribution, stamen height vs. style length, anthers with or without
spurs, trichome type and distribution, and pollen in monads vs. loose
polyads. These taxa share many characters with modern Ericales and
related families including Diapensiaceae, but other possibilities must
be considered including families of Sapindales. These species are
interesting from the perspective of pollination biology because they
have characters consistent with highly derived forms of insect
pollination.
Key words: Cretaceous Ericaceae flowers Diapensiaceae insect pollination