A new Cheirolepidiaceae conifer Watsoniocladus cunhae sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous (late Aptian–early Albian) of western Portugal

Abstract A new cheirolepidiaceous conifer Watsoniocladus cunhae sp. nov. J.Kvacek et M.M.Mendes is described from the Early Cretaceous of Catefica in the Lusitanian Basin, Estremadura region, western Portugal. The new species Watsoniocladus cunhae has been established based on sterile twigs showing decussately arranged s-shaped leaves equipped with stomata surrounded by papillae and arranged in short rows. The new species is compared to all already-published species assigned to Watsoniocladus. Additionally, based on the newly observed morphological features in the Portuguese material (cuticle characters), we transfer two species from Cupressinocladus (Cupressaceae) to Watsoniocladus (Cheirolepidiaceae): Watsoniocladus itieri (Saporta) comb. nov. from the late Kimmeridgian of southern Jura (France) and Watsoniocladus crassirameus (Zheng Y.Cao) comb. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of China.