Orontium mackii

Orontium mackii is an extinct golden club species in the family Araceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves.

These outcrops, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, are all from the same horizon of a volcanic ash fall and are separated by a distance of 50–100 metres (160–330 ft), preserving a warm to subtropical environment in and along a river system.

If this is a correct interpretation, it has been suggested that, unlike the other two species in the genus, O. mackii was not dependent on wetland or aquatic conditions for survival.

[1] The specimens were studied by a group of paleobotanists led by Josef Bogner, with the team publishing their 2007 type description for O. mackii in the Journal Zitteliana.

[1] The etymology of the chosen specific name mackii is in recognition of Gregory H. Mack, in honor of his longtime contributions to New Mexico geology, and for discovering the site which produced O.

A living relative, O. aquaticum