Revision of Callistemonites indicus Bande, Mehrotra & Prakash from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Mandla District, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

The description and affinity of the fruiting axis Callislemonites indicus Bande, Mehrotra & Prakash 1986 reported from the Deccan Intertrappean beds, Shahpura in Mandla District, Madhya Pradesh have been revised. It is an incompletely preserved cast of the fruit with well-preserved seeds and shows close resemblance with that of Musa instead a fruiting axis Callistemon-Melaleuca as suggested earlier. It is very similar to the fossil fruit Musa cardiosperma Jain which was described from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Mohgaonkalan, Chhindwara District and hence has been placed in the same species. This provides further evidence of the wider distribution of Musa in central India during Late Cretaceous- Early Palaeocene time.