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Integration of isolated parts of fossil plants into one plant is one of the most important goals in the whole-plant reconstruction concept in paleobotany. Three fossil-species, Laria rueminiana (Heer) G. Worobiec & Kvacek (leaves), Reevesia hurnikii Kvacek (the capsule valve of fruit), and Reevesiapollis triangulus (Mamczar) Krutzsch (pollen grains), related to the extant genus Reevesia Lindl, were found in one fossil assemblage in the upper Miocene deposits of the Belchatow Lignite Mine (central Poland). In early Miocene locality of Bilina, Czech Republic the listed taxa were also accompanied by fossil seeds of Saportaspermum Meyer & Manchester. The co-occurrence of them suggests that they might represent vegetative and reproductive organs of a single biological species. Besides the co-occurrence of these fossil-taxa, the affiliation of the discussed detached fossil plant organs in the whole-plant reconstruction of the Reevesia plant could be indirectly proven using their similar systematic affinities (recent relatives), and the discovery of ex situ pollen aggregations (clumps) of Reevesiapollis triangulus in one of the cuticular slides of leaves of Laria rueminiana. These clumps surely were attached to the surface of the Laria leaf. Similar to the nearest living extant relatives, the Reevesia plant thrived in a warm temperate and humid climate with mild winters (a Cfa climate type according to the Koppen-Geiger climate classification) and was usually a component of riparian vegetation also growing in drier, mesophytic plant communities.

The paper presents results of pollen analysis of the Upper Miocene deposits from a borehole at Jozefina (Krakow-Silesia Upland, central Poland), including data concerning bamboo type pollen grains, as well other sporomorphs (pollen, spores and freshwater phytoplankton). Fossil pollen grains of bamboos ( Graminidites bambusoides Stuchlik) were found in two samples, and in one sample they were accompanied by conidium of Tetraploa -like fossil fungus, resembling the recent Tetraploa aristata Berkeley & Broome. This fungus could grow on leaves of the bamboos or other grasses, but also on variety of other plants. Comparison of palynological data, studies of leaf floras and the nearest living relatives, confirmed the connection of the fossil bamboos with wetland, reed and riparian vegetation. Results of these analyses indicate a moderately wet and warm temperate palaeoclimate.

This paper presents the results of a study of leaf macroremains of Betulaceae found in the Miocene deposits of the Belchatow Lignite Mine. Besides revision of leaf taxa described in earlier publications on Belchatow deposits, the examination of newly collected fossil leaves has been done. Isolation of leaf compressions and cuticular analysis were applied. The following taxa are reported: Alnus gaudinii (Heer) Knobloch et Kvacek, Alnus julianiformis (Sternberg) Kvacek et Holý, Alnus menzelii Raniecka-Bobrowska, Betula plioplatyptera Hummel, Betula subpubescens Goeppert emend. Worobiec, Betula sp. and Carpinus grandis Unger emend. Heer. Macromorphology, micromorphology, systematic position, stratigraphical range, palaeoecology and recent counterparts of the taxa described are discussed.

Recently discovered fossil bamboo leaves and pollen are described from the Neogene of Poland. Morphological analysis of fossil leaves from the Late Miocene deposits of the Belchatow Lignite Mine, Central Poland have allowed them to be determined as “Bambusa” lugdunensis Saporta. It is the first record of this species in the Cenozoic of Poland. The fossils have been compared with other records of bamboos from the Cenozoic of Europe. Pollen grains from the Middle Miocene (Badenian) deposits from the Legnica brown coal deposit (Lower Silesia) provide additional evidence of bamboos. These are assigned to Graminidites bambusoides Stuchlik, and are similar to those of recent Arundinaria . We infer that plant (plants?) that produced the pollen of G. bambusoides could have grown in swamp forests and/or reed marshes. This report provides a general survey of the occurrence of bamboos in the European Neogene, from which the leaves and pollen documented here present important data on the distribution of this group of monocots in Poland and eastern Europe.

Leaf slides prepared from separated Tertiary leaf compressions are valuable tools for taxonomic investigations of fossil leaf assemblages. Slides such as these help considerably in morphological investigations of fossil leaves allowing examination of their minute morphological structures. Procedures for preparing leaf slides from leaf compressions include three stages: separation (isolation) of leaf compressions with use of hydrogen peroxide, and then a two-step method for bleaching leaf compressions and mounting the bleached leaf compressions in glycerine jelly slides. This method has been successfully used for several years, and is especially useful for separating and preparing flat plant remains such as leaves, fruits and seeds, coniferous shoots and fragments of bark. The procedure is recommended for extensive use in palaeobotanical investigations, and has proven especially useful for Tertiary leaf assemblages.

The megafossils from the fluvial sediments overlying the Tertiary lignites in the Belchatow opencast mine (Middle Poland) are investigated. The good preservation allowed the cellular detail of the leaves and fruit- and seed coats to be studied. This enabled accurate identifications to be made. Some of the genera ( Cleome , Ternstroemites and Zingiberoideophyllum ) are new for the Tertiary of Poland. Most of the taxa are encountered in Upper Miocene to Pliocene sediments. A comparison of the growth forms and the proportion of arctotertiary and palaeotropical components present in Stawek-1A with those of the plant assemblages from the Neogene of the lower Rhenish Basin points to a Late Miocene or Early Pliocene age. The plant communities from which the fossils were derived and the climatic conditions under which these were growing are discussed.