By using cuticular analysis for the first time laurophyllous leaf remains from the European Tertiary have been reliably identified as belonging to the Oleaceae. Despite ecologically determined variation in cuticular structures, Late Miocene leaf material from northern Italy is assigned to a single species, Oleinites liguricus Sachse n. sp. The associated oleaceous pollen grains support that this species has been a prominent component, at least locally, of a laurophyllous forest community. From extensive comparisons with leaf cuticles and pollen of extant Oleaceae it may be concluded, that the fossil leaves and probably corresponding pollen represent the tribe Oleeae and may originate from a plant closely comparable to extant Chionanthus and Fraxinus. A reinvestigation of some Oligocene laurophyllous leaf remains has uncovered two more oleaceous species in the European Tertiary: Oleinites maii (Buzek et al.) Sachse comb. nov., and Oleinites hallbaueri (Mai) Sachse comb. nov. Considering the high diversity of laurophyllous Oleaceae in modern evergreen and mixed mesophytic forests and the common presence of oleaceous pollen in the fossil record it may be expected that cuticular analysis of laurophyllous leaf fossils will lead to the recognition of an increased number of oleaceous taxa in Tertiary leaf assemblages.

中文翻译：

---

来自欧洲第三纪的油质月桂叶化石和花粉

通过首次使用表皮分析，来自欧洲第三纪的月桂叶残骸已被可靠地确定为属于木犀科。尽管表皮结构的生态决定了变化，来自意大利北部的晚中新世叶子材料被归为单一物种，Oleinites liguricus Sachse n。sp. 相关的油质花粉粒支持该物种是月桂叶森林群落的重要组成部分，至少在局部是这样。通过与现存木犀科的叶表皮和花粉的广泛比较，可以得出结论，化石叶和可能相应的花粉代表木犀科，并且可能起源于与现存的木犀草和白蜡非常相似的植物。对一些渐新世月桂叶残骸的重新调查发现了欧洲第三纪的另外两种油质物种：Oleinites maii (Buzek et al.) Sachse comb。11 月，和 Oleinites Hallbaueri (Mai) Sachse 梳子。十一月 考虑到现代常绿和中生混交林中月桂叶油科的高度多样性以及化石记录中油质花粉的普遍存在，可以预期月桂叶化石的表皮分析将导致对第三纪油质类群数量增加的认识叶组合。