The present publication deals with recent palynological results of a relatively small interval of Muschelkalk and exposures of the overlying clay deposits in the Winterswijk quarries. For the first time the Lower Muschelkalk Member in the Netherlands could be independently dated as Bithynian (Anisian, Middle Triassic). Contrary to widely accepted opinions the overlying almost black clay deposit is not Liassic but Rhaetian in age and it is assigned to the Sleen Shale Formation. This marginal marine clay which pinches out to the south, is in turn overlain by a light gray, full-marine Lower-Oligocene clay of the Rupel Formation. An anomalous occurrence of Liassic clay is now attributed to subrosion of Röt salt followed by collapse of the overlying Muschelkalk, Rhaetian and Lias strata.

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Biostratigraphical re-analysis of palaeobotanical data from the De Lutte-06 well clarifies an earlier controversy regarding the stratigraphical interpretation of this well based on palaeobotanical and palynological analysis. Previous biostratigraphical studies suggested an early Westphalian

Desmiophyllum harrisii was described from the Hettangian of Poland based on specimens yielding dispersed leaf fragments only, albeit with cuticle. Here, we record a shoot with attached leaves assignable to Desmiophyllum harrisii from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, besides a few specimens with dispersed leaf fragments. The leaves yielded also a thin and fragmentary cuticle with stomata arranged in characteristic single, short longitudinal files. This record does not only expand the temporal range of the species but also necessitates emending the specific diagnosis accordingly. The affinity of Desmiophyllum among gymnosperms is still uncertain, and the epidermal anatomy resembles that of Czekanowskiales and of some fossil taxa that have been assigned to Ginkgoales and Coniferales. The thin cuticle points to a habitat in moist environments.

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