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   The studied material originates from a formation situated in the vicinity of the village of Satovcha (Sofia district) in the western extention of the Rhodopes (Fig. 1). To be more concrete, it originates from the Sivik Formation of the seams of Satovcha Grabben developed to the south-east of the village. In the opinion of V a t s e v and Piroumova (1983), the rocks of this formation date back to Middle-Upper Miocene. In some publications devoted to different taxa from Satovcha palaeoflora Palamarev, Bozukov (1992), Bozukov, Palamarev (1992), B o z u-k o v (1995) suggest that to all probability these rocks date from Middle Miocene (Badenian). This view is supported in the present study, too.
   The discovery of Davallia haidingeri E11. is especially important both for purely paleofloristic studies and for the reconstruction of palaeoecological conditions of the Western Rhodopes during Middle Miocene. The contemporary representatives of genus Davallia S m i t h are epiphytes spread in paleotropics (T r y o n, L u g a r-d o n, 1990). This biological type has specific requirements to the environment, such as relatively high temperature and air humidity. Fossil epiphytes may serve as impor-tant indicator species for the reconstruction of palaeoclimate. In view of this, D. haidingeri E11., together with the other species from the exceptionally rich Satovcha palaeoflora, will contribute to more accurate reconstruction of palaeocological con-ditions.
   The significance of this find lies in the expansion of hitherto known stratigraphic and geographic areas.
   The discovery of spores in the sori of a fossil sample is of special importance. They are identical to those from fossil species Polypodiisporites alienus (R. P o t. 1931)Nagy 1973. This fact sheds more light on the botanical affinity of the fossil taxon.

Material and Methods
   We have examined a leaf remain from a pinnate leaf with sori No CAT-2419 from the Paleobotanical Collection of the Institute of Botany, BAS. For the purpose ichnophytological methods was applied (Z h i 1 i n, 1969, D i 1 c h e r, 1974).
   For the preparation of palynological slides the spores were isolated from the sori of the leaf remain and treated with 10% HC1, 5% KOH and then acetolysis after E r d t m a n (1952). Observations and microphotographs were made on glycerine-jelly microscope preparation with Docuval photomicroscope at magnification of 500x to 1500x. Morphological investigations and measurement of fossil spores were performed on 30 spores arbitrarily chosen from 3 microscope preparations. The processed material is preserved at the Palynological Collection of the Institute of Botany, BAS.
   The taxonomic revision byNoteboom (1994) for genus Davallia was used for the purpose of the present study.

Results and Discussion
   Family DA VALLIACEAE Frank
   Genius Davallia Smith
   Davallia haidingeriEttingshausen
   PI. I, Fig. 1-5; PI. II, Fig. 1-7.
   1858. Davallia haidingeri E 11 i n g s h a u s e n, p. 50, PI. II, Fig. 5.
   Description of the leaf remain: leaf impaired pinnate, deltoid, with alternate or opposite partites of the 2nd and 3rd order; partites of the 2nd order also impaired pinnate, with 9-11 elongated partites of the 3rd order which in their turn are in dented or lobated into 5-7 partites of the 5th-7th order. The sori are situated close to the leaf margin in partites of the 3rd or the 4th order. Dimensions: leaf length - probably about 60.0 cm; length of the preserved partites of the 2nd order - 2.5-5.0 cm; width - 1.0-1.5 cm; length of the preserved partites of the 3rd order - 0.5-1.3 cm; width - 0.2-0.5 cm.
   Comparison. No devations from the holotype were observed in the examined sample (PI. I, Fig. I).
   Ettingshausen (1858) compares this fossil species with the recent species Davallia canariensis (L.) S m. (PI. IV, Fig. 1) spread in Macaronesia, Maroco, the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula from 100 to 1000 m a.s.l.