Cuticles of Karinopteris beneckei (Potonié ex Huth) Boersma emend., a mariopterid seed fern from the Upper Carboniferous of Lower Silesia (Poland)

Cuticles of Karinopteris beneckei are described from the upper Westphalian A of Lower Silesia (Poland). The diagnosis for Karinopteris beneckei (Potonié ex Huth, 1912) Boersma, 1972 is emended based on additional macroscopic observations and data on the epidermal anatomy. Karinopteris beneckei closely resembles K. acuta with regard to macromorphology, but a number of features indicate that the two taxa are not conspecific. Some comments are offered on the paleobiological and paleoecological implications of particular features observed from K. beneckei (e.g., climber hooks confined to distal frond portions, large emergences, and minute stomata) where they are considered relative to adaptations of the plant to special mechanical, ecological, and physiological requirements.