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A NEW BOWMANITEAN FRUCTIFICATION FROM THE PENNSYLVANIAN OF KANSAS
Author(s) -
Mamay Sergius H.
Publication year - 1959
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1959.tb07046.x
Subject(s) - sporangium , pennsylvanian , whorl (mollusc) , biology , fructification , botany , genus , spore , paleontology , structural basin
M amay , S ergius H. (U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.) A new bowmanitean fructification from the Pennsylvania of Kansas. Amer. Jour. Bot. 46(7): 530–536. Illus. 1959.—A new sphenophyllaceous fructification, Bowmanites moorei sp. nov., is described on the basis of coal ball petrifactions from the Fleming coal in southeastern Kansas. One of the simplest species of Bowmanites, B. moorei has only 3 sporophylls in a whorl. Each sporophyll has 3 lobes, the median one fertile, the 2 lateral ones sterile. Each fertile lobe subtends 2 sporangia, resulting in 6 sporangia in a whorl. The sporangia are inverted, being distally attached to separate sporangiophores that arise in pairs, in axillary positions. The sporangial epidermis and epidermis of the lower surfaces of the sporangiophores are characterized by relatively large, thick‐walled cells. The spores are small, spherical, and trilete, without distinctive ornamentation of the exine. B. moorei adds to the morphological variation known in Bowmanites , but contributes little toward a phylogenetic interpretation of this morphologically complex genus.