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PROBABLE ATTACHMENT OF THE DOLEROTHECA CAMPANULUM TO A MYELOXYLON‐ALETHOPTERIS TYPE FROND
Author(s) -
Ramanujam C. G. K.,
Rothwell Gar W.,
Stewart Wilson N.
Publication year - 1974
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.1537-2197.1974.tb12323.x
Subject(s) - frond , biology , anatomy , fern , pennsylvanian , botany , paleontology , structural basin
The discovery of pedunculate specimens of pollen organ Dolerotheca in close association with Myeloxylon ‐type pinnae and Alethopteris ‐type pinnules provides evidence for the reconstruction of a petrified medullosan frond and the attachment of the microsporangiate fructification. Specimens of Dolerotheca villosa and D. formosa from Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian age strata of North America are borne on slender peduncles with anatomical features and vascularization identical to those of some level in a Myeloxylon‐Alethopteris‐ type frond. Reconstruction of the frond reveals a large, repeatedly dichotomising organ that bears penultimate pinnae and ultimate pinnules in a pinnate arrangement. Examination of pinnules on the surface of coal ball material indicates that they conform to the compression genus Alethopteris. Identical numbers and arrangement of vascular bundles together with identical anatomical features and multicellular hairs indicate that the Dolerotheca campanulum is borne in the position of a penultimate pinna. A reconstruction of the frond with a proposed polled organ attachment is included.