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A FERTILE SPECIES OF TRIPHYLLOPTERIS FROM THE EARLY CARBONIFEROUS (MISSISSIPPIAN) OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA
Author(s) -
Skog Judith E.,
Gensel Patricia G.
Publication year - 1980
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.1537-2197.1980.tb07671.x
Subject(s) - carboniferous , sporangium , biology , devonian , biological dispersal , paleozoic , botany , paleontology , spore , population , structural basin , demography , sociology
The first occurrence of attached fertile structures to foliage assignable to the form genus Triphyllopteris Schimper is reported from the early Carboniferous Price Formation of southwestern Virginia. Sporangium‐bearing branch systems consisting of a basal undivided foliar region and a distal much‐divided fertile region are described as a new species T. uberis Skog and Gensel. Ovoid fusiform sporangia, 2.0 mm long and 0.5 mm wide and containing trilete spores, terminate ultimate divisions of the branch systems and collectively form masses up to 4 cm in all dimensions. T. uberis is compared to previously known sporangiate organs of Late Devonian and early Carboniferous age, many of which lack attached foliage. Similarities in the overall branching pattern of many of these non‐synangiate, sporangiate organs of early Carboniferous age is noted. The possible mode of dispersal and affinities of the plant bearing T. uberis fertile foliage is discussed.