Enigmatic occurrence of P ermian plant roots in Lower S ilurian rocks, G uizhou P rovince, C hina

P innatiramosus qianensis G eng, 1986, is a plant with a complex, extensive pinnate branching system and pitted tracheids, collected from marine L ower S ilurian ( L landovery; c . 430 Ma) rocks in G uizhou P rovince, C hina. It challenges long‐held theories on the origin and early evolution of vascular plants in the S ilurian and D evonian. However, there is a hypothesis that the fossils were not syngenetic with the entombing rock, but were the rooting systems of much younger plants, probably of P ermian age. New sections and collections of P . qianensis have been subjected to detailed analyses, which indicate that P . qianensis belongs to an early P ermian ( c . 285 Ma) rooting system growing down into lower S ilurian rocks.