Secondary phloem anatomy of Cycadeoidea (Bennettitales)

Secondary phloem anatomy of several species of Cycadeoidea is described from trunks in the Wieland Collection, Peabody Museum of Natural History. The trunks were collected from the Lakota Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Black Hills of South Dakota. Secondary phloem is extensively developed and consists of alternating, tangential bands of fibers and sieve elements, with rare phloem parenchyma. Uniseriate rays, 2–22 cells high, occur between every one to three files of the axial system. Fibers are long, more than 1200 μm, approximately 26.6–34.2 μm in diameter, and have slit‐like apertures on the lateral walls. Sieve elements range from 16–25 μm in diameter and are up to 500 μm long. Elliptical sieve areas appear on both end and radial walls and measure 10 μm across; minute spots, which may represent sieve pores, are present within the sieve areas. Secondary phloem of North American Cycadeoidea is similar in organization (alternating tangential bands) and cell types (sieve cells, fibers, axial parenchyma) to that known in other extant and fossil cycadophytes and some seed ferns. The unusual pattern of cell types and thickness of secondary phloem is discussed in the context of plant habit, phloem efficiency, and potential phylogenetic importance.