Anatomical Structures of " Lepidodendron " pulchrum Zhang in Coal-balls from the Taiyuan Formation (Lower Lower Permian) in Shandong Province, North China

This study reports the anatomical structures of a kind of lepidodendralean stem in coal balls from the early Early Permian Taiyuan Formation in Yanzhou Mining District, southwestern Shandong Province, North China. The leaf cushion is slightly rhomboid in outline with a height of 9 - 10 mm and a width of 7.5 9.0 mm and its lower sides are slightly longer than the upper ones. The top and basic angles of the leaf cushion are truncate and the basic angle is slightly elongate. The upper part of the leaf cushion is strongly high-rising. The leaf sear is large and lenticular in shape. The leaf trace is wide and V-shaped in the leaf scar, and horizontally elongate within the leaf cushion. The leaf trace and lateral parichnos strand extend at a nearly horizontal course outward within the leaf cushion. The ligular pit is deep and extends outward at an oblique course and its aperture is located near the top angle of the leaf scar. No infrafoliar parichnos strands are present. The stem is probably siphonostelic and its pith is probably parenchymatous. The primary xylem is exarch with a nearly smooth outer margin. Only the outer cortex is present and it consists of alternately-arranged radial cell bands and gaps within which the are-shaped or V-shaped leaf traces can be seen. The concave side of the leaf trace is toward the center of the stem. No bundle sheath is developed. Periderm is well-developed and consists of phelloderm and phellem in nearly equal thickness. Compared with the lepidodendralean stems of the Cathaysian and Euramerican Floras, the present specimens are most close to an impression-compression species Lepidodendron pulchrum Zhang in morphology of the leaf cushion and they are put into this species temporarily. Whether the present specimens or the type specimens of L. pulchrum are very different from Lepidodendron Sternburg sensu DiMichele, thus the correct nomenclature and classification of L. pulchrum needs to be reconsidered based on the study of better- and anatomically-preserved stems and fertile organs in the future. Because 'L'. pulchrum possesses the mixed features of several genera of Euramerican lepidodendralean stems, it bears significance to study the origin and evolution of the Cathaysian lepidodendralean lycopods.

Anatomically-preserved Lepidodendralean Plants from Permian Coal Balls of China: Sigillariopsis Scott

Three kinds of anatomically_preserved lepidodendralean leaves from Permian coal balls of China were studied. They all have double xylem strands, which is consistent with the genus Sigillariopsis Scott. Compared with the species of Sigillariopsis , they are considered as three new species: S. shanxiensis sp. nov. and S. taiyuanensis sp. nov. from Coal Seam 7 in the upper part of the Taiyuan Formation (lower Lower Permian), Xishan Coal Field, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province and S. guizhouensis sp. nov. from Coal Seam 1 in the Wangjiazhai Formation (upper Upper Permian), Shuicheng Coal Mining District, Guizhou Province. Based on the associated organs of lepidodendraleans other than leaves and the information of the Euramerican lepidodendraleans, the affinities of the three new species of Sigillariopsis are discussed and they are probably leaves of Sigillaria Brongniart. In Euramerican Flora, Sigillaria (including its leaves Sigillariopsis ) mainly lived in the Carboniferous period and in the Cathaysian Flora they lived in the Upper Carboniferous to upper Upper Permian periods in rare localities. The leaves and fertile organs of Sigillaria have not been reported from the Cathaysian Flora to date. Three new species of the Permian anatomically_preserved leaves of Sigillaria not only increase the diversity of the Cathaysian sigillarian but also bear important significance on the evolution of sigillarian plants and the relationship of the Cathaysian and Euramerican lepidodendraleans.

Anatomical Structure of Leaf Cushion of Lepidodendron lepidophloides Yao

The isolated and anatomically_preserved lepidodendralean leaf cushions were described from coal balls in Wangjiazhai Formation (upper Upper Permian) in western Guizhou Province. These leaf cushions are very similar to Lepidodendron lepidophloides Yao both in size and morphology. They probably belong to the same species in different preservative condition. Comparisons on morphology and anatomy of L. lepidophloides and lepidodendralean leaf cushion genera, such as Lepidodendron, Lepidophloios, Sigillaria and Cathaysiodendron revealed that L. lepidophloides possesses mixed features of all these genera and it can not be assigned into any of them without doubt. It probably represents a new genus. Because the anatomical features of the other parts of the stem as well as the fertile organs related to these leaf cushions are unknown, the specific name L. lepidophloides is adopted. We leave this taxonomic problem open till the relationship between these leaf cushions and the stem and fertile organs become clear. This is the first report on the detailed anatomical features of the Cathaysian lepidodendralean leaf cushions.

New Species of the Isolated Psaroniaceous Rachis from the Early Permian in China

A new kind of marattialean raches are reported from the coal balls in Coal Seam No.7 in the upper part of the Taiyuan Formation （early Early Permian） from Taiyuan, Shanxi, China and are assigned to the genus Stipitopteris Grand＇Eury （Psaroniaceae）. The present specimens are different from all six reported species of the genus, and are therefore proposed as a new species： Stipitopteris shanxiensis. The raches of the new species are generally dorsi-ventrally flattened. The main raches usually exhibit scales of different forms on their surface. Beneath the epidermis is a zone of parenchymatous cells, some of which contain tannin-like contents. Inside this is a zone of small sclerenchymatous cells. Inward are the ground tissue and vascular bundles. The vascular bundles are continuous and are in two circles： the outer circle assumes a transversely elliptical shape with the gap and pinna trace, and the inner circle assumes a shallow C.shape with inrolled ends. The ground tissue located at the inner side of the vascular bundle is composed of thicker-walled parenchymatous cells. The cells of the ground tissue are vertically elongated in longitudinal sections. Subordered raches are smaller and have simpler structures than the main raches. The parenchyma zone beneath the epidermis is thinner, usually one to two cells wide and the sclerenchyma zone is usually absent. The scales are poorly developed and there is only one C-shaped vascular bundle. The new species is comparable to the crosiers of Psaroniaceae of the Euramerican Flora in some aspects, for example, it has a dorsi-ventrally flattened rachis and scales on the surface of the rachis. However, the other features and the preservative conditions of the present specimens indicate that they are not crosiers, but fully developed or mature raches. The new species is the first well-studied anatomically-preserved rachis of Psaroniaceae from the Cathaysian Flora and bears significance not only in understanding the anatomy and taxonomy of Psaroniaceae in the Cathaysian Flora, but also in the relationship between the Euramerican Flora and the Cathaysian Flora.