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The frond architecture of Sphenopteris pottsvillea (White) Gastaldo and Boersma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Robert A. Gastaldo
Robert A. Gastaldo*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Auburn University, Alabama 36849
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Abstract

Recently collected specimens allow a better characterization of the frond architecture of Sphenopteris pottsvillea (White) Gastaldo and Boersma from the Plateau and Warrior Coalfields, Alabama. The bipartite frond consists of a naked petiole of moderate length (>0.3 m) and two pinnule-bearing sections. The angle of rachial bifurcation varies from 35° to 65°, with no one angle of divergence dominating the sample population. Basal exterior lateral rachises develop first, are oblong in outline, and do not possess spine-like prolongations. Lateral rachises develop alternately along each pinnule-bearing section. Pinnule-bearing sections of the described leaf fragment exceed 0.5 m in length, and the dimensions of an entire frond probably approached 2.0 m.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 62 , Issue 6 , November 1988 , pp. 982 - 988
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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