Celatheca

Celatheca Temporal range: Early Devonian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Subkingdom:	Embryophyta
Genus:	†Celatheca S.G.Hao & Gensel (1995)^[1]
Species
C. beckii S.G.Hao & Gensel (1995)^[1]

Celatheca is a genus of extinct plants of the Early Devonian (Pragian, around 410 million years ago). Fossils were first found in the Posongchong Formation of eastern Yunnan, China. The leafless stems (axes) divided dichotomously but unequally so that one branch formed more of a 'main' stem and the other a side branch system. Side branches which did not bear spore-forming organs or sporangia divided two or three times further, ending in tips which curled back on themselves. Side branches bearing sporangia ultimately divided to produce a group of four sporangia, each with an outer leaf-like bract which folded around the sporangium. Celatheca resembles the Australian fossil Yarravia.^[1]

References

1 2 3 Hao, Shougang & Gensel, Patricia G. (1995), "A New Genus and Species, Celatheca beckii, from the Siegenian (Early Devonian) of Southeastern Yunnan, China", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 156 (6): 896–909, doi:10.1086/297312, JSTOR 2475120

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.