Kowieria alveoformis Gess et Prestianni

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN000286

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:286

Authors: R. W. Gess & C. Prestianni

Rank: species

Genus: Kowieria Gess et Prestianni

Reference: Gess, R. W. & Prestianni, C. (2018): Kowieria alveoformis gen. nov. sp. nov., a new heterosporous lycophyte from the Latest Devonian of Southern Africa. – Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 249: 1–8.

Page of description: 2

Illustrations or figures: pls I, II

Name is type for

Types

Original diagnosis/description

Lycopodiaceous plant, only known from terminal axes. Vegetative axeswith spirally arrangedmicrophylls. Microphyll pedicels forming an angle of 30°–35° with the axis. Microphylls falciform and markedly curved abaxially, between 13–19 mm long and 0.3–0.6 mm wide. Bisporangiate strobilus terminal. Micro- and megasporophylls arranged spirally, form an angle ranging between 60° and 90° with the axis, are up to 20 mm long. Width regular ranging from 0.7 to 1.2mm. One adaxial sporangium borne at base of the sporophyll. Sporangia smooth, between 3.0–4.5 mm long and 1.7–2 mm wide. Megasporangium located proximally within cone, microsporangia located distally. Up to four megaspores per megasporangia. Megaspores hologulate and heavily ornamented, main body between 580 and 720 μm in diameter, gula approximately 200 μm high, ornaments are 150–200 μm long spines.

Etymology

Alveoformis referring to the coracle-like simple unkeeled sporophylls, Alveus being the Latin word for a simple type of boat.

Stratigraphy

Devonian, Upper Devonian, Famennian
‘Main Fish Lens (MFL)’, Late Famennian

Locality

South Africa
Waterloo Farm lagerstätte, south of the city of Grahamstown (Eastern Cape) [−33.323042, 26.536190]