Rotafolia songziensis gen. et comb. nov., a sphenopsid from the Late Devonian of Hubei, China

A sphenopsid from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) Xiejingsi Formation, south-western Hubei Province, China, previously named as various species in Sphenophyllum , Hamatophyton , Bowmanites and Sphenophyllostachys , is now reinvestigated and assigned to a new taxon, Rotafolia songziensis gen. et comb. nov. Its ribbed axes are anisotomous and possess slightly expanded nodes. Lateral axes are inserted at nodes on main axes. Whorls of much divided vegetative leaves are attached at nearly right angles to nodes of basal axes, and at acute angles to nodes of terminal axes. There are six leaves per whorl. The terminal strobilus includes a central axis and verticils of fertile units. Each fertile unit consists of a bract and numerous sporangia. The margin of the elongate-cuneate bract bears a distal and many lateral elongate segments. Clusters of elongate sporangia are abaxially attached to the base of the bract at the same level. The axis has an actinostele, composed of a three-ribbed, exarch primary xylem and radial secondary xylem. Although Rotafolia songziensis closely resembles Hamatophyton verticillatum in axis character, leaf morphology and primary xylem type, they are quite different in strobilar structure. Taxonomically, Rotafolia is placed in the order Sphenophyllales by three well-defined characters: 1) whorled appendages; 2) ribbed protosteles; 3) exarch primary xylem maturation.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 148 , 21–37.     

A new species of Exostyles (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Swartzieae s.l.), from Paraná State, Brazil

A new species Exostyles godoyensis Soares-Silva & Mansano (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Swartzieae), endemic to Paraná state in southern Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species is distinct from all the other species of Exostyles in having a leaf with up to five leaflets, while the other species have at least seven leaflets per leaf. The new species is distinct from Exostyles amazonica Yakovlev in its longer stamen filaments and ovary stipe and from E. glabra Vogel and E. venusta Schott by its shorter anthers. In addition to these morphological characters E. godoyensis has a disjunct geographical distribution.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 146 , 103–106.     

Estinnophyton wahnbachense (Kräusel et Weyland) comb. nov., une plante remarquable du siegenien d'allemagne

Specimens collected from the type locality of Protolepidodendron wahnbachense Kräusel et Weyland 1932 (Germany) are studied. The narrow axes, with persistent leaves which are bifurcated and spirally arranged, resemble those of P. wahnbachense. However, the vegetative and fertile leaves bifurcate twice and the four resulting segments are spread in various planes; the fertile leaves support two pairs of stalked elongate sporangia which are directed towards the axis. Estinnophyton wahnbachense (Kräusel et Weyland) comb. nov. is thus proposed as a name for these Siegenian plant remains, the questionable affinities of which are discussed.     

Fruits and seeds of Ruppia (Potamogetonaceae) from the Pliocene of Yushe Basin, Shanxi, northern China and their ecological implications

Numerous fruits and seeds of Ruppia are reported from the Upper Pliocene (2.3–3.5 Myr ago) Zhangcun Formation in Yushe Basin, Shanxi, northern China. They are the first fossil Ruppia from China and demonstrate the importance of fruit and seed fossils in recording genera not represented by fossil leaves. These Ruppia are characterized by possessing a small oval endocarp, smooth endocarp surface, distinct elliptical external depressions, distinct apical mucro, slightly curved seed shape and conspicuous globose hilum. A new species, R. yushensis Zhao, Collinson and Li, is described from these endocarp and seed features. Comparison with the two European Miocene species, R. palaeomaritima Negru and R. maritime-miocenica Szafer, indicates the existence at that time of three different geographical and stratigraphical species. R. yushensis constitutes the first Pliocene record of Ruppia and extends the range of fossils of this genus from Europe to eastern Asia. R. yushensis is the only aquatic plant in the uppermost middle part of the Zhangcun Formation. This monotypic occurrence indicates a brackish, clear, tranquil and shallow lake in this region in the Late Pliocene. The smooth endocarp surface further suggests a warm temperate or temperate palaeoclimate.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 145 , 317–329.     

贵州早泥盆世刺镰蕨的新观察

刺镰蕨在早泥盆世是一种广布于世界的植物,尽管报道自许多地点,但远未完全地了解它,其主要原因是能育材料罕见。我们观察的标本采自贵州早泥盆世的丹林组。它显示具柄的孢子囊侧生于靠近叶腋的轴上,我们的标本近似球形的孢子囊和它的形态略小于雷诺的肾形孢子囊外,其它方面如：带状的营养轴上具有疏螺旋排列的镰刀状叶,具短柄的孢子囊侧生于轴上以及管胞具穿孔壁等性状与雷诺修订后的刺镰蕨完全一致。我们同意雷诺的观点,将镰蕨目升为纲,与工蕨纲和石松纲并列。它的系统位置是介于工蕨纲和石松纲之间。其下包含一目、一科三个属——镰蕨属、巴拉格瓦纳彻属和星木属。这种植物的生殖部分在中国尚属首次报道。     

A distinctive new species of Viola (Violaceae) from Yunnan, China

A new species of Viola (Violaceae) from north-western Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. Viola dimorphophylla Y. S. Chen & Q. E. Yang sp. nov. is endemic to Zhongdian County, north-western Yunnan, and is very easily distinguishable from all other Chinese species of the genus by having obviously dimorphic leaves, with the basal ones being long petiolate, undivided and widely cordate, and the cauline ones sessile, linear and verticillate.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 149 , 115–119.     

New Observations on Drepanophycus spinaeformis from the Lower Devonian of Guizhou,China

Drepanophycus spinaeformis Goeppert is a plant of world-wide distribution in the Lower Devonian. Although this species has been reported from numerous localities, it is far from being understood well, because the fertile material is rare. Observation on specimens from the Danlin Formation of Guizhou showed that the sporangia were borne on short stalks attached laterally to the axes near the leaf axil, nearly sphaeroid, and smaller than Rayner’ kidney sporangia. Howerer, other character, e. g. banded nutritive axis bearing spiral drepanoid leaves, perforated tracheid wall, are the same as those described by Rayner. We agree with Rayner in raising Drepanophycales to the status of class, Drepanophycopsida, parallel with Zosterophyllopsida and Lycopsida. The systematic position of Drepanophycopsida is in between Zosterophyllopsida and Lycopsida. The class includes one order, one family and three genera (Drepanophycus, Baragwanathia and Asteroxylon).The fertile parts of the plant are reported for the first time in China.     

A new late Westphalian fossil marattialean fern from Nova Scotia

Sydneia manleyi gen. et sp. nov. is based on part of a fertile frond from the upper Westphalian D of the Sydney Coalfield, Nova Scotia, Canada. It has small synangia composed of laterally fused sporangia that are elongate and with a circular cross-section. The sporangia yielded variably sized monolete and trilete spores with laevigate and microspinate ornamentation; intermediate forms were also observed. The spores can be correlated with the sporae dispersae species Latosporites minutus , Punctatosporites oculus and Laevigatosporites minimus . Size distribution of the spores is variable and highly skewed, suggesting heterogeneity of the spores within the sporangium. Spore ultrastructure indicates that the fossil is part of a fern, and the morphology of the spores and synangia indicate marattialean affinities.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 142 , 199–212.     

Leaf anatomy and the occurrence of false veins in Asplenium (Aspleniaceae, Pteridophyta)

False veins in African afro-alpine (2000–4700 m) Asplenium species with long creeping rhizomes and highly dissected leaves are morphologically and anatomically similar to true veins but differ in the absence of a vascular bundle. False veins in Aspleniaceae may have originated by the fusion of leaf lobes, and are more similar to those in Angiopteris and Thelypteris than to those in Davallia and Hymenophyllaceae. Because false veins are long and extend from the leaf margin to the junction of the neighbouring true veins in A. actiniopteroides , A. goetzei , A. majus , A. praegracile , A . sp. nov. and A. uhligii , but short, not reaching this junction in A. decompositum , A. demerkense , A. kassneri , A. linckii and A. mildbraedii , and even absent in A. aethiopicum , A. lademannianum , A. simii , A. stipicellatum and A. volkensii , they can be used for identification in this enigmatic group of ferns.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 145 , 187–194.     

Re-interpretation of Wexfordia hookense from the Upper Devonian of Ireland as an arborescent lycophyte

New collections of pyritized axes of the lycophyte Wexfordia hookense have been made from the Upper Devonian (uppermost Famennian) type locality at Sandeel Bay, County Wexford, in south-eastern Ireland. The specimens reveal additional histological features that permit reinterpretation of the morphology of this taxon and reevaluation of its taxonomic affinities. Wexfordia is shown to possess both secondary xylem, with narrow, uni- to biseriate rays, and periderm. The range of variation in relative amounts of primary and secondary xylem can be correlated with position in the mature plant. This evidence indicates that Wexfordia was a small tree rather than an herbaceous form. Fine structure of tracheids and additional anatomical features strongly support affinities with Carboniferous arborescent Isoetales, rather than Devonian Protolepidodendrales, and further support the hypothesis that radiation in this lineage was well underway prior to the Carboniferous.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 275–287.     

Intercontinental distribution of Plagiochila corrugata (Plagiochilaceae, Hepaticae) inferred from nrDNA ITS sequences and morphology

Plagiochila sect. Vagae is a large pantropical clade that is characterized morphologically by frequent terminal branching, vegetative distribution by propagules on the ventral surface of the leaves and a capsule wall with thickenings in all layers. Plagiochila corrugata from Brazil is characterized by strongly undulate, toothed leaf margins and represents the only known neotropical species of sect. Vagae with unispiral elaters. Plagiochila cambuena from Madagascar is distinguished by the same features. Maximum likelihood and parsimony analyses of 38 nrDNA ITS sequences of Plagiochila reveal P. corrugata and P. cambuena in a weakly (ML) to well (MP) supported monophyletic lineage within P.  sect.  Vagae . As an outcome of the morphological and molecular investigation, P. cambuena is relegated to the synonymy of P. corrugata. Plagiochila corrugata is placed in a Vagae -subclade with 11 further American species. The range of P. corrugata can be ascribed to long-range dispersal from the Neotropics rather than a Gondwanan distribution. Species from tropical Asia and Africa are placed at the base of the Vagae clade. Branch length within P.  sect.  Vagae points to a sudden radiation.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 146 , 469–481.     

Leaf structure and cytochemical investigation of secretory tissues in Inula viscosa

Leaves of Inula viscosa have been used in medicine from ancient times. Structures or cells with secreting activity were localized and a spectrum of products was histochemically identified within them. Leaf extracts were investigated with gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Calluses produced from leaf-cell cultures were also subjected to histochemical reagents and tested with GC-MS and TLC to investigate their secreting ability compared with that in leaves. Little-differentiated callus cells are synthetically active and produce, as do its leaf cells, numerous polar compounds that could be of pharmaceutical interest.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 437–448.     

The pollen cones of Ginkgo from the Early Cretaceous of China, and their bearing on the evolutionary significance

A well-preserved pollen cone of the genus Ginkgo was found in the Yixian Formation (Early Cretaceous) of Liaoning Province, China, and is described as the new species Ginkgo liaoningensis . The pollen cone, catkin-like, consists of a main axis bearing scales at its base and spirally arranged sporophylls bearing 3–4 (−2) oval or elliptical sporangia. The sporangia are pendulous and dehiscent by a longitudinal slit. The mature pollen grains are monocolpate and elongate-elliptical, and the juvenile pollen grains are found in the tetrad stage. The characteristics of G. liaoningensis are very similar to those of the living Ginkgo biloba , but the sporophylls of G. liaoningensis bear 3–4 (−2) sporangia, whereas those of G. biloba bear mostly two sporangia. G. liaoningensis differs from fossil cones of Ginkgo huttoni from the Jurassic of Yorkshire, UK, and an unnamed specimen of Ginkgo from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, in the size and number of sporangia. The comparison between G. liaoningensis (fossil) and G. biloba (living) supports the reduction hypothesis of ovule organs in Ginkgo , with the number of sporangia having experienced the process of reduction from three or four to two since the Early Cretaceous.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 152 , 133–144.     

Morphology and morphogenesis of ensiform leaves, syndesmy of shoots and an understanding of the thalloid plant body in species of Apinagia, Mourera and Marathrum (Podostemaceae)

The flattened, irregularly shaped and lobed or dissected leaves of Apinagia riedelii , A. latifolia , A. goejei , Mourera aspera and Marathrum utile (subfamily Podostemoideae) are ensiform in structure. After the typical bifacial inception, further growth of leaves proceeds in the midrib area, i.e. in the median plane of the leaf. The lower leaf zone is characterized by a sheath that orientates 'at the side of the blade', i.e. at the adaxial edge of the sword-like leaf. The ensiform blades are lobed, incised or pinnately dissected with the tips terminated in elongated threads or thin filaments. Leaves of Apinagia riedelii resemble pinnately dissected compound leaves. The dissected structure represents a secondary superimposition of the ensiform shape and a parallel development to compound leaves. It is interpreted as an adaptation to the rapid current, established in the floating shoots of these aquatic plants. The basal portions of main shoots and successive branches are fused due to a retarded separation. Fusion of this kind has been termed a syndesmy. The fused region of shoots is superseded by the fusion of the lower leaf zones of (distichously positioned) adjacent leaves, occurring at their margins. The fused leaf bases form a cavity for the terminal flower bud of each shoot and cover it in the form of a hood. The flower buds are hidden from external view. The meristematic growing zones are thus protected and enclosed within the syndesmic plant body which, in this way, attains the 'thalloid' appearance especially developed in Apinagia goejei and A. latifolia but also present in the other species. The results of this study enable an understanding of the particular appearance of these Podostemoideae as modifications of the typical structures according to the 'principle of variable proportions'.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 147 , 47–71.     

Distribution, phenology and demography of sympatric sexual and asexual dandelions (Taraxacum officinale s.l.): geographic parthenogenesis on a small scale

In many plant and animal species, sexual and asexual forms have different geographical distributions ('geographic parthenogenesis'). The common dandelion Taraxacum officinale s.l. provides a particularly clear example of differing distributions: diploid sexuals are restricted to southern and central Europe, while triploid asexuals occur across Europe. To get a better understanding of the factors underlying this pattern, we studied the distribution and demography of sexuals and asexuals in a mixed population that was located at the northern distribution limit of the sexuals. In this population three adjacent, contrasting microhabitats were found: a foreland and south and north slopes of a river dike. Comparative analyses of the distribution, phenology and demography indicated that sexuals had a stronger preference for the south slope than did asexuals. We therefore propose that the large-scale geographic parthenogenesis in T. officinale is shaped by an environmental gradient which acts upon the sexuals.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 82 , 205–218.     

Three new species with two flowered spikelets in Acantholimon (Plumbaginaceae) from East Anatolia, Turkey

Three new species, Acantholimon bashkaleicum sp. nov. , Acantholimon artosense sp. nov. and Acantholimon hoshapicum sp. nov. (Plumbaginaceae) are described and illustrated. The species are all confined to B9/B10 Van Province in East Anatolia where they grow either on calcareous mountain slopes or on mountain steppes. Diagnostic morphological characteristics from the closely related species are given, along with a discussion dealing with their taxonomic relationships, and their conservation statuses are pointed out. A revised key to the Acantholimon species with heterophyllous leaves, two or more flowered and four or more bracteated spikelets is also provided.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 497–505.     

Comparative anatomy and morphology of fertile complexes of Prumnopitys and Afrocarpus species (Podocarpaceae) as revealed by histology and NMR imaging, and their relevance to systematics

Fertile complexes (individual reproductive units of ovulate cones) of three Prumnopitys species and Afrocarpus falcatus (Podocarpaceae) were subjected to histological examination and non-destructive NMR imaging. The latter technique allowed the display, frame-by-frame analysis and electronic 'dissection' of internal structures such as the number and courses of vascular traces and resin canals and their morphology. Characters of these internal structures distinguished all three Prumnopitys species from each other and thus were shown to be taxonomically diagnostic. Fertile complexes of Prumnopitys andina and P. taxifolia were most similar, possessing simple vascular traces and few unbranched resin canals. Those of P. ferruginea were very different and possessed an interconnected network of resin ducts within the sarcotesta. These findings are congruent with relationships inferred from molecular phylogenetic studies, in which two subclades were recovered within Prumnopitys . The anatomy of the female fertile complexes of Afrocarpus falcatus was very distinct from all Prumnopitys species analysed. Its most distinctive feature was the existence of a complex network of radial vascular strands originating from within the outer layers of the sarcotesta and penetrating the inner layers of the fertile complex. The surface texture and morphology of the sclerotesta of the seed was also unique to each species.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 145 , 295–316.     

Shoot and compound leaf comparisons in eudicots: dynamic morphology as an alternative approach

Recent developmental studies suggest that the compound leaf is a more or less incompletely developed shoot. Instead of treating compound leaves and shoots as non-homologous, this interpretation draws a continuum between them. The present work considers the plant as a hierarchical series of units on which similar developmental processes are at work, and where each level (shoot, compound leaf, leaflet) is 'repeated' by the next higher level. Measurements related to the expression of developmental processes operating on leaves at the shoot level and on leaflets at the compound leaf level were used to determine if similar processes are at work at these different levels during early stages of organogenesis. Plants with compound leaves showing acropetal leaflet inception, representing a total of 16 species from ten eudicot families, were studied. Based on several types of quantitative analyses, there appears to be a continuum between so-called shoots, compound leaves and leaflets in the species studied. This perspective, qualified as dynamic morphology, both parallels and complements the classical interpretation.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 143, 219−230.     

Leaf morphology of hosts and nonhosts of the thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouché)

This study highlights the morphological differences between two groups of plants; those that are recorded as hosts of the thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouché) and those that remain free from infestation. Scanning electron microscope techniques were used to describe the morphology of the leaf surface of 19 species in order to help identify which morphological features could play a role in the selection of plant species by thrips from among a diverse botanical collection. H. haemorrhoidalis had a preference for species with leaves that were coriaceous, with one or both surfaces being smooth. Plants evading these thrips commonly possessed glandular trichomes. Thus morphology may have a role in deterring thrips from the leaf surface, as well as influencing the behaviour of predators that control thrips. Further detailed studies into the chemistry of leaves of hosts and nonhost species may help to further our understanding of selection mechanisms.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 152 , 109–130.     

Anatomy of the vegetative organs and secretory structures of Rhaponticum carthamoides (Asteraceae)

Roots, stems, rhizomes and leaves of Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.) Iljin (a Siberian adaptogenic plant, originating from the Altai and Saian Mountains) of different ages were investigated by means of light and electron microscopy. Schizogenous secretory reservoirs occurred in every organ, and were located within the secondary xylem (adventitious roots and rhizome of young plants), at the interface of endodermis/cortical parenchyma (roots and hypocotyl), along phloem and primary xylem (older rhizome), around the vascular bundles (inflorescence stem, petiole and leaf midrib veins) and along phloem (cotyledonary and leaf veins). At the interface of endodermis/inner parenchyma, secretion accumulated in the intercellular spaces prior to the formation of proper epithelial cells. The secretion as observed by transmission electron microscopy comprised three components: soluble (i.e. absent from sections; probably phenolic), insoluble and strongly osmiophilic (probably phenolic) and insoluble, moderately osmiophilic (probably lipidic). Numerous osmiophilic oil droplets, similar to the lipidic secretion inside the reservoirs, local proliferation of rough endoplasmic reticulum and numerous multivesicular bodies characterized epithelial cells in all organs. Leucoplasts (in subterranean organs) with osmiophilic inclusions and peroxisomes with crystalloid inclusions were specific for parenchyma cells. Peltate glandular hairs were formed on leaf blades.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 207–233.