ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF WOOD OF CALLIXYLON AND CORDAITES

Abstract

Replicas and ultrathin sections of the wood of two Paleozoic genera, Callixylon and Cordaites, were examined with the electron microscope. The pattern of wall layering of Callixylon closely resembles that of extant plants. An electron‐dense compound middle lamella markedly thickened at the corners of cells, a thin, electron‐transparent S1 layer of the secondary wall, and a thick, electron‐dense, partially decayed S2 layer of the secondary wall are evident in transverse sections of tracheids. No S3 layer seems to be present. The structure of the bordered pit‐pairs of Callixylon is described in detail. The slitlike outer pit apertures are conspicuously narrower and shorter than the inner pit apertures. Both sections and replicas of the bordered pit‐pairs display pit membranes lacking tori. Microfibrillar structure is obscure in both sections and replicas of Callixylon wood. Replicas of the bordered pits of Cordaites wood are very similar to those of Callixylon. Pit membranes lack tori, and microfibrillar structure is not very discernible. Knowledge about the evolution of the torus is summarized. It is postulated that the type of pit membrane of Callixylon and Cordaites, which is very homogeneous in structure and lacks a torus, represents a primitive condition among gymnosperms from which structurally more complex pit membranes and the torus later evolved.