Studies on a New Earliest Carboniferous Plant: Coenosophyton tristichus gen. et sp. nov. from China

Abstract

A new plant fossil from the earliest Carboniferous of Anhui, China, is described. This species, known only from compression, consists of three orders of branching and dichotomous appendages. The first-order axis represents the morphology of a stem or small trunk. Lateral organs are attached along the primary axis in three ranks. The appendages are arranged along the third-order axis in three ranks and divided into sterile and fertile appendages. The sterile appendages are dichotomized two times with a pointed tip. The fertile appendages are made of paired erect sporangia on the supporting axial system with two dichotomies. A dense terminal branching system is attached at the end of first- and second-order axes. Based on comparison with and differences from established taxa, this plant is named Coenosophyton tristichus gen. et sp. nov. The relationships with the known plant fossils of Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian are discussed.