Latisemenia longshania, gen. et sp. nov., a new Late Devonian seed plant from China

The earliest known ovules in the Late Devonian (Famennian) are borne terminally on fertile branches and are typically enclosed in a cupule. Among these ovules are some that have terete integumentary lobes with little or no fusion. Here, we report a new taxon, Latisemenia longshania, from the Famenni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2015-10, Vol.282 (1817), p.20151613-20151613
Main Authors: Wang, De-Ming, Basinger, James F., Huang, Pu, Liu, Le, Xue, Jin-Zhuang, Meng, Mei-Cen, Zhang, Ying-Ying, Deng, Zhen-Zhen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
China
Cupule
Embryophyta - anatomy & histology
Embryophyta - classification
Fossils
Late Devonian
Ovule
Palaeogeography
Pollination
Seed Plant
Seeds
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Summary:The earliest known ovules in the Late Devonian (Famennian) are borne terminally on fertile branches and are typically enclosed in a cupule. Among these ovules are some that have terete integumentary lobes with little or no fusion. Here, we report a new taxon, Latisemenia longshania, from the Famennian of South China, which bears cupulate ovules that are terminal as well as opposite on the fertile axis. Each ovule has four broad integumentary lobes, which are extensively fused to each other and also to the nucellus. The cupule is uniovulate, and the five flattened cupule segments of each terminal ovule are elongate cuneate and shorter than the ovule. Associated but not attached pinnules are laminate and Sphenopteris-like, with an entire or lobate margin. Latisemenia is the earliest known plant with ovules borne on the side of the fertile axis and may foreshadow the diverse ovule arrangements found among younger seed plant lineages that emerge in the Carboniferous. Following the telome theory, Latisemenia demonstrates derived features in both ovules and cupules, and the shape and fusion of integumentary lobes suggest effective pollination and protection to the nucellus. Along with other recent discoveries from China, Latisemenia extends the palaeogeographic range of the earliest seed plants.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2015.1613