Kidstoniopteris minor (Kidst.) Frojdová, Pšenička, Bek et C.J.Cleal

Plant Fossil Names Registry Number: PFN000116

Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:116

Authors: J. Votočková Frojdová, J. Pšenička, J. Bek & C. J. Cleal

Rank: species

Basionym: Boweria minor Kidst.

Genus: Kidstoniopteris Frojdová, Pšenička, Bek et C.J.Cleal

Reference: Votočková Frojdová, J., Pšenička, J., Bek, J. & Cleal, C. J. (2017): Revision of the Pennsylvanian fern Boweria Kidston and the establishment of the new genus Kidstoniopteris. – Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 236: 33–58.

Page of description: 48

Name is type for

Types

Original diagnosis/description

Frond quadripinnate, rachis thick, attaining a breadth of 7 mm., densely apiculate and bearing aphlebia 2 cm. or more in length, which are divided into very narrow linear segments. Primary pinnae with slender rachis 1 mm. broad, punctate, straight. Secondary pinnae lanceolate, alternate, slightly overlapping at margins, with slender rachis about 0.25 mm. broad, straight or flexuous. Tertiary pinnae with very slender, straight, or flexuous rachis, alternate, lanceolate or oblong lanceolate, the larger about 1 cm. long, close, but usually free, and bearing generally three pairs of pinnules. Foliage pinnules alternate, free, small, the basal and larger about 2 mm. long and divided into three very narrow spreading linear segments which end in a blunt point ; upper and smaller pinnules bifid or reduced to a single linear segment ; terminal pinnule bifid or simple. A simple veinlet enters each segment, but is seldom visible.
Fertile pinnules entirely deprived of the limb. A few sporangia are arranged in groups at the extremities of the ultimate divisions of the frond, apparently free, small, 0.40 mm. to 0.50 mm. in diameter, with a prominent annulus of two rows of cells that passes over the apex and extends slightly down the side of the sporangium.

Emended diagnosis

Brousmich 1986: Rev. Paléobiol. 5(2): 233:
Fronde d’organisation quinquepinnatifide, de construction catadrome; Feuillage stérile : rachis d’ordres n et n−1 très fins, rectilignes ou légèrwmwnt flexueux; rachis d’orders n−2 et n−3 beaucoup plus larges et pouvant atteindre 7 mm pour ces derniers; rachis n−3 porteur d’aphébies mesurant au moins 2 cm de longueur et d’une ornementation contituée de petits apicules densément répartis; feuillage extrêmement aéré et gracile; pennes peu recouvrantes; pinnules peu évoluées réduites à un seul segment linéaire parfois bifide; pinnules évoluées très petites, n’excédant pas 2 mm en longueur et contituées de 2 ou 3 lobes linéaires à sommet obtus et relativement écartés les uns des autres; nervation difficilement observable constituée d’une revule simple médiane irriguant chaque segment limbaire; Feuillage fertile très différent du feuillage stérile puisque dépourvu de limbe; fructifications composées de groupes de 4–5 spornges libres, annelés, situés à l’extrémité des ramifications ultimes de la fronde, n’excédant pas 0,4 mm en largeur; anneau court, composé d’un double rangée de cellules à parois épaissies passant par le sommet du sporange et peu étendu latéralement; spores trilètes d’assez grande taille (39–50 µm) ovales à circulaires, ornées de petits apicules (1 µm) répartis de façon lâvhe, s’apparentant au genre Planisporites KNOX.

Frojdová et al. 2017: Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 236: 48:
Frond segments at least pentapinnate; rachis of the fourth order with small bifurcated trichomes; aphlebiae horn-shaped, divided into several laminar segments; rachises dotted; pinnuleswith a bluntlypointed tip; sporangia situated at the top of the pinnule lobes; ovoid, short-stalked, solitary or irregularly grouped consisting of 5–7 sporangia per group, annulate; annulus of the semi-equatorial type, equatorial, occupying a half of the sporangium, consisting of three irregular rows of elongated, thick-walled cells; stomium elongated, thick-walled cells, ongoing from the top and ending near the sporangial base, close to the pedicel; apical cell rounded, thick-walled, situated at the top of the sporangium; ordinary cells thin-walled, polygonal; in situ microspores with amb varying from circular, oval, subtriangular and triangular; microgranulate or laevigate sculpture, sometimes secondary folds.

Stratigraphy

Carboniferous, Pennsylvanian, Moscovian
Barnsley Main Seam, lower Moscovian (Duckmantian)
(according to Frojdová et al. 2017)

Locality

United Kingdom
Monckton Main Colliery, near Barnsley, Yorkshire