Research paper

A new late Carboniferous calamitacean sphenophyte from South Wales, United Kingdom

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CHRISTOPHER J. CLEAL
Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK. Chris.cleal@museumwales.ac.uk
Corresponding author

CEDRIC H. SHUTE
Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD U.K. cedric.shute@gmail.com

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ABSTRACT

A new calamitacean sphenotype is described from the middle Westphalian coal-bearing strata of South Wales; Asterophyllites tayloriorum sp. nov. (leafy shoots) and Palaeostachya wagneri sp. nov. (cone-bearing shoots). Both the leafy shoots and cones are characterised by relatively small leaves/bracts in whorls of four. Although the leafy and cone-bearing shoots occur in close association, and were almost certainly parts of the same parent plant species, the case is made for assigning them to separate fossil-taxa.

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Keywords: Palaeobotany, Equisetopsida, Carboniferous.

How to cite: Álvarez-Vázquez, C. & Cleal, C.J. 2016. Cleal, C.J. & Shute, C.H. 2016. A new late Carboniferous calamitacean sphenophyte from South Wales, United  Kingdom. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 31 (1), 25-40.

Received 24 February 2016, Accepted 13 April 2016, Published 30 June 2016

https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.31.1.17138

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