PAURODENDRON, A RHIZOMORPHIC LYCOPOD

Abstract

From middle Pennsylvanian coal balls collected in Kansas and Illinois the ligules and rhizomorph of Paurodendron have been illustrated. Assignment of Paurodendron to the Lycopsida is corroborated. Discovery of the root‐bearing portion of this Carboniferous lycopod establishes a diminutive, phyletic line in the Paleozoic with rhizomorphs smaller than many species of Isoeles. Paurodendron resembles the selaginelloid line more closely than other rhizomorphic types. Anatomical comparisons of Paurodendron with roots and root‐bearing structures of lycopods are made; the root‐bearing and a representative leaf‐bearing portion of Paurodendron fraiponti have been reconstructed. The specific diagnosis has been emended, and the three species described by Fry have been reduced to one.