Yunia dichotoma, a lower devonian plant from Yunnan, China

Abstract

This paper describes a new genus and species, Yunia dichotoma, collected from the Posonchong Formation of Siegenian age in the Wenshan district of Yunnan, China. The spiny axes are characterized by cruciate dichotomy. Associated, but not in organic connection, with the vegetative axes, are numerous elongate-elliptical or ovoid sporangia. One small branching system consisting of a single dichotomy bears the basal part of a sporangium, suggesting the possibility that the sporangia were borne terminally in pairs. Sections of permineralized segments of the axis reveal a columnar protostele, circular to elliptical in transverse section containing one or two roughly circular to transversely elongate (often lunate) regions of large parenchyma cells sparsely interspersed peripherally with tracheids of small diameter. We interpret these regions of parenchyma and tracheids to be protoxylem strands and development of primary xylem to be centrarch. During branching of an axis, the initially single protoxylem region in a branch stele divides precociously prior to the separation of the daughter axes. Thus, the stele may contain two protoxylem strands through considerable lengths of daughter axes between levels of dichotomy. Yunia is tentatively assigned to the Trimerophytales.