COMPARISON IN LEAF ARCHITECTURE BETWEEN CHINESE AND AMERICAN SPECIES OF GIGANTOPTERIDIUM

Among the enigmatic plant group gigantopterids, three genera, Gigantonoclea, Zeilleropteris and Cathaysiopteris, are shared by the American and the Asian Permian floras, but the first recorded American gigantopterid Gigantopteridium has not been described formally in the Gigantopteris flora of China up to now. In the present article a Chinese species of Gigantopteridium is described in detail, and a new emendation is made. Furthermore, some relevant problems about the Chinese species of Gigantopteridium are discussed at some length. The system of Koidzumi (1936) adopted in the classification of the American gigantopterids is an artificial grouping, held together only by characters of venation (Mamay et al ., 1988). According to this system the Chinese and the American specimens here concerned should be ascribed to the genus Gigantopteridium . Thus, the common genera in the Gigantopteris flora of North America and East Asia have increased from three to four. The similarity and difference between the American and the Chinese species of Gigantopteridium are compared in the leaf architecture, although no reproductive organs and anatomical data of Gigantopteridium have been provided for the time being.

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Clc Number:

Q914.85