Selaginella sp. 1

Schmidt, Alexander R., Korall, Petra, Krings, Michael, Weststrand, Stina, Bergschneider, Lena, Sadowski, Eva-Maria, Bechteler, Julia, Rikkinen, Jouko & Regalado, Ledis, 2022, Selaginella in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, Willdenowia 52 (2), pp. 179-245 : 226-228

Selaginella sp. 1 – Fig. 33–35.

Specimens studied — PB25337 ( Fig. 33), PB25338 ( Fig. 34), Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, GZG.BST.22030 ( Fig. 35), Geoscientific Collection of the University of Göttingen, Patrick Müller Amber Collection BuB173, BuB3532, BuB2713.

Description — Axes compressed. Trophophylls dimorphic ( Fig. 33A; 34A, B; 35A, B). Axillary trophophylls symmetric, 0.4–0.6 × 0.2–0.3 mm, ovate, acute, apex slightly acuminate, base rounded, margins nearly entire ( Fig. 34A). Dorsal trophophylls close, base slightly asymmetric, 0.3–0.9 × 0.2–0.4 mm, ovate to broadly ovate, base decurrent, apex short acuminate to aristate, margins nearly entire, sometimes slightly denticulate, teeth <10 µm long. Ventral trophophylls close, almost imbricate, falcate, base slightly asymmetric, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm, ovate, broadly ovate or triangular, base obtusely decurrent, apex acute or slightly acuminate, margins entire, but may also be sparsely denticulate in proximal acroscopic portion, teeth 10–30 µm long ( Fig. 33C, 34C).

Remarks — Specimen PB25337 possesses a particular hyaline fringe 20–30 µm wide that occurs along all margins of the ventral trophophylls and represents a character not seen in any other specimen ( Fig. 33D).