Artisophyton PFEFFERK., 1976

Cleal, Christopher J., Strullu-Derrien, Christine & Spencer, Alan R. T., 2024, Early Coal Swamp Vegetation From The Serpukhovian Lower Clackmannan Group Of Scotland, Fossil Imprint 80 (1), pp. 35-67 : 45

Fossil-genus Artisophyton PFEFFERK., 1976

R e m a r k s. Corsin (1948) has shown these stems to have borne fronds now included in the family Tedeleaceae (e.g., Pecopteris penniformis (BRONGN.) BRONGN. , Pecopteris plumosa (ARTIS) STERNB. ). They are similar to the marattialean stems Megaphyton ARTIS in having the leaf scars arranged in two longitudinal rows, one on either side of the main stem, but the scars tend to be squatter and more rectangular in shape. Two other fossil species from the Limestone Coal Formation were assigned by Crookall (1955) to Megaphyton : Megaphyton circulare CROOKALL and Megaphyton obscurum CROOKALL. However , both types are inadequate to circumscribe the taxon: that of M. circulare does not show details of the leaf trace, and that of M. obscurum has a vertically elongate branch scar atypical for these fern stems. Neither of these species will be dealt with further here.