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''Sigillaria'' is a genus of extinct, spore-bearing, arborescent lycophyte, known from the
/ref> but dwindled to extinction in the
/ref> Fossils are found in Great Britain, United States, Canada, China, Korea, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
''Sigillaria'' was a tree-like plant reaching a height up to , and lycopsids were capable to reach a height of up to . These lycopsids had a tall, single or occasionally forked trunk that lacked wood. Support came from a layer of closely packed leaf bases just below the surface of the trunk, while the center was filled with pith. The long, thin grasslike leaves were attached directly to the stem and grew in a spiral along the trunk. The old leaf bases expanded as the trunk grew in width, and left a diamond-shaped pattern, which is evident in fossils. These leaf scars were arranged in vertical rows. The trunk had photosynthetic tissue on the surface, meaning that it was probably green.
The trunk was topped with a plume of long, grass-like,
Hans' Paleobotany Pages - Species of Sigillaria
/ref>
*''S.alveolaris'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.barbata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.bicostata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.boblayi'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.brardii'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.cancriformis'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.cristata'' Sauveur (1848)
*''S.cumulata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.davreuxii'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.densifolia'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.elegans'' Sternberg (1825)
*''S.elongata'' Brongniart (1824)
*''S.fossorum'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.hexagona'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.loricata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.mammiliaris'' Brongniart (1824)
*''S.menardi'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.micaudi'' (Zeller (1886-1888)
*''S.monostigma'' Lesquereux (1866)
*''S.orbicularis'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.ovata'' Sauveur (1848)
*''S.pachyderma'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.principes'' Weiss (1881)
*''S.reticulata'' Lesquereux (1860)
*''S.rugosa'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.saulii'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.schotheimiana'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.scutellata'' Brongniart (1822)
*''S.sillimanni'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.tesselata'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.transversalis'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.trigona'' Sternberg (1826)
*''S.voltzii'' Brongniart (1828)
File:Joggins-bark.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' lycopod fossil, Joggins, Nova Scotia, Canada
File:Stanhope Tree - geograph.org.uk - 2531669.jpg, Fossil of ''Sigillaria'' trunk attached to a stigmarian root system (lycopsid rhizomes)
File:Sigillaria1.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' on display at
Fossil Plants Vol.II
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1094494 Prehistoric lycophytes Prehistoric lycophyte genera Pennsylvanian plants Permian plants Prehistoric trees Carboniferous first appearances Permian genus extinctions Fossils of Georgia (U.S. state) Paleozoic life of New Brunswick Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Prehistoric plants of North America
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
and Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
periods. It is related to the more famous ''Lepidodendron
''Lepidodendron'' is an extinct genus of primitive lycopodian vascular plants belonging the order Lepidodendrales. It is well preserved and common in the fossil record. Like other Lepidodendrales, species of ''Lepidodendron'' grew as large-tree ...
'', and more distantly to modern quillworts.
Fossil records
This genus is known in thefossil record
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s from as early as the Middle Devonian
In the geological timescale, the Middle Devonian epoch (from 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago to 382.7 ± 1.6 million years ago) occurred during the Devonian period, after the end of the Emsian age.
The Middle Devonian epoch is subdivided into two ...
or the Late Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
period Hans' Paleobotany Pages - The clubmoss tree Sigillaria/ref> but dwindled to extinction in the
Early Permian 01 or 01 may refer to:
* The year 2001, or any year ending with 01
* The month of January
* 1 (number)
Music
* '01 (Richard Müller album), ''01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001
* 01 (Urban Zakapa album), ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011
* ''01011 ...
period (age range: from 383.7 to 254.0 million years ago).Encyclopædia Britannica/ref> Fossils are found in Great Britain, United States, Canada, China, Korea, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Description
''Sigillaria'' was a tree-like plant reaching a height up to , and lycopsids were capable to reach a height of up to . These lycopsids had a tall, single or occasionally forked trunk that lacked wood. Support came from a layer of closely packed leaf bases just below the surface of the trunk, while the center was filled with pith. The long, thin grasslike leaves were attached directly to the stem and grew in a spiral along the trunk. The old leaf bases expanded as the trunk grew in width, and left a diamond-shaped pattern, which is evident in fossils. These leaf scars were arranged in vertical rows. The trunk had photosynthetic tissue on the surface, meaning that it was probably green.
The trunk was topped with a plume of long, grass-like, microphyll
In plant anatomy and evolution a microphyll (or lycophyll) is a type of plant leaf with one single, unbranched leaf vein. Plants with microphyll leaves occur early in the fossil record, and few such plants exist today. In the classical concept of ...
ous leaves, so that the plant looked somewhat like a tall, forked bottle brush. The plant bore its spores (not seeds) in cone-like structures attached to the stem.
The underground structures of arborescent lycophytes including ''Sigillaria'' and ''Lepidodendron
''Lepidodendron'' is an extinct genus of primitive lycopodian vascular plants belonging the order Lepidodendrales. It is well preserved and common in the fossil record. Like other Lepidodendrales, species of ''Lepidodendron'' grew as large-tree ...
'' are assigned under the form taxon, '' Stigmaria''. The lycopsids had rhizomes
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
or shoot-like rhizomorphic axes, with lateral appendages attached from the circular scars, forming an underground network of branched rootlets. These stigmarian rootlets branched dichotomously from the rhizomorphs similar to ''Isoetes
''Isoetes'', commonly known as the quillworts, is a genus of lycopod. It is the only living genus in the family Isoetaceae and order Isoetales. , there were about 200 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution mostly in aquatic habitats ...
'', and spread throughout the coal swamp forest areas where the lycopods were commonly found. Root hairs from the rootlet scars identified in ''Stigmaria'' fossils were attached when the lycopsids were alive.
''Sigillaria'', like many ancient lycopods, had a relatively short life cycle - growing rapidly and reaching maturity in a few years. ''Sigillaria'' may have been monocarpic
Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die.
The term is derived from Greek (', "single" + , "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are '' hapaxanth'' ...
, meaning that it died after reproduction, though this is not proven. It was associated with ''Lepidodendron
''Lepidodendron'' is an extinct genus of primitive lycopodian vascular plants belonging the order Lepidodendrales. It is well preserved and common in the fossil record. Like other Lepidodendrales, species of ''Lepidodendron'' grew as large-tree ...
'' and other lycopsids from the Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
swamps.
Species
Species within this genus include:/ref>
*''S.alveolaris'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.barbata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.bicostata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.boblayi'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.brardii'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.cancriformis'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.cristata'' Sauveur (1848)
*''S.cumulata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.davreuxii'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.densifolia'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.elegans'' Sternberg (1825)
*''S.elongata'' Brongniart (1824)
*''S.fossorum'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.hexagona'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.loricata'' Weiss (1887)
*''S.mammiliaris'' Brongniart (1824)
*''S.menardi'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.micaudi'' (Zeller (1886-1888)
*''S.monostigma'' Lesquereux (1866)
*''S.orbicularis'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.ovata'' Sauveur (1848)
*''S.pachyderma'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.principes'' Weiss (1881)
*''S.reticulata'' Lesquereux (1860)
*''S.rugosa'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.saulii'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.schotheimiana'' Brongniart (1836)
*''S.scutellata'' Brongniart (1822)
*''S.sillimanni'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.tesselata'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.transversalis'' Brongniart (1828)
*''S.trigona'' Sternberg (1826)
*''S.voltzii'' Brongniart (1828)
Gallery
State Museum of Pennsylvania
The State Museum of Pennsylvania is a non-profit history museum at 300 North Street in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It is run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to preserve and interpret the Commonwealth's h ...
, from Sharon
Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name.
In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...
, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
File:Sigillaria2.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' (bark) on display at State Museum of Pennsylvania, from Scranton
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
File:Sigillaria sp.4 - Carbonifero.JPG, Replica of ''Sigillaria'' sp. at the University of A Coruña
File:Lycopsid joggins mcr1.JPG, ''In situ'' Lycopsid that is probably ''Sigillaria'' from the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
File:Sigillaria notata.jpg, A close-up of the leaf scars on a ''Sigillaria notata''
File:Sigillaria mammillaris - Naturmuseum Freiburg - DSC06753.jpg, ''Sigillaria mammillaris''
File:Sigillaria elegans fossil.jpg, ''Sigillaria elegans''
File:PSM V18 D632 Restoration of sigillaria.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' restorations
File:Dawson upright fossil.gif, ''Sigillaria'' preserved in the cliffs at Joggins, Nova Scotia, Canada
File:Lycopod bark.jpg, Lycopod bark (possibly an early species of ''Sigillaria'') showing leaf scars, from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin.
File:Sigillaria reconstrucción.jpg, Restoration
Bibliography
* William A. DiMichele, Richard M. Bateman: The Rhizomorphic Lycopsids: A Case-Study in Paleobotanical Classification. Systematic Botany, 1996, volume 21, pages 535-552. * Thomas N. Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, Michael Krings: Paleobotany. The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants. Second Edition, Academic Press 2009, , pages 303-307 * J. W. Sir Dawson - On the structure and affinities of Sigillaria, Calamites and Calamodendron - Paperback – August 16, 2011 * Silva Pineda, A. (2003). "Flora del Pérmico de la región de Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla". En Soto, L. A. Agustín Ayala-Castañares: universitario, impulsor de la investigación científica. UNAM. p. 371.References
External links
Fossil Plants Vol.II
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1094494 Prehistoric lycophytes Prehistoric lycophyte genera Pennsylvanian plants Permian plants Prehistoric trees Carboniferous first appearances Permian genus extinctions Fossils of Georgia (U.S. state) Paleozoic life of New Brunswick Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Prehistoric plants of North America