Plantguy Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Hey Gang, I know many of you have seen or probably possess some of the very colorful Glossopteris sp. fossil leaf plates from the Permian coal measures, Dunedoo, New South Wales, Australia. Many of the leaves show excellent detailed veination as this one does below. But, several of the leaves show many very small raised circular structures all over the leaves. Can any one tell me what they are? I thought they were some type of spore casing at first but I read that these seed ferns had individal structures for spores and seeds separate from the leaves? Maybe I need to continue researching. Any quick answers? Thanks! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 I just viewed that 2nd photo in this thread and when you magnify its pretty bad--circular stuff is there but hard to see. It didnt apparently convert well from the 8 mg original. I'll try again tomorrow. thanks for your patience. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micropterus101 Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 (edited) I just viewed that 2nd photo in this thread and when you magnify its pretty bad--circular stuff is there but hard to see. It didnt apparently convert well from the 8 mg original. I'll try again tomorrow. thanks for your patience. Regards, Chris I am no plant expert but those circular marks could be stomata?. . Edited May 6, 2010 by micropterus101 1 fossil crabs website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanK Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Hey Gang, I know many of you have seen or probably possess some of the very colorful Glossopteris sp. fossil leaf plates from the Permian coal measures, Dunedoo, New South Wales, Australia. Many of the leaves show excellent detailed veination as this one does below. But, several of the leaves show many very small raised circular structures all over the leaves. Can any one tell me what they are? I thought they were some type of spore casing at first but I read that these seed ferns had individal structures for spores and seeds separate from the leaves? Maybe I need to continue researching. Any quick answers? Thanks! Regards, Chris Hi Chris, You know I'm not the Permian man, I got only petrified Glossopteris wood from Antarctica, but I think Micropterus is right: "Glossopteris schopfii is characterized by narrow, elongate meshes, bundle sheath fibers, prominent phloem lacunae, papillar epidermal cells with straight margins and simple, longitudinally-oriented stomata. In contrast, G. skaarensis has broad polygonal meshes, a distinctive hypodermis, epidermal cells with sinuous margins and irregularly distributed, sunken stomata. These stomata are surrounded by a well-defined ring of subsidiary cells with beak-like papillae. The variety of anatomical detail demonstrated by these forms illustrates the diverse nature of glossopterid-bearing plants and underscores the value of permineralized peat to the study of Gondwana plants." - quote from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V6W-48BM2R8-J7&_user=10&_coverDate=11/01/1990&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1324554216&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5ed316895b28efd4a54b57fc6362ec34 You've got very good specimen by the way. Roman 1 Roman http://s1143.photobu.../donbassfossil/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 (edited) Micropterus and Roman thanks for the replies. You have me researching more to see what sizes the stomata could grow to. Nothing specific yet. I thought stomata were mostly microscopic in size?---very very tiny breathing structures. Some of these are approximately 1mm in diameter. Here's another picture of the same leaf just flipped around 180 degrees....a little better shot but not much. An Antartic specimen---very nice Roman! Regards, Chris Edited May 7, 2010 by Plantguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Chris.... other than a colony of spirorbis I have no idea.... they seem to randomly placed for seeds of anysort..... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanK Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Chris.... other than a colony of spirorbis I have no idea.... they seem to randomly placed for seeds of anysort..... Possibly Steve is right, Chris, compare the rings Roman http://s1143.photobu.../donbassfossil/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Possibly some sort of fungal damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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