<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Pennsylvanian fossil-fern cuticles are notoriously difficult to extract, little can be found in the palaeobotanical literature, yet they can supply significant taxonomic/systematic, phytostratigragphic, and palaeoenvironment information. This is demonstrated for cuticles from “Pecopteris” polypodioides of the coal basins in the Czech Republic and Canada. “Pecopteris” polypodioides is a marattialean tree fern which was part of the peat-forming flora, growing in a wet environment. Due to this fact, cuticles are generally very thin, and we assume that their major function was to reduce the ability of fungal spores to germinate and bacterial to grow, thereby reducing the possibility of these agents to cause disease. The secondary function was to be a major barrier to water loss and reducing the wettability of pinnules.</p></abstract>

Pennsylvanian fossil-fern cuticles are notoriously difficult to extract, little can be found in the palaeobotanical literature, yet they can supply significant taxonomic/systematic, phytostratigragphic, and palaeoenvironment information. This is demonstrated for cuticles from “Pecopteris” polypodioides of the coal basins in the Czech Republic and Canada. “Pecopteris” polypodioides is a marattialean tree fern which was part of the peat-forming flora, growing in a wet environment. Due to this fact, cuticles are generally very thin, and we assume that their major function was to reduce the ability of fungal spores to germinate and bacterial to grow, thereby reducing the possibility of these agents to cause disease. The secondary function was to be a major barrier to water loss and reducing the wettability of pinnules.

Cuticles from Pennsylvanan Marattialean Fern <italic>“Pecopteris” Polypodioides</italic> (C. Presl in Sternberg) Němejc from Pilsen Basin (Czech Republic) and Sydney Coalfield (Canada)

Centre of Palaeobiodiversity, West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen

Folia Musei rerum naturalium Bohemiae occidentalis. Geologica et Paleobiologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Cuticles from Pennsylvanan Marattialean Fern  (C. Presl in Sternberg) Němejc from Pilsen Basin (Czech Republic) and Sydney Coalfield (Canada)

Pennsylvanian fossil-fern cuticles are notoriously difficult to extract, little can be found in the palaeobotanical literature, yet they can supply significant...

Cuticles from Pennsylvanan Marattialean Fern “Pecopteris” Polypodioides (C. Presl in Sternberg) Němejc from Pilsen Basin (Czech Republic) and Sydney Coalfield (Canada)

Published Online: Aug 22, 2018

Page range: 13 - 22

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fbgp-2017-0002

Keywords
Pennslyvanian, cuticles, Czech Republic-Canadian basins

© 2017 Josef Pšenička et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Cuticles from Pennsylvanan Marattialean Fern “Pecopteris” Polypodioides (C. Presl in Sternberg) Němejc from Pilsen Basin (Czech Republic) and Sydney Coalfield (Canada)

Published Online: Aug 22, 2018

Page range: 13 - 22

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fbgp-2017-0002

KeywordsPennslyvanian, cuticles, Czech Republic-Canadian basins

© 2017 Josef Pšenička et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Pennslyvanian, cuticles, Czech Republic-Canadian basins