Glossophyllum
Glossophyllum is an extinct genus of plants known from fossilized leaves of the Triassic of Eurasia, with affinities to Ginkgoales. The leaves are elongate relative to modern Ginkgo, being lanceolate, strap or tongue shaped.
Description
The leaves of Glossophyllum have parallel veins, and are either lanceolate, tongue, or strap shaped. The cuticle is typically thick and amphistomatic. The largest species, Glossophyllum shensiense reached a maximum length of 50 cm and a width of 6 cm.
Taxonomy
Glossophyllum was initially named by Richard Kräusel in 1943 based on the species Glossophyllum florinii, which was described from the Late Triassic of Linz, Austria. It is assigned to the Ginkgoales due to the similarity of the epidermis to members of that order, as well as the characteristic two veins at the leaf base. Glossophyllum was proposed to be replaced by Arberophyllum by Doweld in 2000, due to the previous use of Glossophyllum for bryophytes in the 19th century. However, this proposal not been widely accepted by paleobotanists.
Species
After Sun et al. 2022Glossophyllum angustifolium Stanislavsky, 1976 Donbass Basin, Ukraine, Late TriassicGlossophyllum claviforme Mogucheva, 1973 Tungus Basin, Siberia, Russia, Early TriassicGlossophyllum ereminae Sixtel, 1962 Madygen Flora, Central Asia, Middle-Late Triassic Glossophyllum florinii Kräusel, 1943 Austria, China, Late TriassicGlossophyllum lanceolatum Sun et Deng China, Late TriassicGlossophyllum oblanceolatum Sixtel, 1962 Madygen Flora, Central Asia, Middle-Late TriassicGlossophyllum panii Sun et Deng China, Late TriassicGlossophyllum shensiense Sun et Deng emend, China, Late TriassicGlossophyllum spathulatum Taymyr Peninsula, Russia, Late TriassicGlossophyllum spetsbergensis Svalbard, Norway, Late TriassicGlossophyllum substrictum Pott Svalbard, Norway, Late TriassicGlossophyllum zeilleri Vietnam, China, Late Triassic