''Asteroxylon'' ("star-shaped xylem") is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of vascular plants of the Division
Lycopodiophyta
The lycophytes, when broadly circumscribed, are a vascular plant (tracheophyte) subgroup of the kingdom Plantae. They are sometimes placed in a division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta or in a subdivision Lycopodiophytina. They are one of the oldes ...
known from anatomically preserved specimens described from the famous
Early Devonian Rhynie chert
The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fossil detail or completeness (a Lagerstätte). It is exposed near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; a second unit, the Windyfield chert, is located ...
and
Windyfield chert in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...
, Scotland.
''Asteroxylon'' is considered a basal member of the
Lycopsida.
Description
''Asteroxylon'' is a genus of terrestrial
vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...
which flourished in the Early
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...
period.
This plant consisted of aerial, isotomously and anisotomously branching stems that reached 12 mm in diameter and 40 cm in length.
The possibly procumbent aerial stems arose from a leaf-less rhizome which bore smaller-diameter, positively geotropic root-like branches.
The rhizomes, which represent an independent origin of roots, reached a depth of up to 20 cm below the surface.
A 407 million-year-old fossil from the
Rhynie chert
The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fossil detail or completeness (a Lagerstätte). It is exposed near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; a second unit, the Windyfield chert, is located ...
shows the roots formed through a modified version of a mechanism called
“dichotomous branching”, where one of the branches that formed from a shoot-like axis buried into the soil. This method of root formation no longer exists. The xylem or conducting tissue at the center of the aerial stems is distinctly star-shaped in cross-section and has been considered an early
actinostele or an "''Asteroxylon''-type"
protostele.
The
tracheids are of the primitive annular or helical type (so-called G-type).
"Leaves" – not true leaves, but protrusions – were of the form of unbranched strap-shaped enations up to 5 mm long; a single vascular trace branched from the main bundle in the centre of the stem to terminate at the base of each enation.
Enations and axes bore
stomata
In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is b ...
, indicating that their tissues were capable of photosynthesis.
"Sporangia, consisting of two kidney-shaped valves, are interspersed among the nonvascularized leaflike appendages and attached to the axis with a short pedicel. The sporangia are curved and lie close to the axis."
Fertile regions of the axes alternate with sterile regions, suggesting periodic episodes of fertility.
''Asteroxylon'' differs from other similar Early Devonian lycopsids such as ''
Drepanophycus'' and ''
Baragwanathia
''Baragwanathia'' is a genus of extinct lycopsid plants of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age (), fossils of which have been found in Australia, Canada, China and Czechia. The name derives from William Baragwanath who discovered the first specim ...
'' in that the singular vascular leaf trace in these latter plants extends into the leaf.
The leaves of ''
Drepanophycus'' and ''
Baragwanathia
''Baragwanathia'' is a genus of extinct lycopsid plants of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age (), fossils of which have been found in Australia, Canada, China and Czechia. The name derives from William Baragwanath who discovered the first specim ...
'' are therefore considered to be true
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 ...
s or, alternatively, small leaves.
Species
The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...
is ''Asteroxylon mackiei''. One other species has been described, ''Asteroxylon elberfeldense'',
but this is now considered to be generically distinct and assigned to ''
Thursophyton''.
A fossil originally named as ''Asteroxylon setchellii'' is now considered to be a fern, and is known as ''Stenokoleos setchellii''.
Taxonomy
A 2021 reanalysis found that ''Asteroxylon'' was more closely related to crown lycophytes than the more basal
zosterophylls
The zosterophylls are a group of extinct land plants that first appeared in the Silurian period. The taxon was first established by Banks in 1968 as the subdivision Zosterophyllophytina; they have since also been treated as the division Zostero ...
and ''
Nothia''.
See also
*
Drepanophycales
*
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...
*
List of Early Devonian land plants
*
Polysporangiophytes
References
The Rhynie Chert and Asteroxylon
{{Taxonbar, from=Q135190
Early Devonian plants
Silurian plants
Drepanophycales
Paleozoic life of Quebec
Prehistoric lycophyte genera