Revision and significance of the Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) arborescent lycopsid Bergeria dilatata (Lindley & Hutton) Álvarez-Vázquez & Wagner

Bergeria dilatata (Lindley & Hutton) Alvarez-Vazquez & Wagner, a Middle Pennsylvanian lycopsid, is redescribed based on type material from England as well as 586 specimens from the Peñarroya-Belmez-Espiel Coalfield, Cordoba province, southern Spain. The species is characterized by longer than broad, smooth leaf cushions showing false leaf scars, and the presence of perennial, long, entire, single-veined leaves. A complete synonymy is presented and 21 new species (two of them with doubts), previously placed in 6 different genera, have been synonymized. Associated Flemingites-type cones, determined as Flemingites russelianus, yielded in situ spores of the Lagenoisporites rugosus type and microspores of the Microspinosporites type.

Phialopteris Heterophylla (Sternberg Ex Göppert, 1836) Comb. Nov., A Rare Schizaeaceous Fern from the Early Jurassic Of Bavaria

Recently collected material of the monotypic schizaeaceous fern genus Phialopteris is described including for the first time the in situ spores. The complex nomenclatural history of the type species is discussed, resulting in the designation of the new combination Phialopteris heterophylla (Sternberg ex Göppert, 1836) comb. nov. as type. This delicate fern has so far only been found in the Hettangian of Bavaria (Germany). Along with a comparison with contemporary schizaeaceous ferns and extant members of Schizaeaceae, and with dispersed spores, the possibility that this fern might have been a climbing fern, similar to some living Lygodium species, is briefly discussed.