Further Contribution to our Knowledge of the Anatomy of Ptilophyllum

Abstract

The epidermal features and the anatomy of the rachis and pinna of a well preserved but fragmentary petrified specimen of Ptilophyllum from the Rajmahal hills are described in detail. The rachis contains a double arc of collateral vascular bundles comparable to those found in the Pteridosperms. Sclerenchymatous patches and sclereids are found in the cortex. The epidermal features agree with those already described for this species by Sahni and Rao and others. It is found that a single bundle coming off from the upper corner of the double arc of the vascular bundles of the rachis, divides into 2 at the base of the pinna and repeatedly dichotomises at different levels to form a more or Jess parallel venation. The bundles of the pinnae are collateral, exarch with a parenchymatous bundle sheath. Isolated and grouped sclereids occur scattered in the palisade and spongy mesophyll.