The New flora from the Permian of the Intrasudetic Basin, Poland

Abstract

A floral assemblage was collected from a new Polish locality (Janików) situated on the Czech- Polish border in the Intrasudetic Basin. It was found in the lower Permian (Asselian) Ruprechtice Horizon, of the Olivětín Member, Broumov Formation. The plant fossils were usually fragmentary, and the following taxa were determined: Alloiopteris aff. erosa, Nemejcopteris feminaeformis, Senftenbergia sp., Lobatopteris sp., Sphenopteris sp., Cyathocarpus cf. densifolius, Lobatopteris cf. geinitzii, Lobatopteris nov. sp., Dicksoniites cf. plukenetii, Autunia conferta, Cordaites sp. and seeds. Alloiopteris was first recorded in the Permian. The assemblage is composed predominantly of ferns and pteridosperms that tend to be hygrophilous to mesophilous floral elements. The flora from the Otovice and Ruprechtice horizons is usually rich in walchian conifers and peltasperms (Autunia conferta), and so the Janików flora is quite different with its hygrophilous elements. The fragmentary preservation suggests long transport distances, and probably only the remains of flora growing on the lakeshore were deposited in the calcareous bituminous shales. This coastal vegetation probably formed a barrier to mesophilous plants growing further from the lake, so their fragments are more sporadic.