DORINNOTHECA STREELII FAIRON-DEMARET, GEN ET SP-NOV, A NEW EARLY SEEDPLANT FROM THE UPPER FAMENNIAN OF BELGIUM

Dorinnotheca streelii Fairon-Demaret, gen. et sp. nov. is described fr om three upper Famennian localities in Belgium. This new early seed pl ant bears cupules hanging singly at the tips of the slender ultimate a xes of a pinnately branched system. Each cupule encloses a single, cen trally located preovule with four free integumentary lobes. At the bas e of the fertile unit, the cupule segments are fused for a quarter of their total length; higher up they are free, recurved and highly disse cted. The integumentary lobes appear joined to the fused part of the c upule segments. The preovule is sessile; at the apex, the nucellus sho ws a long, tubular, salpinx-like extension. This distinctive type of o rganisation is discussed in relation to the other Late Devonian preovu late structures from which it appears different.