UPPER CARBONIFEROUS HERBACEOUS LYCOPSIDS

Herbaceous lycopsids are often overlooked in palaeobotanical studies b ecause of problems of morphological interpretation and identification. The literature on Euramerican Upper Carboniferous herbaceous lycopsid s is reviewed on those species referred to the genera Selaginellites, Lycopodites, Paurodendron, Carinostrobus, Miadesmia, Spencerites and t he identification of some specimens is challenged. The stratigraphical range of these lycopsids and those of dispersed spores referable to t hem are also reviewed and suggestions are given for the relatively lat e appearance of many of these lycopsids in the Euramerican Coal Measur es swamps. It is suggested that anisophyllous Selaginella-like lycopsi ds made their first appearance in the Bolsovian (ex Westphalian C) of the Saar-Lorraine intramontane basin. Evidence from studies of coal ba lls and dispersed spore assemblages confirm that herbaceous lycopsids were most abundantly present in open-moor communities. Certain species of these herbaceous lycopsids, the Selaginella-like ones, are include d within the extant genus Selaginella Linnaeus. For this reason a numb er of new combinations are proposed namely Selaginella denticulata (Go ldenberg) Thomas, comb. nov., Selaginella gutbieri (Goppert) Thomas, c omb. nov, Selaginella leptostachys (Goldenberg) Thomas, comb. nov., Se laginella macrophylla (Goldenberg) Thomas, comb. nov., Selaginella pri maeva (Goldenberg) Thomas, comb. nov., Selaginella zeilleri (Halle) Th omas, comb. nov., and Selaginella suissei (Zeiller) Thomas, comb. nov.