identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
2C0187B4FF9DFFEDFC826FF65C1DFCA2.text	2C0187B4FF9DFFEDFC826FF65C1DFCA2.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Zosterophyllum fertile Leclercq 1942	<html xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
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            <p> cf. Zosterophyllum fertile Leclercq, 1942</p>
            <p>Figure 3a–c</p>
            <p>Material examined. NMV P50040.1 and P50040.2, part and counterpart, respectively.</p>
            <p> Locality.   Occurs on a road cutting on Frenchmans Spur Track, approximately midway between Big River Road to the northnorth-west, Warburton Road to the east and Frenchmans Spur Track, ∼ 10 km west of  Matlock , central Victoria  . </p>
            <p>Horizon and age. Wilson Creek Shale Formation, middle Pragian–Emsian, Lower Devonian (Carey and Bolger, 1995; Mawson and Talent, 1994).</p>
            <p>Description. The specimen consists of part and counterpart of one partial spike with basal and apical regions missing and preserved as a carbonised compression. The axis is ∼ 1.0 mm wide and 10.0 mm long and unbranched, and the spike up to 6.8 mm wide. Eight sporangia are borne alternately in two rows. The sporangia are attached by recurved stalks; some are perpendicular to ∼ 60° to the fertile axis and curve sharply distally to at most 90°. The convex margins of some of the sporangia possess a thickened/darker/border, here interpreted as likely pertaining to dehiscence (fig. 3, sporangia 6, 7). An adaxially orientated basal lobe occurs on some sporangia (fig. 3b, central arrows).</p>
            <p> Remarks. The sporangia are in two rows with no clear demarcation between the attachment of the stalk and the basal region of the sporangia. The specimen bears some resemblance to Edwards’ (1969a: fig. 1b) South Wales  Z. cf. fertile . Edwards’ (1969a) specimens are from the Old Red Sandstone Brecon Beacons and Llanover Quarries, South Wales (Pragian–Emsian Lower Devonian age) and were placed in  Z. cf. fertile , because the original diagnosis was based on only a single specimen from Belgium (Leclercq, 1942) such that further specimens from both Wales and Belgium were thought necessary to determine specific affinity with confidence. Wellman et al. (2000) recorded the earliest occurrence of  Z. cf. fertile from the Anglo-Welsh Basin as being mid-Lochkovian (Lower Devonian). The fructification of Edwards’ (1969a) specimens, while incomplete, were 1.0 cm high and 3.0 mm wide, which is comparable in height but over two times smaller than the Victorian specimen, which reached 6.8 mm wide. Edwards’ (1972)  Z. fertile , also based on an incomplete spike but with a significant proportion preserved, was 7.2 cm high and 3.0 mm wide, while Wellman et al.’s (2000)  Z. cf. fertile reached 2.0 cm in height and 3.5 mm wide. Axial width for Leclercq’s (1942) holotype measured 1.0– 1.5 mm wide and conforms to the Victorian specimen. However, the Victorian specimen’s axis, where visible, was found to be ~1.0 mm wide. The widest axial width for  Z. fertile was found by Edwards (1972: 78) for a specimen from the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Forfar, Scotland, with an axial width of 3.0 mm, decreasing only slightly to 2.8 mm wide, while the specimens of  Z. cf. fertile from Brecon Beacons Quarry, according to Edwards (1969a: 924), showed greater range, 0.8–2.5 mm wide. </p>
            <p> The stalks for Leclercq (1942), Edwards (1969a, 1972) and Wellman et al. (2000) range between 0.3–0.5 mm wide and 1.0– 1.8 mm long. The Victorian cf.  Z. fertile stalks are broadly similar, 0.5–0.7 mm wide and up to ∼ 2.0 mm long. </p>
            <p> The sporangial shape in face view for the Victorian specimen is reniform (fig. 3, sporangium 8), similar to Wellman et al. (2000), while Leclercq (1942) described it as elongate– reniform, and Edwards (1969a) for  Z. cf. fertile described it as irregular. The sporangia examined by Leclercq (1942), Edwards (1969a, 1972) and Wellman et al. (2000) were all in the range of 2.0– 2.5 mm wide and 1.6–3.1 mm high. The sporangial dimensions of cf.  Z. fertile are difficult to ascertain due to their poor preservation. </p>
            <p> Edwards (1969a: 924) found the longest fructification of  Z. cf. fertile . It had eight sporangia but lacked an apical region. Due to the lack of a complete spike herein and poor preservation resulting in equivocal characters, the Victorian specimen was placed in cf.  Z. fertile , it being conceivable that given better preservation the plant might be placed it outside the defining characteristics of  Zosterophyllum . </p>
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	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2C0187B4FF9DFFEDFC826FF65C1DFCA2	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	McSweeney, Fearghus R.;Shimeta, Jeff;Buckeridge, John St J. S.	McSweeney, Fearghus R., Shimeta, Jeff, Buckeridge, John St J. S. (2022): Lower Devonian Zosterophyllum-like plants from central Victoria, Australia, and their significance. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 81: 25-41, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02
2C0187B4FF9AFFE2FC9A6C4A5AC9FC8B.text	2C0187B4FF9AFFE2FC9A6C4A5AC9FC8B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Zosterophyllum undefined-a	<html xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
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            <p> cf. Zosterophyllum sp. A</p>
            <p>Gen. et sp. indet.</p>
            <p>Figures 4–9</p>
            <p>Material examined. NMV P256740.1 and P256740.2, part and counterpart, respectively.</p>
            <p> Locality.   Frenchmans Spur Track, ∼ 10 km west of  Matlock , central Victoria  . </p>
            <p>Horizon and age. Wilson Creek Shale, middle Pragian– Emsian, L. Devonian (Carey and Bolger, 1995; Mawson and Talent, 1994).</p>
            <p>Description. The specimen consists of a longitudinally elongate lax spike with its apical region missing. The basal half of the spike contains about a third of the total sporangia in two rows (figs 4, 5a), and distally, the sporangia are more closely arranged (?helically) but the insertion points are not clear. The naked fertile axis is unbranched, 1.3–2.6 mm wide, curving basally, the spike slightly decreases in width acropetally. The lax spike is 10 mm wide and up to at least 45 mm long, consisting of 20 sporangia arranged on long vascularised stalks up to 2.0 mm long and 1.0– 1.3 mm wide, at acute angles 15°–45° to the vertical, before the stalks reorientate towards the apex of the spike just beneath each sporangium. There is very little vertical overlap of sporangia. Some fine protuberances and depressions emanating from the vascular trace (fig. 6) are interpreted here as representing insertions of further stalks. The junction between sporangium and stalk is unknown. The sporangia are circular to reniform in face view, 0.95–3.7 mm wide and 0.5– 2.3 mm high, with weakly developed lobes (fig. 7) and a narrow border visible on distal margin of some sporangia, such as sporangia two, 10 (figs 7, 8) and 12, are 0.13–0.15 mm wide and is interpreted as likely pertaining to dehiscence. Sporangia one and two are longitudinally elliptical and are interpreted to be infolded, such that half the abaxial valve is visible (fig. 8). Vascular trace 0.34–1.3 mm in the fertile axis, 0.17–0.21 mm on the stalks. There are two sporangia in close proximity to the spike, but they are clearly orientated at an angle to indicate they may come from another axis in their vicinity (fig. 5a).</p>
            <p>The vascular trace is conspicuous in that it is preferentially preserved compared with cortical tissue (fig. 4), the cortex being preserved as a grey film in the surrounding matrix. The stalk of sporangium one (fig. 8) is inserted almost perpendicular to the fertile axis and is bent such that most of the stalk is parallel to the fertile axis before curving upwards, just beneath the basal region of the sporangium. Several poorly preserved axes lie beneath the spike but are too poorly preserved and lack direct connection to warrant further consideration. However, the subtending axis to the spike aligns with an axis 4 mm wide (figs. 8, 9) and is suggestive of derivation from the same spike. This suggests the linear aerial extent of cover of the plant was at least 45 mm wide. Furthermore, the horizontal orientation of this axis to the spike is suggestive of a rhizomatous system, but it remains equivocal due to the absence of reticulum axes and H- and K-branching (sensu Hao et al., 2010: fig. 3; Walton, 1964: fig. 1). To the right of the apical region of the spike on the part, there are at least four axes that do not possess any attached sporangia, and beneath these axes towards the middle of the spike, a poorly preserved axis is visible with two sporangia (fig. 9) not directly attached to it but with their sporangial stalks orientated towards it, suggesting it was once attached. The alignment of these axes with the spike may indicate a tuft habit, but without clear evidence of additional spikes, its habit remains inexplicit.</p>
            <p> Remarks. The description is based on one specimen – 45 mm high, part and counterpart with one spike (fig. 4) with sporangia laxly arranged on vascularised long stalks – preserved as a fine film of carbonaceous material lacking anatomy. The specimen occurs with three specimens of  Yarravia sp. Lang and Cookson, 1935, on the same plane (McSweeney et al. 2021a: fig. 5a–d). The limits of the fertile axis and stalks are defined by grey film on each side of a much darker vascular trace. The fine slender nature of the darkened linear structures below the stalks are too narrow to support a sporangium, such that it seems parsimonious for the original widths of the axes to be defined by these ghosted grey areas. Lele and Walton (1961: 471), when describing axes prepared from acetate transfers, found the xylem to appear as a preferentially preserved dark bands (and to be about one sixth the axial width) and noted the vascular traces were often displaced from their central position. This, they postulated, was likely due to decay of the cortex prior to burial during early digenesis. This would help explain the convoluted nature of the vascular trace herein (figs. 4–6), indicating the structure of the axes had already started to break down before becoming fully fossilised. </p>
            <p> The specimen possesses depressions and protuberances along parts of its fertile axis, which is especially noticeable midway along the spike (fig. 6). These are interpreted as likely insertion points for some axes of sporangia and follows Edwards’ (1975: 255) interpretation of a similar feature on  Z. myretonianum . Xue (2009: 507), in describing  Z. minorstachyum , suggested that small conical protuberances along the axes may reflect parasitism. This possibility was considered, but the irregularities on the vascular trace are primarily depressions in areas noticeably lacking sporangia, and in some cases appear to be the basal-most attachment of the stalk to the fertile axis’ vascular trace. Additionally, we did not consider areas lacking in sporangia to be indicative of a deciduous spike, as seen with  Z. deciduum from the Emsian, Lower Devonian of Belgium (Gerrienne, 1988). While it is plausible that once the more mature proximal sporangia has dehisced and subsequently abscised, plants would be better served by losing some sporangia in this region to concentrate energy on immature sporangia in the distal region of the spike. However, the specimen still possesses large proximal sporangia and only some sporangia appear to be missing, suggesting that they may have been lost, most likely as a result of excision due to the biostratinomy phase (Jackson, 2010: 5) of fossilisation. The absence of a junction at the axial–sporangial interface does not mean it never existed because it may have been destroyed during fossilisation. When examining Llanover specimens of  Zosterophyllum from the Old Red Sandstone of South Wales, Edwards (1969a: 924) found organs could be superimposed and amalgamated into the surrounding tissue during preservation, resulting in them been indistinguishable. </p>
            <p>The specimen described herein is atypical in comparison with most Zosterophyllums because of paucity of folded sporangia seen in lateral view with only two proximal sporangia so preserved. Furthermore, the sporangia rarely overlap each other, with one instance occurring in the proximal region of the spike where sporangium two has been pushed onto the basal region of sporangium three (fig. 4b, arrow at stalk of sporangium two) and distally for sporangia 19 and 20 (fig. 4).</p>
            <p> Comparison with other taxa. The sporangia of the specimen are borne alternatively in two rows on opposite sides of the axis, akin to  Platyzosterophyllum , and so the specimen was compared to  Platyzosterophyllum first. However, some  Platyzosterophyllum possess sporangia emanating from two rows on one side of the axis, such as  Z. cf. fertile in Wellman et al. (2000: 181) and are noticeably more compact. The stalks of  Z. fertile are perpendicular to the fertile axis, before sharply turning towards the apex, such that they are borne in an upright to slightly recumbent position (Wellman et al. 2000: 181). This characteristic of recurved stalks perpendicular to the fertile axis is also seen in  Z. spectabile Schweitzer, 1979 , according to Gensel (1982: 662). However, the specimen clearly differs from these taxa because the stalks are orientated at acute angles of 15°–45° without any noticeable change in orientation, other than immediately below each sporangium, where they sharply reorientate upright and parallel to the fertile axis (figs 5a, 6, 7a). Furthermore, the sporangia of  Z. fertile are oblate (Wellman et al. 2000: 183), being almost linear along the margins, while the specimen’s sporangia are rounded to reniform. The dimensions of both taxa also differ slightly, with  Z. fertile possessing stalks that are much narrower than the 1.0– 1.2 mm width for the specimen, with  Z. fertile at most reaching 0.5 mm wide (Edwards, 1972) but generally (including for  Z. cf. fertile ) 0.3–0.4 mm wide (Edwards, 1969a; Leclercq, 1942; Wellman et al., 2000). The sporangial dimensions for  Z. fertile are, in part, similar to the specimen, with the sporangia of  Z. fertile up to 2.3 mm wide (Edwards, 1972), and for  Z. cf. fertile specimens the sporangial dimensions were 2.0– 2.3 mm wide (Edwards, 1969a; Leclercq, 1942; Wellman et al., 2000). The specimen’s sporangial widths vary more greatly on the same spike and range between 0.95–3.7 mm wide, suggesting the plant was not mature. In comparison with the Welsh specimen,  Z. llanoveranum , sporangia are arranged in 1–2 alternative rows but differs from the specimen with sporangia borne close together and in the distal region of the spike, sometimes helically arranged (Edwards, 1969b). This could not be confirmed here because the stalk insertion points are lacking. </p>
            <p> Edwards (1975: 263) cautioned against the use of the arrangement of the sporangia on the spike as a definitive characteristic with which to delineate species. Edwards noted bilateral symmetry basally in the spike with the distal part helically arranged in some specimens of  Z. myretonianum and attributed it to the compression of widely spaced spirally arranged sporangia, giving this misleading appearance (Edwards, 1975: 261). Furthermore, Gerrienne (1988: 328) made similar observations, adding that the difference may also be due to different ontogenetic stages of individual spikes, and Gensel (1982) noted for  Z. divaricatum , sporangia bending and twisting of sporangia to one side. </p>
            <p> In comparison with species within the subgenus  Zosterophyllum with reniform sporangia, the specimen is closest to  Z. bifurcatum Li and Cai, 1977 ;  Z. deciduum ;  Z. myretonianum Lang, 1927 ;  Z. ramosum ;  Z. rhenanum ;  Z. yunnanicum Hsü, 1966 ; and  Z. shengfengense , all of which have sporangia in approximately the same size range. </p>
            <p> Zosterophyllum myretonianum is one of the best studied  Zosterophyllum to date (Edwards, 1975; Lang, 1927; Lele and Walton, 1961). Edwards (1969: 261) noted when examining  Z. myretonianum from Aberlemno, Scotland, that they possessed spikes with different levels of sporangial packing, such that the specimens could be divided into compact, intermediate and laxly arranged spikes. The sporangial–stalk interface of  Z. myretonianum , according to Edwards (1975), possesses a dome-like region at the point of insertion on the sporangium of some of the specimens, which produces its reniform shape. It is noticeable that in  Z. myretonianum , despite different stages in development, the orientation of the sporangial stalk remains largely constant, with the sporangial stalk inserted at almost 90° (Edwards, 1975) to the fertile axis before curving upwards immediately with the sporangium held erect. This clearly differs from the specimen where the sporangial stalks extend from the fertile axis, curving upwards only just beneath the sporangium and in some cases attached to the sporangium at an angle, thus producing a splayed appearance.  Zosterophyllum bifurcatum possess well-developed lobes and much narrower stalks than the specimen reaching up to 0.6 mm wide according to Li and Cai (1977) and Hao and Xue (2013).  Zosterophyllum rhenanum also possess well-developed sporangial lobes and has a noticeable junction between sporangium and stalk, and a large border of 0.6 mm (Hao and Xue, 2013; Schweitzer, 1979). Z osterophyllum deciduum has weakly developed sporangial lobes (Gerrienne, 1988: 322), similar to the specimen, but the sporangial stalks were wide (0.4–0.75 mm) near the fertile axis and narrow (0.1–0.3 mm) near the sporangium (Gerrienne, 1988: 320), with the contact between the sporangium and subtending stalk producing a clear junction with no evidence of widening beneath the sporangia (Gerrienne, 1988: 331). These characteristics are at odds with what is observed with the specimen where sporangial stalks remain parallel in width before widening into the base of the sporangium. Furthermore,  Z. deciduum bifurcates both below and within its fertile parts (Gerrienne, 1988). </p>
            <p> In comparison with  Zosterophyllum from the South China plate with similar sporangial dimension,  Zosterophyllum shengfengense from the Lochkovian, Lower Devonian of Xitun Formation, Yunnan, China, differs from the specimen in not possessing any sporangial basal lobes, and shorter stalks, 0.5–0.8 mm wide and 0.8–1.6 mm long (Hao et al., 2010; Hao and Xue, 2013). Furthermore,  Zosterophyllum shengfengense (Hao et al., 2010: 222) , like  Z. myretonianum (Lele and Walton, 1961: 471) , possess tubercles proximally on the plant, unlike the specimen (Hao et al., 2010: fig. 2a).  Zosterophyllum yunnanicum from the Xujiachong Formation, Yunnan, possess crowded spikes with up to 50 sporangia circular to elliptical in face view, dehiscence zone up to 0.5 mm wide, stalks 0.3–0.9 mm wide and 0.6–3.0 mm long inserted an acute angle to the fertile axis and widening into the bases of sporangia (Edwards et al., 2015: 223). The stalks emanate perpendicular to the spike, based on Edwards et al. (2015: pl. 4, figs 1, 2) and immediately reorientate producing 30°–40° to the fertile axis (Wang, 2007: 528). This reorientation of the stalks near the fertile axis differs significantly from the specimen, where the stalks reorientate only just beneath each sporangium. Furthermore,  Z. yunnanicum produces a dome-like structure at the stalk– sporangium interface (Edwards et al., 2015). </p>
            <p> Comparison with known Victorian zosterophyll taxa. Only four zosterophylls have thus far been described from Victoria. These include  Z. australianum Lang and Cookson, 1930 ;  Z. ramosum Hao and Wang, 2000 ; Parazosterophyllum timsiae McSweeney et al., 2020; and Gippslandites minutus McSweeney et al., 2020. Both  Z. australianum and  Z. ramosum occur in the Norton Gully Sandstone Formation of Victoria and are younger than the specimen, which is currently only known from the underlying Wilson Creek Shale.  Zosterophyllum australianum occurs at North Road Quarry, Walhalla, Victoria, and Yunnan (Posongchong Formation), China (Hao and Xue 2013; Lang and Cookson 1930).  Zosterophyllum australianum possess sporangia that are noticeably larger than the specimen and are longitudinally elliptical or fan-shaped, 2.8–8.0 mm wide and 2.2–5.0 mm high, with short stalks inserted on the fertile axis at 90° (Hao and Xue, 2013; Lang and Cookson, 1930).  Zosterophyllum ramosum occur at Mount Pleasant and Halls Flat Road, Alexandra (Cookson, 1935; Hao and Wang, 2000). Mount Pleasant Road is the type locality of  Yarravia (Hedeia) corymbosa Cookson, 1935 , and cf.  Baragwanathia longifolia , cf.  Yarravia oblonga , cf.  Hostinella and  Pachytheca sp. have been found by Cookson (1935) to occur with  Z. ramosum (McSweeney et al., 2021a, b).  Zosterophyllum ramosum was originally called  Z. australianum by Cookson (1935: pl. 10, figs 9–12), but was later reinterpreted by Hao and Wang (2000: 31) to be a new species  Z. ramosum , which also occurs in Yunnan (Posongchong Formation), China.  Zosterophyllum ramosum possess circular to reniform sporangia similar to the specimen, but the sporangia are larger, being 1.6–6.0 mm wide and 1.9–5.5 mm high, on stalks up to 5.0 mm inserted on the fertile axis at 15°–35° (Hao and Wang, 2000; Hao and Xue, 2013). Both  Z. ramosum and  Z. australianum , according to Hao and Xue (2013: fig. 6.5), possess apple-shaped Za-type sporangium with extended thickened margins, a character not found in the specimen. Parazosterophyllum timsiae is from Ghin Ghin Road, Yea, in the base of the Humevale Formation and based on Rickards &amp; Garratt (1990) Pridoli, upper Silurian–Pragian, Lower Devonian, and may be either coeval or older than the specimen and differ significantly from the specimen with its spike terminating lateral branch (McSweeney et al., 2020). Gippslandites minutus is from an outcrop of the Boola formation (Lochkovian–Pragian, L. Devonian) near Boola Quarry, Tyers, Victoria (Tims, 1980; McSweeney et al., 2000). The Boola formation is slightly older than the Wilson Creek Shale, which overlies the Boola formation at Coopers Creek according to Edwards et al. (1997: 39). Gippslandites minutus differs from the specimen because its sporangia are much smaller, 0.6–2.6 mm wide and 0.3–1.9 mm high, and differ significantly from  Zosterophyllum spp. with anisovalvate sporangia (McSweeney et al., 2020). </p>
            <p> The defining characteristic of the specimen is primarily the angle of insertion of the vascularised stalks and no overlap between vertical adjacent sporangia. As noted by Edwards (1975: 264), the most useful characters in species delimitation within  Zosterophyllum are stalk and sporangial characters. It is clear that the specimen differs from zosterophylls from Victoria primarily on sporangial morphology and symmetry. As the sporangial stalks were likely longer in life when turgid and prior to degradation resulting in convoluted vascular trace, the lack of vertical overlap of sporangia and vascularisation of the stalks, and clear demarcation of insertion points on the fertile axis means the specimen cannot be readily put into the subgenus  Platyzosterophyllum , and is thus assigned to cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. A . until better material becomes available to allow for further assessment of its phylogenetic and taxonomic position. </p>
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	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2C0187B4FF9AFFE2FC9A6C4A5AC9FC8B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	McSweeney, Fearghus R.;Shimeta, Jeff;Buckeridge, John St J. S.	McSweeney, Fearghus R., Shimeta, Jeff, Buckeridge, John St J. S. (2022): Lower Devonian Zosterophyllum-like plants from central Victoria, Australia, and their significance. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 81: 25-41, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02
2C0187B4FF95FFE7FC826FF65900FDAD.text	2C0187B4FF95FFE7FC826FF65900FDAD.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Zosterophyllum undefined-b	<html xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
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            <p> cf. Zosterophyllum sp. B . </p>
            <p>Gen. et sp. indet.</p>
            <p>Figures 10, 11</p>
            <p>Material. NMV P256742.1 and P256742.2 (P4-5 field note identifier), part and counterpart, respectively.</p>
            <p>Locality. P4 is equivalent to Loc. 1 in Garratt (1978: fig. 2), and occurs on Ghin Ghin Road, 8 km northwest of Yea township, central Victoria.</p>
            <p>Horizon and age. Humevale Siltstone, Pragian–Emsian, Lower Devonian (Edwards et al., 1997; Garratt, 1978; Rickards, 2000; Rickards and Garratt, 1990; VandenBerg et al. 2000; VandenBerg pers. comm. June 2021).</p>
            <p>Description. Single specimen, comprising compact spike, with part and counterpart preserved in semi-relief as an iron oxide coated impression and cast, only gross morphological features are visible (fig. 10). The spike measures 21 mm high and 10 mm wide, with at least nine sporangia arranged helically, becoming more compact distally. The fertile naked axis measures 1.5–3.75 mm wide, narrowing distally before terminating in sporangium nine. Sporangia in face view (1.2–3.0 mm wide and 3.9–4.3 mm long) occur in the distal part of the spike and are circular to oblong. Proximally, sporangia one to three are in lateral view, being longitudinally elliptical and infolded. Sporangia are inserted at an angle of ∼ 20°. Proximally on the spike there is an elliptical (lateral view) junction at the point of attachment (face view) on the abaxial valve between the stalk and the sporangium. The stalks are decurrent, narrowing slightly before widening distally at the base of the sporangium. The sporangia possess a dehiscence zone along their entire distal margins, with a border 0.1–0.2 mm wide gradually tapering proximally towards the stalk attachment.</p>
            <p> Remarks. There is a notable disparity in size between the much larger proximal sporangia (S1–5) and distal sporangia (S6–9), suggesting the spike may be immature. Sporangia one–three are in a lateral position and are infolded, a common feature seen especially in laterally placed sporangia of  Zosterophyllum . It suggests that the sporangia may have originally had relatively flat bodies, as proposed by Lang (1927) when explaining this feature in  Zosterophyllum myretonianum . The points of attachment of the stalk to the sporangia are visible on sporangia one and three (Figs 11a, c), with the stalks widening into the base of the sporangia. The attachment is elliptical, and it is possible that the raised regions defining the elliptical region, which appear partially raised, may reflect the splitting of the attachment at the base of the sporangium, possibly feeding each of the valve. However, the preservation is too poor and this remains equivocal. The attachment occurs on the adaxial side of the valve, but the demarcations between both valves are faint or absent on the sporangia. Most of the distal sporangia show the stalk centred beneath the sporangium, with a gradual widening of the stalk into the valve. Sporangium seven, which is in face-view, appears to show the widening of the distal part of the stalk on the lower part of a valve, producing a sub-circular zone of attachment. Sporangium five, while poorly preserved, is in side view and greatly compressed laterally with the projecting edge of the border visible in the apex, and a fine stalk is present in the basal region. The adaxial valve only appears marginally darker than the surrounding matrix and is convex, while the upper valve is flatter and delimited by its iron-oxide colouration. Sporangia four and six also appear to show a slight separation at the distal-most region of the valves. This may be a result of compression as the sporangia are small relative to the proximal sporangia, suggesting they were not fully mature. </p>
            <p>The dehiscence line can be seen along the distal margins of the proximal sporangia, visible down to the stalk attachment (fig. 11c) but is only visible on some of the distal sporangia. There is a dehiscence zone beside the dehiscence line no wider than 0.2 mm and is clearest on the proximal sporangia.</p>
            <p> The proximal part of the fertile axis expands into an ovalshaped body (fig. 11d) that measures 3.74 mm wide and 5.80 mm high. The point where the axis starts increasing in diameter was taken as the start of this structure because there is no other way to differentiate it from the axis. The oval body is similar to the corm-like structure found basally on  Horneophyton lignieri Barghoorn and Darrah (=  Hornea lignieri Kidston and Lang, 1920 ). However, because no anatomy is preserved, its nature remains equivocal and may be a quirk of preservation. A small, fine, faint linear structure (fig. 11d) appears to emanate from the oval body, but remains equivocal because sampling did not reveal any organic remains and high magnification did not reveal any morphological characters. </p>
            <p> The specimen fits into the class  Zosterophyllopsida based on the presence of naked axes, cauline sporangia made up of two valves that dehisce along their distal margins, and vascularized stalks (Croft and Lang, 1942). The  Zosterophyllopsida includes two orders,  Zosterophyllales and Gosslingiales, and because this specimen possessed a terminal sporangium, it has been assigned to order  Zosterophyllales . Numerous characteristics are notably absent, such as H- or K-branching and circinate vernation. Because the sporangia were not in rows, the specimen was excluded from the subgenus  Platyzosterophyllum and tentatively placed into the subgenus  Zosterophyllum . However, it was difficult to determine the true morphological outline of the sporangia, with some of the distal sporangia appearing slightly longer than wider. Furthermore, the absence of sporangia proximally in face view added to the uncertainty of whether the sporangia were slightly vertically elongate. Distally, the sporangia are poorly preserved with no unequivocal demarcation of both the valves and junctions between the valves and their subtending stalks. For the subgenus  Zosterophyllum , the sporangia are reinform, fan-shaped and isovalved, and are excluded if anisovalvate or vertically longer than wide according to Edwards et al. (2016) and Edwards and Li (2018 a). Additionally, the presence of an oval region at the proximal end of the fertile axis added further doubt to its true assignation, and so the specimen was placed into cf.  Zosterophyllum sp.</p>
            <p> cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B differs from known  Zosterophyllum spp. from Victoria (  Z. australianum and  Z. ramosum ), despite the limited characters available for comparison.  Zosterophyllum australianum possess horizontally elliptical sporangia with large, thickened margins (0.4–1.1 mm wide) and sporangia far larger than cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B ., reaching up to 8.0 mm wide and 5.0 mm high (Hao and Xue, 2013; Lang and Cookson, 1930). Additionally, the stalks of  Z. australianum are inserted at an angle of ~90°, in contrast to ∼ 20°˚ in cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B .  Zosterophyllum ramosum , like  Z. australianum , possess much larger sporangia, reaching up to 6.0 mm wide and 5.5 mm high, and are circular to reinform in shape (Hao and Wang, 2000). </p>
            <p> In comparison with other zosterophylls with vertically elongate sporangia outside the subgenus  Zosterophyllum , cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B . appears distinct, despite the paucity of available characters with which to compare. For example,  Guangnania cuneata Wang and Hao, 2002 , possess anisovalvate upright sporangia, but differ from cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. in the spike not being compact, the sporangia being much longer than wide (3.9–6.2 mm high and 1.5–1.9 mm wide) and not possessing a terminal sporangium.  Yunia dichotoma Hao and Beck, 1991 , from the Zhichang section of the Posongchong Formation, differs from cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B in the morphology of the sporangia, which are elongate–elliptical to ovoid, but the sporangia did not form spikes (Hao and Beck, 1991). Additionally, the axes of  Y. dichotoma possess small spines (Hao and Beck, 1991).  Huia recurvata Geng, 1985 , of the Posongchong Formation, Yunnan, China, produced sporangia that were ovate to ovoid 2D to 3D (Hao and Xue, 2013: 70).  Huia recurvata differs in having adaxially reflected closely arranged sporangia as opposed to the crowded arrangement seen in cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B ., with sporangia 3–5 mm wide and 6–10 mm high (Hao and Xue, 2013). </p>
            <p> Primarily, because the specimen lacks unequivocal evidence as to the characteristics of the sporangia, such as whether the sporangia are longer than wide, it has been placed in cf.  Zosterophyllum sp. B . </p>
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	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2C0187B4FF95FFE7FC826FF65900FDAD	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	McSweeney, Fearghus R.;Shimeta, Jeff;Buckeridge, John St J. S.	McSweeney, Fearghus R., Shimeta, Jeff, Buckeridge, John St J. S. (2022): Lower Devonian Zosterophyllum-like plants from central Victoria, Australia, and their significance. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 81: 25-41, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.02
