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Epicormic Schoots in a Permian Gymnosperm from Antarctica
Decombeix, Anne-Laure Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, Thomas N.
Decombeix, Anne-Laure
Taylor, Edith L.
Taylor, Thomas N.
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Abstract
Two anatomically preserved gymnosperm trunks with clusters of epicormic shoots are described from the
Late Permian of Antarctica. The best-preserved trunk is 14 cm long. It has a small circular parenchymatous
pith and 9 cm of secondary xylem that contains at least 50 growth rings. The second specimen is slightly
smaller (11 3 8 cm) and has 20 growth rings. Both specimens have pycnoxylic wood and produced more than
50 small shoots in a delimited zone on the surface of the trunk. Shoots have a wide parenchymatous pith that
may be solid to septate with endarch primary xylem forming 8–10 sympodia and a small amount of secondary
xylem similar to that of the parent trunk. The shoots branch and increase in number toward the outside of the
trunk. Evidence based on anatomical comparisons and association at the site indicates that the specimens
probably represent trunks of some glossopterid, the dominant group of seed ferns during the Permian in
Gondwana. This is the first report of clusters of epicormic shoots in a Paleozoic gymnosperm. The ability to
produce a large number of young shoots that were capable of developing into new branches indicates that these
high-latitude trees possessed an architectural plasticity that allowed them to respond quickly to short- or longterm
environmental stress.
Description
This is the publisher's version. Shared with permission, it is also available electronically from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/654849
Date
2010
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University of Chicago Press
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Taylor_Decombeix_2010.pdf
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Keywords
Sprouting, Gymnosperm, Late permian, Antarctica, Gondwana
Citation
Decombeix, A., Taylor, E., and Taylor, T. 2010. Epicormic Shoots in a Permian Gymnosperm from Antarctica. International Journal of Plant Sciences 171(7): 772-782.