Chemotaxonomy of Some Paleozoic Vascular Plants. Part II: Chemical Characterization of Major Plant Groups

1 January 1977

journal article
research article
Published by Springer Nature in Brittonia

Vol. 29 (1) , 100-111
https://doi.org/10.2307/2805747

Abstract

Chemical data are given forCooksonia, Rhynia, Zosterophyllum, Pseudosporochnus, Gosslingia,Crenaticaulis, Leclercqia, Tetraxylopteris, Oocampsa, andArchaeopteris, thus extending principal component analysis of multi-state and discrete characters to 27 Paleozoic plant taxa. Ordination patterns of these data suggest that while overlapping of major plant groups occurs, rhyniophytes, zosterophyllophytes, trimerophytes and other supra-generic taxa may be chemically characterized. The effects of heat (thermolysis) on organic constituents is shown to severely alter chemical profiles of plant taxa and is discussed as a thermometric tool. Taxonomic distancemeasures between plant groupings are suggested to be the result of both preand post-fossilization phenomena.

Keywords

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:

XXIV.—On Old Red Sandstone Plants showing Structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire Part I. Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani, Kidston and Lang
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1917