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The Wood of Rellimia From The Middle Devonian of New York
The Wood of Rellimia From The Middle Devonian of New York
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Rellimia is one of the best known of the progymnosperms, although the anatomy of its wood and tree
structure has yet to be fully described. The occurrence of Rellimia in Devonian strata makes it one of the
earliest plants known to have developed wood. This study examines pyrite permineralizations from the Catskill
region of New York and elucidates anatomical details of the secondary xylem using light and scanning electron
microscopy. The wood is pycnoxylic with tall, narrow rays that are typically uniseriate, although biseriate
and multiseriate rays can be present. Ray cells are slightly rectangular, and the rays are homocellular. All cells
appear to have thin walls and appear to be ray parenchyma. Tracheids have crowded, circular-bordered pits
on all walls, including the long, tapering end walls. Bordered pits are in alternate spirals across the face walls
and are often hexagonal in outline. Fractures through the bordered pit pair reveal details of the wall and
pyrite casts that fill the pit canal and pit chamber during fossilization. Bordered pit pairs have crossed pit
apertures, with the pit canal being longer than the shallow pit chamber. Preserved pit membranes and secondary
walls show microfibrillar arrangement. Anatomical characteristics of the known wood of progymnosperm
taxa are compared and discussed in light of the group’s position in lignophyte evolution.
429
Table 1
Ray and Tracheid Measurements of Rellimia Wood
Number
measured Range Mean SD
Tracheids:
Radial diameter 84 22.8–104.5 60.8 16.1
Tangential diameter 80 28.5–81.7 42.9 9.8
Length 1 … 1520 …
Cell wall thickness 50 3.8–15.2 9.5 2.4
Pit diameter 43 9.5–20.9 14.5 2.5
Rays:
Width (in cells) … 1–3 cells … …
Width 42 13.3–72.2 29.5 11.3
Height (in cells) … 2–20 cells … …
Height 41 161.5–864.5 488.3 186.2
Ray cells:
Length 45 47.5–153.0 87.4 26.0
Height 55 24.7–60.8 40.9 8.7
Width 60 7.6–57.0 22.4 12.7
Width (uniseriate rays) 31 13.3–57.0 28.8 2.9
Width (biseriate, multiseriate rays) 29 7.6–39.9 15.6 7.6
Ray wall thickness 7 1.9–3.8 2.2 0.04
Note. Cells and cell walls were measured as the two contiguous walls of adjacent cells and one lumen pyrite
cast to avoid the difficulty of separating the wall at the middle lamella. Measurements other than width and height
of rays in number of cells are in micrometers.
The fossils collected from Blenheim-Gilboa occur in gray planes of section (fig. 1). The wood is compact, with narrow
mudstone, within the Panther Mountain Formation of the rays that give it a pycnoxylic or “typically gymnospermous”
Hamilton Group (Rickard and Fisher 1970). This is locality appearance. Rays are quite abundant, sometimes occurring as
2 of the Catskill clastic wedge described by Banks et al. (1985). often as between every one or two files of tracheids (fig. 1A).
The formation belongs to the Tioughniogan Stage, Erian Series Often the rays have no preserved cell walls, but when preserved
(American Standard), which is equivalent to the Givetian, Mid- they are uniseriate, biseriate, and multiseriate (fig. 1A). Uni-
dle Devonian of the European Standard (Rickard 1964). In a seriate rays are commonest. The mean width of rays is 29.5
comparison of the in situ spores of Leclercqia from the Blen- mm (table 1). Biseriate and multiseriate rays are about the same
heim locality with dispersed spores from Emsian through lower width or only slightly wider than uniseriate rays, appearing as
Givetian localities, Richardson et al. (1993) suggest the locality if a uniseriate ray has been divided. Rays ranged from two to
is no older than late Eifelian and is probably lower Givetian. more than 20 cells high. The mean ray height is 488.3 mm
For light microscopy, materials were prepared by standard (table 1).
sectioning and grinding techniques, were subsequently ex-
amined with a petrographic microscope, and were photo-
Tracheid Structure
graphed with a Leitz Arisotphot. To examine the details of
wood structure with SEM, split and sectioned specimens were Tracheids are circular to rectangular to polygonal in trans-
etched with 10% nitric acid for various times from 30 s to 30 verse shape and most often have four to six walls (fig. 1A,
min, following the techniques of Grierson (1976). This etching 1B). They are larger in the radial dimension, with a mean radial
technique dissolves the carbonaceous wall and thereby exposes diameter of 60.8 mm compared to a mean tangential diameter
the pyrite cell casts, although wall fragments often remain. of 42.9 mm (table 1). Tracheids are very long, more than 20
Etched pieces were neutralized with water or Kodak Photoflo, times longer than they are broad (fig. 1C–1E). One tracheid
air-dried, and mounted on SEM stubs, followed by sputter measured along its full length was more than 1500 mm long
coating with 20 nm of gold palladium. Specimens were viewed (table 1). The end wall of tracheids can be slightly to very long
and photographed with an ETEC Autoscan B1 at 10–20 kV and tapering. As it narrows, the number of bordered pits across
with Polaroid P/N 55 film. the face decreases (fig. 2A). Some tracheids have branched tips
covered with bordered pits (fig. 2B). The branched tracheid
Description tips and the long tapering end walls suggest apical intrusive
growth during cell development.
Tracheid walls have crowded bordered pits completely cov-
Wood Anatomy
ering the radial and tangential walls (fig. 2C). Pits occur in an
The secondary xylem of Rellimia shows the dual wood char- alternate series of two to five across the tracheid (fig. 2C, 2D).
acteristics of radial alignment of cambial derivatives and the The number of pits across a tracheid face correlates with the
presence of both axial and radial systems that have a char- width of the tracheid; wider tracheids have more pits. Pits are
acteristic appearance in transverse, radial, and tangential typically circular to elliptical in shape, although sometimes
Fig. 3 Model of the possible fracture planes through two adjacent pyritized tracheids. The three-dimensional model represents the wall and
pyrite casts of two adjoining tracheids. Pyrite is white, the secondary wall is gray, and the compound middle lamella is black. The front of the
model at right shows the sectional view with wall material and pyrite casts of the space system of the cells similar to that shown in fig. 2E, 2F.
The pyrite casts include part of the lumen cast, the pit-canal casts (c), and pit-chamber casts (h). The organic components include the compound
middle lamella (m) and secondary wall (w). The secondary wall around the elongate pit canal has two openings, the inner pit aperture (i) and
the outer pit aperture (o). The model is cut through the two cells much like the tracheids fracture during acid treatment. Nine representations
of the pits, appearances 1–9, are shown, and the appearance depends on the different combinations of pyrite casts and cell wall. If the fracture
is along the pyrite cast of the lower cell, two pit appearances occur: (1) the pit-canal casts attached to the lumen cast of the lower cell, and (2)
the pit-canal and pit-chamber casts attached to the lumen cast of the lower cell. If the fracture is within the secondary wall of the lower cell,
two pit appearances occur. (3) The secondary wall with unfilled pit chambers of the lower cell, pyrite casts of the pit canals may or may not
be visible, and (4) the secondary wall surrounding pyrite-filled pit chambers of lower cell. If the fracture is along the compound middle lamella
(pit membrane) of both cells, three pit appearances occur: (5) the pit membrane, (6) the compound middle lamella and attached pit-chamber
casts of the upper cell, and (7) the compound middle lamella and attached pit-chamber and canal casts of the upper cell. If the fracture is within
the secondary wall of the upper cell, two pit appearances occur: (8) the secondary wall of the upper cell fractured through the pit border resulting
in the pit chamber covered with a layer of secondary wall and (9) the secondary wall of the upper cell with slitlike inner pit apertures, with or
without visible pit-canal casts.
they are so closely appressed they have flattened contacts, giv- a model of the cell walls between two pyritized tracheids shows
ing the pit a hexagonal shape (fig. 2C, 2D). Pits like these in all the pit appearances we observed in the secondary xylem of
Rellimia—bordered, crowded, hexagonal, and alternate—are Rellimia (fig. 3). A bordered pit pair connects two cells that
said to be of the “Araucarian” type (Greguss 1955). Pits have share common intercellular cement. The secondary wall is not
a mean diameter along the horizontal axis of 14.5 mm (table a complete wall; it has holes and an uneven thickness around
1). the bordered pits. If the wall is sectioned and the material is
Interpretation of the different appearances of bordered pit viewed with incident light (fig. 2B, 2E), preserved pit pairs
pairs. Tracheids studied with both incident light and scan- give the wall a beaded appearance as the bright pyrite casts
ning electron microscopy show many different appearances of alternate with the light-absorbing wall. In material etched with
the bordered pit pairs. These appearances reflect the many acid and then viewed with the SEM, the secondary wall is
possible fracture planes that could occur through a three- often dissolved and the bordered pit is seen as pyrite casts of
dimensional bordered pit pair, the presence or absence of pyrite the space system (fig. 2F).
casts, and the presence or absence of preserved cell wall. The The space system in these tracheids is filled with pyrite and
pyrite next to the wall is much finer grained than the pyrite consists of the cell lumen, the pit canal (c), and the pit-chamber
within the lumen and often faithfully reproduces the cell spaces (h) casts (figs. 2F, 3). The pit canal and pit chamber are part
of the bordered pit as pyrite casts (fig. 2E, 2F). In SEM mi- of the bordered pit. The pit canal is long so there are two pit
crographs, the preserved wall (w) can be distinguished from apertures, the inner pit aperture (i) and the outer pit aperture
the granular pyrite (l) of the cast system (fig. 2G). (o). The inner pit aperture is a hole in the secondary wall
In order to understand the anatomy of the bordered pit pairs, through which the cell lumen is connected to the pit canal.
The outer pit aperture is a hole in the secondary wall through canal cast (c) can be seen through the pit aperture, but oc-
which the pit canal is connected to the pit chamber. The pit casionally the cast is missing. When the pit-chamber cast of
border is the portion of the secondary wall that overarches the lower cell is not broken and the wall is separated at the
the pit chamber from inner pit aperture to outer pit aperture secondary wall–compound middle lamella interface, the tra-
and surrounds the pit canal. cheid has intact pit chambers surrounded by secondary wall,
Pyrite filling of the cell space system and the preservation for pits of appearance 4 (fig. 3; fig. 4B, 4C, 4F). The pit-
of wall entombed within these pyrite casts provide many pos- chamber cast when viewed from this side is flat from its contact
sible fracture planes through bordered pit pairs of adjacent with the pit membrane. This view of the pits is often observed
tracheids. These fractures yield different appearances of the with light microscopy (fig. 2D).
bordered pit pair that are depicted in the model as pit ap- A fracture between two tracheids along their compound
pearances 1–9 and are described below as seen in SEM mi- middle lamella and pit-chamber cast is common, but preser-
crographs (fig. 3; figs. 2G–4I). Often, a fracture through a vation of the compound middle lamella after acid treatment
Rellimia bordered pit pair occurs at the level of the lumen cast is rarer (fig. 4D). Sometimes, the compound middle lamella is
of one tracheid, with the acid treatment removing all or almost so well preserved that the pit membrane is apparent and ap-
all of the cell wall material. When this happens, the tracheid pears as pit appearance 5 (figs. 3, 4E). More often, when the
will have one of three appearances depending on where the tracheid walls are fractured in this plane, the compound middle
fracture occurs in the pyrite cast system (fig. 3). If the fracture lamella is not visible because pyritized pit-chamber casts of
occurs along the interface of the inner pit aperture, between the adjacent tracheid cover it. If the split in the pyrite is along
the lumen cast and the pit-canal cast, the result may be a pyrite the outer pit aperture, it removes the pit-canal casts and leaves
cast without any evidence of pit chambers or canals (figs. 2G, the pit-chamber casts, for pit appearance 6 (figs. 3, 4F). With-
3). Often, the fracture in the pyritized space system will occur out the secondary wall of the tracheid, the pyrite casts of a
within the pit canal or between the pit canal and the pit cham- pit chamber viewed from this side have a rounded shape com-
ber at the outer pit aperture. Then, appearance 1 pits occur pared with the flat shape when viewed from the other side, as
on the lumen cast as slitlike protrusions that are pit canals of in appearance 4 pits. At times, the break in the pyrite occurs
various sizes depending on the fracture plane (figs. 2G, 3; fig. at the inner pit aperture. In these instances, the pit-chamber
4A, 4B). When a break occurs between the pit-chamber cast cast with an attached pit-canal cast remains but all the sec-
and the compound middle lamella, all three pyritized portions ondary wall of this tracheid is removed, for pit appearance 7
of the space system of the tracheid remain intact as pyrite casts. (figs. 3, 4G). The pit canal is approximately the full diameter
The pits, appearance 2, are either seen in section or from the of the pit chamber.
surface of the pit-chamber cast (fig. 3; fig. 4A, 4B). In less common circumstances, a fracture occurs within the
Many times, a fracture occurs within these same places of secondary wall of the tracheid, leaving the pit border but re-
the pyrite cast system in a tracheid, but the acid treatment has moving the rest of the secondary wall, for pit appearance 8
not removed all the secondary wall material. Then, the pits (figs. 3, 4H). The pit border either overlies the pit-chamber
have a different appearance. In some samples, the pyrite cast cast that has been broken from the pit-canal cast or, in some
is fractured at the outer pit aperture between the pit canal and cases, portions of the pit-canal cast may remain. Here, the pit-
pit chamber, with the pit chamber removed and the secondary border surface that faces the rest of the secondary wall and
wall remaining. The pit, appearance 3, is viewed along the the cell lumen of the tracheid is exposed, as opposed to the
surface of the pit border and appears as a depression in the surface that faces the pit chamber (fig. 4H, cf. 8 and 3). More
secondary wall (fig. 3; fig. 4B, 4C). Usually, the pyritized pit- often, the fracture is along the surface of the secondary wall
appearance 1 pits. Below that, the pit-chamber cast is still attached, but the secondary wall is gone, showing pit appearance 2. At the bottom,
pit-chamber casts have been removed by a fracture at the inner pit aperture, and the pit canal is visible at the aperture surrounded by the
preserved pit border of the secondary wall, pit appearance 3. To the left, preserved wall around the pit-chamber casts reveals appearance 4 pits.
C, Etched tracheids showing pits of appearance 3 and 4. Most of the pits are appearance 3 and show the secondary wall of the pit border
without a pit-chamber cast, but the pit canal shows through the outer pit aperture. Some pits have the pit-chamber cast in part, and others have
the entire pit-chamber cast, pit appearance 4. The secondary wall is apparent between the appearance 4 pits. D, Fracture of the tracheid mostly
at the level of the compound middle lamella. In some areas, the compound middle lamella is etched away, and the bordered pits of the cell
below have secondary wall with fractured pit-canal casts, appearance 3 pits. In some places, it appears the compound middle lamella is thin
enough to transmit the electron beam and visualize the pyrite cast below (arrowhead). E, Fracture at the compound middle lamella shows
appearance 5 pits that consist of the pit membrane. The wall is without a parallel fibrillar nature that is apparent in preserved surfaces of the
secondary wall. F, Pit-chamber casts exposed along the outer pit aperture, showing appearance 6 pits. Scars of the pit canal are evident on most
casts. Tracheid to the left shows appearance 4 pits, which are the pit-chamber casts viewed from the other side, the surface situated next to the
compound middle lamella. G, Tracheids etched with the pit-chamber casts mostly retaining pit-canal casts showing pit appearance 7. The view
is from the lumen of the upper tracheid that is broken away, with the secondary wall and lumen cast removed. The pit canal extends horizontally
across the entire pit-chamber cast. H, Parts of two tracheids etched to show the pit border but from opposite sides. The tracheid to the left has
appearance 8 pits, showing the pit border facing the lumen. The right tracheid shows the pit borders from the side facing the pit chamber, pit
appearance 3. A comparison of 8 and 3 on the left tracheid shows the oppositely inclined, low-angled, crossed pit apertures of contiguous cells.
I, Portion of a tracheid showing the inner surface of the secondary wall with the inner pit apertures, appearance 9 pits. The wall has fibrillar
components in helical arrangement. The lumen cast of the tracheid is visible in the upper unbroken portion of the tracheid.
Fig. 5 Features of tracheid walls and ray cells. b p pit border, c p pit-canal cast, h p pit-chamber cast, i p inner pit aperture, m p pit
membrane, o p outer pit aperture, r p ray, w p secondary wall. Bar p 10 mm in B, C, E; bar p 1 mm in A, D. A, High magnification of
tracheid walls that shows a pit membrane and the pit borders that face the secondary wall. Pit borders have a circular pattern of fibrillar
components; the pit membrane does not. B, Tracheid etched to reveal pits of cell below, appearance 3, and spiral bands of secondary wall
between the rows of pits (arrows). C, Part of three tracheids broken so they appear sectioned and show the anatomy of bordered pit pairs. The
pits have the pit-canal casts combined with the pit-chamber casts, and the secondary wall is partly etched away. The long pit-canal cast indicates
a thick secondary wall with both inner and outer pit apertures. The secondary wall has an inner portion that is mostly degraded and an outer
portion that is preserved. D, Higher magnification of fig. 5C showing bordered pit pairs where the pit membrane is located between the pit-
canal cast and the combined pit-chamber casts. It thus appears that this bordered pit was aspirated. E, SEM view of ray cells showing procumbent
appearance of some cells and lack of preserved pits on wall faces.
and the inner pit aperture between the pit-canal cast and the teristics of wood structure that would have remained unknown
lumen cast. The secondary wall is preserved, and the pits are if the pyritized material had only been examined by incident
slitlike openings, with or without pit-canal casts protruding light. For example, observations of the pyrite casts show that
through the inner pit aperture, for pit appearance 9 (figs. 3, the pit canal is typically long and the pit chamber is rather
4I). When fractured in this way, if some of the tracheid stays shallow (fig. 2F). The length of the pit canal is a reflection of
untouched by the acid treatment, the lumen cast can remain the thickness of the secondary wall. The wall between adjacent
and be seen filling the cell space. tracheids has a mean thickness of 9.5 mm (table 1). However,
Observations of bordered pit pair structure and tracheid cell the compound middle lamella portion of the wall is quite thin
wall. Detailed analysis of tracheids in SEM shows charac- (figs. 2E, 4D). The wall is thin enough so that the SEM electron
beam may penetrate it and reveal the pyrite cast below (fig. These walls are much thinner than those of the axial tracheids
4D). and may suggest that the rays are made up of ray parenchyma
The fortuitous fracture that occurred through the wall ma- (fig. 1A). The common lack of preservation of the cell walls
terial of the secondary wall separating the pit border from the of the rays also suggests ray parenchyma. We believe the rays
rest of the wall allowed observation of the structure of the pit are homocellular and consist solely of parenchyma cells.
aperture in adjacent cells lying one on top of the other (fig.
4H). These pits, appearance 8, occur on the upper tracheid of Discussion
the bordered pit pair and can be compared with appearance
3 pits that are revealed on the adjacent lower tracheid, al- The pyritized material of Rellimia allows a fuller description
though they appear to be located on the same tracheid face. of the structure of the wood and secondary xylem tracheids
When these pit apertures are compared, the bordered pits have of this early wood-producing progymnosperm. A previous de-
slitlike apertures that are horizontally oriented and slightly scription of the anatomy of Rellimia by Kräusel and Weyland
inclined but in opposite directions (fig. 4H). Thus, the pit ap- (1938) was accompanied only by a text figure and three poor
ertures within a bordered pit pair are crossed at a low angle. illustrations of petrified material (his plate XXIV, figs. 4–6).
The preserved secondary wall, revealed along the surface Our description of the wood of Rellimia mostly agrees with
that faces the lumen, shows parallel fibrillar components (fig. the few details provided by Kräusel and Weyland (1938). In
4I). The secondary walls of the pit borders show a parallel both, the wood surrounds an irregularly three-lobed protostele
arrangement of the fibrillar components in a nearly elliptical with protoxylem areas in the arms. The secondary cells radiate
to circular pattern (fig. 5A). Additionally, fractures within the from the tips of the protostele. In the German material, the
tracheid wall reveal other features of the secondary wall struc- tracheids in transverse section are square to rectangular to
ture. Sometimes, these fractures show portions of secondary irregular in shape and up to 120 mm in diameter. The tracheids
wall material that appear like spiral bands of wall between in the New York material have the same shape and roughly
the rows of pits (fig. 5B). the same size but may be slightly smaller. The wall sculpture
When the pit membrane is preserved, its fibrillar pattern has in the German material is reported as scalariform to reticulate,
no apparent parallel organization (figs. 4E, 5A). In one sample, with possible bordered pits. The superior preservation of the
three cracked tracheids were broken through the pyrite casts New York material shows that all the secondary xylem tra-
and wall material, as if the material had been sectioned (fig. cheids have bordered pits and never scalariform wall sculpture.
5C, 5D). The secondary wall is mostly degraded, but the pe- Ray structure of the German material is virtually unknown
rimeter portion of the secondary wall remains. The pit cham- and is described as uniseriate, probably reflecting the narrow-
bers have been preserved as a single unit because the pit ness of the ray. The rays in New York Rellimia are also narrow,
membrane is displaced to the outer pit aperture (fig. 5D). This but uniseriate to multiseriate rays are present in the wood.
may indicate that the pit was aspirated when preserved. There Overall, the anatomical descriptions of the German and New
is no apparent differentiation of the pit membrane into torus York material are similar.
and margo commonly found in extant species that have as- Dannenhoffer and Bonamo (1989) correlated the occurrence
pirated pits. and abundance of secondary xylem with the axis size and axis
order. This wood in the largest axis order contains three
Ray Cell Structure growth increments. An area containing radially aligned, thick-
walled cells of the secondary phloem surrounds the secondary
Ray cells are square to slightly rectangular in shape when xylem. When preserved, the outer portion of the axis con-
viewed in radial sections (figs. 1D, 5E). When rectangular, the tains thin-walled parenchyma of the cortex. No periderm is
long axis is horizontally oriented and cells are procumbent. apparent.
The mean length of the ray cells, measured in radial and trans- The fortuitous preservation of the Rellimia fossils allows an
verse section, is 87.4 mm (table 1). The length of the ray cell unprecedented description of the pyritized ancient wood and
spans the width of two to three tracheids. The next largest tracheid features in an early aneurophyte. This includes study-
dimension of the ray cell is its height (measured in both tan- ing the material in cross, radial, and tangential sections, much
gential and radial sections), with a mean value of 40.9 mm. like studying less recalcitrant fossil material that can be thin-
The smallest dimension of the ray cell is its width, with a mean sectioned or extant woods. In addition, using the SEM enables
width of 22.4 mm for all ray cells, 28.8 mm for uniseriate ray a detailed description of the geometry of the bordered pits.
cells, and 15.6 mm for biseriate and multiseriate ray cells. The Although this is the first explanation of the SEM views of
size of uniseriate ray cells is almost the same as whole ray bordered pits using a three-dimensional model, other workers
width (table 1). These differences of cell sizes in rays of dif- have used electron microscopy to look at and interpret the
ferent seriation correlates with the observation that ray width bordered pits of fossils (Schmid 1967; Grierson 1976; Leo and
is not significantly different with additional seriation (fig. 1A; Barghoorn 1976; Beck et al. 1982). Schmid (1967) was the
table 1). first to employ electron microscopy to study the secondary
The type of ray cell present, whether ray parenchyma and/ xylem of Devonian fossils. He studied the wood of Callixylon
or ray tracheids, could not be determined by the nature of the and Cordaites with the TEM. Using replicas of the wood, he
wall pitting. Either the pits present cannot be evaluated as to examined the face views of bordered pits. In some cases, the
whether they are simple or bordered (fig. 1B) or the pits are pit appeared to show a pit border with a slitlike mineral cast
not preserved in the ray cell walls (fig. 5E). However, the ray of the pit chamber. In other instances, the pit border was frac-
cell walls are thin, with a mean thickness of 2.2 mm (table 1). tured in a different plane, revealing the much larger pit-
chamber cast. He showed that appearances of the pit are de- tern could also be interpreted as reduced scalariform wall
pendent on the plane of fracture of the material. thickenings between which bordered pits have formed, remi-
Grierson (1976) showed that the pit structure of the primary niscent of the scalariform thickenings of the p-type tracheids
tracheids of Leclercqia could be analyzed by SEM interpre- that characterize early fossil euphyllophytes (Kenrick and
tation of the entombing pyrite casts. Like Schmid, he inter- Crane 1997; Friedman and Cook 2000). These p-type tra-
preted the pits based on the fracture plane. In this study of cheids have hollow scalariform bars between which are bor-
Rellimia wood, interpretation of the anatomy of the bordered dered pits, and across the pit aperture is a decay-resistant por-
pit pair incorporates fracture plane and both the carbonaceous tion of the secondary wall that has holes or pitlets (Gensel
walls that remain and the entombing pyrite casts. Features such 1979; Hartman and Banks 1980; Kenrick and Crane 1997;
as length and size of the pit canals and pit chambers and the Friedman and Cook 2000). The nature of the tracheid pitting
composition of the pit membrane can be elucidated by un- in Rellimia is quite different from the p-type tracheid. The
derstanding the fracture plane and what remains after etching: bordered pits are circular and no secondary wall is present in
pyrite, wall, or pyrite and wall. For example, it was possible the pit aperture; therefore, there are also no pitlets. Addition-
to determine that the pits of adjacent tracheids have crossed ally, the pit border is thick, so there are a long pit canal and
pit apertures even though the entombing pyrite is opaque. This two pit apertures instead of a single pit aperture. The sub-
understanding allows us to look back at other aneurophytes stantial difference in the pitting of Rellimia secondary xylem
and determine that the tracheids also have crossed pit apertures tracheids compared to p-type tracheids within primary xylem
(Schweitzer and Matten 1982, Aneurophyton pl. 6, figs. 29, of basal euphyllophytes suggests that pitting features may have
31; Stein and Beck 1983, Triloboxylon arnoldii fig. 12). In been modified rapidly within basal euphyllophytes.
aneurophytes, where the SEM has been used to study pyrite Our addition of details to the description of the wood of
material, the tracheids have crossed pit apertures. If pyritized Rellimia furthers knowledge of anatomical features present in
material of the other aneurophytes were studied like this, they early aneurophytes. It is interesting that the organization of
would probably also show this feature, as they are reported the first woods is so complex, very much like what we know
to have inclined pit apertures (table 2). in modern plants. One can easily recognize the diagnostic
Our preparation of Rellimia tracheids for the SEM yielded planes of section: cross, radial, and tangential section. Our
splitting within the secondary wall that may suggest that the evidence indicates that wood at its inception had the complex,
secondary wall is not homogeneous in structure. At times, three-dimensional organization that characterizes later mem-
differential preservation occurs such that the outer portion of bers of the lignophyte clade.
the wall is preserved and the inner part is degraded (fig. 5C, Understanding the wood of aneurophytes is interesting in
5D). This may indicate that the thin outer portion is degra- light of the antiquity and ancestral status of the aneurophytes
dation resistant, while the inner portion is degradation prone. in the lignophyte clade. Using information of the known wood
In addition, a heterogeneous secondary wall could explain why of other members of the Aneurophytales, we characterize the
we see some of the unusual fracture planes in the tracheids. wood structure of the group (table 2). All have dense pyc-
For instance, if the wall is fractured at the junction of the noxylic wood with square to polygonal tracheids that are sim-
supposed degradation-prone and degradation-resistant layers, ilar size. Branched tracheids occur in all genera. The tracheids
a thin layer of resistant secondary wall remains visible, as in have elliptical or circular bordered pits arranged alternately in
pit appearance 8. multiseriate rows on all tracheid walls. The pit apertures are
A heterogeneous secondary wall with degradation-resistant inclined and slitlike. The rays are typically uniseriate, although
and degradation-prone portions in Rellimia secondary xylem biseriate and multiseriate rays occur in several species. Ray
tracheids may be comparable to the decay-resistant and decay- height is generally tall, with rays at least 20 cells high occurring
prone secondary wall layers in primary xylem g-type tracheids in all taxa. Of interest, most are reported to have growth layers.
of early fossil Lycophytina and p-type tracheids of early fossil Aneurophytes have secondary xylem that is remarkably alike
Euphyllophytina (Kenrick and Crane 1997; Friedman and in the details of the structure. The minor differences in the
Cook 2000). Recent work showing enzyme degradation pat- wood descriptions of the taxa might exist within a single genus
terns of tracheids of Huperzia and Equisetum indicates that or even a single specimen. The similarity of these wood char-
the common ancestor of the Lycophytina and Euphyllophytina acters strengthens the unity of the aneurophytes as a group.
had secondary wall thickenings with degradation-prone and However, the slight differences in the wood of the Aneu-
degradation-resistant layers (Cook and Friedman 1998; Fried- rophytales may indicate early trends in the evolution of wood
man and Cook 2000). Rellimia, within the Euphyllophytina, structure. In particular, the type and nature of the pitting on
indicates that the degradation-prone and degradation-resistant the tracheid walls and the presence of ray tracheids appear to
wall layers may have also been a characteristic of basal lig- be different in Middle Devonian versus Upper Devonian taxa.
nophytes. Degradation-prone and degradation-resistant layers “Araucarian” pits are alternately arranged, multiseriate, and
are apparently lacking in extant lignophytes (Friedman and hexagonal or angular in shape from crowding (Greguss 1955).
Cook 2000), indicating that this wall characteristic was lost In contrast, coniferous pits are circular in shape, larger in size,
within the lignophyte clade. and separate from each other and, when more than uniseriate,
Sometimes, fractures within the secondary wall reveal a ba- they are normally oppositely arranged. Araucarian pitting is
sic spiral pattern that we cannot equate to degradation layer generally considered the more primitive pit type (Bailey 1933;
(fig. 5B). The pattern is similar to the first phase of two-phase Erasmus 1976). Within the progymnosperms, a modification
secondary wall deposition described by Bierhorst (1960) and of araucarian pits by reduction in pit seriation, decrease in the
Bierhorst and Zamora (1965). However, this spiral wall pat- number of pits, and restriction of pits to the radial face can
be demonstrated (table 2). Rellimia and Triloboxylon arnoldii been studied, Upper Devonian taxa being better known. After
have araucarian pits that have never been observed to be other our extensive observation, we believe this is an unlikely ex-
than multiseriate and densely packed on all walls. However, planation for Rellimia wood and that ray tracheids are not
in the Upper Devonian taxa, Tetraxylopteris, Proteokalon, and present.
Triloboxylon ashlandicum, there is evidence for pit modifi- So, although the Aneurophytales clearly are a united group,
cation. In all three, although pits occur on all walls, there is there are some differences in the wood that may suggest Middle
a difference in pitting on the tangential walls. In Tetraxylop- Devonian taxa can be distinguished from Upper Devonian
teris and T. ashlandicum, the pits are reported to be smaller taxa. The same distinction between members of the group may
and less numerous on the tangential walls (Beck 1957; Scheck- not be evident using other known reproductive structures or
ler and Banks 1971a). In addition, in Tetraxylopteris, the pit- primary anatomy. Given that the wood is a derived character
ting is sometimes alternate but other times opposite. In the found in all progymnosperms, what seem like small variations
younger genus Callixylon, more specialized pitting is present, in wood structure may be useful in understanding evolution
as the pits are grouped on only portions of the wall. In ad- within the group. In addition, small differences in wood char-
dition, the pits are generally restricted to the radial walls, ex- acters, such as pits restricted to the radial wall as well as in
cept in some specimens they may also be present on the tan- defined groups on the wall face, can be used to separate the
gential wall of late-wood tracheids (Beck 1970). In most Aneurophytes from the Archaeopteridales. Future detailed
species, there is a reduction in pit seriation, and in Callixylon analyses of the anatomy of other early fossil woods may be a
arnoldii the pitting is uniseriate. Overall, the genus shows source of distinguishing characters that could help elucidate
trends in specialization by reduction both in pit numbers and the relationship between the Aneurophytales and Archaeop-
in pit seriation and the drifting of pits into pit groups, achieving teridales and their relationship to other early groups of the
a “coniferous”-type pit in some cases. lignophyte clade.
The wood of Middle Devonian aneurophytes has been re-
ported to have rays with only ray parenchyma cells, whereas Acknowledgments
Upper Devonian taxa are reported to have both ray paren-
chyma and ray tracheids (table 2). Aneurophyton, which spans This work was partially supported by a Central Michigan
the Middle to Upper Devonian boundary, has only ray paren- University Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors sabbatical
chyma. Previously, the absence of ray tracheids in older taxa grant to J. M. Dannenhoffer. We thank Stan Kaufman for his
could be attributed to a difference in how well the wood has rendering of the tracheid model.
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