The flora of the New Albany shale; Part 2, The Calamopityeae and their relationships

Material referable to Calamopitys americana, Calamopitys foerstei, Stenomyelon muratum, Kalymma lirata, Kalymma resinosa, and Kalymma auriculata, from the upper portion of the New Albany shale in central Kentucky, is described. All these species are based on the internal structure of stems and petioles. The suggestion is made that the genus Stenomyelon should be included in the family Calamopityeae rather than in a separate family. Relationships of the several species and genera belonging to the Calamopityeae are discussed, and it is recommended that the name Calamopitys be restricted to manoxylic forms (C. saturni Unger, etc.), that Eristophyton be used for the pycnoxylic species which have in the past been placed in Calamopitys, and that Sphenoxylon be adopted for the American species which has been called Calamopitys eupunctata. It is pointed out that the Calamopityeae may be divided, naturally, into two major groups-a manoxylic, protostelic group and a pycnoxylic, medullated group. Stenomyelon is probably in the lineage of the more primitive Calamopityeae, and Endoxylon is presumably the most advanced type now known.