中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

The genus Tingia Halle is one of the most typical taxa of the Cathaysia Flora. However, its affinity, has long been uncertain. Tingia unite Wang 2006 was named based on the discovery of a crown of a tree that shows the organic connection of the simple compound leaves and the strobili with the stem. It is among the very few species of the Noeggerathiales of which both fertile and sterile parts are known. Since its discovery, a large collection of specimens of Tingia unitahasbeen accumulated from the early Permian peat-forming flora in Wuda Coalfield of Inner Mongolia (Chinese vegetational Pompeii), including various parts of the whole plant. This paper presents a full documentation of this species on the basis of this material, which now, represents the best-known taxon in the genus Tingia and in the order Noeggerathiales. The gross morphology. heterospory and in situ spore morphology, homology of leaf and strobilus, anatomy of the frond and strobilus, and sporophyll arrangement are all known, and conform to a progymnospermous affinity. The plant was an understory tree in the peat swamp forest, approaching the height of tree ferns, whereas Sigillaria Brongniart and Cordaites Unger formed the upper storey. Tingia unite produced a considerable proportion of the biomass of the peat-forming swamp vegetation. This indepth study contributes to a better understanding of the systematic position of the genus Tingia and the enigmatic group of the Noeggerathiales. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.