Coniferocaulon latisulcatum sp. nov. from the Rajmahal hills, Bihar, with remarks on the affinities of the genus

Abstract

A new species of a petrified wood referable from its external characters to Coniferocaulon Fliche is described. This genus has previously heen recorded from the Rajmahal Hills in the form of casts, but the anatomical details are given here for the first time. On the basis of these the affinities of the genus have been discussed. Coniferocaulon lalisulcatum is closely comparable to some species of Mesembrioxylon Seward in having a narrow pith with scattered stone cells; uniseriate, low medullary rays; scattered xylem parenchyma; radial pits usually arranged in a single row, separate or contiguous, and circular, but sometimes flattened, rarely biseriate, opposite or sub-opposite; and in having pits with oblique pores in the cross-field. The wood is also closely comparable to that of Podocarpus ferruginoides Compt. The characters of this species of Coniferocaulon are, as a whole, more suggestive of a Podocarpinean affinity rather than Araucarian.