Fascisvarioxylon mehtae gen. et sp. nov., a new petrified Cycadean wood from the Rajmahal Hills, Bihar, India

Abstract

A new petrified stem from the Rajmahal Hills, Bihar, is described and named Fascisvarioxylon mehtae gen. et sp. nov. This wood is compared with the members of the extant family Cycadaceae in having eternal armour of foliage and scale-leaf bases, parenchymatous internal 1issues, broad pith with medullary bundles, single normal vascular ring surrounding the pith and cortex with leaf traces. It is also compared with some Palaeozoic woods especially, the Medullosa and Lyginopteris, in its mesarch condition of vascular bundles and a tendency to form groups of xylem elements. The Mesozoic cycadophytic genera Cycadeoidea, Bucklandia, Sahnioxylon and Michelilloa have also been compared.