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Stem and Leaf Cuticle of Karinopteris: Source of Cuticles from the Indiana "Paper" Coal Author(s): William A. DiMichele, Michael O. Rischbieter, Donald L. Eggert and Robert A. Gastaldo Reviewed work(s): Source: American Journal of Botany, Vol. 71, No. 5 (May - Jun., 1984), pp. 626-637 Published by: Botanical Society of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2443359 . Accessed: 31/10/2012 10:50 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Botanical Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Botany. http://www.jstor.org Amer. J. Bot. 71(5): 626-637. 1984. STEM AND LEAF CUTICLE OF KARINOPTERIS: SOURCE OF CUTICLES FROM THE INDIANA "PAPER" COAL1 WILLIAMA. DIMICHELESMICHAEL O. RISCHBIETER, DONALD L. EGGERT,AND ROBERTA. GASTALDO Departmentof Botany, University of Washington,Seattle, Washington; Department of Biology, WesternIllinois University, Macomb, Illinois; IndianaGeological Survey, Bloomington, Indiana,and Departmentof Geology, AuburnUniversity, Auburn,Alabama ABSTRACT Cuticularor "paper"coal-shale is a local deposit of an organic-rich,highly clastic rock, with abundantleafand stem cuticles,associated with the UpperBlock Coal Member in ParkeCounty, Indiana.Fresh blocks of cuticularcoal can be split alongbedding surfaces to reveala fossil flora of low diversity, dominatedby pteridospermsand lycopods, with minor amounts of ferns and sphenopsids.Karinopteris is a subdominantcomponent of this flora and the great abundance of well-preservedcuticles of this plant allows for a reconstructionof its frondand growthhabit. Karinopteris appearsto have been a vine, indicative of structuraldiversity in the plant assem- blage. The plant assemblageof the cuticularcoal is dissimilar to most midwesterncoal-ball floras of slightly youngerage. This is probablya result of the depositionalsetting in an upper deltaic-fluvialdominated environment. THE CUTICULAR or "paper"coal of Indiana is and Phillips, 1982),palynology (Peppers, 1982), an unusual deposit rich in plant cuticles and and paleobotany (DiMichele, 1980, 1982) of intermediate in character between a bitumi- associated coals and shales, and petrology of nous coal and a highly organic shale. It occurs the cuticularcoal, which Crellingand Bensley only as an upperfacies of the Upper Block Coal (1980) found to consist of only 7.2% cutinite Memberof the Brazil Formationand has been when fresh. Eggertand Phillips (1982) found located only in Parke County, in west-central no lithological or paleontological evidence of Indiana. The cuticular coal was first reported marineinfluence in the lower part of the Brazil in detail by Guennel and Neavel (1959) and Formationin ParkeCounty. Further study sug- Neavel and Guennel (1960). They speculated gests that the cuticularcoal deposit is the result that the deposit representeda brackishor ma- of the original plant composition of the coal rine-influencedpart of a more typical fresh- swamp flora, in particularthe abundance of water coal swamp. Their conclusions were the pteridospermKarinopteris, perhapsreflect- based on elevated levels of boron and nickel ing unusual local ecological conditions within in the cuticular coal facies, and on the abun- an upper deltaic fluvial environment (Nelson dance of plant cuticles in the deposit. Later et al., unpubl., in review). studieswere on the chemistry(Neavel and Mil- The cuticularcoal is of specific interest bo- ler, 1960) and the palynology (Guennel and tanically because of the unusual texturalcom- Neavel, 1961) of this lithology. position, caused by the abundanceof cuticular Renewed interest in the cuticular coal was material. Studies of both fresh and weathered stimulated by its exposure during mining in specimens revealed that virtually all of the cu- Parkecounty. This was followed by reports of ticle is derived from a single species of Kari- the general depositional environment (Eggert nopteris. This plant is a major component of a low diversity flora dominated by pterido- spermsand lycopods. The morphologyof Kar- l Received for publication 4 June 1983; revision ac- inopteris is the focus of this paper the asso- cepted 23 January, 1984. ciated flora will be described in brief. Thanks are extended to W. J. Nelson, A. C. Stecyk, R. Karinopteris is a form genus of pteridosperm L. Langenheim, R. Zangerl, R. Winston, S. Costanza, J. foliage that has been reported infrequentlyin F. Mahaffy, B. L. DiMichele, and T. L. Phillips for assis- tance with field work. The cooperation of Mr. Joseph North America. Boersma (1972) established Woody, Bloomingdale, IN, owner and operator of the the genus and, based on specimens from west- Roaring Creek Mine, is gratefully acknowledged. Caroline ern Europe, recognized a number of species Mass, University of Washington, prepared the reconstruc- previously included in Mariopteris, Sphenop- tion. This research was supported in part by NSF Grant EAR8018324 to WD, acknowledgment is also made to teris, or Diplothmema. Karinopteris is char- the Donors of the Petroleum Research Fund of the Amer- acterized by small, bipartite fronds that lack ican Chemical Society for partial support of this project. petiolarpinnules, have transversemarks on the 626 May-June,1984] DIMICHELE ET AL.-INDIANA PAPER COAL 627 rachisesand stems, spinelike prolongationsof ical Collections of the University of Washing- the distal partsofthe fronds,and pinnules with ton: Slides UW 00001-00155; Specimens RC a mariopteroid or eusphenopteroid aspect 1 1. 1-1 1.2, 14. 1-14.9 (cuticular coal from (Boersma,1972;Gastaldo and Boersma,1983). RoaringCreek Mining Company,Mine No. 1), CO 1. 1-1.21 (cuticularshale from along Sugar MATERIALSAND METHODSOF ANALYSIS- Creek in Coke Oven Hollow), and NYE 1.1- Fresh to slightly weatheredcuticular coal and 1.6 (cuticle coal from abandoned strip mine shalewere collectedwithin the now abandoned near Nyesville, Indiana). RoaringCreek Coal CompanyNo. l Mine (7l/2' Wallace Quad., SE 1/4, SW 1/4, SW 1/4, sec. 32, MORPHOLOGYOF KARINOPTERIS sP.-Nature T.17N, R.7W) and from exposures on a steep of the fossils-Almost all of the recovered cu- cut bank along Roaring Creek at an elevation ticles representfragments of the parent plant of about 560 feet above sea level (71/2' Wallace leaves and stems. Most material was leaf cu- Quad. SE 1/4, NW 1/4, NW 1/4, sec. 33, T.17N, ticle, from petioles to ultimate pinnules, that R.7W). representsvarious segments of fronds (Fig. 1- Additional highly weathered cuticular coal 7, 10). Largeaxes with remnants of horizontal samples were obtained from an exposurein an scleroticplates may representstems or the bas- abandonedstrip mine near Nyesville, Indiana, al portions of fronds (Fig. 8 and 9). Sporangial in Parke County (7l/2'Rockville Quad. SW 1/4, cuticle and spores of various sizes were com- sec.27, T.16N, R.7W); this was site A of Nea- mon; these have been describedand illustrated vel and Guennel (1960). Samples of shale rich by Guenneland Neavel ( 196 1) and arethe only in cuticle were obtained along SugarCreek at cuticularmaterials not associated clearly with about 500 ft above sea level, near Coke Oven the Karinopteris plant. Except for the sclerotic Hollow, ParkeCounty (7l/2' Montezuma Quad. cell-plates in some of the largeraxes, cellular NW 1/4, SW 1/4, SE 1/4, sec. 4, T.16N, R.8W). materialwas absent, including vasculartissue. There were no coals exposed in association Cellular contents were macerated naturally with this shale. At all locations collectionswere from the cuticularenvelopes or were coalified made from rocks of the Brazil Formation in within the envelopes rendering them unrec- the approximate stratigraphicinterval of the ognizable. Upper Block Coal Member. Cuticlewas removed from weatheredcuticu- Description of the material-Four major lar ("paper")coal and shale, without chemical kinds of fragmentaryaxes were obtained from pre-treatment,directly from bedding surfaces. macerations:terminal segments of fronds,mid- This technique occasionally yielded large portions of fronds, basal frond segments, in- pieces, but in most cases dense layeringof the cluding dichotomized rachises, and large axes cuticle prevented removal of the significantly that probably representstems. larger frond segments. Most cuticle was ob- The smallest diameter axes recovered were tained by immersing hand-sized samples and segmentsof frondrachises that terminatedwith largerpieces up to 20 cm a side and 1 cm thick spines. Four hundredand seventy-seven (477) in an aqueous solution of 5%KOH for 48 hr, spiney axes were found. They rangefrom 0.3- followed by a 5-day rinse in gently running 2.0 mm diam, and average1 mm diam (median water. Specimens were subsequently treated 0.85 mm, Fig. 14). The spines are small and with 32%H202 (superoxal),which rapidly (24 triangularin shape (Fig. 7). They are alternate hr) disrupted the clastic matrix and released and borne in two subopposite rows along the the cuticle. This solution was rinsed in gently upper (adaxial) surface of a rachis. A few of runningwater for 48 hr. Cuticle then was hand the specimens, of the
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