Sartilmania

Sartilmania is a genus of extinct vascular plants of the Early Devonian (Emsian stage, around 410 to 390 million years ago). Fossils were found in Sart Tilman (Liège, Belgium) (after which the genus was named).

Description

The sporophyte of Sartilmania jabachensis has narrow leafless stems (axes), from 0.75 mm to a maximum of 2 mm in diameter, marked with irregular longitudinal striations, which allows them to be distinguished from the stems of Stockmansella langii, with which they are mixed in the deposit. The plant is heavily and irregularly branched, with the lateral branches being arranged spirally. Each lateral branch appears to have ended in a vertically oriented sporangium, which caused a sharp upwards turn if the branch it terminated was near to the horizontal. The sporangia were spatulate (spoon-shaped), most measuring 3.5–4 mm long by 2.5-3.5 mm wide, marked by the same longitudinal striations as were present on the stems. The sporangia opened into two valves along their distal margins. Spores were not found; nor was the vascular system of the stems observed. The gametophyte is not known.