Horneophyton
Horneophyton is a genus of early Devonian fossil land plants. Its fossils are very common in the Rhynie chert. Both the sporophyte and a female gametophyte have been found as fossils. The sporophyte was about 20 cm tall, and the gametophyte was about 6 cm tall. It is not really a vascular plant. It had vascular tissue but the cells had thin walls.
| Horneophyton | |
|---|---|
| |
| Schematic reconstruction of Horneophyton lignieri to show its growth habit | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Horneophyton |
| Species | |
|
†H. lignieri (Kidst. & W.H.Lang) Bargh. & Darrah (1938) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Hornea Kidst. & W.H.Lang (1920) non Baker | |
Horneophyton had anatomy similar to the hornworts. It is also similar to the vascular plant Rhynia which lived at the same time. It might therefore be a missing link between the Bryophytes like hornworts and the vascular plants like Rhynia.
References
- Eggert, D.A. (1974), "The sporangium of Horneophyton lignieri (Rhyniophytina)", American Journal of Botany, 61 (4): 405–413, doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1974.tb12259.x, JSTOR 2441808
- The biota of early terrestrial ecosystems: the Rhynie Chert, University of Aberdeen, retrieved 6 July 2015
A piece of Rhynie chert has parts of many Horneophyton plants. The red circles show the bases of sporophytes.
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