Leclercqia complexa from the Early Devonian (Emsian) of northern New Brunswick, Canada

Plant fossils from the Emsian of New Brunswick are described and referred to the genus Leclercqia as Leclercqia complexa. Sterile and fertile axes branch dichotomously, and bear shallowly spiraled five-segmented leaves or sporophylls. Oval-elongate sporangia are attached near their outer end to the upper surface of leaves and produce spores referable to the Acinosporites lindlarensis morphon. Differences between these Emsian plants and L. complexa from New York State are largely ones of size, fine details of spore morphology, and in the New Brunswick fossils lacking anatomy and evidence of a ligule. The presence of L. complexa, Leclercqia andrewsii sp. nov. Kasper and Gensel (2005), and a third, as yet unnamed protolepidendracean lycopsid in the Emsian attests to greater taxon diversity of leclercqioid lycopsids in the Early Devonian. These new specimens further provide additional details of sporangia, spores, and cuticles.