Paurodendron stellatum: A new Permian permineralized herbaceous lycopsid from the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica

•A new permineralized lycopsid is reported from the Middle Permian of Antarctica.•The plant is associated with dispersed megaspores and charcoalified microphylls.•This small plant was a subsidiary element in the understorey of glossopterid forests.•Plant habit, stele anatomy and ligulate microphylls conform to Paurodendron.

Diminutive, silica-permineralized lycopsid axes, from a Guadalupian (Middle Permian) silicified peat in the Bainmedart Coal Measures of East Antarctica are described and assigned to Paurodendron stellatum sp. nov. Axes consist only of primary-growth tissues with a vascular system characterized by an exarch actinostele with 6-20 protoxylem points. Stems have a relatively narrow cortex of thin-walled cells that are commonly degraded, but the root cortex typically contains more robust, thick-walled cells. The stems bear helically inserted, elliptical-rhombic, ligulate microphylls. Roots possess an eccentrically positioned monarch vascular strand. Paurodendron stellatum is one of a very small number of anatomically preserved lycopsid axes described from the Gondwanan Permian and represents the first post-Carboniferous record of this genus. Based on dispersed vegetative remains, megaspores and microspores, herbaceous lycopsids, such as P. stellatum, appear to have been important understorey components of both low- and high-latitude mire forests of the late Palaeozoic.

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