The stomatal ontogeny and structure of the liassic pteridosperm Sagenopteris (Caytoniales) from Hungary

Stomatal ontogeny is often inferred but rarely documented for extinct fossil plants because it requires observations from young leaves that are rarely preserved as fossils. The discovery of several very young leaves of the Jurassic plant Sagenopteris (Caytoniales) in the Mecsek Mountains (southern Hungary) in a good state of preservation provides the opportunity for studying the stomatal ontogenesis of this genus. The specimens show perigenous anomocytic stomata. This feature confirms the evolutionarily high position of Sagenopteris among fossil gymnosperms and supports the opinion that the ancestors of angiosperms and some groups of pteridosperms might be closely related. Such clear examples of stomatal development have not previously been documented for fossil material.