NAME Sporocarpon cellulosum
AGE Carboniferous.   AGE span: 359.2...299 mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Ascomycetes, Eurotiales.
FIGURE(S)
Image of
Pl.29fig.6.jpg
FIGURE REFERENCE Williamson WC. 1878. On the organization of fossil plants of the Coal Measures. Part IX; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v. 169, p. 319-364.
SPECIES, AUTHORITY S. cellulosum Williamson 1878, p. 346.
LOCATION England.
ORIG DESCRIPTION* "In figs. 75 and 76 we have two objects which appear to be of a different nature. Fig. 76 is obviously a cavity about .007 [inches] in diameter. The figure represents an optical section, whilst the faint areolation represents the ends of the cells bounding the cavity but seen a little out of focus. Figs. 75, 75A, 75B, and 75C, are apparently examples of the same organism, only in them less of the surrounding parenchyma is preserved. The diameter of fig. 75 is about .0012 [sic; should be ".0120"]; of 75A and 75C about .0111, whilst fig. 75B is about .0166. Fig. 75A, 75B, 75C, and 76 are empty; but fig. 75 is filled with small parenchymatous cells which have a mean diameter of about .0012. Fig. 75C also contains a mass of parenchyma; some of the cells in the latter specimen are further enlarged in fig. 75D, and two of them are there seen to contain three or four small rounded spheres, a, which may possibly be reproductive spores of some kind. These objects appear to be conceptacles of some kind that have been formed in the midst of parenchymatous tissue, but from which they have shown a remarkable tendency to become detached with a somewhat definite yet irregular contour. Fig. 75B not only exhibits this defined contour, but further shows a tendency in the peripheral cells to arrange themselves in fan-shaped or radiating columns at the three points a, a, a. Other specimens obtained more recently exhibit the same arrangement."

EMENDED DESCRIPTION (Hutchinson 1955, p. 428): Spherical structures approximately 350 to 500 µm in diameter, each containing a single cavity approximately 200 to 400 µm in diameter. The wall is made up of radial or fan-shaped rows of parenchymatous cells that are oblong in cross-section and whose radial walls are thicker than their tangential ones. The outer cells of the wall are broken, appearing as if they have been torn away from some enveloping tissue that is no longer present. An irregularly arranged mass of rounded cells 25 to 40 µm in diameter may be present within the cavity, and each of these may contain two to four rounded endogenous cells 6 to 10 µm in diameter.
COMMENTS* (Hutchinson): This description is based upon a re-examination of Williamson's slides, as no other material has been found. Detailed measurements of the specimens are given in Table II [l.c.].
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Williamson WC. 1878. On the organization of fossil plants of the Coal Measures. Part IX; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v. 169, p. 319-364.

Hutchinson SA. 1955. A review of the Genus Sporocarpon Williamson; Annals of Botany, v. 19, p. 425-435.
K&J REMARKS As for genus.

Williamson’s statement that the diameter of the first described (and presumably type) specimen is ‘0.0012 in.’ is apparently a misprint for ‘0.012 in.’, the actual maximum diameter on re-examination (by Hutchinson) found to be 350 μm (0.014 in.) [For many more details, refer to original paper].
TYPE S. cellulosum Williamson 1878, p. 346. Holotype: Slide 1515, Williamson Collection, British Museum of Natural History. [Hutchinson, 1955.]
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Sporocarpon cellulosum
SERIAL NUMBER 1606
PUBLIC COMMENTS
 *For source, see Publication Reference.