Old cycad taxa from the Rhaetian–Hettangian of Bavaria reevaluated: New data including epidermal details from recently found specimens

Two cycad taxa that had been described in the mid-19th century from Rhaetian–Hettangian sediments in Bavaria, Germany, and which have never been documented since then, are redescribed based on recently collected material mainly from the sand pit Küfner south of Neudrossenfeld-Pechgraben (Bavaria, Germany). For the foliage species Cycadites pectinatus Berger 1832, many more specimens are now documented including cuticular details implying that the species needs a generic reallocation as Paracycas pectinatus (Berger) comb. nov. Associated with these large leaf fragments a number of scale leaves have been collected assignable to Cycadospadix hennocquei (Pomel 1849) Schimper 1871, the type species of Cycadospadix Schimper 1871. Whether these scale leaves are cataphylls or cycad megasporophylls was not unambiguously clarified. We found no definite proof of seed attachment areas, neither to the petiole of the scale nor at the transition from the planar area into the petiole. Comparisons with other known species of Paracycas and Cycadospadix are made, and possible environmental circumstances, in which these plants lived are discussed.