A land plant microfossil assemblage of Mid Silurian age from the Stonehaven Group, Scotland

Abstract. Land plant microfossils recovered from the Stonehaven Group near Stonehaven, Scotland comprise sporomorphs (cryptospores and miospores) and plant fragments (tubular structures and cuticle-like sheets). A new species of hilate cryptospore, Hispanaediscus lamontii sp. nov., is proposed. The sporomorph assemblage indicates a late Wenlock, or possibly earliest Ludlow age and is interpreted as accumulating in a continental environment. The new age constraint suggests that the Stonehaven Group is not in continuous succession with overlying “Lower Old Red Sandstone” deposits and should be treated separately. The assemblage provides important information regarding the composition of Mid Silurian continental plant microfossil assemblages and indicates that the vegetation comprised few taxa and was cosmopolitan.