Psalixochlaena and Rowleya are restricted to the %'estphalian A. Due to their small size, some ferns (Psalixochlaena, Botryopteris rarnosa, B. hirsuta) have been almost completely reconstructed (Holmes, 1977,1981a; Holmes and Galtier, 1983).

Large-sized tree ferns of the Psarontus type are very rare in %estphalian A — B coal balls of Europe. The oldest polycyclic stem comes from a roof nodule above the Upper Foot (DiMichele and Phillips, 1977). Psaronius root mantle has been found also at Bouxharmont and Truebano. Smaller (amore primitive) Psaronius stems are reported from older non-coal-ball deposits of the Namurian A of Poland (Brzyski, 1969) and Belgium (Gerienne and Fairon-Demaret, pers. commun., 1994). The only report of fertile parts are single specimens of Cyathotrachus and Scolecopteris from Shore (Upper Foot).

5,4, Gymnosperms

Occurrences of pteridosperms and cordaiteans are reported together in Table4. Phillips et al. (1985) indicated that pteridosperrns were the second most important group in the Upper Foot (18 — 27% of biomass); they account for 9.8% in the Katharina but only for 2,5% in the Bouxharmont and for 2 — 7% in the Union. They are dominant at Truebano according to Beckary (1988).

Lyginopterid pteridosperms with relatively small-diameter shoots include Heterangtum,