The cordaitaleans are an important plant group in the Westphalian and Stephanian (Bashkirian, Moscovian and Kasimovian) of the Dobrudzha Basin. Small fragments of Cordaites leaves from bore cores are difficult to classify, therefore cuticular analysis has been used in their study. As a result five new species have been erected: Cordaites mogilishtianus, Cordaites makedonkanus, Cordaites dobrudzhanus, Cordaites vraninoensis and Cordaites gurkovoensis. Three species from the Bohemian Massif, namely Cordaites idae, C. schatzlarensis and C. cf. melnicensis also occur in the Dobrudzha Basin. Due to poor preservation, three samples from the Dobrudzha Basin cannot be determined to species and are here described as Cordaites sp. A, Cordaites sp. B and Cordaites sp. C. Most of the Dobrudzha Basin Cordaites belong to the Cordaites cuticular group B (Šimůnek, 2007) which is characterized by single or double stomatal rows on the abaxial cuticle.
Cordaites, cuticular analysis, Carboniferous (Bashkirian, Moscovian, Kasimovian), Dobrudzha Basin, Bulgaria