European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference 2026

Dispersed spore and pollen assemblages come from 134 boreholes drilled in the Kladno-Rakovník Basin, Czech Republic. The stratigraphic position of the Lubná group of coals, a member of the Radnice Formation, is Bolsovian (Moscovian). The assemblages consist of 167 species belonging to 53 genera. All three Lubná coal seams (Lower, Middle and Upper) represent different types of environment as documented by the palynological record. The oldest environment of the Lower Lubná group of coals is characterized by a raised ombrotrophic bog with dominance of Densosporites, spores produced by sub-arborescent lycopsids of the genus Omphalophloios. The Middle Lubná group of coals with prevalence of Lycospora, produced by the arborescent lycopsid Lepidodendron, is characteristic of a rheotrophic low-lying bog. The environment that formed the younger Upper Lubná group of coals was different, with a dominance of spores (smallest monoletes) from arborescent marattialeans. Palynology provides thus evidence of three distinct ecological environments that formed the three Lubná coal seams within ca 4 Myr (309 to 305 Myr).